Q&A: Morality and Nothing More
Morality and Nothing More
Question
Dear Rabbi, after hearing the distinction the Rabbi makes between moral values and religious values, both of which can be independent and at the same time come from God’s will, the following idea occurred to me (which is very difficult for me as a religious person):
If one believes in God, it does indeed make sense to say that He wants us to be moral, since He implanted moral values in us clearly. And it even makes sense to say that He expects those who do not believe in Him to be moral as well, since He created them too with knowledge of moral values.
But why should we believe that He expects us to observe any religion at all?
After all, He did not implant religious values in us, and we are forced to rely on testimony from hundreds or thousands of years ago and/or on various signs, which—even if they are serious testimony and signs—are not at all hard to refute.
In fact, it would make sense to say that God is not interested at all in our maintaining any ritual, religion, prayer, or Jewish law. “Who told you to do this?” He could ask. And this, again, is unlike moral values, which He did reveal to us.
That is, if God wanted us to keep additional values besides moral values, why would He not reveal them to us in a clear and direct way, just as He revealed moral values to us?
Answer
I have no idea. But that is an irrelevant claim. There are two possibilities: a. It seems plausible to you that the revelation at Mount Sinai took place and that the Torah was given there and obligates us. b. It does not seem plausible to you that such an event took place.
If option b is correct, then there is no justification for observing commandments even aside from your question. If option a is correct, then there is an obligation to observe the commandments, except that you have a difficulty about why the Holy One, blessed be He, chose a different way to convey them to us. The conclusion then is that you do not understand His way of thinking and His considerations, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with the obligation itself. Do you understand all His other decisions? Why do the righteous suffer? The suffering in the world? The prohibition of pork, or redeeming a firstborn donkey? And many more.
Of course, it is barely possible that you are weighing the two possibilities in exactly equal balance, and this question is what tips the scale. But that is a very rare situation, and it is unlikely that you are exactly there (in the language of Jewish law: it is impossible to measure so precisely). If that is the situation, then it makes sense to decide accordingly.