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a choice. After many years of this lifestyle and the deep convictions other; rather, they all exist simultaneously and holistically, each one
that go along with it, a decision does not need to be made over effecting the others on an essential level. Viewed from one plane of
whether they will or will not keep Shabbat this week. It is a choice perception, they flow into one another in a hierarchal relationship
that has already gone far beyond choice (that is to say, the choice is with the highest world being that of Emanation and the lowest, our
now predetermined in some sense by their overall worldview and set material World of Action. Viewed from another plane of perception,
of values). they all exist in this world simultaneously, bound up in a mysterious
The third paradox listed above, often defined as free will versus bond.
Divine Providence or Omniscience is best summed up, and in a sense, The arrangement of the camp, detailed in Bamidbar, not only taught
resolved by the words of Pirkei Avot (2:4): “Make His will as your will the generation of the desert how to proceed but also offers each and
so that He will make your will as if it were His will.” When we do so, every person throughout history both practical and eternally valid
Omniscience and Divine Providence dovetail with human free will messages. It sheds light on the role and the place of the individual
and the upper worlds and the lower worlds truly unite. Thus, on this and the nation as a whole, tells the Jewish people what their spiritual
ideal level, God’s foreknowledge no longer contradicts humanity’s mission is and provides a road map for achieving it.
freedom to act.
The weekly Torah reading of Bechukotai always falls just before
the Festival of Shavuot. Traditionally the rationale provided for this
is that the negativity contained in the forty-nine “curses” should be ££Man’s Search for Meaning
£Man’s Search for MeaningMan’s Search for Meaning
dispensed with before the holiday celebrating the Giving of the Torah
arrives. However, on a deeper level, Shavuot as the Festival of the
Giving of the Torah seems to address the same tension between free
will and Divine Providence that Bechukotai does. Before receiving the “Every man by his banner, with the insignia of their father’s house
shall the children of Israel camp; at a distance surrounding the Tent
Torah the Jewish people declared – in what is considered the ultimate
expression of free will – “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:7). of Meeting they shall camp” (Numbers 2:2). This verse is part of
the Torah’s description of how Israel camped on all four sides of the
Jewish tradition venerates the children of Israel for this declaration,
explaining that it showed immense faith in God, for the Jews agreed Tabernacle in the desert. 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 14 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Magenta
to observe the laws before they had even heard or understood them. The Midrash teaches that the Jews envisioned the Shechinah #24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 14 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 14 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Black 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 14 - B
The Talmud tells us that God responded by exclaiming, “Who has descending onto Mount Sinai accompanied by legions of angels
revealed the secret of the angels to mortal man” (Shabbat 88a). God’s riding chariots, who surrounded the Shechinah on all four sides.
reaction is surprising because Jewish tradition teaches that the angels Each band of angels had a heavenly banner radiating a unique hue.
have no free will (they fulfill God’s word without the possibility of The vision was so remarkable and the peoples’ attraction to the flags
questioning His commands or rebelling), so how could the Jews have so profound, they exclaimed, “If only we too were like the angels,
been replicating angelic behavior by freely accepting the Torah? situated around the Shechinah with banners.” God responded to
To resolve this paradox we may turn to the Ishbitzer’s notion of their implied request by giving each tribe and each camp a special
free choice: Israel’s declaration must have contained within it both banner (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:2). The banners were made of silk and
the paradigm of conventional free choice and the reality that as the their colors corresponded to the tribes’ precious stones, which were
affixed to the High Priest’s breastplate. The symbol on each banner
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