Perhaps the greatest gift that God has given us it free will. We are permitted to make mistakes, but we are responsible for our mistakes. With Freedom comes responsibility.
Now for a Quick Devar Torah
This week’s parashah, Re’eh, begins with Moshe’s powerful words: “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.” In other words, the choice is ours. We decide whether to follow God’s commandments or not.
Remember the setting. Moshe is preparing the Jewish people to enter the Land of Israel. He tells them that whether they remain in the land will ultimately depend on the choices they make. God gives us one of His greatest gifts: free will.
That may sound obvious, but free will includes something we often overlook: God allows us to make mistakes.
There is an interesting Jewish custom. When visiting a cemetery, many Jews tuck in the tzitzit of their tallit katan. The Talmud explains that we should not perform mitzvot in front of the dead because it would be like mocking them. They can no longer fulfill commandments, while we still can.
But there is another side to that idea. We can still choose to do the wrong thing as well. We are still capable of sin. The deceased no longer have choices. We do. Life is precious because every day presents another opportunity to choose between right and wrong.
Yet Moshe immediately reminds us that freedom does not eliminate responsibility. We are accountable for every decision we make. God took us out of Egypt to make us a free people, but freedom does not mean, “I can do whatever I want.” Freedom means accepting responsibility for what we choose to do.
This also helps explain the forty years in the wilderness. God knew that a generation raised in slavery was not yet ready to build a free society. Freedom must be learned. A slave mentality does not disappear overnight.
History offers many examples. In the early nineteenth century, Americans helped establish Liberia as a homeland for freed African Americans. During the presidency of James Monroe, the capital was named Monrovia in his honor. Tragically, many of the settlers recreated a society with sharp social hierarchies, reflecting patterns they had known before. The lesson is sobering: people often reproduce the systems they grew up with unless they consciously build something better.
The Israelites had to learn not simply to leave Egypt, but to stop thinking like Egypt. They needed time to become a nation capable of governing itself according to justice and moral law.
The United States provides another interesting parallel. As we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is worth remembering that the American founders did more than throw off British rule. They understood that political freedom alone was not enough. They first tried the Articles of Confederation, discovered their weaknesses, and then wrote the Constitution to create a stronger and more enduring system of government.
It is also noteworthy that scholars have long observed that the Book of Deuteronomy was among the biblical books most frequently cited during America’s founding era. That is understandable. Deuteronomy is not simply a book of religious law. It is a blueprint for building a moral society, one that places limits on power, insists on justice, and reminds both leaders and citizens that they are accountable to something higher than themselves.
Moshe’s message is timeless. The choice is ours. We can build a society of blessing or one that brings upon itself the consequences of its own actions. Blessings are not automatic. They must be earned through responsibility, justice, and faithful choices.
Something to think about.
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