Q&A: Does the Torah Teach Morality?
Does the Torah Teach Morality?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
There is a common claim among religious people that when the Torah commands something, even if it appears immoral, the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealing to us that this is actually the true morality, and only we as human beings fail to see it.
I saw that you once wrote that you do not agree with this view, but you did not elaborate there. I would be glad if you could explain the reason.
I should note that although I intuitively feel that this view is problematic, I cannot point to the exact issue. On the face of it, the idea sounds reasonable. After all, morality is objective; it is true regardless of what people think about it. And it is well known that people often make mistakes in their moral judgments. So why is it absurd to argue that the Holy One, blessed be He, knows morality better than we do and reveals the truth to us so that we will not err? Especially when expressions appear in the Torah such as “and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment” (there are things in the Torah’s legal system that do not seem like justice) and the like.
Thank you very much
Answer
It is absurd because morality is something universal, and it is binding for both Jews and non-Jews, whereas Jewish law addresses only Jews. What I understand to be moral is morality itself. Beyond that, there are laws of custom and practice that do not seem connected to morality at all—not contradictory to it, but simply unrelated—so it is not reasonable to think their purpose is moral. It is more plausible that they are intended for religious purposes, that is, values outside the moral context. If so, the other halakhot are probably like that as well. There is no reason to twist our morality, reject what is clearly moral, and redefine it as something immoral.