Teshuvah as a solution to the Determinism/Free Will debate ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Monday, September 29, 2025

Teshuvah as a solution to the Determinism/Free Will debate

We are now in the Ten Days of Repentance, when Jews prepare for Yom Kippur through self-examination, apology, repair, and teshuvah - repentance that is meant not only to change what we do, but who we are.

As I have been working on my project to rework Jewish thinking as a secular philosophy, I am struck by how Jewish concepts can be meaningful even outside a faith-based framework. It is a testament to the brilliance of Jewish philosophy that the concepts are truly universal.

Teshuvah is a perfect example.

Teshuvah helps shine a light on something philosophy has struggled with for centuries: the debate over free will and determinism.

The question is usually framed this way: are our choices truly free, or are they determined by forces outside our control?

Determinists argue that our brains are machines. Genetics, environment, trauma, and biases dictate what we do. Psychology supports this view: Jonathan Haidt shows how moral “taste buds” of intuition drive most decisions; Daniel Kahneman uncovers the predictable biases that shape our judgments.
Defenders of free will insist there is a spark of autonomy. We could have chosen otherwise, and because of that we remain morally responsible.
Compatibilists redefine free will as simply the absence of coercion: you are free if no one is forcing you. But that leaves us prisoners of our desires themselves, which are just as binding as chains are.

All these positions feel incomplete. If determinism rules, then responsibility dissolves. If absolute freedom rules, then why do habits and conditioning weigh so heavily on us? And if free will simply means that we choose even if we are conditioned to do so, then that just sidesteps the problem.

Judaism reframes the problem through teshuvah.

Teshuvah is not a feeling of regret or a private moment of resolve. It is a structured set of obligations: to repair relationships, to return what was taken, to apologize to those harmed, to pray, to give, to act differently.

What matters most is not what you feel inside but what you do. Even a reluctant act of kindness is still kindness. Even a forced apology opens the door to reconciliation. Deeds matter, and over time they reshape the heart and your entire personality.

Modern science now affirms what Judaism long taught.

Neuroplasticity shows that repeated actions rewire the brain.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy proves that changing behavior alters thoughts and emotions.
Self-perception theory reveals that we learn who we are by watching what we do.

We do not have to wait for our feelings to change before acting differently. We can choose actions that override our default desires - and in time, those actions carve new patterns of desire itself.

But how do we know which actions to choose? Here Judaism adds another layer. Freedom is not arbitrary choice; it is choice guided by obligation.

Obligations to others demand that we repair harm. Obligations to ourselves call us to honesty and growth. These obligations provide the structure that allows action to be more than whim: they point us toward responsibility. And the obligations themselves are directly derived from universal values.

This is where existing philosophy often falters. Compatibilism reduces freedom to acting according to one’s desires, but that leaves us prisoners of those very desires. Libertarian free will emphasizes freedom but does not deal with obligations or the values that give freedom its moral weight.

Teshuvah offers a better answer: responsibility lies in our capacity to act against our inertia and to realign our derech, our path and trajectory. We are not accountable for having biases, but for whether we let them dictate us. Our freedom is measured in deeds that change the course of our lives.

We know intuitively that this is true. In a loose sense, people make changes to their derachim, their paths, all the time. People quit smoking and alcohol, people choose to exercise. This is a type of teshuvah, a choice to go against our ingrained desires and better ourselves by forcing new actions, and then the new actions become habit - a new derech.

Changing a derech isn't easy. It requires determination and a willingness to change. And above all, it requires one to take on new obligations - real actions, not just a change in one's mindset. Recognizing that you need to be healthy is meaningless without actually changing habits, and recognizing that you need to be kinder to your neighbors is equally meaningless if you don't change your actions towards them.

Teshuvah does not pretend away determinism, nor does it deny the weight of choice. It shows how transformation actually happens: through obligations that guide us, and through actions that, when repeated, become who we are.

That is why Judaism insists that Yom Kippur can make us new. Not because we escape the past, and not because we float free of cause and effect, but because we take responsibility through action.

Teshuvah is freedom in practice — the freedom to become a different person who actively chooses a different path.

That is why teshuvah is not only a religious command but a universal gift. It shows that freedom is not an illusion, nor a mystery, but a practice: of taking responsibility, fulfilling obligations, and becoming new.