NL04 – Man’s Free Will

(pages 55-60)

Man’s role in the world, as a vital part of creation, is to exercise his free will to join the rest of creation in abiding by God’s laws and contributing to the whole.

Man should observe how the entire creation, all of its parts, takes in order to give. Should man alone, also a creation of God, not act as a servant of God and rather use all of his talents and gifts for himself? Surely not!

We come to know God by observing his Love and Justice (Tzedaka U’Mishpat).
Man is created in the image of God and as such should also live a life of Tzedaka U’Mishpat.

Man was put on this earth to further it and to safeguard it. (In the words of the Torah in the Garden of Eden – לעבדה ולשמרה)

The rest of creation acts on instinct. Only man is privileged to serve God by choosing to do so. This places man at the top of all of the parts of the universe.

The true measure of  greatness in a person is not how much wealth he amasses or his strength or his wisdom. Those are just the tools by which he is to live his life. It is the extent by which he makes use of his God-given talents and gifts to serve God and to be of benefit to the world around him.