By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin
PIKESVILLE, Maryland — Pirkei Avot, “Ethics of the Fathers,” is a Jewish text that compiles ethical teachings and moral wisdom from a wide range of rabbinic sages. It is unique among the Mishna’s tractates for focusing on character development and daily life rather than legalistic rules. It was composed around 190–230 CE. Is it more important than Jewish laws?
Three things must be understood about Jewish Ethics. The first is to recognize that the goal of the Torah is proper behavior. Many practices mentioned in the Five Books of Moses were essential only in the early history of the Jewish people when the former slaves were uneducated and insufficiently rational. For example, the Torah requires procedures for sacrifices. Still, Jewish tradition has understood that the Bible wants people to behave appropriately with one another, not spend time trying to please God.
Second, we need to identify overarching values, such as the Tzelem Elohim, “the image of God,” which Genesis 1:26 states is implanted in all human beings, Jews and non-Jews. Maimonides clarifies that Tzelem Elohim refers to the intelligence humans are obligated to use.
However, the term also indicates that humans must act like God. Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5 states: “One who saves a single life is (morally equivalent to) as if he saves the entire world; one who destroys a single life is as if he destroys the entire world.”
This concept is reflected in Deuteronomy 16:20’s “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” in the rule to love others in Leviticus 19:18, in the holiness teachings in Leviticus 19:2, in the emphasis on peace in Isaiah 57:19, in the general concept of moral rightness and goodness in Deuteronomy 6:18, as well as the many biblical requirements to clothe the naked, feed the poor, visit the sick, comfort mourners.
Another one that recognizes that the commandments were not the goal but a path toward the goal, is lifnim meshurat ha-din, going beyond the requirements of the commandments. Still another is Tikkun Olam, commonly translated as “repairing the world,” requiring one to be active, to improve oneself and society, rather than to sit passively studying the law, praying, or reciting Psalms.
The third item that must be understood about Jewish Ethics is that its ultimate objective — the vision that animates the commands and the ethics they teach — is the messianic vision of a society suffused with peace and justice. The goal of the commandments is not the doing of the command; the goal, indeed, the purpose of the command is to live ethically according to the values mentioned above.
The ancient rabbis recognized the importance of ethics. They said such things as Derekherets kadmah l’Torah, “Proper behavior preceded the Torah itself.” Rabbi Yohanan said, “Jerusalem was destroyed only because [Jews] judged according to the law of the Torah.” In essence, Rabbi Yohanan is saying that Jews who wrap themselves in a life of law, ignoring Jewish Ethics, are laying the groundwork for Judaism’s destruction.
The classic example of Jewish ethics vs. “the law of the Torah” is the story of Shimon ben Shetach in the Palestinian Talmud Baba Metzia 2:5. Simeon ben Shetach, circa 140-60 BCE, was a Pharisee scholar and Nasi, “head,” of the Sanhedrin, the 71-member court.
His students bought a donkey for him from a non-Jewish trader. After the sale, they found a precious gem on it. They told their teacher that he was now rich and no longer needed to work. Their teacher asked if the trader knew about the gem. “No,” they replied. He then said. “Go and return it.” His students argued, “Is it not the law that you are permitted to keep the gem?” Shimon ben Shetach answered them: “Do you think that Shimon ben Shetach is a barbarian?”
We should note that it is clear, beyond dispute, that halakha, the law, allowed the teacher to keep the jewel. But Shimon ben Shetach knew that following the law was morally wrong, and he must “go beyond the strict line of the law.” His use of the term “barbarian” is shocking, but it indicates his moral outrage against those who follow the law when morality is demanded.
The prophets stressed ethical behavior before Shimon ben Shetach. Micah wrote in 6:8, “It has been told to you, man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you; only to act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Zechariah proclaimed in 7:8-9, “This is what the Lord almighty said, ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’” These are examples of many similar statements, none of which mention halakha.
The rabbis continued the teachings of the prophets. Shimon Ben Azzai of the second century CE asserted that the basic teaching of the Torah is that all humans were created in the image of God, as stated in Genesis 6:1, “God created man. In the likeness of God, He made him.”
Rabbi Akiva (50 CE -135) said that Leviticus 19:18 has the Torah’s basic teaching, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Hillel (circa 110 BCE-10 CE) said it this way to a would-be convert to whom he was teaching Judaism, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole of the Torah, the rest is explanation, go and learn,” Nachmanides (1194-1270) explained that Leviticus 19:2’s “You shall be holy” and Deuteronomy 6:18’s “You shall do what is right and good in God’s eyes” requires Jews to go beyond the requirements of halakha and promote human welfare, interpersonal relations, and protect individual interests fairly. Maimonides (1038-1204), before him, said the same.
It should be clear that a central purpose of Jewish law is to realize moral values. But this realization does not go far enough. Jewish ethics needs to take into account the modern sensibilities of justice and equality. The ancient rabbis did it by abolishing slavery and sacrifices, ending executions, turning “an eye for an eye” into monetary compensation, and adopting dozens of other practices.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the first head of the military rabbinate in the Israel Defense Force (1917-1994), ruled for the IDF, “God forbid that those laws [in the Torah] are applied to non-biblical wars or wars of our times.” We need to copy the initiatives of the rabbis who stressed Jewish ethics and urged Jews to do more.
Like the Torah itself, Jewish ethics may have originated during the days of Moses and may be found in the Bible, written or inspired by God. But it no longer resides in heaven. The Torah and our talmudic rabbis tell us Lo ba’shamayim hi – “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). Jewish life, and the possibilities of holiness and ethics, are in our hands. There is much that still needs to be done. While the fundamental Jewish values of justice and mercy are eternal, how, when, and if they are realized are up to us.
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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps. He is the author of more than 50 books.