Free Lunch or Free Will?: The Jewish Texts and Modern Biology Address Voluntary Choice
It appears that we can choose between a number of courses of action and thus become, through our choice, the cause of the action we select. Is this a true account of how we act, or are we compelled by God or by the laws of nature to act in such a way that we only appear to make choices freely? In this talk, we’ll explore the writings on the topic of free will by a variety of Jewish philosophers, both ancient and modern. We’ll also examine some contemporary Jewish scientists’ views on this challenging question. Attendees will then get to choose what they believe. Or will they?
Dr. Jack Shlachter is a physicist who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for over thirty years with much briefer stints at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, the Atomic Energy Agency, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, the latter two based in Vienna, Austria. In parallel, Jack was ordained as a rabbi in 1995. He was the rabbi and spiritual leader for the Jewish congregation in Los Alamos for many years, was the rabbi in Center Moriches, NY, during his years at Brookhaven, and now serves as rabbi of HaMakom, a congregation in Santa Fe, NM as well as the Los Alamos Jewish Center. He has also provided itinerant rabbinic support to far-flung Jewish communities including those in Vienna, Austria, Beijing, China, Warsaw, Poland, and Bangkok, Thailand.
