Week of Parshat Bo
by Rabbi Avi Billet
A few things coincidentally came together at the same time this week, prompting the direction of this week's DT. Someone sent me an article about former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo incredible weight-loss journey (https://nypost.com/2022/01/06/mike-pompeos-weight-loss-story-down-90-pounds-in-6-months/amp), I finished my last training run for the Rabbis Can Run ½ Marathon I’ll be running on Tuesday (for which I thank all those who have sponsored the run!), and it dawned on me that I went several days this week without drinking my usual cups of coffee.
Combine this with the never satisfying answers to the questions of Pharaoh’s free will being denied to him which continue to gnaw at the psyche, and we have what follows.
Our general approach to the question of Free Will is that Mankind is gifted Free Will by God. To put it slightly differently, in the words of Rabbi Akiva in Avos (3:15) - הכל צפוי והרשות נתונה - “everything is anticipated [by God] but [humans] have permission granted to them [to choose.]”
This is not the space for tackling the ramifications of what this means. Philosophers have spent many hours and pages debating how free a person’s will could be “if God already knows what you’re going to do.”
Regardless, it is a hot conversation topic, which many people will never truly come to terms with simply because it is difficult to understand.
Rambam (Maimonides) writes the following in his introduction to Pirkei Avos, in the Eighth Chapter of “Shmoneh Perakim.” [This translation is from Sefaria: https://www.sefaria.org/Eight_Chapters.8.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en] [Translations appear in italics. All highlighted passages are ‘my emphasis’ and anything between paragraphs that is not italicized are my comments and additional thoughts – AB]
“The sum and substance of the matter is, then, that thou should believe that just as God willed that man should be upright in stature, broad-chested, and have fingers, likewise did He will that man should move or rest of his own accord, and that his actions should be such as his own free will dictates to him, without any outside influence or restraint, which fact God clearly states in the truthful Law, which elucidates this problem, when it says, (Genesis 3:22) "Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil – הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע". The Targum, in paraphrasing this passage, explains the meaning of the words "ממנו לדעת טוב ורע". Man has become the only being in the world who possesses a characteristic which no other being has in common with him. What is this characteristic? It is that by and of himself man can distinguish between good and evil, and do that which he pleases, with absolutely no restraint.”
With this acknowledgement, Rambam concludes that the basic knowledge of good v evil causes a person to typically choose good and obstain from evil in order to better round out one’s character in a positive vein. And yet, we know that a. some people make poor choices, and b. in particular in these parshas (Shmot, Va’era, Bo), the king of Egypt continues to choose not to listen to Moshe, until such time that God seemingly takes away his free will. Here is Maimonides’ explanation, preceded by a challenging question:
“God said to Abraham, (Genesis 15:13) "and they (the Egyptians) will make them (the Israelites) serve, and they will afflict them". "Is it not evident", it is claimed, "that God decreed that the Egyptians should oppress the seed of Abraham? Then, why did He punish them, since, owing to divine predestination, it was inexorably decreed that they should enslave the Israelites?"
“The answer to this is as follows. Suppose God had said that of those who were to be born in the future, some were to be transgressors and others observers of the Law, some pious and some wicked. Such would take place, but it would by no means follow from this divine decree that a certain individual would necessarily have to do evil, or that another pious individual would be forced to do good. On the contrary, every evil-doer would become such of his own free will; if he preferred to be a righteous man, it would be in his power, and nothing could prevent him from becoming such. Likewise, if every righteous man preferred to do evil, nothing would hinder him, for God's decree was not pronounced against any certain individual, so that he might say, "It has already been decreed that I do this or that", but [these words] applied to the race in general, at the same time allowing every individual to retain his own free will, according to the very makeup of his nature. Consequently, every Egyptian who maltreated or oppressed the Israelites had it in his own power not to do them any injury unless he wanted to, for it was not ordained that any certain individual should harm them."
[He then uses idolatry as an example – it is true that God warned that He would punish all idolators, but no one had to choose to specifically worship idols. Thus those who nevertheless chose that path were subject to the warning in the passage from Yeshayahu (66:3-4) "Yea they have made a choice of their own ways ... so will I also make choice of their misfortune.”]
“As regards, however, the words of God, (Exodus 14:4) "and I will harden the heart of Pharaoh", afterwards punishing him with death, there is much to be said, and from which there may be deduced an important principle. Weigh well what I say in this matter, reflect upon it, compare it with the words of others, and give preference to that which is best. If Pharaoh and his counsellors had committed no other sin than that of not permitting Israel to depart, I admit that the matter would be open to great doubt, for God had prevented them from releasing Israel according to the words, (Exodus 10:1) "For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants". After that, to demand of Pharaoh that he send them forth while he was forced to do the contrary, and then to punish him because he did not dismiss them, finally putting him and all his followers to death, would undoubtedly be unjust, and would completely contradict all that we have previously said. Such, however, was not the real state of affairs, for Pharaoh and his followers, already of their own free will, without any constraint whatever, had rebelled by oppressing the strangers who were in their midst, having tyrannized over them with great injustice, as Scripture plainly states, (Exodus 1:9-10) "And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel is more numerous and mightier than we, come let us deal wisely with it". This they did through the dictates of their own free will and the evil passions of their hearts, without any external constraint forcing them thereto. The punishment which God then inflicted upon them was that He withheld from them the power of repentance, so that there should fall upon them that punishment which justice declared should he meted out to them. The fact that they were prevented from repenting manifested itself by Pharaoh's not dismissing them. This God had explained and told him, namely, that if He had merely wished to liberate Israel, He would have destroyed him and his adherents, and He would have brought out the Israelites; but, in addition to the liberation of his people, God wished to punish him because of his previous oppression of Israel, as it is said at the beginning of the matter, (Genesis 15:14) "And also that nation whom they shall serve will I likewise judge". It would have been impossible to have punished them, if they had repented; therefore repentance was withheld from them, and they continued to keep the children of Israel in bondage, as it says, (Exodus 9:15-16) "For even now I have stretched out my hand, etc. . . . but for this cause have I allowed thee to remain".
Maimonides concludes indicating that understanding the ways of God is beyond our comprehension, but as God judges and responds to humans choices, it is His world, and therefore His right, to decide who is still worthy of having their free will remain their own
“No one can find fault with us when we say that God at times punishes man by withholding repentance from him, thus not allowing him free will as regards repentance, for God (blessed be He) knows the sinners, and His wisdom and equity mete out their punishment. Sometimes, He punishes only in this world, sometimes only in the world to come, sometimes in both. Furthermore, His punishment in this world is varied, sometimes being bodily, sometimes pecuniary, and sometimes both at once. Just as some of man's undertakings, which ordinarily are subject to his own free will, are frustrated by way of punishment… likewise does God withhold man's ability to use his free will in regard to repentance, so that it never at all occurs to him to repent, and he thus finally perishes in his wickedness. It is not necessary for us to know about God's wisdom so as to be able to ascertain why He inflicts precisely such punishment as He does and no other, just as little as we know why one species has a certain particular form and not another. It is sufficient for us to know the general principle, that (Deuteronomy 32:4) "God is righteous in all His ways," that He punishes the sinner according to his sin, and rewards the pious according to his righteousness. If you should inquire why God repeatedly asked Pharaoh to release Israel which he was unable to do while he, in spite of the plagues which befell him, persisted in his rebellion and stubbornness, which very rebelliousness and stubbornness was his punishment and yet God would not in vain have asked him to do a thing which he could not do, then know that , this, too, was a part of God's wisdom, to teach Pharaoh that God can suspend man's freedom of will when it pleases Him to do so. So, God said to him (through Moses), "I desire that thou should liberate them, but thou wilt not dismiss them, so that thou shouldst die". Pharaoh should have consented to release them, and thereby disprove the words of the prophet (Moses) that he was unable to obey, but he had not the power. Thus, a great wonder was revealed to the people, as it is said, (Exodus 9:16) "In order that they may proclaim my name throughout the earth", namely, that it is possible for God to punish man by depriving him of his free will respecting a certain deed, while he, though realizing it, is, however, unable to influence his soul, and return to his former state of freedom of the will."
There are other explanations. Maimonides’ doesn’t work for everyone, but it is an approach that aims to understand why Pharaoh was undeserving, in God’s view, of having his free will dictate where the plagues were going and when Israel would finally leave.
We have free will. We are not challenged in the way Pharaoh was, with evil designs plaguing our choices and deeds, causing God to look upon us and determine that we have lost the right to have free will.
Some of the things we learn from running training (I share some of the lessons from other rabbis in our whatsapp group), life lessons perhaps, is that at times we do things we don’t like either because we have to or because we know these activities are good for us. We can freely choose what, if anything, we will do for our benefit – especially if these choices help us serve God better, and help us inspire others better. We can find time we think we don’t have to take positive steps in the direction of enhancing our own health. We don’t have to sample all the foods placed before us. We can choose carefully, and even eliminate from our diet things we enjoy which we also know are not good for us (this is not a knock on coffee which will certainly remain part of my diet!). Secretary Pompeo finally pushed himself to make changes when his scale hit a number he never thought he’d reach.
Hashem isn’t preventing us from exercising our free will (or from exercising, for that matter!), and we have the chance to make choices that can help us improve our lifestyles without worrying that we are so far gone that the Almighty has taken away our chance to repent, improve, try harder, be better to ourselves.
As the Bnei Yisrael, descendants of those whom God was looking out for in that fateful moment in time, we too can choose to align ourselves with our Father in Heaven, making decisions that allow us to always grow in our relationships with Him through challenging ourselves to reach even greater heights in the many ways we have the opportunity to serve Him. Taking steps to improve our health – in whatever way that translates to each person – is a form of serving the Almighty. If we are feeling better through the results of where our free will brings us we can fulfill His will better.
May we be blessed to use our Free Will to make incredible choices, and to live a life most dedicated to Him, through the many years He should bless us with, and in good health!
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