“In the Way a Person Wishes to Go, He Is Led”: The Power of Free Will in Judaism

Human nature tends toward laziness, because change requires effort, energy, and going against our instincts. To move forward, we must awaken the willpower to act.

Often people don’t believe strongly enough in their ability to change, but in truth, everything is possible. As we are told, “Nothing can stand in the way of true will.” A person can transform in any area of life. If he truly desires something and makes the effort, God will help him to ensure his success.

When a Person Truly Wants, Extraordinary Strength Appears

In a rehabilitation hospital, patients had been lying in bed for years, unable to move. One day, a fire broke out. Suddenly, in that emergency, some patients who hadn’t risen in years jumped out of bed and escaped! Muscles thought to be atrophied suddenly worked again. Because the will to live was so strong, it activated physical strength these individuals didn’t know they had.

A person may claim, “I really want to get up early to pray, but I just can’t.” If a fire alarm sounded in the building, he would leap out of bed in seconds. The difference is the intensity of will.

Willpower Unlocks the Brain’s Potential

Studies show that most people use only 4–7% of their brain’s potential. This is because they don’t want enough, don’t invest enough, and sometimes don’t believe in themselves enough. A strong will awakens dormant abilities, pushing a person far beyond what he thought possible.

Help From Above Follows Human Will

The Talmudic Sages taught: “One who comes to purify himself is helped from Heaven” (Yoma 38b) and “In the way a person wishes to go, he is led” (Makkot 10b).

The commentator Maharsha asks: why does it say "molichin—they lead him" in the plural? Who is leading him? Every good desire of a person creates angels that help him fulfill the mitzvah (Maharsha, Chiddushei Aggadot, Makkot 10b).

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, in Nefesh HaChaim, explains that even if a person has not yet performed the deed, the very moment he sincerely wants to do a mitzvah and fulfill God’s will, he is already given assistance. From the instant the thought of desire arises, worlds of holiness are created in Heaven, and those spiritual worlds in turn strengthen him to complete his task (Nefesh HaChaim, Gate 1).

Greatness Comes From the Measure of Will

As a child, Rabbi Moshe Shick (the Maharam Shick) was weak in his learning and understood very little, but he longed intensely to study Torah and poured his heart into effort. Because of that burning desire, God opened his mind, and he rose to become one of the great Torah sages.

The help from above matches the strength of one’s will. As the Sages said, “One who comes to purify himself is helped.” Why does it say “helped him (oto אותו)” rather than “helped for him (lo לו)”? This is because the assistance does not come from outside, but it strengthens the very willpower he himself activated. That desire is magnified and reinforced until success follows.

If a person activates his “engine” of will at 60%, Heaven will expand it, but it will still remain within that level. If he activates it at 100%, Heaven will enlarge it at 100%. The stronger the will, the greater the outcome. Like a shofar: the stronger the breath drawn in, the stronger the sound blown out.

Willpower is the main engine of human growth. The more we want, the more hidden strength awakens inside us, and the more help we receive, from our own potential and from Heaven itself.