The free-will-bechira tag has no wiki summary.
5
votes
1answer
72 views
What happens if the accused sotah doesn't consent to the ritual?
Chapter 5 of B'midbar describes the ritual for the woman accused by her husband of adultery. It includes this, after the kohein declares to her what will happen:
וְאָמְרָה הָאִשָּׁה, אָמֵן אָמֵן ...
5
votes
2answers
86 views
Non-Trivial Pursuit: וְנַסְתֶּם וְאֵין-רֹדֵף אֶתְכֶם
What is the meaning of וְנַסְתֶּם וְאֵין-רֹדֵף אֶתְכֶם (Leviticus 26:17)?
Literally of course it is simple: "You will flee with no one pursuing you" (Artscroll)
But this punishment does not really ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Is free will limited to humans?
Do other beings besides humans have free will? Perhaps animals have free will? What about angels?
Does the status of other types of beings' freedom of will affect us in any way?
3
votes
0answers
47 views
Understanding the servants' hard/soft hearts
In Parshas Bo (10:1) we read that God hardened the hearts of Pharaoh's servants - כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ וְאֶת לֵב עֲבָדָיו. The Ohr HaChaim explains that this is so that the servants ...
3
votes
2answers
90 views
How can angels “give permission” to each other?
As I understood it, angels have no free will and strictly do those things G-d instructs them to do. But in the brachas preceding krias Shema, we say that the angels "all accept upon themselves the ...
5
votes
2answers
182 views
Does the president of the USA have free will?
I don't remember where but I saw a chazal that states something to the effect of "the (non-Jewish) leaders of the world do not have free will".
I would appreciate someone editing to source this.
So I ...
10
votes
3answers
221 views
Jewish concept of angels
Judaism does not believe in the free will of angels. What is the scriptural evidence for that and since when has such belief been held within the Jewish community?
6
votes
8answers
336 views
do we really have free choice?
I was told Hashem created us with free will; so we can make a choice to do good or evil, right? Well, Hashem knows what we are going to do in 10 minutes. So do we really have free will? Hashem can see ...
-3
votes
2answers
131 views
Doomsday scenario, what would Hashem do?
Lets say John is about to end all mankind by releasing a deadly virus that can never be reversed, cured, or stopped. Will Hashem step in and stop the act? This is a contradiction because Hashem gave ...
11
votes
4answers
212 views
Did hardening Paro's heart mean he wasn't really responsible?
As a child I often wondered how, if God kept hardening Paro's heart after each plague, it could really be Paro's fault. It sounds like God was setting him up to fail, and while that's God's ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Did Bilaam have free will?
By God preventing Bilaam from cursing the Jews, was that not an impingement of Bilaams free will?
7
votes
1answer
127 views
Free will a prerequisite for punishment?
I read that the angel Metat was subjected to 60 pulsei de-nura (Aramaic: פולסא דנורא "lashes of fire"). I have been taught that angels do not have free will. Did this angel act from free will or did ...
12
votes
2answers
296 views
How do we know that we have free will?
Where in the torah does it state that humans have, and are entitled to in perpetuity, free will?
1
vote
2answers
99 views
How much room is there for personal influence given the existence of “free will” and “God's will” and “God's plan”?
Today's interesting question delves deeper into the concept of free will. I understand that Judaism views free will as the freedom to choose between life and death (i.e. choose life and live), but ...
7
votes
3answers
334 views
How do you know what is God's will in a particular situation?
After reading this superb article by the great Rabbi Noah Weinberg I'm left pondering point number 5 "Make your will God's will".
I understand that this does not mean that whatever you personally ...
3
votes
3answers
98 views
Will there be free will and a purpose to doing good in the messianic era?
I recently saw this question in the new Christianity stack exchange site, and it reminded me of a question I meant to ask as a follow-up to this question.
With the assumption that evil exists so that ...
2
votes
2answers
165 views
How do you understand the Rambam on Free choice in Teshuvah 5:5?
What is the Rambam really bothered by in Teshuvah 5:5?
רמב"ם הלכות תשובה פרק ה הלכה ה
שמא תאמר והלא הקב"ה יודע כל מה שיהיה וקודם שיהיה ידע שזה יהיה צדיק או רשע או לא ידע, אם ידע שהוא יהיה צדיק אי ...
