Fate, Free Will and Forgiveness

(22) [Rabbi Eleazar ha-Kappar] used to say: the ones who were born are to die, and the ones who have died are to be brought to life, and the ones brought to life are to be judged; So that one may know, make known and have the knowledge that [God] is God, [God] is the designer, [God] is the creator, [God] is the discerner, [God] is the judge, [God] the witness, [God] the complainant, and that [God] will summon to judgment. Blessed is the One before Whom there is no iniquity, nor forgetting, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes, for all is God's. And know that all is according to the reckoning. And let not your impulse assure thee that the grave is a place of refuge for you; for against your will were you formed, against your will were you born, against your will you live, against your will you will die, and against your will you will give an account and reckoning before the Supreme Ruler of all rulers, the Holy Blessed One.

(15) [Rabbi Akiva said:] Everything is foreseen, and freedom is granted, and the world is judged with goodness; and everything is in accordance with the majority of deeds.

It was stated that Rabbi Chanina says: Mazal (constellation / astrology / fate) makes one wise and Mazal makes one wealthy, and there is Mazal for the Jewish people. Rabbi Yochanan said: There is no Mazal for the Jewish people. And Rabbi Yochanan follows his own reasoning, as Rabbi Yochanan said: From where is it derived that there is no Mazal for the Jewish people? As it is stated: “Thus said the Eternal: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them” (Jeremiah 10:2). The nations will be dismayed by them, but not the Jewish people.

And from that which transpired to Shmuel, one can also conclude that there is no constellation for the Jewish people: Shmuel and Ablet were sitting, and they saw these people were going to the lake. Ablet said to Shmuel: This person will go and he will not return, because a snake will bite him and he will die. Shmuel said to him: If he is a Jew, he will go and come back. As they were sitting for a while, the person they discussed went away and then returned. Ablet stood up, threw down the person’s burden, and inside he found a snake cut and cast in two pieces. Shmuel said to him: What did you do to merit being saved from death? The person said to him: Every day we all take bread together and eat from the bread. Today, there was one of us who did not have bread, and when it came time to gather the bread, he was embarrassed because he did not have any to give. I said to the others: I will go and take the bread. When I came to the person who did not have bread, I acted as though I was taking from him so that he would not be embarrassed. Shmuel said to him: You performed a mitzva. Shmuel went out and taught based on this incident that even though it is written: “And charity will save from death” (Proverbs 10:2), it does not only from an unusual death but even from death itself.

And Rabbi Chanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven, as it is stated: “And now Israel, what does the Eternal your God ask of you other than to fear the Eternal your God, to walk in all God's ways, to love and to serve the Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12)...

And Rabbi Yitzchak said: A person’s sentence is torn up on account of four types of actions. These are: charity, crying out in prayer, a change of one’s name, and a change of one’s deeds. Charity, as it is written: “And charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2); crying out in prayer, as it is written: “Then they cry to God in their trouble, and God brings them out of their distresses” (Psalms 107:28); a change of one’s name, as it is written: “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be” (Genesis 17:15), and it is written there: “And I will bless her, and I will also give you a son from her” (Genesis 17:16); a change of one’s deeds, as it is written: “And God saw their deeds” (Jonah 3:10), and it is written there: “And God repented of the evil, which God had said God would do to them, and did not do it” (Jonah 3:10)...

And in truth it seems that everything is on the Eighth. Circumcision is on the eighth, the festival of Sukkot has Shmini Atzeret, as explained in the Midrash: "stay behind with me one more day". For then is the completion of all the individual things that were done in that month and were finished in Shmini Atzeret. And on Chanukah you need to light eight candles. To my mind, it's possible that the eighth candle of Chanukah is from the same principle as Shmini Atzeret, and therefore the righteous ones say that on Chanukah is the conclusion of the Seal [on the Book of Life]. And when all the individualities are done, then it is called Beautiful, for it returns and brings down the living energies of the Blessed Creator to this world.