Dear Friend,
Today, we take for granted that we are moral and civilized, with courts of law, judicial systems, codes of conduct and expected norms that are kindness, sharing, helping others and so on… But let's look through history, where did these things come from?
At the time when the Torah first laid out the groundwork for moral and civil laws with ethical behavior and societal responsibilities, it was in the year 1312 BCE when the Torah was given at Sinai. It was not exactly a time when people were civilized, in fact it was pretty much a take what you can and give nothing back mentality. If someone is in your way, then eliminate them and move forward, and may the weakest lose!
When our ancestors began living as a moral and civilized people after they received the Torah, with responsibility to each other and our neighbors, the people of the world opposed it and rejected it as radical and crazy, it was called the behavior of the weak and helpless who had to look to each other and the community for survival and progress.
Today, when we enjoy a mostly civil world. Let’s understand that the job of the Jewish people to be a light unto the nations has been accomplished at least in this respect. We did not accomplish this by forcing or threatening anyone, simply by role modeling and leading by example.
What is the groundwork and fundamentals for morals and civility?
Is it that people need to be forced to be good, perhaps by the government, and threatened by prison sentences and fines?
Perhaps it's freedom of choice, just let people do what they want and most people will choose to do the right thing.
The secret is the relationship of civility and ethics to religion.
You see, in Judaism, morals, ethics and civil behavior are just as religious as keeping Shabbat and Kosher and faith in G-d. That's why the Torah tells us to keep them in the same way. They are one in the same, there is no such thing as “moral” Mitzvot and “religious” Mitzvot. They are all from the same G-d and therefore all religious.
That's why I love to say that every Jew is religious, regardless of what they keep “religiously”. We all have qualities instilled in us by our ancestors, dating back more than three thousand years. We all keep many Mitzvot every single day, and so there is no Jew that is not religious.
The secret is that we understand that when we do something good, it is a holy act, divinely inspired, the same way our ancestors behaved in a world where morals were alien. But they followed the Torah’s moral laws like they followed the laws of Passover and Sukkot, they were ridiculed for it, for the morals and for the Shabbat and weird holidays, it was a package deal and still is today!
The irony is that the Torah gives us freedom of choice for all its laws, freedom to keep Shabbat, to respect our elders, to eat Kosher and to pay our employees on time.
The Torah sees it as one consistent life, where kindness and love, prayer, rituals and faith are part of one lifestyle that is congruant with truth and G-d.
And yes you are free to choose, because with choice comes dignity. G-d wants us to do the right thing because we choose it, not because we are forced. With choice we can live moral, civil, dignified and G-dly lives.
It’s awesome when you're told what to do in no uncertain terms, but you still have the freedom of choice to do it or not. That's how you know it comes from G-d, who wants you to do the right thing, and wants you to have the dignity of choosing the right thing as an individual.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
