Rosh Hashanah Celebrates the Gift of Free Will

Rosh Hashanah celebrates the most consequential birthday in history; the birth of mankind.

While it’s referred to as the Birthday of Creation¹, Rosh Hashanah actually commemorates the sixth day of Creation, when God created Adam and Eve.

Consider the audacity of Judaism’s claim: human creation overshadows the birth of stars, planets, and entire galaxies. What could make our arrival more significant than the emergence of the cosmos itself?

And why do we celebrate this cosmic birthday with judgement (Rosh Hashanah is called the Day of Judgment)? What kind of birthday party includes getting evaluated and scrutinized? Shouldn't we be rejoicing, not trembling?

A Crash Course in Jewish Philosophy

Before we answer this, we need to step back and ask some more fundamental questions:

Why did God Create the World?

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the past 500 years, summarizes Judaism’s answer in one profound statement: "God created the universe to bestow His greatest good upon another."² Since God is infinite and lacks nothing, He didn't create the world to fulfill some need of His own. Creation exists purely as an act of divine generosity—God wanted to share His goodness with beings who could receive it.

What is the greatest good that God sought to bestow?

Rabbi Luzzato explains that the greatest good is the opportunity to achieve unity with God Himself. Think about it: what could be better than connecting with the Infinite Source of all existence? This unity—called "devekut"—represents the ultimate pleasure and fulfillment. It's not just knowing about God or believing in God, but actually becoming one with the Divine.³

How can finite beings achieve unity with the Infinite?

To unite with God, we must become like God.⁴ In the spiritual world, closeness isn't measured by physical proximity—it's measured by similarity. Two people can sit next to each other yet feel worlds apart if their values clash. But two strangers who share the same principles can feel instant connection. Similarly, we draw close to God by mirroring His characteristics and actions.

What is God’s most essential characteristic?

God’s most essential trait is complete independence. Every creation depends on something else for its existence—plants need sunlight, animals need food—the whole universe operates through cause and effect. God alone depends on nothing. He is completely self-generated, bound by nothing outside Himself—the causeless beginning of all existence.

What allows humans to mirror this divine quality?

Our gift of free will. Just as God generates His own existence through His autonomous will, human beings create themselves through their choices. Every decision we make shapes who we become—we're not just passive products of our environment or genetics, but active creators of our own identity. This is the profound meaning of "God created man in His image" (Genesis 1:27).⁵

To sum it all up: Through our gift of free will, we fulfill the ultimate purpose of creation—receiving the ultimate good by becoming like our Creator.

Celebrating Judgment

Armed with this understanding, the paradox of Rosh Hashanah resolves beautifully. We celebrate the Birthday of Mankind with the Day of Judgment because judgment presupposes the very gift that makes us human—the power to choose. Think about it:

1. Judgment implies accountability.
2. Accountability implies we had a choice in the matter.
3. Choice implies free will.

Therefore, judgment embodies the supreme gift of mankind: free will.

At the same time that we tremble in trepidation to receive our judgment, we revel in the gift of free will which allows us to be judged.⁶ Far from being terrifying, judgment becomes the ultimate validation of our divine nature.

When we approach this sacred day, we're not simply hoping to avoid punishment. We're celebrating the staggering truth that the entire universe—every star, every galaxy, every force of nature—exists to provide the stage for our free will choices.

With this perspective, we don’t dread judgment. We celebrate it.⁷

Embracing Life’s Challenges

In our age of convenience and technology, we bow to ease, sacrifice growth for gratification, and treat difficulty as suffering. But think about the most fulfilling experiences in your life—raising children, building careers, mastering skills, deepening relationships. Didn't they all come from embracing life’s challenges?

#Because making free will choices in a difficult world is how we earn our keep, earn the ultimate pleasure, and become like God.

It's no accident that we derive the most fulfillment from facing difficulty. It aligns perfectly with the core principle we've been discussing—that the greatest gift in life is free will. Difficulty is life’s invitation to step into your starring role in the cosmic drama.

This year, relish the opportunity to apologize after hurting a friend. Revel in the chance to speak up about an unethical practice at work despite potential consequences to your job. Take pride in donating that extra bit of time or money when you'd rather keep it for yourself. When you feel resistance to making a difficult moral choice, that's your cue to act.⁸ Break free from comfort and step into your starring role.

Because making free will choices in a difficult world is how we earn our keep, earn the ultimate pleasure, and become like God.

May we be written and sealed for life, may we revel in the challenge, and may we have the sweetest of new years.

Shana Tova!
Avraham

Inspired by the classes of Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, head of my Rabbinic Training Program (The Jerusalem Kollel) Elul 2022-2023

1. Vayikra Rabba 29:1
2. Derech Hashem 2:1
3. Path of the Just 1:2
4. See: Re'eh: A Revolutionary Approach to Closeness With God
5. In the words of the Rambam: The human species is unique in the world – there being no other species like it in the following respect; namely, that a person by himself, and by the exercise of intelligence and reason, knows what is good and what is evil, and there is none who can prevent the human person from doing what is good or that which is evil. (Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Teshuva 5:1)
6. The first words of the Torah are: "Bereishis bara Elokim". Elokim is God's name of strict justice (whereas YHVH is His name of mercy). The Torah starts with the words "In the beginning, Elokim created the world." The implication is that the world was created with Din. Din the ideal state of the world. Din allows God to give the most good to us because it gives us the complete ability to create our own reality. If you have the choice to earn everything vs. asking for mercy, the ideal is to earn it all. King David tells us in his Psalms, "Olam chessed yiboneh" - The world is built with kindness. What's the kindness? Isn't it all din? That's exactly the point - the world was built with din - justice - and that's the greatest kindness.
7. Two important points on how this concept applies to the customs of Rosh Hashanah:
   1. When we dip our apples in honey and pray for a sweet new year, we ask that the tests and challenges God gives us to self-actualize be the kind where we can grow through joy as opposed to pain. (For example, if the area we need to grow in is connecting to God more, we can push ourselves to say thank you to God when things are good as opposed to crying out to God when things fall apart).
   2. In our Rosh Hashanah prayers, we ask that God write us in the "Book of Life". But, we are not asking for mere existence - for more years of taking up space. We're asking for the opportunities to grow and exercise our free will to become our best selves. That's what we mean when we say "Life". To be fully alive is to use our free will for good in the face of life's greatest challenges.

   When you stop resisting the difficulty and problems of life and embrace them for the growth they engender and the purposefulness they imbue, you tap into the profound joy of being alive.

8. Worth remembering: Making the right choice is rarely the same as making the easy choice.