Since Abraham was being thrown into the fiery furnace, the attempts to exterminate the Jewish People have never ceased. In every generation, they rose up against us to destroy us. Their plot was never carried out, however, because G-d saved us from their hands.

Yet it was not just external enemies who rose up against Israel. Our survival is threatened by self destructive Jews, as well, as it says, “Your destroyers shall emerge from amongst you yourselves” (Isaiah 49:17). Here too we see that despite their trials, the Jewish People endure, triumphantly moving forward. What is the secret of Jewish survival? The attempts throughout history to harm the Jewish People were directed against the people and against the Torah. Of these attempts Isaiah said, “No weapon fashioned against you shall prosper [physical destruction], and every tongue rising against you in judgment [to nullify the Torah] you shall condemn” (Isaiah 54:17).

Isaiah’s words were uttered regarding external threats, yet what is it that ensures our survival in face of threats from within? We find an answer to this in the words of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [Rashbi], several of whose utterances seemingly contradict the principle that “everything is in G-d’s hands except for the fear of Heaven,” explained by Rashi as follows: “ Everything that happens to a person comes from G-d.

Yet a person’s relative righteousness or wickedness is not through G-d. Rather, G-d leaves two paths open before a person, and he must himself choose the fear of G-d.

Yet Rashbi said (Shabbat 138b), “G-d forbid that the Torah should be forgotten from Israel, as it says, ‘It will not be forgotten by their descendants’ (Deuteronomy 31:21).” Seemingly, this contradicts the words of the Talmud, for what could be more a part of fear of G-d than Torah learning, as it says,  “Great is Torah learning, for it leads to practice.” Surely every Jew has the option to stop studying Torah, and if the whole nation does this, G-d forbid, the result will be that the Torah will be forgotten by Israel. How then could Rashbi say, and how could the Torah promise, that the Torah will never be forgotten?

A similar question can be posed regarding another statement of Rashbi:

“It says, ‘For as the days of a tree shall the days of my people be’ (Isaiah 65:22), and ‘tree’ can only refer to Torah, as it says, ‘It is a tree of life for those who take hold of it’ (Proverbs 3:18). Who was created for whom? Was the Torah created for Israel or was Israel created for the Torah?  Was not the Torah created for Israel? Rather, the Torah, which was created for Israel, shall endure forever, and all the more so that Israel, created in their own merit, shall endure forever as well” (Kohelet Rabbah1).

Here as well, seemingly every Jew has the free choice to assimilate through apostasy or intermarriage. And if all the Jews decide of their own free will to do this, here as well the result will be, G-d forbid, that the Jewish People will ceased to exist. Since this possibility exists in theory, what assurance does Rashbi have that the Jewish People will endure forever?

Free choice is one of the laws of Creation yet it exists only on the level of individuals. Every person has free will in his private life, yet as far as the Jewish People’s surviving and fulfilling their mission, individual Jews do not have free will. Therefore, as long as an individual’s free will does not endanger our nation’s existence, and does not jeopardize its fulfilling its goals, Divine Providence allows freedom to every individual. Yet, the moment the free will of the Jewish masses is liable to imperil or to disrupt any element of our survival, for example, the eternal existence of the Torah or of the Jewish People themselves, G-d then denies us free will and forces us to be faithful to the nations laws of survival.

There are examples of this within Jewish history, : At Mount Sinai G-d overturned the mountain over Israel like a barrel, threatening that unless they accepted the Torah, they would be buried right there. Even though our accepting the Torah is totally a matter of “the fear of G-d.” such that it ostensibly lies within the realm of free choice, we were still forced to accept the Torah because Israel’s survival depends on this.

Likewise, in Ezekiel’s time, Israel wished to be like all the nations, and when elders came and said, “Let us be like the nations, like the families of the earth” Ezekiel responded, “That which comes into your mind shall never come about…. As I live, says the L-rd G-d, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm and with anger poured out, will I be King over you” (Ezekiel 20:32-33)

Regarding the very survival of the Jewish People there is no free will—and if they do not understand this by themselves, it is forced upon them from G-d. The Netziv [Rabbi Naphtali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin] thus explains the verse, “It is a nation that dwells alone. Amongst the nations they are not counted” (Numbers 23:9) as follows: If Israel themselves preserve their uniqueness, then they will live in peace. If however they assimilate “amongst the nations,” then “they will not be counted.” The nations will not take into account or show them any consideration, because G-d will arouse hatred and alienation amongst the nations towards Israel, and this will force us to continue to be Jews.