By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — Last week I wrote about the well-known midrash that compares Noah’s moral immaturity to Abraham’s moral maturity.
Noah, the “hero” of the flood story, was saved because: “…Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.” (Gen 6:9)
However, later on when God spoke to Avraham, he instructed him: “…walk before Me and be blameless…” (Gen. 17:1)
The Rabbis explained that Noah walked with God as a small child walks with their parent who needs to keep a close eye on them. Abraham, on the other hand, walked before God as an older child is given freer reign and walks in front of their parent.
This week while reviewing parashat Lech L’cha I came upon an additional interpretation that adds another layer to the midrash above.
Rabbi Yisrael, the maggid (preacher) of Koznitz, taught that there are two ways to be God-fearing. The first is be like the person who, like Abraham, walks before God. This God-fearer constantly relies on God to support them and keep them far from the yetzer hara (the evil inclination). This God-fearer can be compared to the an older maturing child who walks in front of their parent. While this child is allowed independence, the parent still needs to keep eye on them to prevent them from falling or injury.
The second way to be God fearing is to be like the person who studies God’s commandments, and takes full responsibility for following them. This person does not need constant reminders of what to do. This kind of God-fearer can be compared to a teenager who is able to walk behind their parent because their parent no longer has to keep a close eye on them.
Abraham was the first type of God-fearer. Although Abraham was morally mature, because God had not yet given the Torah, God had to keep an eye on him to make sure he did the right thing. However, after God gave Israel the Torah at Mt. Sinai things were different. Now that Israel had statutes and laws to follow and obey, they were similar to the teenager who needs less supervision. They were expected to behave correctly without constant nudging. This is why Moses told them, “Follow none but the Lord your God.” (Deut. 13:5) While Noah walked with God and Abraham walked in front of God, the Children of Israel were allowed to follow God.
Judaism has a very specific definition of what it takes to be morally mature. It is not to follow the dictates of one’s own heart or to adopt secular society’s definition of right and wrong. Rather, moral maturity can only be achieved by studying the Torah and incorporating its dictates into your life. For Jews, morality is defined by God’s word as distilled by our tradition and not by doing what “feels right.”
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leaere of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com