Q&A: Free Choice in the Torah
Free Choice in the Torah
Question
Good week, Rabbi,
I would like to ask: in the Torah, human choice is emphasized throughout, from beginning to end. From the sin of Cain to the end of the book of Deuteronomy (“See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil”)—and this is also emphasized in the Oral Torah: “permission is granted”; in the words of Maimonides: “Permission is granted to every person: if he wishes to incline himself to a good path and be righteous, the choice is in his hands; and if he wishes to incline himself to a bad path and be wicked, the choice is in his hands.” …
In your opinion, is this a good reason to believe דווקא in the Torah and the Jewish tradition as a libertarian deist?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. And if the Hindus also think that a person has free choice, is that a reason to believe in Hinduism? And also in Judaism? So which one of them?
Discussion on Answer
Then be a Christian (Catholic) or a Muslim.
Heaven forbid… this one is carrion and that one is torn meat 🙂
Does the Torah obligate us to believe in free choice and in the freedom of citizens in the state?
When it comes to facts, there is no such thing as obligating someone to believe something. You can only try to persuade him. I don’t know what “the freedom of citizens in the state” means.
And combined with belief in one God.