The Torah’s Eternity and Amalek’s Wickedness
Freedom and Divine Providence
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Spinoza and Parashat Ki Teitzei by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
If the Torah is eternal, how can it contain stories shaped by human choice? What if Amalek had never attacked Israel? What if Yosef’s brothers had never sold him, or Moshe had spoken to the rock instead of striking it?
The Torah insists that human beings are morally responsible for their actions—yet Jewish tradition also speaks of a Torah that existed before creation. Can freedom and Divine providence both be true? Perhaps the answer lies in an unexpected place: in the very form of the Torah scroll itself.
