The ability to choose freely is one of the unique qualities of man, and it distinguishes him from animals. In animals there is no good behavior and bad behavior. The wolf preys on sheep, the rabbit eats the vegetable garden, and the fruit bat defiles your car and the walls of your house.
There is no question of good or evil here. This is the nature of animals, and they do not have the ability to choose. In contrast, man can choose good or evil, and his decision is attributed to his credit or debt.
But some people misunderstand the idea of free choice. They believe that the Torah and its commandments are up for choice, like products placed on a supermarket shelf: If a person wants to, he will keep them; if he doesn’t want to, he won’t keep them. There is a choice, isn’t there?
A possibility, not a right
This is of course a complete mistake.
The Torah and the commandments were given to man by the Creator of the world as a binding way of life, which must be followed and from which it is forbidden to deviate. Therefore, there is a reward for keeping the Torah and the commandments and a punishment for deviating from them. The word 'mitzvah' comes from the word 'obligatory command' – it is a command of the King of kings, and we must fulfill his will.
So what is the meaning of choice? If it is not up to us to choose and we do not have the permission not to keep the Torah and its commandments, where is the right to choose?
The truth is that there is no right Choice; there is only possibility Choice. Animals do not have the option of choice. They are programmed to act in a certain way, and their natural instincts determine their behavior. In contrast, man can choose his path and his actions. He has the power to act contrary to his natural inclinations, to resist temptations, to control his mind over the desires of his heart.
The Creator of the world could have 'programmed' man to follow the path of the Torah. Just as man has no choice whether to breathe air, so the Creator could have instilled in man's nature the attraction to the path of the Torah, in a way from which he could never deviate.
The Creator did not do so. Moreover, He even created within us an evil instinct, whose function is to try to pull man in a negative direction.
Thus, a kind of free game is created before us, in which man stands before balanced forces, and he chooses, through his free will, to follow the path of good and righteousness and to guard against evil.
Not everything is legitimate.
This week's torah begins with a description of the choice: "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.".
The Creator sets before us two paths: one, the path of blessing – "if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God'; and the second, the path of curse – "if you do not obey." But the Creator leaves in our hands the ability to choose what is good of our own free will, so that the observance of the Torah and the commandments will be credited to our credit.
The possibility of choice does not make all paths legitimate. On the contrary, the concepts of good and evil are clearly defined in the Torah, and man is commanded to follow the good path. He was only given the technical possibility of choosing good or, God forbid, deviating from it and suffering the consequences. And yet God asks and pleads: "And choose life"!
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