Va’era 5786

Is free will a given—or something we can lose?

Drawing on Torah, rabbinic thought, psychology, and neuroscience, exploring the profound question of human freedom through the story of Pharaoh. Maimonides argues that without free will, divine justice makes no sense. Yet thinkers like Albo and Sforno offer a striking counter-idea: God hardened Pharaoh’s heart not to remove his freedom, but to restore it—so his choices would be real, not forced by fear.

The Talmud teaches that the evil impulse begins thin as a spider’s web and ends thick as a wagon rope. Pharaoh becomes trapped by his own habits and obsessions, unable to listen even to his advisors as Egypt collapses around him. Modern psychology reinforces this, showing how conformity, habit, and addiction erode freedom—often without us noticing.

Neuroscience reveals that habits physically rewire the brain, making repeated behaviors automatic and harder to change. Freedom, then, is not absolute. It must be built through discipline, self-control, and sustained practice. Judaism’s rituals—Shabbat, blessings, delayed gratification, and halakhah—emerge as tools designed to cultivate that freedom, helping individuals resist addiction, social pressure, and impulse.

The core message: freedom is not a gift but an achievement. Even the most powerful can lose it; even the enslaved can gain it. Freedom is a muscle—use it or lose it.

The ideas are shaped and based on the work of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, and influenced by Maimonides,