On Mistakes Made in the Name of Torah

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Originally published: May 12, 2026

This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

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On Mistakes Made in the Name of Torah

– Jan 12, 2025

– Reading time: 2 minutes

Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham

With God’s help

How should we judge a person’s actions? Who is responsible for these actions, the Holy One, blessed be He, or the person himself? After the burial of our patriarch Jacob, Joseph reassures his brothers by saying: “You intended evil against me; God intended it for good, in order to bring about what is now happening, to keep many people alive.” The fact that the brothers served as God’s agents should, at the very least, lessen the weight of the blame resting on their shoulders. We have been trained to think that there is no contradiction between the fact that, on the theological plane, the one responsible for the act is the Holy One, blessed be He, while at the same time, on the human plane, the person is responsible for it.

This conception is logically problematic. We regard event A as the cause of event B if it is a sufficient condition for its occurrence, that is, if whenever A occurs then B will necessarily occur as well. The force of gravity is a cause of a stone’s falling if that force is a sufficient condition for the fall (given additional circumstances). If we are dealing with a human act, the person is responsible for it if an additional condition is met: that he intended it and had a choice. If so, given that Joseph’s brothers intended to sell him as a slave, they are responsible for what happened, and apparently it would have happened even if it had not suited God’s plans. Alternatively, if God is the cause of Joseph’s sale, no blame should be placed on the brothers.

Some have wanted to argue that even if the result would have occurred in any case, evil intent makes the person responsible for it. But according to this, even a desire that was never realized is enough to impose full responsibility on a person (see Or HaHayyim on this very verse). Beyond that, our very desire is also an event that occurs in the world; if so, it too should not be in our hands but in God’s. And in general, there is no doubt that God does not want sins to be committed, yet they nevertheless happen. It follows that within the framework of the choice that God decided to grant us, we have the ability to do evil even against His will. This means that what happens in the world happens not only in accordance with His plans.

And what about Joseph’s brothers? I will leave that to the readers.

The obvious conclusion is that a person is responsible for his actions. The same is true of groups or parties, also—and perhaps especially—if their actions and decisions are made in the name of Torah or of the ‘will of God.’ At ‘The Third Way’ we very much dislike the conduct of the current ultra-Orthodox and religious-Zionist leaderships, and therefore we are not prepared to settle for the claim that their intention is proper (even if that is true), and certainly not to see that as the will of God. Our goal is to create a third alternative that will lead to more proper conduct. You are invited to join us (through ‘The Third Way’ website).

Originally published in the “Shabbaton” bulletin.

Source (The Third Way): https://www.third.org.il/post/%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%98%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%A2%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%9D-%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94

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