📖Hilchos Teshuvah – Chapter 6: Withholding Repentance as Punishment and the Preservation of Free Will

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Hilchos Teshuvah – Chapter 6: Withholding Repentance as Punishment and the Preservation of Free Will

Halachah 1 — Divine Punishment and the Appearance of Coercion

Certain verses appear to suggest that God removes a person’s free will. This is a misunderstanding. When a person or a nation sins willfully and knowingly, divine justice may require punishment, which can occur:

  • in this world (to the body, possessions, or children),
  • in the World to Come,
  • or in both.

Children may suffer worldly punishment because they are considered dependent on the sinner and not yet morally accountable.

Halachah 2 — Teshuvah Prevents Punishment

  • All of the above punishments apply only if the sinner does not repent.
  • If a person repents, Teshuvah serves as a shield against punishment.
  • Just as sin is a free choice, repentance is also a free and conscious choice.

Halachah 3 — Withholding the Opportunity to Repent

  • A person may commit one very grave sin or many sins such that divine justice decrees that Teshuvah be withheld from him. He is prevented from repenting so that he will die in his wickedness.
  • This explains verses stating that God “hardened” hearts—such as Pharaoh, Sichon, the Canaanites, and certain Israelites.
  • They sinned on their own initiative, and only afterward was repentance withheld as punishment.
  • God still sent prophets to such sinners to demonstrate to the world that once Teshuvah is withheld, repentance is no longer possible, and punishment is inevitable.

Halachah 4 — Prayers of the Righteous

  • The righteous pray that God not allow their sins to block Teshuvah, asking that free choice remain intact.
  • Such prayers request divine assistance so that one’s past sins will not prevent repentance, understanding, and return to truth.
  • All similar verses requesting divine guidance should be understood in this way.

Halachah 5 — Divine Assistance to the Penitent

  • God teaches sinners the path of righteousness by sending prophets and granting understanding. As long as a person follows wisdom and humility, he is drawn toward righteousness.
  • This is the meaning of the sages’ statement: “One who comes to purify himself is helped.”
  • Prophecies that describe future sin (e.g., Israel’s idolatry or Egyptian oppression) do not decree sin upon individuals. Rather, they describe historical patterns; each individual still retains full free choice and is judged accordingly.

Halachah 6 — Foreknowledge Does Not Negate Free Will

  • God’s foreknowledge of future events does not compel individuals to sin. God does not decree who will sin—only that such events will occur.
  • Just as God knows the future in a way incomprehensible to human intellect, His knowledge does not interfere with human responsibility.
  • Therefore, every individual is judged solely according to his own deeds, and free will remains fully intact.

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.