Q&A: Everything Is from Heaven
Everything Is from Heaven
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi. I wanted to clarify the idea people say, that everything is from Heaven except fear of Heaven. Does that mean that a person is basically a robot and has no choice about anything, except only in matters of fear of Heaven? If so, how can it suddenly be that regarding fear of Heaven he does have choice? For example, if I drive on the Sabbath, is that driving from Heaven or not? Meaning, from the standpoint of desecrating the Sabbath it is attributed to me, but from the standpoint of the actual fact of the trip it is not from Heaven? And is it really true that we are robots and basically have no control over anything, or did the Holy One, blessed be He, give us some degree of independence?
Thank you very, very much.
Answer
The claim is that actions that have value significance are in our hands. The rest are not. In fact, if you look at it the other way around, you will see the logic in it. In principle, all our actions are the result of considerations imposed on us—determinism, though not by the Holy One, blessed be He, but by the laws of nature and by our own makeup. The only exceptions are actions in which we choose, and choice exists only in actions that have value-related aspects.