Do Jews Have Free Will to Leave Judaism? Understanding Choice, Responsibility, and Divine Purpose

Hodaya asks: "Do we, as Jews, really have free will to remain Jewish or not? If a Jew leaves Judaism by choice, he will be punished for it, which therefore seems that the Jewish people do not truly have free will. Thank you."

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Shalom and blessings, Hodaya, and thank you for your thoughtful question.

You are correct that we do not have a choice about whether or not there will be consequences in the World to Come, but we do have complete free will regarding how to live our lives here in this world. God does not punish people immediately. In fact, a person may live out his entire life without visible punishment, and sometimes the world seems upside down — where “the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer”. Because of this, every human being has full control in this world to choose between good and evil. This is the meaning of the Torah’s words: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life” (Deuteronomy 30).

If human beings were purely rational, acting only according to truth and logic, then indeed we would not really have free choice. For how could a rational mind possibly deny God or rebel against Him? Just as no sane person chooses to jump into fire, no person with clear vision of truth could willingly sin.

However, God placed within us the yetzer hara (the inclination to do wrong). This force is not rational — it constantly looks for excuses and self-justifications to sin, searching for every loophole and rejoicing in every doubt. Anyone who has sinned out of desire can later testify how foolish he felt afterward, realizing that the yetzer had lied and deceived him. These doubts and confusions exist precisely to weaken our clarity and to test us in the very purpose for which we were created. Here lies our free will: to decide to trust God and follow His Torah, or to surrender to irrational impulses and rebel.

Our reality is like darkness, and within that darkness God directs us to the light through the Torah. The world itself is a great test, and in that test God examines our choices.

Regarding the Jewish people as a whole, there lies something deeper. The very responsibility for the existence of the entire world rests upon the Jewish people. The purpose of creation is Torah, and all of life draws its vitality from the Torah and mitzvot of Israel. Had the Jews not accepted the Torah, God would not have sustained the world. As the prophet declares in God’s name: “If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have set the laws of heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 33:25).

Our right to exist is tied to this divine mission. Without it, God would never have created us. History itself proves this: every ancient nation and mighty empire has vanished — Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, Babylon, the Canaanite peoples, yet the Jewish people remain. Despite being scattered, persecuted, exiled, often without a land or an army, we still endure. This survival defies natural law. We exist only through God’s ongoing miracles. Without Him, the Jewish nation would have disappeared.

This means that our very existence is itself a miracle. Our Jewish soul is not natural but supernatural. We are God’s children, as the Torah says: “For you are children to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1). And again: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God” (Numbers 15:41).

Your life is owed to God — not only spiritually in terms of your soul’s purpose, but even in the physical sense of national survival. To be a Jew is the greatest privilege. Just as a king’s child has immense power and treasures at his disposal, so too a Jew carries infinite blessing. Along with privilege comes responsibility, to live in a way that reflects who you are — the daughter of the King. The choice is always yours, to love your Father, to trust Him, and to walk in His ways.