{"id":96,"date":"2006-10-05T18:47:10","date_gmt":"2006-10-05T18:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summametaphysica.com\/ge\/600\/60001-centrality-of-concept-in-judaism\/"},"modified":"2018-04-23T20:29:57","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T20:29:57","slug":"60001-centrality-of-concept-in-judaism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.summametaphysica.com\/ge\/600-2\/60001-centrality-of-concept-in-judaism\/","title":{"rendered":"600.01 Centrality of Concept in Judaism (pps.105-106)"},"content":{"rendered":"

hard cover page 105<\/p>\n

Man’s freedom is an important element in Judaism409<\/sup> and Judaism carefully defends the sanctity of the self. Man cannot achieve true spiritual heights from a state of nonfreedom. The concept of man’s freedom is an overarching one in Judaism.410<\/sup><\/p>\n

Man has freedom of choice.
\n-Nachmanides411<\/sup><\/p>\n

In Judaism, the pure and free man stands next to the focal point of the one free God.
\n-Hirsch412<\/sup><\/p>\n

Man’s spirit is free and independent. It is not subject to the lawful structure of the universal, to the necessity of the species. The “universal” in the existence of the man of God is free from the chains of scientific lawfulness, for it was created in accordance with the principle of freedom and is wholly grounded in that principle.<\/p>\n

Choice is granted to every human being. If a man wants to follow the good path and be good, the choice is his; if he wants to follow the evil path and be wicked, the choice is his. . . . Indeed, man’s entire spiritual existence is enhanced by his unique privilege to create himself and make himself into a free man.
\n-Soloveitchik413<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the medieval intellectual elite well understood, an emphasis on human freedom does not inevitably lead to a dilution of commitment of faith. The contrary is possible. The Karaite sect, for instance, which preceded and overlapped the rise of classic Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages, and which produced some of the most restrictive regulations known within a Jewish context, contained a strong emphasis on rationality and the inviolability of the individual conscience and freedom.414<\/sup><\/p>\n

Although our sages may not always have been emotionally<\/p>\n

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409 <\/sup>See Greenberg, Perspectives: The Third Great Cycle in Jewish History,<\/em> p. 4.<\/p>\n

410 <\/sup>See Mishnah Avot 3: 16.
\nNote: At least three different words are used in the Pentateuch for “freedom”: chafshi, dror,<\/em> and cherut.<\/em> See Pelkovitz, “Cherut,” Amit,<\/em> April 1985. Cf. Hirsch, Timeless Torah,<\/em> p. 4.<\/p>\n

411 <\/sup>Ramban, Gate of Reward<\/em>, in Writings and Discourses<\/em>, vol. 2, p. 445.<\/p>\n

412 <\/sup>Hirsch, Timeless Torah, p. 21.<\/p>\n

413 <\/sup>Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man<\/em>, p. 136.<\/p>\n

414 <\/sup>Agus, The Evolution of Jewish Thought,<\/em> p. 154.<\/p>\n

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hard cover page 106<\/p>\n

comfortable with the thought, most of them have conceded man’s innate freedom to choose his own path. Man is created betzelem Elohim <\/em>(“in the image of God”) and not as an obsequious bond servant. So insistent is Halachah on man’s innate freedom that the eved ivri<\/em>-the Jew who sells himself into slavery-is required to undergo an ignominious procedure if he wishes to extend his indenture.<\/p>\n

God wishes priests as worshippers, not slaves, either of the body or the mind. Only the service of free man is truly meaningful to God.415<\/sup> Thus the deliverance from Egypt was necessary for God’s purposes. The dying out of the slave generation in the Sinai desert, and thus of the slave mentality, was also necessary for His ultimate purposes. Man is a partner (shutaf<\/em>) with God in governing the world; therefore man by definition has inherent freedom, as he is a partner in the cosmic creation\/development.<\/p>\n

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415 <\/sup>See Abravanel, Principles of Faith, <\/em>p. 149. ” . . . so it was His pleasure that man should have liberty of will, and all his acts should be left to his discretion; that nothing should coerce him or draw him to aught (Hilkot Teshvva,<\/em> V. 4. p. 873). . . . This makes it clear that Maimonides did not consider choice as a principle of the Torah, but as a great principle of human action.” Cf. Stitskin, Eight Jewish Philosophers<\/em>, p. 19. ” . . . personalism maintains that the most essential human values are to be found only in personal choice and self-fulfillment. The efficiency of our social structure must be judged in terms of the free existence it supports.”<\/p>\n

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