DEUT1629 See [[GEN62]] Genesis 1:26 image AMEMEI 34

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DEUT1617 Animals are programmed from birth, and thus, their choices are limited. Animals are not capable of moral choices, and thus receive no reward for "doing the right thing" or punishment for acting immorally. Every human being faces many moral choices each day. Even though the Torah "commands" man to commit many moral acts or commandments, at the very end of the Torah, the Torah itself proclaims that man retains the right to reject God and these Commandments, and choose between right and wrong [Deuteronomy 30:15-19]. Of course, he will be rewarded or punished accordingly. This free choice and free will is described by Maimonides in detail (Maimonides, Hilchot Teshuva 5:1). It matters not with what tendencies and personality traits a human is born. He retains the ability to go on a moral or an immoral path, regardless of his environment or past history.

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DEUT1622 Our very humanness means we sometimes behave badly. Our teachers cared mightily that we live up to the high standards set by Jewish law and communal ideals. They couldn't easily rationalize how little good most of us actually do and how easily and regularly we fall into sin. Yet despite their unblinking look at how we actually behave, the rabbis remained optimistic, knowing that the Torah's positive influence upon our moral choices cannot be disputed: [this verse]. They attributed our chronic sinning to the powerful nature of the evil urge, a foe so wily and untiring that it can never be permanently defeated. Nonetheless, the Torah's teaching is plain: with God's help we can ally ourselves with God's goodness and rule humanity's evil streak. One of our sages actually pictured us as schizoid, with two yetzarim evenly split in their ability to dictate our actions: "As R. Levi taught: There are six parts of the body that serve a person; three are under his control and three are not. The eyes, the ears, and the nose are not under a person's control; he sees what he doesn't want to see, hears what he doesn't want to hear, and smells what he doesn't want to smell. The mouth, the hand, and the foot are under a person's control. If he wants he can use his mouth to study Torah or speak gossip and blasphemy. He can use his hand to give charity or steal and kill. He can use his feet to walk to synagogue or houses of study, or to brothels" (Gen. R. 67.3).

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DEUT1628 See [[DEUT1612]] Deuteronomy 30:15 set DUTIES 321

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DEUT1632 Trust and free choice in the service of God. Human actions that constitute either service of God or transgression can take place only if three factors are present: (1) choice by the heart and mind; (2) intent and resolve to do what one has chosen; and (3) the effort to complete the intended act with one's outer limbs and bring it into actuality. In regard to what is not hidden [or removed] from us, such as the choice of service or transgression, and the intent and resolve to carry out what one has chosen, relying on God in these would be erroneous and foolish; for the Creator, make He be exalted, has left to us the choice of serving Him or rebelling against Him, as it is written: “Choose life” (Devarim 30:19). But the carrying out of the intended act of service or transgression He did not leave to us, but made it dependent on external means that are sometimes present and at other times unavailable. If a person relies on God in the [very] choice of serving Him, and says, “I will neither choose nor resolve to do anything in the service of the Creator, until He chooses for me what is best,” he strays from the straight path and deviates from the right way. For the Creator, may He be exalted, has already commanded us to choose the performance of His service and to direct our intent toward it with vigor, resolve, and whole heart, for the sake of His great Name; and he has instructed us that this is the right way for us in this world and the next. If the means are available [to us] and we are able to carry out the work of service which we had previously chosen, we will receive bounteous reward for having chosen God's service, for having intended to discharge it, and for having carried out its acts with our external limbs. And if our limbs are unable to carry out the acts, we will receive reward for having chosen and intended to do them, as we mentioned earlier. The same is true in regard to punishment for transgression [whether committed or only intended].

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DEUT1625 See [[DEUT551]] Deuteronomy 11:26 set GREENBERG 45

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DEUT1618 Before the impact of Greek-Arabic thought in the Middle Ages, Jewish philosophers concerned themselves little with the problem how to reconcile Freedom of Will with the conflicting idea of divine Providence and Omniscience. When this difficulty began to stir the conscience of Jewish thinkers, they were forced to come to the conclusion that one does not exclude the other. Corroboration for this they found in Sacred Writ [this verse, Jer. xviii. 7-11; Prov. v. 22; Ezek. xviii. 30] and in the cardinal belief of Reward and Punishment. What sense is there in rewarding an act which must be done, or in punishing an act performed by an automaton when constrained to do so at the pulling of strings by a hidden Power? It should be noted that Biblical reward is not material and personal but the survival of the nation under ideal conditions. These conditions were undisturbed peace, public welfare and social harmony in which all could freely participate and through which alone man could attain moral perfection. The best reward is the feeling of satisfaction experienced when something noble is done; the worst punishment is the feeling of guilt accompanying an offence against the better nature of man. (Continued at [[LEV1109]] Leviticus 26:3 If LEHRMAN 173)

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DEUT1631 To be sure, "The imagination (inclination) of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis iii. 21); but when canalized towards righteous paths, this propensity to evil can be curbed by good example and constant reminder of the true moral standard. Our evaluation of the divine soul within us saves us from the belief in the depravity of human nature, a state of mind responsible for much that is harmful around us. Why should one strive towards perfection when tainted by "original sin"? Why practise restraint when one is credited with descent from an anthropoid ape? Robbed of the ethical incentive of noblesse oblige, man will behave as befits one springing from lowly origins. Judaism warns us that human nature is susceptible to sin and emphasizes that the soul was given to us in a pure condition and it is our bounden duty to keep it pure. "Behold", says the wisest of all men (Eccl. vii. 29), "this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Once we admit moral freedom, we must automatically admit moral responsibility. One is a corollary of the other. Freedom of will is not negatived by a staunch belief in divine Providence. Both are correlative and complementary. (For further reference on this subject see: [this verse], Jer. xviii.7-11; Prov. v. 22; Abot iii. 19: iv.I.) Not all who mock their chains are free. To possess freedom without moral responsibility is to be forced often to place manacles on our hands to keep them from trembling.

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DEUT1623 Overindulgence drives us from the way of moderation. We also lose our way when we defy the natural level of desire that is healthy. In our affluent society, overindulgence is the more common pattern today. The Jewish tradition is clear not only accepting the reality of our desires but also in seeing that, at their root, desires are a force for good. Those inner urges that compel us to eat and to sleep, to procreate and to grow, motivate us to participate in the processes of life, and as the Torah says, we are to "choose life" [this verse]. But like all sources of physical energy--fire, nuclear power, electricity--our desires need to be handled properly or the result is almost certain to be disaster. Desires arise like sparks, grow to become surging currents and, if not channeled or guided, can end up jolting our lives toward outcomes we would never choose. Desires can be like the charge that passes safely along the well-ordered and insulated wires that the licensed electrician installs in our home, or they can run more like the lightning bolts the flash cross the night sky, wildly following their own course without predictable pattern, striking destructively wherever they will. We gain the benefits of a life of moderation only when we govern our desires instead of being governed by them.

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DEUT1630 See [[GEN480]] Genesis 4:7 master OXFORD 44-5

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