Q&A: Morality and the Holy One, Blessed be He
Morality and the Holy One, Blessed be He
Question
Hello Rabbi!
A few facts: the Rabbi believes in moral realism. What underlies that moral realism is the Creator of the world.
Another fact: the Rabbi separates Jewish law from morality.
There’s a leap here that I don’t understand. If the Holy One, Blessed be He, is the basis of morality, then His words, His will, and the path of halakhic ruling that He gave us throughout the generations should also be morality, no?
In other words, my question is: why does the Rabbi separate Jewish law from morality? After all, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is the root of morality, and the Rabbi agrees with that, so why doesn’t that make His words moral? If the Holy One, Blessed be He, tells me to slaughter my son, or to kill so-and-so because he is Amalek (assuming I really know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said so, or that this is His will), why is that not a moral act?
I’m taking these facts from your lectures and debates (forgive me for using the second person, so it won’t confuse us).
Thank you!
Answer
In column 457 I explained that ethical facts exist even independently of God. Their binding force, however, comes from Him.
But regardless of all that, I don’t understand your question. There are two kinds of God’s will: moral wills and religious wills. They are two different kinds, even though both are His will. What is the problem with that?
I understand that your request for forgiveness is because you are using the second person even though I am not physically present. That’s fine; on the internet that also counts as my being present—especially according to my view that you can even form a prayer quorum online.