[On that topic - a new sefer has just been published in memory of Rav Moshe Twersky ztz"l Hy"d by his friend Rav Yaakov Dovid Homnick Shlita of North Miami Beach, called אבל משה, which is about 50 deep chapters on the life and times of Moshe Rabbeinu. I have covered a lot and it is extraordinary. Taste it and see.]
Mori v'Rabbi Rav Mayer Twersky Shlit"a sometimes quotes a BEIS HALEVI who discusses something very similar to what you were drawing on. (See below)
Part of my notes from מס' שבת - פרק הבונה....
רבינו בחיי דברים פ"ד discusses הבא ליטמא פותחין לו. He understands that ריש לקיש is saying that one who is בא ליטמא – “ימצא הפתחים פתוחים.” A פתח is opened for someone if he desires to be מטמא himself.[1] If a person wants to believe an אמונה כוזבת, a פתח is created for him.
Rav Twersky explained that this is drawing on a big יסוד. The miracle of בחירה חפשית has two aspects. The first is that everything else in the world is basically programmed. Animals act instinctively. Planets go in their orbits. Everything is programmed, except for a person. The second aspect is that the אמת is that truth in the world is so compelling that it should really, without our being programmed, deprive us of our בחירה. The fact that הקב"ה gave us בחירה חפשית means that he gave us a capacity to choose, and because of that we will only believe what we are willing to believe. We will believe what we insist on believing regardless of its rationality. If we choose to be guided by what is most sensible then we will open ourselves to what is compelling. If not, not. בית הלוי has a line where he says that כופרים have אמונה. כופרים just choose to believe their כפירה rather than the רבונו של עולם.[2]
[2] I believe Rebbe is referring to בית הלוי שמות פרק ל"ב (פ' כי תשא), וז"ל:
"נמצא חוטאים בשני אופנים, א' על שכופרים בהשגחתו, שנית שמאמינים בהשגחת דבר אשר אין רוח בו ועינים להם ולא יראו, וע"כ באה להם ג"כ הני שני מיני עונשים מדה כנגד מידה מה שבכוונה ומה שלא בכוונה."
בענין כל הבא לטהר ובחירה חפשית
גמרא שבת קד. says that the reason that the bottom leg of the letter ק' is תלויה is so that if the רשע wants to do תשובה he has a פתח through which to enter (into קדושה). גמ' says that this is a support for ריש לקיש who says that the פסוק משלי פ"ג which says “אם ללצים הוא יליץ ולענוים יתן חן” tells us that הבא ליטמא פותחין לו and a בא לטהר מסייעין אותו. [BTW - Reish Lakish was a Baal Teshuva and spoke from experience].
What does this mean?
Rambam [Teshuva 6/5] explains at least half of this statement of ריש לקיש. רמב"ם explains that the nature of every person is that הקב"ה gave us a “כח ללמוד ולהבין.” This מדה makes it so that any time a person is “נמשך בדרכי החכמה וצדק” he will ממילא be “מתאוה להן ורודף אותם.” This is what חז"ל mean by saying הבא לטהר וכו' – “ימצא עצמו נעזר על הדבר.”
According to the רמב"ם, the טבע of every person is that truth exerts a powerful force on a person. Because of that, as long as one is following after the אמת, that attraction automatically intensifies. מתאוה להן ורודף אותם. בא ליטהר means that if one starts on the path of טהרה and צדקות, ממילא his attraction towards צדקות and טהרה will intensify and pull him along further.
רמב"ם does not spell out the contrast to הבא ליטמא. There is no question that when a person develops certain habits of חטא there is a certain momentum in it. Even before the level of addiction, it is clear that there is a pull towards חטא once one begins sinning.
Rav Twersky pointed out that לכאורה the רמב"ם would say that whatever force is exerted on a person after he has “whet his appetite” for חטא is nothing compared to the potential force that exposing oneself to דרכי חכמה and צדק will cause.
לכאורה this רמב"ם is לשיטתו as well:
רמב"ם תשובה ה:א says that "רשות לכל אדם נתונה" to lean towards the דרך טובה to be a צדיק or to lean towards the דרך רעה and become a רשע. Every person can make that choice. This is based on the פסוק פ' בראשית ג:כב which says “הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע.” This means that this species called אדם is יחיד בעולם in that he is able to know the difference between טוב ורע in his דעת and מחשבה, and he can do whatever ever he wants, without any force being מעכב.
רמב"ם שמונה פרקים
tells us that he is learning like תרגום אונקלוס on that פסוק. רש"י (שם) learns that “אחד” means unique, like when אבימלך says to יצחק – "כמעט שכב אחד העם" which means מיוחד שבעם. הקב"ה is כביכול saying to the מלאכים that אדם is מיוחד in that he is like one of us. אונקלוס adds an implicit word and interprets differently: “הא אדם הוה יחידאי בעלמא, מניה למדע טב וביש.” According to אונקלוס – אדם is unique in the world in that “ממנו” – from himself[1] – he has the כח לדעת טוב ורע.
What does this concept of מיני לידע טוב ורע have to do with the beginning of this הלכה in the רמב"ם? What does מעצמו יודע טוב ורע have to do with בחירה חפשית?
Rav Twersky explained that the way the רמב"ם presents the יסוד of בחירה חפשית is that the עיקר of בחירה is not just that if you give me options I can choose which one is better. The יסוד of בחירה is that an אדם can decided – מעצמו – what is considered good and what is bad. Free will is not בעצם the ability to do good or bad, but the שכל to know what is good or bad.
Rav Twersky explained that the way the רמב"ם presents the יסוד of בחירה חפשית is that the עיקר of בחירה is not just that if you give me options I can choose which one is better. The יסוד of בחירה is that an אדם can decided – מעצמו – what is considered good and what is bad. Free will is not בעצם the ability to do good or bad, but the שכל to know what is good or bad.
Rav Twersky explained that we see clearly the רמב"ם understands that the stronger and more compelling a person’s understanding is, the more it will drive his בחירה in action. That is why the רמב"ם’s understanding of הבא לטהר is לשיטתו. The more דעת and מחשבה one invests לטה ולביש, the more he will ממילא be compelled to act in that דרך.
רבינו בחיי דברים פ"ד discusses הבא ליטמא פותחין לו. He understands that ריש לקיש is saying that one who is בא ליטמא – “ימצא הפתחים פתוחים.” A פתח is opened for someone if he desires to be מטמא himself.[2] If a person wants to believe an אמונה כוזבת, a פתח is created for him.
Rav Twersky explained that this is drawing on a big יסוד. The miracle of בחירה חפשית has two aspects. The first is that everything else in the world is basically programmed. Animals act instinctively. Planets go in their orbits. Everything is programmed, except for a person. The second aspect is that the אמת is that truth in the world is so compelling that it should really, without our being programmed, deprive us of our בחירה. The fact that הקב"ה gave us בחירה חפשית means that he gave us a capacity to choose, and because of that we will only believe what we are willing to believe. We will believe what we insist on believing regardless of its rationality. If we choose to be guided by what is most sensible then we will open ourselves to what is compelling. If not, not. בית הלוי has a line where he says that כופרים have אמונה. כופרים just choose to believe their כפירה rather than the רבונו של עולם.[3]
One example: The whole discipline of science is an attempt to understand the rules which govern the world. If one would think everything was random then one wouldn’t do research to discover why things happen. The assumption is that it is a very orderly world and generally scientists assume that the neater and more orderly your theory is the better your theory is. Of course a person believes this, but he can then choose to believe that the world is random.
If a person wants to believe in אמת, then no פתח needs to be opened for him. The אמת is all right in front of him and it is so compelling. If, however, a person wants to believe a new, krum idea, then a פתח is opened for him to do so. The miracle of בחירה חפשית is that although the אמת is all present and totally compelling, if a person decides he wants to deny it and believe in שקר, then a פתח will be made which allows him to do so.
Many years ago someone came to talk to Rav Twersky because he thought he had problems with אמונה. They had a long discussion about his problems. At the end of the conversation, this person said, “I hear everything that you are saying. It makes perfect sense. But how do I know that there isn’t really a flaw in what you ‘re saying that I am just not picking up on?”The answer to that is that no one can take away your בחירה. As compelling as אמת is, בחירה makes it that it can’t force you to believe. The טבע of the world is that a person can deny what is compelling. אמת can’t take away בחירה. You can’t force a person to believe. Ultimately there has to be a willingness to believe in אמת. One must excersize בחירה to recognize and accept the אמת. The fact that one feels his בחירה is not being taken away and he is not totally convinced of the אמת is not a חסרון in the אמת. It is the miracle of בחירה.
[3] I believe Rebbe is referring to בית הלוי שמות פרק ל"ב (פ' כי תשא), וז"ל:
"נמצא חוטאים בשני אופנים, א' על שכופרים בהשגחתו, שנית שמאמינים בהשגחת דבר אשר אין רוח בו ועינים להם ולא יראו, וע"כ באה להם ג"כ הני שני מיני עונשים מדה כנגד מידה מה שבכוונה ומה שלא בכוונה."
