Ruth tells her: “You don’t need my permission.”
And Barbie says, “But you’re the Creator. Don’t you control me?”
Ruth laughs and says: “I can’t control you anymore than I can my own daughter…I named you after her, after Barbara. And I always hoped for you, like I hoped for her. We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they’ve come.”
Finally Barbie says: “So being human’s not something I need to ask for, or even want? It’s something I just discover I am?”
And Ruth looks at her knowingly and says: “I can’t in good conscience let you take this leap without you knowing what it means. Take my hands… now close your eyes…and feel.”
For a first read of the text above, focus on the idea of control and choice.
Jewish tradition teaches that, like Barbie, our Creator has given us free will. The rabbis go to considerable length reconciling that free will with the idea of an omniscient God.
הַכֹּל צָפוּי, וְהָרְשׁוּת נְתוּנָה, וּבְטוֹב הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן. וְהַכֹּל לְפִי רֹב הַמַּעֲשֶׂה:
(ב) הכל צפוי והרשות נתונה ובטוב העולם נדון וכו'. יש לשאול, מה ענין 'הכל צפוי וכו'' אל מה שאמר 'חביב האדם שנברא בצלם אלקים'. דע, כי מצד מדריגת מעלת האדם* שהוא חביב כל כך, ראוי שיהיו כל מעשיו שהוא עושה לשם שמים נראים ונגלים לפני הקב"ה, שהרי האדם קרוב אל השם יתברך, ואיך לא יהיו מעשיו צפוים לפני הקב"ה. ...
(ג) וכן מה שאמר 'הרשות נתונה', ... ואם רואה שהאדם רוצה לעשות חטא, אין הקב"ה מונע ממנו החטא מלעשות, אלא הרשות נתונה לו. ודבר זה מפני כי האדם נברא בצלם אלקים (בראשית א, כז), ויש לו דמיון בזה גם כן אל השם יתברך, שהוא נברא בצלם אלקים. ואין הדבר הזה נמצא אל המלאכים, שאין הבחירה בהם, והם עושים כפי אשר הקב"ה מנה* אותם לעשות, ולא ישנו את שליחותם. אבל האדם שנברא בצלם אלקים, יש לו סגולה זאת שהוא ברשות עצמו, כמו השם יתברך שהוא עושה מה שירצה, וכך האדם יש רשות בידו לעשות מה שירצה, והוא בעל בחירה.
All is foreseen, but freewill is given. And the world is judged charitably... One can ask: How is the notion that "all is foreseen" related to the statement that "the human is beloved, as it was created in the image of God?" Know that according to the stature of the human being, that is so dear, it would be fitting that all of its deeds, done for the sake of Heaven, would be clear and apparent before the Holy One, since the human being is near and dear to God, so how would its deeds not be foreseen before the Holy One!? ...
And when it says "freewill is given," ... If God sees that a person is inclined to sin, the Holy One does not prevent them from doing that sin, but free will is in their hands. This is because the human was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and possesses a likeness in this way to the Holy One, having been created in the image of God. And this is not the case for the angels, who have no free choice; they only do what God has instructed them to do and cannot change their mission. But the human being, having been created in the image of God, is distinguished in being in its own domain, like God Who does what God wills. So does the human being possess free will to do what it will, defined by free choice.
אַל יַעֲבֹר בְּמַחֲשַׁבְתְּךָ דָּבָר זֶה ... שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא גּוֹזֵר עַל הָאָדָם מִתְּחִלַּת בְּרִיָּתוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק אוֹ רָשָׁע.
אֵין הַדָּבָר כֵּן אֶלָּא כָּל אָדָם רָאוּי לוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק כְּמשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ אוֹ רָשָׁע כְּיָרָבְעָם אוֹ חָכָם אוֹ סָכָל אוֹ רַחֲמָן אוֹ אַכְזָרִי אוֹ כִּילַי אוֹ שׁוּעַ וְכֵן שְׁאָר כָּל הַדֵּעוֹת. וְאֵין לוֹ מִי שֶׁיִּכְפֵּהוּ וְלֹא גּוֹזֵר עָלָיו וְלֹא מִי שֶׁמּוֹשְׁכוֹ לְאֶחָד מִשְּׁנֵי הַדְּרָכִים אֶלָּא הוּא מֵעַצְמוֹ וּמִדַּעְתּוֹ נוֹטֶה לְאֵי זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ שֶׁיִּרְצֶה. ...
וְחָזַר וְאָמַר הוֹאִיל וּרְשׁוּתֵנוּ בְּיָדֵינוּ וּמִדַּעְתֵּנוּ עָשִׂינוּ כָּל הָרָעוֹת רָאוּי לָנוּ לַחֲזֹר בִּתְשׁוּבָה וְלַעֲזֹב רִשְׁעֵנוּ שֶׁהָרְשׁוּת עַתָּה בְּיָדֵינוּ. הוּא שֶׁכָּתוּב אַחֲרָיו (איכה ג מ) "נַחְפְּשָׂה דְרָכֵינוּ וְנַחְקֹרָה וְנָשׁוּבָה" וְגוֹ':
A person should not entertain the thesis ... that, at the time of a humanity's creation, The Holy One, blessed be God, decrees whether they will be righteous or wicked.
This is untrue. Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam, or wise or foolish or merciful or cruel or miserly or generous, or any other character traits. There is no one who compels them, sentences them, or leads them towards either of these two paths. Rather, they, on their own initiative and decision, tends to the path he chooses. ...
[The prophet Jeremiah] continues explaining, since free choice is in our hands and our own decision [is what prompts us to] commit all these wrongs, it is proper for us to repent and abandon our wickedness, for this choice is presently in our hand. This is implied by the following verse [ibid.:40]: "Let us search and examine our ways and return [to God]."
Let's read the conversation from Barbie again, this time with an emphasis on the last line.
Ruth tells her: “You don’t need my permission.”
And Barbie says, “But you’re the Creator. Don’t you control me?”
Ruth laughs and says: “I can’t control you anymore than I can my own daughter…I named you after her, after Barbara. And I always hoped for you, like I hoped for her. We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they’ve come.”
Finally Barbie says: “So being human’s not something I need to ask for, or even want? It’s something I just discover I am?”
And Ruth looks at her knowingly and says: “I can’t in good conscience let you take this leap without you knowing what it means. Take my hands… now close your eyes…and feel.”
What does it mean to feel? How is what we feel synonymous with what is real?
Next let's consider what that means for how we make meaning of our lives (religiously or not, psychologically or not, and autobiographically or not).
from "Barbie, or Ruth Handler's Guide to Death," by Lauren Puckett-Pope, published July 21, 2023. https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a44601557/who-is-ruth-handler-barbie-inventor-movie-cameo-explained/
ואמר רבי חנינא הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים שנאמר (דברים י, יב) ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה
R. Hannina also said: Everything is in the hand of Heaven except the reverence of Heaven; as it is said, "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to revere" (Deut. 10:12).
--Victor Frankel
You can change your past. That is the emotional premise of forgiveness. No, you cannot change what happened. You can change only your emotional relationship to what happened. And it might very well be the hardest thing you ever try to do....
We have choices: we can grieve the loss rather than punish ourselves for something that we cannot do... We can grieve the loss of our old self. We can move on and make progress in our life by engaging in the process of grief, which leads to an experience of freedom and gives us a new perspective on life. That new view may even open our heart to finding forgiveness in unexpected places... Just as we can change our past, so we can write a new story going forward.
One final question: how does the idea--presented below--that repentence/return/teshuva was created before humanity reinforce our having free will?
How is that like Ruth Handler, in the lead in to Barbie's request to become human, saying, "I always knew that Barbie would surprise me, but I never expected this"?
Repentance was created before the world was created, as it is written: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalms 90:2), and it is written immediately afterward: “You return people to contrition; and You say: Return, mortals.” (Psalms 90:3).