Q&A: The Abolition of Free Choice
The Abolition of Free Choice
Question
It is written in Maimonides that one must await the coming of the Messiah, but it is puzzling if this will abolish free choice, as it says, “These are the days in which I have no pleasure” — these are the days of the Messiah. If so, why should a person look forward to the coming of the Messiah? And even though according to Maimonides himself there is free choice in the days of the Messiah, Nachmanides nevertheless writes that there will not be, and presumably he agrees that one must wait for the Messiah, as it says in the verse, “I will wait for him.” Also, the prayers of Rosh Hashanah are difficult in this respect: we pray, “Reign over the entire world,” and “So too, place Your fear upon all Your works,” meaning that everyone will have fear of Heaven. If so, free choice will be abolished — so what kind of religious service will there be?
Answer
I do not know whether free choice will be abolished with the coming of the Messiah. Verses can be interpreted in a million ways, and therefore I think it is almost impossible to learn anything from them.
Either way: if the absence of free choice is a negative state, then why assume that this is what will happen with the coming of the Messiah? Would the Holy One, blessed be He, really set before us a bad ideal? And if it is a positive state, then what is the question and what is the hesitation?
In the end, as the Sages and Maimonides wrote, dealing with these matters is unnecessary — both because we have no way of knowing anything about them, and because it has no practical implication whatsoever. The Talmudic expression “a law for the messianic era” refers to a law that there is no point in dealing with.