Ze Frank talks free will. I already said my whole thing about us worrying too much about not having free will, when really, we don't have that much free will even if we have it.
YodaYid correctly pointed out (in comments) that I'm focusing on power as opposed to choice:
Maybe I'm misreading, but I feel like you're confusing will/choice with power. We don't have the power to go back in time, and I can't go outside and lift a truck over my head, etc, but that just means that the physical body that I control can't do those things. It's like trying to over 50 mph in a Geo (gratuitous Simpsons reference). Limitations on the vehicle have nothing to do with the free choice of the driver.Of course, he turned 'free will' into 'free choice'. I do believe that our power limits our ability, giving us a far smaller range of infinite possibilities, but that this power has no overall affect on choice. So I give him a point for choice. Ze also mentioned the choice point, but felt that it was a pittance, more of a token 'free will' than the real deal.
In answer we will momentarily revisit the paradox: At a very holy litvish+hassidic wedding (of Josh (shem havayah + 370 (שע) orot ta'anug) & Daphna (gematria קלט)) last week in Jerusalem I met the Biala Rebbe (technically his title is apparently The Biala-Ostrover Rebbe) and asked him to bless my friend who is pretty sick. The Rebbe told me, after an extended period of time (every other person's request took a few seconds at most, this was minutes) "It's not worth it, she doesn't want to get better."
Regardless of my friend's free will, the Rebbe knew what her choice was. Presumably the others all desired to be healthy whereas my friend was resisting a blessing to be healed. Which I think highlights the reality of free will, the choice that matters. We don't pick our predicament, but we certainly pick our perception of that predicament. We can choose to be optimistic (a choice I made as a young teen) and find the good in the bad, or we can choose to be pessimistic and opt-out of choosing, resigining ourselves to our innate animal reactions.
Still, in my earlier post I discuss using your free will proactively instead of reactively:
Whenever you find a juncture at which you actually have options, give that choice to God. Do a mitzvah. Act according to God's commandments. When you make such a choice, you are presented with further choices, further free will to choose again to give that choice to God. At any point you are free to choose something else, but that's about all the free will you get. You get more real free will every time you give that free will up to God. The only people who actually are in control of their lives are the tzaddikim.
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