Jewish Ethics did not start with Pirkei Avot; its very essence is inscribed in the Torah (or Chumash – the five books of Moses).
- Thus in the first chapter of Bershit, we read that man was created “in the image of God” (Bereshit 1:27). Some commentators have understood this “phrase” as meaning that human beings are like God in that they understand the difference between good and evil.
- Later when God explains to Abraham why and what he has been singled out for, He says “in order that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just” (Bereshit 18:19). A lesson that Abraham uderstands so well that when God is ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham turns to Him and asks: “Shall not the judge of all the earth act with justice?” (Bereshit 18:25).
- There are three laws in the Torah for which the reward is long personal or national life; all three of them are ethical laws:
• “Honor your father and mother that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning you.” (Shemot 20:11)
• The law mandating us to chase the mother upon finding a nest and taking the young (Devarim 22:6-7). Maimonides makes clear that this is necessary as even an animal experiences pain in such an occasion and we are therefore mandated to alleviate its suffering.
• “You must have complete honest weights and completely honest measures so that you endure long on the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Devarim 25:15)
- Similarly one of the most famous passage of the Torah mainly concerns ethics. Thus the Ten commandments (Shemot 20:2-14), bind us to recognize first that God is our God but then enumerate a number of basic ethical obligations such as the prohibition of murder, adultery, stealing, bearing falsewitness, taking God’s name in vain and covetousness as well as the obligation to include servants and animals in the Shabbat rest. It is precisely because, as Jews, we have acknowledged that there is one God that we are requested to ask fairly just as He acts fairly.
This post was inspired by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s book A Code of Jewish Ethics. It is part of a summer exploration of Pirkei Avot along with Leora and Frumhouse.
6 Comments
July 8, 2008 at 12:44 pm
>human beings are like God in that they understand the difference between good and evil.
I got stuck on this line. Do human beings understand the difference between good and evil? Sometimes I’m not even sure I know the difference. And some animals instinctually know to stay away from one person and approach another.
I would prefer, perhaps, that we seek, by learning Torah and by learning from others, to figure out a good way to lead our lives. Not that we know the answers already.
July 8, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Maybe I should have written that “they have the capacity to distiguish between good and evil and act accordingly”.
July 9, 2008 at 7:16 am
I am going to include this in the next edition of Haveil Havalim.
July 9, 2008 at 9:09 am
Jack: Thank you.
July 10, 2008 at 4:28 am
This was really interesting Isabelle! I need to do more structured studying; this is a real inspiration.
July 11, 2008 at 1:19 pm
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