Q&A: Is God Subject to Morality?
Is God Subject to Morality?
Question
Have a good week.
A. Every morning we say “Modeh Ani,” etc., “that You have returned my soul within me.” According to the Rabbi’s view that the Sages have no authority over reality, where did the Sages know from that the soul departs? Does the Rabbi nevertheless say this? And if so, why?
B. The Rabbi explained in one of the posts that what is considered morally bad for a human being is also bad for God, and there isn’t some double standard of bad/good. And I assume the Rabbi agrees with me that slavery is a bad thing. If so, how is it permitted for God to enslave us? After all, He too is subject to morality. The question also refers to the giving of the Torah, where He “held the mountain over them like a barrel,” and also literally to today.
Best regards,
A.Y.A.
Answer
One of the stranger messages I’ve seen lately.
A. The Sages have no authority over reality? What does that even mean? What does it have to do with “Modeh Ani”? Am I thanking the Sages for returning my soul to me? Are you sure you didn’t drink/smoke something? And in general, I’ll just say that “Modeh Ani” doesn’t assume anything metaphysical. We thank the Holy One, blessed be He, for bringing us back from sleep to a state of wakefulness. They describe this as the return of the soul, and that doesn’t commit us to any metaphysical claim about what exactly is happening there.
B. Strange question. How does He punish us with death for various transgressions? The Holy One, blessed be He, does not enslave us but commands us with various commandments for our benefit and for the benefit of the world. What does that have to do with slavery? There is also a mistake in your comparison. Moral principles may be uniform, but their application depends on who is involved. One who created all of us has rights regarding us that none of us has regarding another person. Therefore, according to those same moral principles, it may be permitted to Him what is forbidden to us.
A. Maybe I didn’t explain myself well. We say, “I thank You, living and enduring King, that You have returned my soul within me,” etc. That statement does make a claim about reality, because it says that the soul was taken at night and returned in the morning. Where does that assumption come from? And since the Rabbi holds that the Sages have no authority regarding reality, I asked what the Rabbi does here.
The Rabbi answered me that it is only giving thanks to God “who brings us back from sleep to a state of wakefulness,” but seemingly for that there is already another blessing: “who gives strength to the weary.”
B. But that itself is the issue: slavery is forbidden even if it is for someone’s benefit, because I am still a free human being. Why should someone decide for me against my will and without giving any explanation? Why should I care that He created me? It is still a wrongful act to force people to perform commandments, or even to bring them into a world full of suffering when they were never asked beforehand whether they wanted it or not.
And as for whether I drank/smoked—don’t worry, everything is fine, thank God.