Reaching Your Essence - 012 Faith vs. Free Will

The Concepts of Bechirah (Free Will) and Yediah (Higher Knowledge)

We will try here with the help of Hashem to explain another perspective about the Yechidah in our soul.

One of the well-known questions – and perhaps we can say that it is the question of all questions – is the issue of bechirah (free will) vs. yediah (“the knowledge”, the fact that G-d knows everything).

Chazal (in Pirkei Avos) state that everything is known to Hashem already before a person is born; “All is seen from above” (hakol tzafuy m’lamaaloh). All is known to Hashem – everything. Hashem knows what every person will ever do, even before the person has done it. On the other hand, Chazal also state that man has the power of free will (bechirah) to choose to do an action or to hold back.

It’s a contradiction. If Hashem knows what a person will do, then there is no free will! And if there is free will, how can Hashem know what the person will do, when he hasn’t chosen yet?

This question is actually found in Tikkunei HaZohar, and there is an answer there. There is also another answer in the writings of the Ramban. There are tens of answers to this question. But there is another answer, and it pertains directly to our discussion, which is about the Yechidah of our soul.

The Baal Shem Tov says that Torah is from the word horaah because everything in the Torah teaches us something. Therefore, even if one feels that this question doesn’t pertain to him, it still has some relevance. We will reflect on how this matter has relevance to each of us.

Bechirah\Free Will

Free will is called bechirah, and the concept that Hashem knows all is called yediah. The two concepts contradict each other. However, there is a rule that whenever there are two points, there is always a third point between them that serves as the connecting point in between them. In other words, there is a way to reconcile the two contradicting concepts when we discover the third, middle area between them, which will harmonize them together. There must be a point between them which answers the contradiction, which we will try to discover.

First we will analyze what bechirah is, what yediah is, and how the two concepts can merge harmoniously. Then we will be able to see how this matter is relevant to us with regards to learning about our Yechidah of the soul.

Free will is a basic fundamental we all have. Hashem created the world in order to bestow good upon us, and we would be embarrassed to take from Him without having to work hard for it. It would be “bread of shame”, as the Talmud Yerushalmi states. For this reason, Hashem gave us free will, so that we will choose good on our own, by working hard; in this way, when we are eventually rewarded, we can enjoy our reward, feeling that we have deserved it, as opposed to taking it undeservedly [and thus shamefully], which would ruin our joy of reward.

So it is clear to us why there must be a rule of free will. There are many other reasons as well why there must be free will, but this is the main reason. If someone denies that there is free will, he is basically denying the whole design of Creation, as was explained.

Yediah – Hashem Knows Everything That Will Happen

Hashem knows everything. Why does Hashem need to know everything? Hashem is all-knowing, so this is not a question. Rather, our question is: Why did the Sages reveal to us that He knows everything? Why was it necessary for the Sages to let us know this fact? It was so that we should know that since Hashem knows all that we will do even before we do it, that reveals to us how Hashem in present in our very action.

The purpose of Creation is to recognize Hashem, and this revelation has to be felt in our minds and hearts. Therefore, if one has the mindset that his actions are due to his own power, his actions do not reveal Hashem. But if one realizes that all his actions are being enabled by Hashem, even though it is person who chose according to his own free accord to perform the action, then this reveals to the doer Who is behind the action: Hashem.

That is why it is important for us to know that Hashem knows all that we will do; it is part of our emunah.

So when I attribute my actions to my own power, I am missing a recognition of Hashem in the act; therefore, it is necessary for me to know that Hashem knows all that I will do, and in this way, the act that I do reveals Hashem.

The Question of Yediah Vs. Bechirah

We have explained what bechirah is, what yediah is, and why both are needed. The question we still remain with, though, is: How are these two concepts not a contradiction? If Hashem knows everything that a person will do, then how do people have free will?

For example, you davened in the morning. Who enabled this – you, or Hashem? If you chose to do it, then who let it happen - you, or Hashem? Perhaps the answer is that when you choose to do an action, it is being enabled by you, and when you don’t choose, Hashem is enabling it to happen. If that is true, then the understanding is that sometimes we act upon bechirah and sometimes we act upon yediah.

However, this cannot be the answer. If the purpose of Creation is that Hashem be revealed in all of man’s actions, then He must be revealed in all of a person’s actions, not just in some of them. So this is our question: If I choose how I will act, then how is Hashem revealed through all of my actions (yediah)? And if the answer is instead that Hashem is enabling all of my actions, even when I choose, then where is my bechirah\free will?

There are all kinds of answers, as we said earlier; there are more than 20 answers found to this question. But I am not coming here to tell you all those answers. In relevance to us, the answer has to do with our Yechidah of the soul, which is our discussion.

Bechirah On The Outside, Yediah On The Inside

The deep answer is that we are able to live a “double” kind of life, as we will explain.

The outer four layers of our soul (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah and Chayah) experience bechirah, while the inner layer of our soul, the Yechidah, is the part in us which is at the view of yediah.

Earlier, we explained this concept in several angles: that since man is comprised of layers, there are two views going on in us at once: the view of our body, and the view of our inner being, our soul. We applied this concept to different areas. One example was that even as one does a physical action, he can still be above the action he is performing; he can be calm even as he’s amidst movement. This was also the concept behind the topic of Chapter Ten (Utilizing The Power of Peace) in which we explained the inner perspective of how one can fight his opposition yet still be at peace with them.

We see from these above two examples that a person experiences two contradictory layers in himself at once – we are able to view the same exact situation with two opposite perspectives: the perspective that comes from our body, and the inner perspective on reality, which comes from our soul.

If we only live with the outer layers of the soul – otherwise known as our power of bechirah - than we cannot handle how we are both a body and a soul, and we won’t be able to go beyond the “either or” way of thinking. “Are we a soul, or a body? Either, or.” We won’t be able to understand that we really contain in ourselves two different perspectives towards the same situation.

But the deep understanding, as we have explained in the previous chapters, is that Hashem created us a double kind of existence, a body (otherwise known as the four outer layers of the soul) and a soul (or the innermost layer of the soul, which is the Yechidah), and therefore, we have in ourselves two completely different views at once towards the same reality.

The Midrash recounts that when Rivkah Imeinu was pregnant with Yaakov and Esav and she did not know that she was expecting twins, when she would walk by a beis midrash Yaakov would try to come out, and when she walked by the idol houses Esav wanted to come out. She was confused: Is the baby going to be righteous, or wicked? She did not know the meaning of this, so she went to the leaders Shem and Ever to ask them what kind of child she was having. They told her that there were two nations growing inside her, and then she understood. We see from here that it is hard for us to accept that we can have two perspectives at once. We tend to think that we are “either, or”, but that we can’t be both. In reality, though, we are a multi-layered existence, so there exists two completely different views inside us.

If we just view ourselves as exclusively a Yechidah and with no other outer layers in our soul, then we cannot either deal with the contradiction that we are. Instead, we must view ourselves with the awareness that there are really two completely different dimensions going on inside at us at once, and then it will be easier for us to accept the inner contradiction inside us.

To illustrate how we deal with a contradiction, when a person is informed of his father’s death, the halacha is that he must make the blessing of Baruch Dayan HaEmes (Blessed Is The Truthful Judge), but he must also make a blessing of Shehechiyanu if he is receiving an inheritance. This is a total contradiction - at the very same time that one must express his sadness, he must also make a blessing over his happiness at receiving an inheritance. He is experiencing contradictory emotions - and both of them are valid.

If one makes a bris for his son on Tisha B’Av, there is a festive meal at night. And at every bris, although the baby is in pain and therefore we don’t prolong the blessings, we still recite a Shehechiyanu blessing, which expresses happiness that we have reached such a time. A bris on Tisha B’Av also requires a Shehechiyanu blessing. How can that be? How can we express joy during a time of sadness? The answer is: A Jew has the power to live with contradictions. If one cannot deal with contradictory concepts at the same time, he spends his entire life in a closed corridor.

Hashem made a separation between day and night. Day and night are called “one day”, because together, they comprise the day. With regards to our soul, there is also a mix of darkness and light as well in our own soul. It is a contradiction, but there is nothing wrong with this. It is how we recognize ourselves. If one denies the fact that he is a contradiction, because he cannot come to terms with it, he is denying that he is human, and he thinks he is like an angel. (On a deeper note, an angel also has contradictions, but we won’t get into that now).

If we can deal with the fact that we are a contradiction, then we will be able to understand ourselves.

There is a part in our soul which has the view of bechirah, and another part of our soul that has the view of yediah. Just like a person’s mood can change depending on what time of the day it is, and therefore a person has different perspectives on a situation depending on what his mood and age is, so too does our soul have different perspectives at once, because it has layers.  

There is a layer in our soul which lives in bechirah, and a layer which lives in yediah. We need to identify which part of us is the view of bechirah and which is the view of yechidah, without mixing them up.

Only The Yechidah Can Totally Reveal Hashem

In the earlier chapters, we explained that the outer layers of our soul feel a divided kind of reality (cheilek) while the inner layer of our soul, the Yechidah, has a view of an all-inclusive reality (kol). The purpose of Creation is that Hashem be revealed in everything. If He is only revealed partially in Creation, He is not revealed in the entire Creation, because a divided piece cannot reveal something that is all-inclusive. Only something all-inclusive can reveal Hashem entirely.

Now that we have explained the above, we can understand the following: The outer layers of our soul, which are divided parts - thus they are not all-inclusive – can only reveal a partial revelation of emunah.

For example, using the Nefesh part of the soul can reveal a partial level of emunah. From the viewpoint of the Nefesh, it is up to me to act properly, and I must also believe that all is up to Hashem, but this does not permit me to refrain from acting. Although Hashem is always revealed in one’s actions, He is not revealed completely in the action - from the view of the Nefesh. The same is true with the view from our Ruach, Neshamah and Chayah. The emunah in Hashem, through these outer layers of the soul, is only partial emunah, not complete emunah; therefore, the emunah that we reach through these outer layers of the soul does not allow us to withhold bechirah.

The Yechidah, however, is not another division in the soul; it is an entirely different point in the soul which contains an all-inclusive and undivided reality, a reality in which complete emunah in Hashem is revealed and realized. It reveals Hashem completely, and that is indeed the purpose of the Yechidah. As long as the Yechidah hasn’t been revealed in the world, the complete revelation of Hashem will not either be revealed on the world.[1] Thus, the Yechidah in our soul is the point of complete emunah in Hashem [or yediah], and its very essence does not allow for bechirah. If it would allow for bechirah, there would still be an “I” present, and the “I” would prevent the revelation of Hashem.

Now we can see where yediah and bechirah are located in our soul. Yediah is in our Yechidah, not in the outer layers of our soul. Bechirah can only exist on the outer four layers of the soul, and not in the Yechidah.

We Are A Multi-Layered Existence

We have seen how we are a multi-layered existence.

However, we still remain with the question that we began this chapter with: Which is the true view on reality – yediah, or bechirah?

If a person would be made up of just one soul layer, the answer would be simple. But we are made up of five soul layers, so the answer is therefore complicating. Yediah is the view from our inner layer of the soul, and bechirah is the view we see through the outer four layers of our soul.

Maybe a person will still ask: “In the end of the day, does Hashem know everything that man will do, or not?” The answer is, though, that Hashem is endless, so He is beyond our understanding. If so, why are we trying to know if He knows everything or not? It is not to tell ourselves that Hashem knows everything. It is so that we can tell ourselves how we should live, according to this concept.

Thus, we have learned that we are a double existence. Our soul is not one piece – it is multi-layered.  Compare this to a person riding a horse has to whip the horse so it will run, and he also has a string to pull back the horse. So too, we have different parts in our soul, and each part needs to be fed in a different way. The Yechidah is fed through the emunah in the concept of yediah, that Hashem knows everything; and the other four layers of the soul are fed through making use of our power of bechirah, to know that you are responsible for your actions and thus choose to act properly – as one of the Sage said, “The matter is dependent on me.”

Misconceptions

However, normally, what happens? People usually think they are just one piece, viewing themselves in terms of “either, or”, not realizing that the soul is multi-layered. As a result, we usually find two kinds of people in the world: one kind of person places all his emphasis on the power of bechirah\choosing and ignore emunah\yediah\faith in Hashem, and another kind of person will emphasize only emunah\yediah but he will dismiss his bechirah.

One type of person thinks that bechirah is everything; he considers himself to be in charge of all his choices. When he succeeds, he attributes success to himself, and he becomes haughty with his successes. If he has failures, he also attributes it to himself (And as for when others fail him, in his eyes, that’s a different problem…) The haughtier his nature is, the more he will blame others and not himself, and the less haughty he is, the more he will be inclined to blame himself. If he’s somewhere in between, he’s not sure about who is at fault – himself, or others. In either case, such a person only knows of his bechirah, and he never accesses emunah. He attributes everything to himself, his own decisions, etc.

We can definitely say that there is a gain to this, because when one utilizes bechirah properly, he is choosing to keep the Torah and mitzvos. This is the meaning of the possuk, “And you shall choose life.” Such a person is accepting responsibility upon himself, which is good. [However, he is only making use of one side of himself.]

The other kind of person goes in the opposite direction. He learns in the holy sefarim about emunah, that Hashem is in charge of everything, and he goes overboard with this, deciding that he will let faith rule him, never feeling responsible for his actions. What will happen? He will become a living contradiction. When a person thinks that Hashem will do everything for him, he throws of all his responsibilities, even the entire yoke of Torah and mitzvos, G-d forbid – and it’s all in the name of “emunah.”

As an example, if a person accidentally hurts someone else, normally, he will feel bad about it, and try to work on himself to make sure that such a thing shouldn’t happen again. But there are some people who won’t even feel bad after hurting others – their thinking is, “I am not responsible. Hashem wanted this person to get hurt.”

Going overboard with emunah can make a person uproot the entire Torah, chas v’shalom! One way how a person uproots the entire Torah is through denying it, but another way is through misguided emunah! Emunah as well is used for evil – when a person uses emunah to deny his responsibilities. There are times when it is actually forbidden to use emunah.

Reb Zisha of Anipoli said that there are times in which a person can use the power of denial for holiness: there are times in which one has to deny even his own emunah. Emunah is evil when a person doesn’t want to give to others in need, like if a pauper comes to his door and he refuses to help him, because after all, he has emunah that Hashem will help the pauper. Here, the person must believe that if he doesn’t give to the person in need, it is he who is responsible for the pauper’s suffering, not Hashem.

What usually happens in the way that most people live their life? Interestingly, we switch around the rules of emunah and bechirah and misuse them. When it comes to helping others, people like to choose emunah and not be responsible for others, instead “having faith in Hashem” that Hashem controls everything. And when it comes to our successes, a person tends to attribute success to himself, and not to Hashem.

The correct way to live is exactly the opposite! With others, we are mainly supposed to use bechirah, and realize that we are responsible for others, even though it is true that Hashem runs the world and can do anything He wants. And with ourselves, we are supposed to mainly make use of emunah. There are more details to every situation, of course, which also need to be deeply examined.

When one lives only with emunah, he won’t do mitzvos, because he says to himself, “If Hashem wants me to put on tefillin, then I’ll wear it; If I didn’t put on tefillin today, it must that Hashem didn’t want me to wear tefillin…”

When To Use Bechirah And When To Use Emunah

One of the Sages said, “The matter is not dependent except on me.” This describes the part in yourself which must feel responsible for your actions. Hashem created us with layers; we have inner and outer layers. Our outer layers (our Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah and Chayah) are choosing what we do, and thus we are responsible for our actions. The inner layer of our soul, the Yechidah, is the power of emunah, to believe that all is from Hashem.

When should we make use of the outer layers, which is bechirah, and when should we make use of the inner layer, which is emunah\yediah? Before you do any action, your task is to realize that you are responsible to choose correctly, to use your bechirah sensibly. After you do your action, however, now is the time to use your emunah and believe that everything is from Hashem, that Hashem enabled you to act.

There is also a part in ourselves which knows of emunah in Hashem, and this is the inner layer. This is also a difficult concept to live with.

Living With The Inner Contradiction

Thus, we are always living amidst an inner contradiction. On one hand, we are always responsible for our actions, so we must choose properly. At the same time, we also have to know that everything is from Hashem. We live a double life. We choose, we are responsible, but at the same time, we must also know that everything is from Hashem. So before we act, we need to use our bechirah; after we act, we need to access our emunah.

People find it hard to live with this contradiction, and they find it hard to accept this truth. But the reason for this, as we have explained in the past, is because people are usually living extreme. But there is a middle, balanced path in which a person can harmonize both extremes together.

Without revealing the Yechidah, one’s emunah is superficial, and it doesn’t emanate from within himself. We must believe that all is from Hashem, but at the very same time, we must choose the right choices, every day, all the time.

Practically Applying This Concept

Look at the following example. If a pauper comes to your door, you have a mitzvah of giving tzedakah. You must make use your bechirah, make the right choice, and give him tzedakah. After he leaves, though, you must now tell yourself that it is not you who supports him, but Hashem, for Hashem is the One who is providing for everyone.

What will happen, though, if I only make use of either bechirah or emunah? If I only have the viewpoint of bechirah and I don’t make use of emunah, then the act of giving tzedakah is solely because “I chose”, and while I certainly made the correct decision in giving to him, but, with the more “I” give tzedakah, “I” will only inflate my ego; it will not be an act that brings me closer to Hashem.  But if I go in the other extreme and I only have the viewpoint of emunah, then I won’t give to others and I will justify this with emunah, that Hashem is running the world anyway.

Practically speaking, before you do any action, realize that you are responsible. After you do it, realize that only Hashem enabled it to happen, and leave it up to Hashem.

(However, this is all a very subtle matter, because a person might use this concept as well after he commits a sin, and then say to himself, “It was all from Hashem.” This is clearly a misconception. If a person wouldn’t be responsible for his actions, there would be no mitzvah to do teshuvah for his sins. The fact that we are required to do teshuvah shows that we are responsible for our actions. And you can’t just repent in your heart – if someone steals, he has to give the money back, or else it is not teshuvah.)

Emunah Alone Will Not Work

We must get used to living with a double perspective. We are responsible in how we act, and after we act, we must feel that the outer layers of our soul feel that we chose to act, and that the inner layer of our soul knows that Hashem enabled it to happen.

If a person only lives with the inner perspective of the Yechidah, then he might come to uproot the entire Torah and mitzvos, chas v’shalom. Besides for that, he has a misconception about himself: he denies the reality in front of him. Such a person, if would go into his house and find a robber there – will he act so content and just have emunah? And if he wouldn’t do anything against the robber, would he just remain calm…?

Here is another example. If a person were to write entire volumes explaining that we really don’t need to eat in order to survive, practically speaking, there is still no way for him to deny his need to eat. Even if every scholar in the world approves of his book and agrees that his conclusions make sense, still, the author will still need to eat. Reality cannot be denied.

So too, the concept of emunah, although it is true, does not change the fact that Hashem designed certain natures that we live with on this world, which we inevitably face and we must deal with. If we would only have been created with a Yechidah and with no other outer layers in the soul, we would feel only emunah. But the fact is, that we have other layers in our soul as well, which cannot survive on just emunah. And we have a physical body that needs to eat.

Another example: If a person has bad middos and he denies it, he is denying his nature. He is denying the reality in front of him. One must know his nature, to realize that he chooses, that he is responsible. This is because we have outer layers in our soul, and we are not living with just our Yechidah.

Every moment of our life is really a multi-layered experience of our soul. If we want to understand ourselves, we need to know what our soul layers are, and what each of them needs, and then, our daily life must reflect that awareness to our double existence.

Seeing Yourself From Outside\Above Yourself

Earlier, we mentioned the concept that a person can see things from inside himself as well as from outside of himself. The question on this is obvious: How, exactly, can one do this? How do you see from outside of yourself, when you are clearly inside yourself?

If a person lives only through bechirah, he only knows how to live from inside himself and have a view from inside himself. One must instead use his very “I”, which tends to think inside itself, and instead to think from outside of himself. So how does one view himself from outside himself? It is that as you are doing something, you can be aware that you are not doing it, for everything is enabled by Hashem.

To illustrate, just as you look at a friend doing something and you have the view of an outsider, so can you look at yourself like an outsider.

This is the meaning of the statement of our Sages, “All can be seen (tzafuy) from above.” Even as you are in the action, you can be above it, when you are aware that it is not you who is doing it, but that it’s all being enabled by Hashem.

In Conclusion

As we explained earlier, we are discussing many angles of how to understand our Yechidah. The purpose of these chapters is not coming to explain how we get by layer after layer in the Yechidah. Rather, we are explaining one perspective the entire time, just through different angles. We are not penetrating further and further into it – rather, we keep circling it, through the different angles that were explained, in each of the previous ten chapters (Chapters 3-12). Each of the previous ten chapters are interconnected, because each of these concepts directly fuel each other.

May Hashem help us to merit to realize that we have opposing views inside our soul, and that we merit to give each soul layer what it needs, without mixing up what their needs are; and that we reach connection with the Creator through a properly balanced soul.