Fate, Free Will, and Facebook

The existence of fate or destiny is clearly a major philosophical question for any rabbi, especially since we believe so strongly in individual free will, and this was the subject of Dvora Weisberg’s afternoon Talmud study. As we navigated a conversation about astrology found in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 156a-b), we discussed the larger question of whether the Jewish people are subject to the influence of the constellations.

The answer, as is typical of the Talmud, is: yes and no. The alignment of sun, moon, stars and planets (which, the Talmud reminds us, is subject to the will of God) DOES influence the fate of human beings. But the Jewish people have a way out, a get-out-of-fate-free card: the performance of mitzvot. In each of three aggadot, a person’s fate is determined at birth (two out of three were doomed to death by snakebite), but then transformed by the performance of a mitzvah, such as preventing the embarrassment of a friend, feeding the poor, or devoting one’s life to study and prayer.

While each of us has a fate determined by forces greater than ourselves, our covenant with God provides us with opportunities to reach beyond that fate. Furthermore, our practice of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chasadim makes us well-attuned to opportunities to do good in the world.

This conversation was on my mind as we began our formal program with a panel on “New Visions for Our Jewish Communities.” We heard from Daniel Sokatch, the CEO of the New Israel Fund; Joe Green, creator of the “CAUSES” application on Facebook; and Rabbi Steven Pearce, of Congregation Emanu-El.

Like many presentations by Jewish leaders in the trenches, they listed the many challenges facing the Jewish community today: a lack of engagement, particularly amongst our young people; a decentralized Jewish community; an inability to talk about complex issues without creating an “us” and “them” mentality.

But with each of these challenges, our speakers chose to rise above what many Jewish communal leaders would simply call our “fate.” Sokatch emphasized the need to create space and provide tools to have difficult conversations about complex issues. Green showed us how CAUSES uses existing social networks to engage individuals and their communities in acts of tikkun olam. Rabbi Pearce enumerated the different types of Jews in our communities today that needed us to reach out to them (my favorite was the “alimony Jews: those who support Judaism but who are unwilling to live with it”).

Both conversations—one recorded in the Talmud and one taking place in the Venetian room of the Fairmont Hotel—reminded me that there are certain existing forces that are beyond our control. But they also gave me hope that we have the tools and skills that we need to rise above them, if only we would keep ourselves attuned—not just to the prophecies of snakebites—but to the ever-present opportunities to do mitzvot and to make change.