And you did what was right and good.
Hello Rabbi and good week,
In Tractate Bava Metzia, page 16: It is written:
I will not be ashamed to boast, and because you have done what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, it is said, “Our Lord, you will be praised.”
It is implied that if it were not written in the Torah, “Do what is right and good,” then seemingly we would not be expected to do what is right and good. This seemingly goes against your view that we are expected to act morally, even if we were not halachically commanded to do so.
Therefore, I ask why the Gemara needed the verse “And you have done what is just and good” to justify the assertion that the land will return?
Best regards,
Even without reference to this gemara, you can ask about the verse itself: Why is it necessary? This verse is not a command (as far as I know, it is not a commandment, but rather expresses an expectation from us to be moral. In the fourth notebook, I argued that the moral obligation is also because God expects it of us. If so, the verse is cited as a source for what must be done morally (and this is not a halakhic source). Beyond that, it could also be a shigra delishna. They want to say that it is for moral reasons and express this through a verse.
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