 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
The Mystery of Goodness
By
David Hazony
A profound biblical lesson from a seeming Scriptural omission
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Nearing the end of his farewell address to the Israelites, Moses describes a peculiar ceremony they are to perform after entering Canaan.
Two great mountains, separated by a giant valley, dominate the promised land. Six tribes of the twelve tribes are to stand atop Mount Grizim "to bless the people," while the other six will climb Mount Eval "to curse" them. On the slopes of the latter, the Israelites are also to build a monumental altar and sacrifice to the Lord, placing there great stones covered with plaster and inscribed with the laws. All this will serve as a permanent witness to the Israelite covenant with the Lord and the founding of a new nation with a divine constitution of its own.
Two things are odd here. The first has to do with the list of the twelve tribes. Elsewhere in the Torah, Levi, named like the other tribes after one of Jacob's twelve sons, is for the most part not counted, for, as the priestly tribe, it contributes no soldiers to the war effort and receives no inheritance in the promised land (instead, "the Lord is their inheritance"). Meanwhile, the tribe of Joseph is usually counted as two, one each for Joseph's sons Ephraim and Menashe. Yet here both Levi and Joseph are on the list, while Ephraim and Menashe are not.
The children of Israel, we understand, are being addressed not so much in their present military-political reality as in their more ancient incarnation as the heirs of the patriarchs. This ceremony, in other words, is ultimately more about Israel as the carrier of a moral message to humanity, a message of right and wrong, than about Israel as a specific political community in a specific land.
But the second and less easily explained oddity concerns the text of what exactly is to be pronounced on the mountains. "Cursed be the man who makes any carved or molten idol. . . . Cursed be he who dishonors his father or mother. . . . Cursed be he who removes his neighbor's landmark. . . ." And so on. After each curse, the people are instructed to say, "Amen." The list—of twelve seriously bad things a person can do—is fairly reasonable in itself, emphasizing the qualities that make us moral men and women by stigmatizing what we should shun. But where are the blessings?
Well, they're not listed at all. Either the text, for some reason, has left them out deliberately, or—still more baffling—they were to be left out of the actual ceremony as well. Either way, the omission is glaring.
The rabbis taught that the Torah's commandments are divisible between negative and positive ones—and that all are necessary for earning G0d's blessing. But this text seems to suggest the opposite: that in addressing the foundations of morality, it is more important to prevent badness than to foster goodness. On this reading, goodness is so obvious that it doesn't require positive and specific injunctions. If you want to earn G0d's blessing, just refrain from the items on the curse list.
But that doesn't seem right. We all know people who spend their lives avoiding violations of the moral law while still finding ways to be dastardly creeps. By contrast, we intuit that there's something about a good person that is unique, special and positive in itself and not just the negation or avoidance of evil. "You shall be holy," the Torah tells us explicitly, "for I, the Lord your G0d, am holy."
There is another possibility—namely, that, in its nature, goodness defies easy delineation in the form of rules or laws. While we can put our finger on the red lines that separate the unacceptable from the minimally acceptable, it's much harder to say in black and white terms what makes a person positively good. Instead of rules, we tend to think in terms of character traits: kindness, boldness, self-confidence, responsibility, creativity, humility, integrity, and a slew of other virtues, in a balance that defies codification and that varies from one individual to the next. And we think of acts: of spontaneous kindness, of steadfast dedication to others, of inner harmony.
Our image of goodness, moreover, changes as we mature and build on our experiences, learning something about the real range of human possibility and the baffling complexities of real life. To understand goodness, we need exemplars and stories—stories like those that fill the Bible—rather than rules of thumb. Without them, general principles like "you shall be holy" become meaningless.
There is no mirror opposite to the list of ironclad laws associated with the curses of Mount Eval—not because goodness is easy to understand or self-explanatory but, on the contrary, because it can be as hard to navigate as anything else we encounter in our voyage through life.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in uplifting articles.
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Interested in a private Judaic studies instructor — for free? Let us know by clicking here.
Comment by clicking here
David Hazony's first book, The Ten Commandments: How Our Most Ancient Moral Text Can Renew Modern Life, will be published by Scribner in September.
Previously:
• Forget Me not
• Answering WWMD --- What Would Moses Do?
© 2010, David Hazony. From Jewish Ideas Daily
|
