Q&A: Torah and Morality
Torah and Morality
Question
According to your approach, there are moral laws and there are religious laws, and there is no connection between them… If so, why do you think it is legitimate to answer clashes between morality and Jewish law by interpreting the Torah or the halakha in a way that fits morality? According to your approach, there is Torah and there is morality, and there is no connection between them, so morality should not serve as an incentive to change one’s understanding of Jewish law. In a situation of conflict, I would say that if you are right, then the solutions should be to give up Jewish law, or part of it, because morality is being significantly harmed. But there are places where the Torah and Jewish law are changed so that they fit morality.
Answer
I’ll explain briefly (because I’ve addressed this in lectures). First, there should generally be a correspondence between the laws of morality and Jewish law, because the Holy One, blessed be He, has no interest in putting us into no-win dilemmas. Only when there is no way out does a contradiction (or conflict) arise between them. Therefore, the starting point is that there should be harmony between them. Second, if there are several interpretive possibilities, I will choose the one that fits morality—not necessarily because it is the correct one, but because that is a reasonable way to choose when you are in doubt. Just as one chooses the lenient approach, or a passive non-action, so too it makes sense to choose the more moral approach, so long as all the options are possible.