I was wondering what the overall Jewish belief is in relation to fate and existentialism. Is the belief that G-d has a plan for everyone and our fate is left in his hands? Or that we humans are responsible for our own actions and G-d lets us “take control,” so to speak? In the words of the poet Tom Greening, are we “Just reacting or freely striving? Blindly driven or wisely driving?”
Man was created for eternal pleasure. He was put on this world to acquire his eternal reward by way of God’s gift of Free choice. God’s purpose in creating man was to be able to bestow eternal pleasure upon him. If he would have just showered him with endless pleasure then man would be just another form of plant life. A tree gets the sunlight, nutrients and rainwater that it needs to flourish without recognizing the true value therein. But God in his wisdom understood that in order for this creation to appreciate this good he would have to earn it. that’s why man was placed in this setting called “planet Earth” to enable him to accomplish this task.
The problem is if there was only “good” on this world then there wouldn’t be much of a choice. So therefore God created something which we will call “evil” but is really the opposite of good. It’s not a separate force that runs wild. It is an evil temptation that provides the obstacles for man to overcome. The distraction, if you will, from the priorities of life. It’s the counter balance to all that’s good. That’s what enables man to have free will and the liberty to choose. It provides the catalyst for an informed choice not an ignorant error!
Man is composed of both body and soul. The body of course is the vehicle on earth that enables the soul to diligently earn this piece of eternity. But there comes a time when this venue of choice comes to an end. That is what humanity refers to as death. But the truth is that the soul lives on, to deal with the consequences of what the partnership between the body and soul has yielded. Death is the separation of this marriage and the end of the existence of free will. It is at this time that the soul realizes all the missed opportunities of a lifetime. It realizes that there is now no way of returning to the earning period and must face the music of everything it had accomplished. The body too must undergo a realization of sorts. It now sits idle in a shallow grave anguishing over the fleeting nature of everything it fought so hard in life to hold onto. As it decays and decomposes it comes to the very pain filled realization that everything it had pursued is decaying along with it. But on the other hand out of all this pain and suffering comes a purification process that lets the body and soul throw off it’s earthly bondage and it becomes a catalyst to the soul gaining a special closeness to it’s Creator. It then can experience pleasure beyond our wildest imagination as it receives eternal reward for all it’s achievements. Ultimately in the time of resurrection the Body and soul will reunite in happiness and joy for all of eternity.
One thing you have to keep in mind. Like we discussed above, God created a human being to give him eternal pleasure. God will be an eternal protector for His children both on this world, when man is at the choosing stage and in the next world when man is judged for his actions. God only wants the best for His beloved children.
That in a nutshell is the answer to your question