Destiny or Free Choice?

Destiny or Free Choice?

Does Judaism believe in destiny? Do we believe that G-d is in control of all that transpires in the universe, that every human being is just playing a pre-determined role in a vast Divine plan? Or, do we believe in the freedom of every human being to choose his or her own path, to experience the consequences of their own decisions?

These two possibilities, destiny or free choice, seem to be mutually exclusive.

If we believe that everything is determined by G-d, seemingly, we cannot also accept that the human being can be held accountable, or rewarded, for his or her actions. Yet Judaism teaches us to understand that both Divine destiny and free choice are both true.

No biblical story expresses this truth more powerfully than the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph dreamed that his brothers would bow to him; the brothers in turn viewed him as a threat and planned to kill him; at the last moment they decided to sell him as a slave. Many years later,, Joseph indeed became the viceroy of Egypt and his brothers indeed bowed to him. Joseph was reunited with his brothers and sustained them during the terrible famine.

How should we view the actions of the brothers?

On the one hand, the brothers were certainly guilty of sin. After all they conspired to kill Joseph and they sold him as a slave. On the other hand, the selling of Joseph was part of the Divine plan so that Joseph would achieve greatness and lead the superpower of the world. Were the brothers succumbing to sin or were they a pawn in the divine plan that would ultimately save their entire family? Was this act a sin or was it an act of redemption?

The Torah responds to the sale of Joseph by issuing two commandments. The first is the commandment to redeem the firstborn son[1], and the second is the commandment to give a half shekel[2], once a year, (every Jew would give a half Shekel each year to the funds that would pay for the communal offerings offered in the temple). The Torah refers to the half shekel as an “atonement for the soul.”

The Talmud explains the connection between these commandments and the sale of Joseph:

Rabbi Berechyah and Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish say: Because they sold the firstborn of Rachel for twenty pieces of silver let each one redeem his firstborn with twenty pieces of silver[3].

Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Levi says: Because they sold the firstborn of Rachel for twenty pieces of silver (twenty Dinars) and each one of the brothers received (a Tibbah, which is) two Dinars, as his share of the proceeds, therefore let each one give for Shekel obligation (a Tibbah, which is the value of) two dinars.[4]

The theme of each of these two commandments is completely different. The commandment to give a half Shekel is about “atonement for the soul”, atonement implies that there is a sin that needs to be atoned for. The commandment of the redeeming of the first born, commemorating the saving of the Jewish first born children at the exodus of Egypt, is a symbol of redemption. Despite the opposing themes, sin and redemption, both these commandments are associated with the sale of Joseph.

The Talmud is teaching us how to view the actions of Joseph’s brothers, as well as how to view the broader question of free choice versus Divine destiny. The Talmud is teaching that we must understand that every scenario has multiple layers of meaning and can therefore be viewed from multiple perspectives. Free choice and divine destiny operate simultaneously, yet each one does not negate the other.

If we look at the sale of Joseph from the perspective of the brothers, we see sin. We look at how much each brother profited from the sale - a half Shekel - and we understand that the Torah's commandment to give an annual gift of a half shekel is a reminder to correct and avoid the terrible mistake of the brothers. If, however, we choose to look at the story from the Divine perspective, we understand that no human action can interfere with the Divine plan. While the brothers used their free choice to choose sin, G-d used the sale of Joseph as the conduit for Joseph’s eventual greatness. If we look at the big picture, if we don’t look at the sum that each brother profited by, but rather we look at the general story, at the “combined profit” from the sale of Joseph, we see a totally different story. We see a story of salvation. We then focus on the totality of the profit earned by the sale, which symbolizes the totality of the story from G-d’s perspective.

We commemorate the story by thinking about the redemption G-d brought about through the sinful act of the brothers.

The lesson we learn from the story of the sale of Joseph is profound. A fellow human being can choose to harm us. We can even use our own free choice to harm ourselves. We can make a choice that will lead to failure, pain and tragedy. Yet, like Joseph, We must understand it all can be a blessing. We must remember that despite human choice, G-d’s plan is always at work, leading us toward redemption and healing. We recognize that where the human chooses evil, G-d plants seeds of redemption.

We must remember that human free choice is no contradiction to Divine destiny.[5]

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1^ See Redeeming the Firstborn. 

2^ See  Half Shekel.

3 Joseph was sold for twenty Dinars, there are four Dinars in a Sela. The first born is redeemed by the father giving the priest five Sela, the equivalent of the twenty DInars the brothers earned through the sale of Joseph.