Bejukotai 5776 - English

By Rabbi Dario Feiguin

B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

“Rewards, Punishments, and Free Will”

Judaism is a constantly evolving life system.  

Today we do not live Biblical Judaism, but in a rabbinical one.  And it is true: some Biblical concepts and their discourse seem to represent a paternal relationship between G’d and B’nei Israel, like a father with his small children. 

In this week’s Parashah there is an example about this that I am trying to say.  In Parashat Bechukotai, when we finish the book of Vayikra, we find one of the two instances the Torah mentions “Tochecha.”

Tochecha in Hebrew means “warning,” and in it we find a list of curses and blessings that will fall upon us according to the way we act.  At first glance, this is like a father telling his son: if you don’t behave, you will be punished.  Or the other way around: if you do this well, I will give you a reward.  But there is also something else to be seen in this.

There are at least two basic teachings:

Teaching #1:

In the first place, the Biblical almost childish idea of rewards and punishments holds a fundamental axiom: every action has a reaction.  Everything we choose to do or not to do will have an effect on us and in our environment.  This means that it’s not the same to do one thing or the other; and also it means that we are responsible for that which we decide to do. 

This is not a minor thing. It is as if the Bible, from a very elementary position, told us: “Don’t throw the ball outside.”  Things don’t only happen because others decide.  You have something to do with what happens to you, take charge. 

The Rabbis went further than that.  They understood that sometimes our decisions have more than one effect.  Sometimes we make a choice that gives us something and takes something else away.

Teaching #2:

Along with this idea of rewards and punishments, the Torah adds something else: the idea of free will. Not only do we need to know that everything we decide has its effects, but also we have to recognize that the choice is ours.  

This might seem a warning for the kids, similar to “don’t touch the socket or you will get electrocuted,” but it ultimately shows that it is our responsibility. 

If this idea of freedom did not exist, we would not be human. 

The Rabbis say, “Retzono shel haadam kevodo” = “The will of man is his great honor.”

It is not money.  It is not power.  It is not appearance.  It is not clothes or material goods.  It is not even knowledge or intelligence.  The great honor of a person is being able to freely choose what kind of human being they want to be: to be a giver or a taker; to be loving or to inspire fear; to be sensitive or to believe yourself at the center of the Universe; to be a good person or a despicable human being. 

When I open the Torah and I read the Tochecha, I don’t only read, “if you behave well, I will give you some candy.”  I read that every important decision can transform my life.  And I read also that I am the one who has to make that decision. 

The Biblical concepts of rewards and punishments and free will are not just theoretical principles.  They clearly have a practical connotation summed up as the capacity of man to recreate his own existence, by choosing freely and choosing well.  Because true curses or blessings almost always depend on us.  

May G’d help us to be capable to choose well and to make our lives a blessing.  

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Darío Feiguin