GEN1033 See [[DEUT442]] Deuteronomy 10:17 favor DORFFDRAG

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GEN1037 The Bible takes the position that morality is independent of God, because it allows for moral critiques of God’s actions. Thus, in defending innocent people in Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham stirringly proclaims [this verse]. That argument apparently works, for it convinces God to agree to save the cities if ten righteous people can be found in them. Similarly, Job readily admits God’s power, but he indignantly questions God’s justice. (Job 9:35).  Neither of these passages would make sense unless one presumes that morality exists independent of God so that God can be morally called to account. Furthermore, descriptions of God with which this section began and elsewhere would be tautologies --that is, they would be saying simply that good is good -- unless God and morality occupy separate realms. The fact that religion and morality are logically independent makes the tradition's assertion that God is morally good all the more powerful, for God then could possibly be morally bad or simply indifferent to moral claims but instead chooses to be morally good and this serves as a paradigm for our own moral struggles. Furthermore, God demands moral goodness of us. As Isaiah (late eighth century B.C.E.) put it, “The Lord of hosts is elevated through justice (mishpat), the holy (powerful, awesome) God sanctified through righteousness (tzedakah). Isaiah 5:16. That is, God like the other gods in the ancient world, has power—indeed, more power than they have—but unlike them, God is worshiped not only through acts of submission, but also through justice.… I am among those who maintain that the inherent morality of God requires rabbis and each generation to apply the law with moral norms in mind.  DORFFWITO 52-53

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GEN1032 [I]t is extremely difficult to evaluate today the relationship of religion and ethics.   The modern decline of religion and the concomitant search for the essence of Judaism have undermined the unity of religion and ethics. And yet, from the point of view of Judaism -- as it is expressed both in theory and in life -- there can be no doubt that there is a profound, intrinsic, and abiding interrelationship between religion and ethics.   Philosophers have always explored the nature of the good and its connection with God, but Jewish life was always conducted in the firm belief that God cannot act unjustly [this verse] and that only through justice and loving-kindness can man “walk in the way of God” Micah 6:8.  FOXMJE 231-2

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GEN1031 … unquestionably the greatest stumbling block to religion [is] the problem of evil, traditionally expressed as “the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked.” Through the ages sensitive and suffering human beings found the testimony of tradition being challenged by the evidence of experience. The dialectic between faith and doubt finds poignant expression in the literature of Sumer, Babylonia and Egypt, centuries before the Bible.  However, it is the Bible, the most magnificent testament of faith in God, that contains the most powerful confrontations with God.   The lawgiver, historian, sage, and psalmist, all the biblical “men of faith,” do not hesitate to demand that their God abide by the standard of righteousness they derive from Him.  … It is a tragic fact of life that all men are born for trouble and no nation goes through life unscathed.  GORLAW 80-2

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GEN1036 Shortly before his resignation, a former President of the United States presumed to say that, as sovereign, the Chief Executive is above the law.   Had the ancient prophets been here today, they would have laughed him to scorn.  They would have reminded us that there is only one sovereign, who is God, and no one stands above the moral law—not even God, its source and guarantor.   GORLAW 154

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GEN1034 See [[EXOD1033]] Exodus 34:6 compassionate SPERO 69-70

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GEN1035 See [[EXOD1033]] Exodus 34:6 compassionate SPERO 69-70

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GEN1039 While mishpat is a complex term that even in biblical literature developed many interesting extended uses, its primary use in the Pentateuch may be said to refer to moral rules, the proper or just relationships between people as far as these can be brought under a rule. E. Berkovits, “The Biblical Meaning of Justice, Judaism 18 no. 2.   It is not difficult to imagine how the language in its development proceeded from a consideration of mishpatim as particular decisions rendered by particular judges to the abstract concept of mishpat as justice, or that quality which ought to inform all proper judgments. [this verse and Genesis 19:19] SPERO 24

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GEN1040 Seven things are [typical] in a clod, and seven in a wise man; [The Wise Man] does not break in on the speech of his fellow-man. Pirkei Avot V:9   … it is only common courtesy to let someone complete his thought before we respond.   An eagerness to interrupt, straining at the leash, usually comes from an overpowering conviction that we know exactly what the other intends to say before he has said it, and already we perceive his fallacy.   Such a conviction often turns out wrong.   But right or wrong, anyone speaking should be given the right to express himself freely as he sees fit, without interruption, until he is done.  Avoth d’R. Natan (37) gives two illustrative examples from Scripture… (Leviticus 10:16-20) … The other example concerns Abraham the Patriarch.   When the Almighty was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He told Abraham, and this man of piety and loving-kindness began to plead. First he asked that the cities be spared if fifty righteous men could be found there; when that prayer was granted, he asked the same grace should only forty-five tzaddikim be found. That granted, he lowered the number to forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally ten. Each plea was accepted favorably in turn. [this verse and subsequent]. The Lord knew that were there even five or four virtuous people in Sodom, it would be saved from destruction. Seek them there, however, and you could not find them. Nevertheless, the Holy, Blessed One waited for Abraham to finish, and only then did he send him off, as it is stated [at the end]: the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” As it were, He as much as told him, “Now I am free [to act].” The lesson, continues Avoth d’R. Nathan (B40), is clear: The world and all that fills it is the holy, Blessed One’s; yet he did not wish to break into our father Abraham’s words. How much more certainly should a man – dust, [food for] worm and maggot – not break into the words of his fellow-man. It would be well to remember, though, that the courtesy should not be entirely one-sided. If a person speaking is to be permitted to conclude, let him forbear to abuse his privilege. He should not ramble but learn to express himself succinctly and concisely.   The story is told of an “august personage” who rose to address a rabbinic meeting.   After an hour and a half he was still talking, refusing to relinquish his precious opportunity. Then he remarked, “I once heard a great scholar say …” Suddenly a listener called out, “That cannot be!” There was a stunned silence. Sputtering with rage, the speaker shouted to his heckler, “How do you challenge me when I did not even tell what this great man said?” Replied the other, “You could never have heard any scholar say anything. You never give anyone else a chance to speak at all!”   SINAI3 103-4  

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GEN1041 This teaches us that the righteous shield the world. Sanhedrin 99b. TEMIMAH-GEN 87

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