Does the Torah teach morality?
Hello Rabbi,
There is a common claim among religious people that when the Torah commands something, even if it seems immoral, God reveals to us that this is actually true morality, and it’s just that we as humans don’t see it.
I saw that you wrote once that you disagree with this perception, but you didn’t elaborate there. I would appreciate it if you could explain the reason to me.
I will note that I do intuitively feel that the above concept is problematic, but I am unable to pinpoint the exact point. On the surface, the idea sounds reasonable. After all, morality is objective, it is true regardless of what people think about it. And it is known that people are often wrong in their moral assessments. So why is it absurd to claim that God knows morality better than we do and reveals the truth to us so that we do not err? Especially when expressions appear in the Torah such as “and judge the people with justice” (there are things in the Torah’s legal system that do not seem like justice) and the like.
Thank you very much.
This is absurd because morality is universal, and is true for both Jews and Gentiles, while Halacha addresses only Jews. What I understand as morality is the same as morality. Beyond that, there are cultural practices that seem unrelated to morality (not contradictory, but unrelated), so it is unlikely that their purpose is moral. It is more likely that they are intended for religious purposes (values not in the moral context). If so, Halacha is probably different as well. There is no reason to distort our morality, and reject what is clearly moral and define it as something immoral.
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