Q&A: Morality versus Jewish Law
Morality versus Jewish Law
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi,
The Rabbi argued that when deciding between morality and Jewish law, Jewish law does not always prevail. Afterward, the Rabbi gave the example of male homosexual relations, saying that he sees no way to permit it, because here the contradiction is essential and always present, and if God commanded this in the Torah then He already took the moral consideration into account and decided for us that here Jewish law prevails.
Seemingly there is a contradiction in the Rabbi’s words—because it sounds like Jewish law always prevails unless there are situations where one can lower the level of the prohibition or partially avoid it (like milking on the Sabbath, which is forbidden, but if it is done automatically and the milk is discarded, in order to prevent animal suffering, then it is less forbidden and therefore we permit it). Where does the Rabbi think we would rule in favor of morality even without lowering the level of the prohibition?
Answer
I don’t know where you heard my view, but everywhere I wrote this I also explained it and answered your question. I distinguished between essential conflicts and incidental conflicts. In essential conflicts it is harder to decide against Jewish law (although even there people do so, mainly through creative interpretation), but in incidental conflicts one can certainly decide otherwise, because there the Torah did not instruct us which side prevails.
Discussion on Answer
I wasn’t talking about creative interpretation but about deciding. There is a conflict between Jewish law and a moral principle, and sometimes the moral principle prevails. For example, in the discussion about institutionalizing prostitution. The halakhic consideration says to institutionalize it, since that would prevent prohibitions involving menstruation and a married woman, etc., but the moral-value consideration rejects that. The same is true regarding invalidating the marriages of secular people.
I’d be glad for one or two examples of creative interpretation in an essential conflict, such that we would decide against Jewish law.