Grace beyond the law
In the SD
Hello Rabbi, I recently read in one of the commentators that the approach that we go beyond the law is so that God, the Holy One, will give us a good reward in the next world. There is also the direction that He will go with us beyond the law.
I wanted to ask if the rabbi really wrote anywhere what his opinion was on the matter? From a pragmatic perspective, one should probably arrive at a more pleasant society or higher rewards and punishments. But is that the only dimension in the story?
Why really shouldn’t good also be right and that’s it? (Just justice without mercy).
I disagree with the thesis you presented. The reason for doing things from the law is that it is proper behavior. Like mitzvot, we do them because that is proper and not for the reward.
Why are some of the duties defined as within the law, because this is not an insurmountable requirement but rather a virtue that allows one to be considered a reasonable person even without it. Just as the law does not contain all moral requirements.
I'm not sure that every case where they act according to the law you would consider reasonable (for example, Grama) and conversely, not all places that are beyond the law are just “ma'al” it could show even more.
In any case, the question is what is the source of acting like this in your opinion? Or in other words, why is this appropriate behavior?
Is the reason for this without prior reduction on the ethical level? Or is there an idea that contains this, for example, that a reformed society cannot survive in the long term by the virtue of sodomy alone.
You are mixing up questions. I argued that before the fire of the law this is a virtue. That does not necessarily mean that I would see it as a virtue. The Torah/Chazal see it that way. I would not even think of the commandments myself.
The claim that this is the proper thing to do before the fire of the law reflects a perception that this is the proper thing to do. For example, restoring a loss after despair is a proper thing even though it is not an obligation from the principle of the law. Not because a society cannot exist on the fire of the law. On the contrary, it can (therefore it is only before the fire of the law), but it is still the proper thing to do.
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