Kabbalah ideas harm free choice
I am not religious, but I go to a religious state high school. One of the rabbis commented that there is something in Judaism (I think in Kabbalah) that a man's sperm can actually "be sanctified" and his child will be righteous if he himself is righteous or something like that. The point was that the sperm can be sanctified and it will actually increase the likelihood that the child will be righteous.
But I think this is very problematic because it contradicts free choice. It is not possible for one person to have a higher probability of being righteous than another person, just because of what their father did or because of their father's level of righteousness.
Now, I would like to ask your opinion. Do you think I am right in this case? And if so, when I encounter such claims in the future, which in some sense violate free will, should they be rejected altogether? I really don’t understand how someone could enjoy a higher chance of being righteous because of something they did not choose. And I know that free will is a very basic principle in Judaism that must be believed in…
Everyone has free choice, but it is not true that everyone has the same conditions within which they operate. One is born into a rich family and the other is not. One is born healthy and the other is not. One is born with certain qualities and the other with other qualities. There is no equality in conditions. Therefore, regardless of the righteousness of the seed and the other nonsense that you are fattened on in school, your assumption is incorrect.
It is clear that when judging a person, the conditions in which he acted are taken into account. Therefore, his spiritual status is not determined by his actions per se, but also by the conditions in which he acted.
I understand. So theoretically even if someone was born into a Nazi upbringing and yet showed a slight aversion to it, could they be equal in virtue to a great generation who was born into a lineage of great generations and was educated on it from the moment they were born? Just a theoretical example of course. Just making sure I understood.
Indeed. Absolutely.
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