‫ ככלוממר ה הן מ חין ז שה ש של אדים היייה ייח חיד‬.

"‫ור יע‬ ‫כב( "ה הן היאדים היייה ככאחמד מ חמ שנו לידמעמת טוב י‬-‫ג‬
‫ע המטוב‬‫שבכתו יוד ה מ‬ ‫עתו ובכממח ח מ‬
‫עצכמו בכדמ כ‬
‫ביעולים וכא הין מ חין ש הנחי דומ שה לו בכז שה היע חנכיין ש שיכה הא הוא מ ה מ‬
‫ וככ היוין ש שכ הן הוא‬.‫הר מע‬ ‫הר מע וכעוש שה כיל ממה ש שהוא חיפ הץ וכא הין מ חי ש שיכעמכ הב בכיידו מ חלמע חשות המטוב או י‬ ‫וכ י‬
‫שלמח יידו‬ ‫פ שן י כ‬:
License (Free Will) is granted to all humans: If one wanted to turn oneself to a
good path and to be righteous he has the license to do so, and if one wanted to
turn oneself to an evil path and be wicked he has the license to do so, as it is
written in the Torah, Behold, the Man is become like one of us, to know good and
evil (Genesis 3:22), that is, this species of human is unique in the world (‫)ככאחמד‬
and there is no other species like it in this matter, that it of its own initiative
(‫ )מ חמ שנו‬and will and thought knows Good and Evil and will do whatever it pleases,
and there is no one to prevent its hand from doing Good or Evil, and since that is
so Lest he send forth his hand (Gen. 3:22).

In the whole of the world, only Man has the ability to actively choose what to do
based on what is right and wrong. Animals do not make moral decisions, nor choose
the path of righteousness over evil — they operate purely based on practicality,
survival, and sensual pleasure. Animals operate based on intuition and instinct;
they do not make choices based on their own values. Animals do not choose to be
docile or vicious, for instance. Rather, this is merely part of their
“programming.” Humankind is therefore unique in all of Creation, such that Man can,
through his own thought processes, determine that which is right and wrong and
choose to do what he so desires. The fact that humans have their own decision
process is unique in the animal kingdom.

Mishneh Torah, Teshuvah 5:2:

‫שר יא הל ש שהמק ידוש בירוךכ‬

‫דביר ז שה ש שאומכר חים ט חפכש הי א אמות היעולים וכר רב גילכמ הי בכנ הי י כ‬
‫ך י‬
‫שבכת כ י‬
‫אל ימע חב רר בכממח ח מ‬
‫הוא גוז הר עמל היאדים מ חת כח חלמת בכר חייתו ל חהכיות צמד חיק או ר ישיע‬.
Do not let this thing that the simpletons of the Nations of the World and most of
the fools of Israel say cross your mind, that the Holy Blessed One decrees for a
person to be righteous or wicked from the beginning of his creation.

This would make no logical sense, for if this were true, how could there be Divine
reward and punishment? If it was decreed at birth whether a person was to be
righteous or evil, with no Free Will in the matter, it would be utterly unfair for
God to either punish or reward people for their actions. However, since we know
from the Torah itself that Man is rewarded and punished for his actions, we can
logically conclude that Man has Free Will to choose his own path in life.

‫סכיל‬ ‫חכים או י‬ ‫יר יבכעים או י‬

‫דביר כ הן א שליא כיל אדים ר יאוי לו ל חהכיות צמד חיק ככמש שה ר מב הנו או ר ישיע ככ י‬ ‫א הין המ י‬
‫ וכא הין לו מ חי ש שי חככפ ההו וכל רא גוז הר‬.‫שאר כיל המד העות‬ ‫ע וככ הן כ‬ ‫או ר מח חמין או אככזיר חי או כ חילמי או שו מ‬
.‫עתו נוט שה לכא הי זו ד שר שךכ ש שי חר כצ שה‬ ‫עצ כמו ומ חדמ כ‬
‫שנ הי המדכר יכ חים א שליא הוא מ ה מ‬ ‫עלייו וכל רא מ חי ש שמו כ‬
‫שכו לכא שחיד מ ח כ‬ ‫י‬
‫ר‬
‫ ככלוממר א הין המבור הא גוז הר‬."‫לח( "מ חפ חי ע שלכיון ל א ת הצ הא היר יעות וכהמטוב‬-‫הוא ש שי חר כמכייהו אממר )איכה ג‬
‫עמל היאדים ל חהכיות טוב וכל רא ל חהכיות ר מע‬.
The matter is not so; rather, every person is capable of being righteous like Moshe
Rabeinu or wicked like [King] Yerov'am, wise or foolish, compassionate or cruel,
stingy or wasteful, and so on for all of the attributes. And there is no one that
forces him or decrees for him, nor anyone who pulls him toward one of the two
paths; rather, that person, of his own will and awareness, leans toward whichever
path he wants, as Jeremiah said, Does not Good and Evil come out of the mouth of
the Most High? (Eicha 3:38).

While it is true that some men are born with certain inclinations towards a
particular character trait (some are born with a higher intellect, for instance),
all men are still responsible for their actions. Indeed, modern societies believe
and understand this as well. We are not more lenient with a murderer regardless of
his upbringing. Every human being has at least a basic semblance of choice when it
comes to right vs. wrong. Some might have a harder time overcoming a particular
tendency, but a murderer is still deemed a murderer. We all accept that humanity
has at least a basic level of decision-making ability. In the end, a person makes a
judgment call when directly faced with a decision. He exercises his Free Will.
Rambam explains that nothing spiritual pushes Man towards a particular decision
either. Man chooses everything