Rosh Hashanah & Free Will: “Choose Life” Means More Than You Think - Rabbi Akiva Tatz

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] It's a pleasure to speak for again and an honor in advance of Rashashana this year been a very difficult year and Mashem will have a better year next year. But let's focus for a few moments on a fundamental. After all, rashashan is about fundamentals. Going back to roots, the chauffeur really is going back to the root. The voice before the words. It's the going back a memory, a deep memory taking us back to points of origin. M going back to what's important. Hashem as king. Let's focus on one fundamental, namely an aspect of free will. The definition of the human as human is free will. So I'd like to bring out one aspect of free will that possibly hopefully will set us a direction for the year to come. The concept of free will is at the root of what it means to be human. The murder says on the verse when Hashem says when God says let us make the human being the question the obvious question is why would he express himself in the plural let us make man make the human. And the mus has a number of answers. The most famous of course is let us make you. Let me and you make you. I'll begin your creation. You completed you as a human being. Bring yourself to completion. But one answer that's relevant to our discussion today is in the medish. And the medish says that when Hashem came to create the human being, he consulted all the midas, all the angelic powers that he want to assemble in the constellation that would become the human being. He spoke to truth ms stalker charity justice mercy kindness etc. Some said he bore he should be created. Some said ali should not be created. Truth for example says said do not create human beings they'll be full of lies. Stalker charity said create human beings they'll give charity. And these cosmic forces became locked in an almighty unresolvable argument. And while they were arguing hashem created the human being. Now the wrong understanding of that teaching of our sages is that they couldn't agree so he ignored them. That's not correct. He asked their advice and he took it. What was their advice? An almighty unresolved conflict. That's what he created. The human being is a battlefield, a war zone of free will. Needing to choose between the constructive and the destructive elements. And of course, every rash of that battle is replayed. After all, every festival, every yumptiff in Jewish thinking is a revisiting of what happened at that time in the past. What happened at that time in the past was the creation of the human being and that's replayed every year. So every year the debate is alore. Shall you be created? Shall you not be created? And that's the battle that we go through every year. That's the critical decision. Do you deserve to be created? Do you not deserve to be created? And the way to deserve to be created is to resolve the battle successfully. And what is the nature of the battle? The battle of free will. And therefore it is that question of choice that we're in the world to do. We're not in the world to be serene and calm and tilled. We're in the world to fight the battle of free will and achieve if you like serenity that way. But it's only about choosing correctly. So here's the idea that I'd like to share with you. It's found in the writings of the Ramadi Ramos Davidid Vali a contemporary krusa and friend of the great Ramal of Padawa Italy in the 1700s. And he writes something I think which is beyond beautiful. But as a background, let me let me prepare the scene. My monodes the Rambam when he wants to talk about human free will gives in the chapters the fifth and sixth chapters of his laws of chuv he discusses free will and he gives proofs and demonstrations of the fact that we have free will and he shows philosophically and religiously how it's necessary. But then as all Torah sources do, he shows us a textual source. Nothing moves in Torah without a source. Everything must be found in the text. Everything must be found in Torah. And so when the Rambam gets through his discussion of the background to free will, he offers us a textual proof which is the proof that he offers us a verse that appears in the book of Darim. In fact, it appears early in the book of Dvorim. It will be repeated in its very very similar verse. The verse says, "Behold, I give you I put in front of you today life and blessing. And I put in front of you death and curse which means clearly alternatives. Hashem is saying I give you life and blessing on the one hand, curse and death on the other. Says the Rambam. You see very clearly from this text that we have free will. After all free will requires free choice requires a choice. Right? It's aiomatic in the area of free will that to have free will you must have the will to choose between at least two options. And so from the time of Aristotle in secular philosophy and certainly throughout all the the eras of Jewish philosophy, it's been accepted as the most basic axiom that in order to have free will, you have to have two viable alternatives, at least two. And so that's what the Ram does in offering once again in offering us a textual proof that we have free will. Not a proof, but a textual source for free will. He offers us the verse or verses in the Torah that make it clear that we have alternatives. Good on the one side, life and blessing. Bad on the other side, curse and death. That's what the Rambam says. Now, the challenge to this, which I actually heard originally from Simasan, I actually later heard the same discussion from Mosh Shapi. The challenge to that is why does the Rambam offer us verses in the Torah that give us alternatives? He could have done better. There's a verse slightly later if in fact in the pose it's of him. What the Torah says is life and blessing on the one hand, curse and death on the other, and then it says, "Choose life." Now, that is astounding. If I asked you to offer me a verse in the Torah that indicated free will, you would certainly choose the verse that says, "Choose." After all, you do a quick word search through the text of the Torah, you come up with a word, choose. Isn't that the obvious verse to offer? So the mystery is why does the Rambam ignore the verse that actually mentions free will to give us a contextual or a something that an inference we can infer from the fact that we have alternatives that we have free will. You could do better. Give us the verse that actually states will free will choice. I hope the question is clear. The resolution of this question is as follows. Obviously when you hear that you are alternatives you know that you have free will. Why does the Rambam not go further and give us the verse that actually stipulates free will and it works like this. When Hashem offers us two alternatives it should be clear that these are two realistic successful alternatives. Again the simple understanding what we call the havina right what one might have thought is that he offers us a viable alternative and a nonviable alternatives. He gives us life and blessing or the alternative which is crash, burn, die, disappear. Hashem doesn't play the game that way. That's not correct. He's giving us two viable alternatives. Both of which guarantee success. Let me explain what I mean. When Hashem says you can have life and blessing, what is the outcome of life and blessing? Life with blessing. Choose mitzvah. Live a blessed life, a blessed life, and you will get to your perfection and your success and bring the world with you. Alternatively, you can choose curse, sinful behavior, negative behavior, destructive spiritual behavior, destroy yourself and the world and that will bring you to your success. How? Because punishment in Torah thinking is never vindictive. Punishment is always corrective. Meaning you have two viable alternatives, two valid alternatives, two pathways to reach your perfection. You can reach your perfection through hard work and do living correctly. You can reach your perfection through living incorrectly. Why? because you'll be put through the pain of suffering which is a correction. Let me give an analogy. If you have a child whom you love, you say to your child, "I'm responsible for your achievement, for your perfection, you have two alternatives, my dear child. You either do your homework and work hard and we work together and I'll help you and you'll get there or I'll beat the daylights out of you, so to speak. In other words, I'll put you through whatever pain is necessary to bring you to perfection." That's an act of love. Let's make the analogy a bit more brutal. You have a martial arts teacher. What does your teacher say to you? Learn your defenses or I'll break your ribs. Why is he going to break your ribs? Because that's what you're paying him for. It may save your life one day. This is not vindictive. He's doing it to to save your life, right? And that is the context of any teacher student relationship. You are going to put your student through whatever is necessary to get them to the perfection. Obviously, you'd prefer them to do it the way which involves their work and responsibility and the sense of of self self-fulfillment that they will get. But but if necessary, you will put them through the pain. The axiom, the principle of pain in Judaism, in Torah, of suffering, I'm talking about the suffering that is punishment. There are other categories of suffering which we're not talking about now. But the category of suffering that is punishment is always corrective. Of course, it needs to be taken as such. And if it's not taken as such, there'll be suffering in the world after this, which will be a correction as well. All the forms that of in all the forms that that may take. And so we have a new understanding. The understanding is when Hashem gives us two alternatives. They're both valid alternatives. He not offering you a choice and a non-choice. He wouldn't do that. Which means the choice in the Torah is you either have life and blessing and you get to your perfection that way. Or you choose death and curse and you'll get your perfection that way too. Why? Because a God who loves you, Hashem who loves you is going to guarantee your success. He never made it optional. Failure. He never made failure optional. He only guaranteed success. The only choice you have as a human being is which route you will take to get there for yourself and for the world. There's no option for failure for the individual. There's no option of failure for the Jewish people. And there's no option of failure for the universe. As a Vasaman used to say, if Hashem starts a business enterprise, it will succeed. The only thing human beings can do is choose which route to success they will take. Now, we have an interesting thought. If a person looks at those options in the Torah and says, "Thank you. If that's what you offer me, I'll choose curse and death. You're going to guarantee my success anyway. So, you offer me life and blessing that involves restrictions. I'm not interested in mitzvah and Torah and working hard spiritually. I'll live the life that I want. I live a negative and wicked and dissolute life. And Hashem, you'll perfect me anyway." and that will be valid. And that's why the Torah says, the Torah doesn't say, right? Because the it's the only valid option. The Torah says, it's simply telling you which choice Hashem wants you to take. In other words, when the parent says to the child, my dear child, you have two alternatives. You can work hard and we'll get there or you'll have to suffer and I'll get you there. The parent then adds another statement. Please do it the way that I that I appeal to you that I'm appealing to you to choose. do it the way through work and achievement. Of course, you'll get there the other way, but that'll be painful. And because I love you, I want you to choose the way that is the the the way in which you pay through work and not through pain. That's the understanding. And therefore, the Ram does not offer the verse that says because it's not in the Torah to tell you that you have free will. If I give you two valid alternatives, I've said all I need to say about free will. You can do it this way, you can do it that way. Up to you to choose. The verse that says is only there for an additional point and that is to tell you which one to choose. Not that you have free will. That should be clear. That's the basic understanding. Now I'd like to tell you something that the Ramadi says which is again beyond beautiful shall we use the word exquisite. And here's what he says. The reason that Hashem wants you to choose life and blessing hard work spiritually is not only because he loves you. That should be obvious. When a parent says to a child, I'm giving you two options. hard work and self-fululfillment and self-actualization or I'll do it to you through pain. It should be painfully obvious that the parent doesn't want to hurt the child. There's a deeper reason that it says and that's this. The principle is before I say what the Ramadi says, let me set up the background. The principle is that nothing moves in the world but by human achievement, but by human choice. Let me try to illustrate this. Notice that at all junctures in history, human beings are involved. When Hashem wants a step of progress in the movement of the world to its final destiny, humans are always necessary. Let me give you the most extreme example I can think of. Take miracles. Take the two forms of miracle that we have in the world. What are the two forms of transcendence of nature? Prophecy where a prophet speaks divine words and miracles where a prophet activates a divine action in the world. Let's take a moment to understand that there are two ways to express yourself in the world. One is by speaking and one is by acting. After all, there are only three modes of being in the world. Thinking, speaking, and doing. Thinking is not revealed in the world. The two modes of revelation in the world are speech and action. I either speak to you or I act in the world. Those are the two methods or two modes if you like by which Hashem expresses himself in the world. He creates the world for example by speech and action. Hashem said and Hashem did. Think about the giving of the Torah. How does Hashem give us the Torah? He speaks it to us. We hear his speech at least for the first two commandments and then he gives it to us in writing in the form of tablets. Speech and action. Those two run throughout the whole Torah always. There are two parallel modes. There's speech and action. When Hashem wants to operate directly in the world, right? He wants to, for example, override the natural order in the world, how does he do that? He has a prophet. What do prophets do? They speak Hashem's word in the world. We call that prophecy. They operate and activate and perform miracles in the world. The great Ralbug, the Spanish commentary, right? going back 700 years of Le Ben Gosian points out that you will never find or almost never find in the Torah a miracle without the presence of a prophet. Isn't that amazing? Every miracle that takes place in the Torah, you find a prophet being present. Even the giving of the Torah, Mosher Rabena needs to be present. And the question is why Hashem, you want to do a miracle. Do you want the ocean to split? Split the ocean? No. There needs to be a human being who puts out his staff or puts out his hand. You want a dead to be revived? Hashem revived the dead. No, there needs to be a human agent called a prophet. Isn't that amazing? Which means that when Hashem wants to override the natural and speak his own words in the world, he never does it directly, he speaks through a prophet. Again, when Hashem wants us to operate in the world, fine, we operate. But when he wants to override human operation, when he wants to transcend and manifest directly in the world, let his voice boom out from the heavens. No, a human being has to say his words. When Hashem wants to override nature, Hashem, override nature. Make the make the Jordan River split. Make the No, a human being has to be there to to perform an action. And they're one in the same human being, namely a prophet. Prophets are the agents of Hashem's speech and action. And therefore, when Hashem wants to reveal himself by speaking openly in the world, it comes through the mouth of a human being. When Hashem wants to reveal himself by action directly in the world, it comes through the action of a human being. Both vested in the same human being, namely a prophet. And it's astounding to realize. It's amazing to realize that nothing moves in the world without human activity. And the question is why? Why? Hashem, when you want to operate in a hidden way, we understand that it must come through us through a veil of secrecy and privacy and hiddenness. But when you want to operate directly, you want us to see that your presence is manifesting clearly. Who needs human beings? It always moves through human beings. And the answer is because the world, and here comes the key, the world was created to be brought to its perfection by humans. Hashem never created the world to demonstrate what he's capable of. He's capable of anything. He created the world for it to be brought to its perfection through human beings. And therefore, no step in history ever takes place without humans being the agency. The reason is that's what we were created for. We were created to bring the world to its perfection. And even when Hashem is overriding the natural process in the world, even then humans are necessary. Why? Because the world was created to brought to its perfection only through human activity. And that's the principle. And therefore, except with a possible exception of Hashem speaking the first two commandments so that once in history there'd be a clear establishment of his credentials, right? And again, as I said, even there a human being has to be present. But the general principle is he never operates in the world but by human beings. This is also the deep reason of why we need a Mashiach. Who needs a messiah? If Hashem wants to reveal himself at a phase in history during which the world is illuminated, incandescent, luminous with spiritual meaning where Hashem wants his presence to be felt tangibly in the world. Who needs a human being at that stage? Had you asked me, no one has, but had I been asked, I would have said we need Mashiach now through this difficult phase of history. But Hashem says, "No, I will give you the Mashiach, a earthly king representing a connection between heaven and earth, who will be a international ruler, the whole world under his dominion. And he will be the agency or the fulcrum if you like, the hinge on which history turns and the world reaches its perfection." And one should stop and think for a moment, why do you need a human being at that time? The world will be full of knowledge of Hashem like the oceans filled with water. At that stage, why do you need a human intermediary? And the answer is nothing moves in history but with but with a human intervention or action. And therefore, even in a messianic age, which is an age of glorious revelation of Hashem's presence in the world, there needs to be a human king uniting the Jewish people, uniting the world and making the connection to the to the ultimate. And therefore the principle we are studying, the principle we enunciating is that nothing ever happens and nothing ever will happen in history until the post messianic world to come in which there's no more human activity at all. Just a dimension of reward until that point in time including the messianic era there will be human beings bringing the world to its perfection whether we like it or not. Therefore says Ramadi and this is where the beauty of his insight um comes in. He says this, if a human being chooses to bring themselves in the world to perfection through their own valition, their own free will, their own work and life and blessing, they bring the world to its perfection. If a human being chooses, if a Jew says, "I'll take my chances. Hashem, you punish me. I'll live a broken life and an evil life and you correct me anyway." It's true, you'll get to your perfection. But what will be the methodology? You'll reach your perfection through suffering, not through your free will. And that says the Ramadan Valley will have thwarted the reason for the creation. In other words, when you bring yourself to perfection because you chose it, you've done what Hashem wanted. You've taken responsibility and using your free will which defines you, you've brought the world to perfection. When you reach your perfection through pain and suffering, you force Hashem, so to speak, to punish you and make you pay in pain. The cost will be borne by you in pain and suffering. You'll get to your perfection and you'll get to the end point, but you'll have done it through a method which was not his chosen method of bringing the world to its perfection. You'll pay and there will be human agency. The agency will be the currency you pay that is in pain. But that wasn't the point of the creation. The purpose of the creation was to give you free will to use your free will to choose to bring the world to its perfection. When you so to speak force Hashem into plan B and you insist on being brought to your perfection, not through your free will and not through your choices of mitzvah and constantly choosing what's correct, indeed you'll get to your correction, but there you've perverted the reason for the creation. Not simply because he loves you and he wants you to bring yourself to perfection in a way of Torah and mitzvah because he loves you doesn't want to hurt you. That's obvious. But way beyond that, says Ramadan Vali, you have damaged the reason. You've hit at the center, the core of the reason for the creation. Once again, you were created to have free will to use, to take responsibility to bring yourself and and the world to perfection. And you chose to do it through pain and suffering, so to speak. You chose to have it done to you rather than choose it and manifest it yourself. You'll get there, but it's not the reason for the creation. And that in fact in cabalistic teaching is called the nikula. That means the the pain and the anguish in the next world would be none other than the humiliation of the fact that you reached your perfection not having chosen it yourself. Knowing that you got to your perfection because it was forced into you. You were the price was exacted from you in pain and suffering but that you have the humiliation the embarrassment of realizing and and living so to speak in a in a in a manifestation of the fact that you got to your perfection the way you were not designed to get there. not having chosen it and brought it to completion through your own will but rather kicking and screaming so to speak you were brought there this is what the Ramadi says in his commentary on the on the kh in brashes and it's a marvelous idea what comes out of this what comes out of it is the purpose of the human being which is what rashasha is all about rashashana goes back to that cold lonely moment if you like of total privacy in which you make your choices and that is the purpose of being not only should we be thinking onash about Hashem being king. That should be obvious and all our work is is is is moved in that direction. We don't even say vidi no confession. We don't achieve there's only one theme of the day which is hashem you are king but what that implies is hashem you're king and I'm choosing to manifest that in the world. You know the goes so far as to say you can offer hashem a bribe on rashash by means of the chauffeur. What's the bribe? You say, "Hashem, you don't need me to make the sunshine. You don't need me to make the rainfall. There's one thing you need me for, to make you king. And therefore, if I have a right to existence next year, it's because I'm fulfilling my purpose, which is making you king in the world. That's what I choose." And therefore, the purpose purpose, the goal, the the the living reality of Roshana is to become a chooser. Somebody who goes back to the core of their existence, which I'm responsible, I can make choices. This is valid even for people who suffering emotionally or have psychological issues. You're in control to the extent that you are in control. Obviously, you're not expected to make choices to to attempt choice beyond your capacity. But within the realm of your ability, that is your purpose in life of Simbas himself who lived a life of of unmitigated tragedy. Right? He was childless. in the Rebbitson was the Russians tried to kill him his family was wiped out by the Germans and he sparkled with joy and so my brother my brother-in-law Dr. Rafal Borts once asked him how does the RV manage such joy always in a life of such tragedy said to him every situation in life I find myself in I ask what can be done what can be done I do what cannot be done I don't worry about most of us don't do what should be done and we worry but a welladjusted person asks where can I make choices what's beyond my capacity to choose I don't worry about it's his problem I feel it but it's not my job the question is are you making choices where you can make choices. If you make those choices correctly, you're manifesting the purpose of your having been here. And finally, Raashi Shapiro put it very succinctly. He said, "Don't read the words in the Torah as being choose life." He said, "Read them as choose life." Not so much the fact that you should choose life. That should be obvious, but the fact that you should choose it. You should do things not simply because you're running on habit. Even correct things should not be done simply because they've been done before. But every moment in life, you should be making a choice. The purpose of life is not only to choose what's correct, but to choose what's correct. And therefore, to manifest oneself correctly, to look good on rash, so to speak, we need to we need to become choosers. And therefore, I think the message to take with us is to remember that when the Torah tells us to choose life instead of thinking simply about we should be thinking about have a wonderful. Hi, this is Perisler a proud alumnus of Orsame. Now, what you just watched is one of the many programs that Orsome provides, leaving its impact on hundreds of thousands with so many more waiting to be reached. Orsame central campus in Jerusalem has over 300 students presently learning there. And now you can be a vital part of spreading that bounty of knowledge worldwide by logging on to donate or.edu. We can step up to the plate at this pivotal moment of wars growth and bring the next generation of Jews home.