GEN343 The Rabbis believed that “no one is above temptation to sexual desire.” Ketubot 13b  They accordingly advised early marriage, emphasizing it by declaring it to be the first command of the Torah. [this verse] Marriage was essential to the holiness and happiness of the Jew. Woman was of purpose created from the body of man to impress upon him that she is his equal in dignity and is the main source of his earthly blessings. Both together have been made “partners in the work of creation” in order to preserve the human race. Many are the blessings promised to the virtuous couple. Proverbs 12:14; 18:22; 19:14, 31 passim.  To violate the marriage law is to merit punishment, Proverbs 2:16-19 besides nullifying that which heaven has decreed. Genesis Rabbah 68:4, which tells the story of the Roman lady who thought that she could also arrange marriages when the Rabbi told her that only God can make happy and successful unions, but who discovered that “marriages are made in heaven”.  Equally wrong is it to marry for lust or for money; he who does so, will have children who will bring shame upon his head. Kiddushin 70b  The Torah, as a warning, records the case of the rebellious son immediately after the laws to be obeyed when a heathen woman is taken captive after a victorious battle Deuteronomy 21:10-21 to show that the “fruits” of a lustful union taste bitter in the mouth. LEHRMAN 240-1

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GEN349 Polygamy, though not expressly forbidden in the Torah, is mentioned as the cause which turns the hearts of kings away from the true worship of God. It is to be eschewed as a potential danger to the peaceful married life. [this verse, where the words “and he shall cleave until his wife”, explicitly show that man is to possess only one wife at a time.]  Maimonides, in the special section dealing with forbidden sexual relationships, Mishneh Torah, Issure Biah 17:13, deduces from the command to the High Priest “And he shall take a wife in her virginity” Leviticus 21:13, that even he was allowed to marry only one wife at a time. … Nothing must be done to endanger the holy alliance (Kiddushin) of man and wife.  The Rabbis devote five tractates of the Talmud to this theme. Kiddushin and Ketubot deal mainly with marriage settlements; Yebamot [Yevamot] with Levirate and prohibited marriages; Sotah with the woman suspected of adultery and Gittin with divorce, not to mention the references to these themes scattered over the other tractates. The Rabbis found it necessary to deal with these themes exhaustively in view of the vagueness of the Biblical laws. These Talmudic views have been systemically collected in two works that are still the authoritative sources of every Rabbi. These are the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides and the Eben Ha’ezer of Joseph Karo [i.e. second section of his Shulchan Aruch - AJL]  [No fewer than one hundred and seventy-eight sections dealing with marriage and divorce appear in Karo’s work].  These authorities warn that intermarriage is likely to mar family purity and sow dissension and produce disreputable children. Deuteronomy 7:3-4; Ezra 9:1-2, 10:1-11; Nehemiah 10:31, 13:23-25; Avodah Zara 31b; Eben Ha’ezer 16:1; Maimonides Issure Biah 12:1.  Though one Rabbinic view states that “Gentiles in the Diaspora cannot really be termed idolaters”, yet marriage with them is disallowed. Chullin 13b.  Underlying all these restrictions is the ethical contention that just as virtue and righteousness flow from the worship of God, so do vice and oppression issue from the ungodly marriage, especially with daughters of the heathen. This will explain the seemingly harsh measures taken, especially by Ezra, against idolatry and immorality, both of which are to be eliminated. Exodus 20:3; Leviticus 19:4; Deuteronomy 4:15-25.  A “holy people” must remove all obstacles to the purity of family life and regard them as abominations. Deuteronomy 7:3 Marriage is something more than a civil contract; it is an institution based on morality and implying the most sacred duties. It was wrong for one to betroth a wife before he had seen her Kiddushin 41a or to marry a partner much younger or much older than himself. Yevamot 101b. In either case, the main object of marriage, procreation, would be jeopardized on account of age and impotency.  LEHRMAN 241-2

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GEN366 Our Link With God – The Soul.  Judaism is emphatic that man was created pure, untainted by “original sin.” This is the profession he makes at the commencement of the daily morning prayers when he exclaims: “O my God, the soul which Thou gavest me is pure.” Berachot 60b  It is this soul, the spark of divine fire which man carries with hi, that links him to God. In some, this celestial light may be dimmed by sin; in others, almost extinguished by depravity of outlook or corruption of deed. Realizing that the character of a life largely depends on the care bestowed by the individual to keep his soul unstained; knowing that it is of man’s own freewill that he becomes a sinner, Jewish ethics are tireless in insisting that it the soul, of all forces the mainspring, that raises man above mere  animal existence. …  Freedom of Will rejects the doctrine of “original sin”. That is the crown of Jewish ethical thought. The disobedience of Adam [this verse] [is not to the contrary]. … The Torah is adamant in the contention that despite the sensuous nature of man, he should be able to subdue his evil inclination. Far from being harsh, such a demand is virtually a compliment. Just because Judaism credits its adherents with the moral strength requir4ed to master their sinful disposition is temptation oft placed their way. Should this at first be difficult of achievement, it will fill him with the resolve to make amends and vow never to fall again.  LEHRMAN 156-7

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GEN426 The poverty of Hillel was proverbial. He was a charcoal-burner who spent more than half of his meager earnings to be admitted to the academy of the great teachers Shemaiah and Abtalyon. A similar profession was followed by R. Joshua who lived in a house the walls of which were begrimed from his work. Berachot 28a  R. Johanan, a shoemaker; Avot 4:14 R. Judah, a baker Jerusalem Talmud, Chullin 2:1; Abba Saul was a kneader of dough Pesachim 34a as well as a grave-digger. Niddah 24b. All these translated into reality the advice God gave to Adam: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” [this verse]. They sincerely believed that “idleness leads to lewdness: lewdness to mental instability” Ketubot 5:5 They emphasized that “great is work, for it honours the workman” Nedarim 49b; that Torah is good only when it is combined with a trade; for only the practice of both leaves man little time for sin. Avot 2:2 LEHRMAN 230

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GEN430 In Judaism, God is regarded as transcendental: “The heavens belong to God: it is the earth that He has given to the children of men.” Psalm 115:16 He is, however, also immanent in that He has prescribed guidance on every aspect of life, intimate and public, holy and secular.  All those qualities that should be most pronounced in human conduct are made to appear conspicuously in our description of the heavenly attributes.  Here is a typical presentation of ethical Judaism in the Talmud. Sotah 14a. “Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said “What means the text ‘Ye shall walk after the Lord your God’? Deuteronomy 13:5. Is it, then, possible for a human being to walk after the Shechinah?  Has it not been said: ‘For the Lord thy God is a devouring fire’? Deuteronomy 4:24. But (the meaning is) to walk after the attributes of the holy One, blessed be He.” As He clothes the naked, for it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” [this verse], so do thou also clothe the naked.  LEHRMAN 6

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GEN462 In a section devoted to the laws of Tsedakah [refers mainly to a money-offering given primarily to the poor], Maimonides categorizes three of the noblest types of gemilat hasadim [includes all deed of kindness other than monetary]. The first is to lend money to the poor without the taking of any interest; the second is to cheer them with word and deed as well as with the giving of money; and the third is just to evince sympathy with the misfortune of another without wedding it to acts of a practical nature.  The Jew should give readily and joyfully; not “till it hurts to give” [A popular expression which is alien to the spirit of social ethics, in which charity is regarded as a joyous privilege] but till one feels the pleasure of having given generously. The very phrase is a contradiction of the Jewish ethics of giving. Why should a Mitzvah hurt? The Mishnah Bikkurim 3 which glowingly records the joyous procession of those bringing the first-fruits between Shavuot and Sukkot into the Temple where they recited the prayer of gratitude Deuteronomy 26:1-11, stipulates that if the first-fruits were tardily brought after the termination of Sukkot, no such recitation was allowed. Why? One should not wait for the last moment before discharging dues. Man must give according to his means, not according to his meanness.  The classic Biblical example of such meanness in giving is to be found in the story of Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:1-15  There we are told that Cain brought some “fruit of the ground as an offering unto the Lord”, but Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” Genesis 4:3-4  We are not surprised that “The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering, He had not respect” [this verse] Had mankind learnt the moral of this story from the beginning, it would have been spared much suffering. It would seem, however, that though man is gradually making the earth yield its secret weapons of destruction, such as the atomic and the hydroGenesis bomb [published 1976 – AJL], he has not yet learnt the elementary truths of the sanctity of life and the need for kindliness. Mankind has climbed the mountains of scientific discoveries but its soul it has left in the valley below. For it spends most of its energies in acquiring goods but not the good. When will mankind learn that there are no pockets in the shrouds in which we are clothed when our eyes are closed? LEHRMAN 210-11

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GEN529 The Talmud Shabbat 31a insists that the Golden Rule pronounced by Hillel: “What is hateful unto thee, do not to they fellow”, is a cardinal principle of Jewish Law which is applicable to all men.  It is instructive to understand why the Rabbinic Golden Rule is couched mostly in the negative, and not in the positive form advocated elsewhere. Judaism is primarily a discipline aiming at the curbing of unbridled instincts. Such discipline concerns itself more with what people must not do rather than with what they should do.  Rabbi Akiba, who elaborated the teachings of Hillel, was more explicit: “Whatever thou hatest to have done unto thee, do not do unto thy neighbor”.  Hence do not hurt him; do not speak ill of him; do not reveal his secrets to others; let his honor and his property be as dear to thee as thine own. Avot 4:15 and Abot de R. Nathan 26.  In this vein spoke also Ben Azzai: “The Torah, by beginning with ‘This is the book of the generations of Adam’ [this verse] makes it clear that the command ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’ Leviticus 19:18 refers to all people who must be included as ‘thy neighbor’.” Genesis Rabbah 24 (end).  “All righteous people, not only Jews”, says another sage, “shall enter the eternal Kingdom.” The Psalmist (118:20) did not specify the Jew, when he said: “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it.”  All citizens, irrespective of belief, are entitled to a share in the amenities of a township on which the maintenance of concord depends. All the poor of the town must be supported; all their dead given a decent burial; all their mourners comforted; and all their sick visited. Gittin 64a.  No Jew can be called righteous who is not good unto all. Kiddushin 40a. So important is the respect we must pay to all our fellow-pilgrims on earth that most of the Biblical prohibitions may be transgressed on its account. Kiddushin 40a; Berachot 19b; Avot 4:3; Bezah.32b.  LEHRMAN 57-8

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GEN627 The preservation of life is one of the main aims of our legislation. Man can achieve this by heeding the wise counsels offered by man who were past-masters at the art of living. Here are a few of of their observations. “The world grows dark for him who has to depend on the table of others; such a life is really not worth while.” Betzah 32b Could independence wish for a better advocate? “A man takes greater delight in one measure of his own than in nine belonging to his fellow-man.” Baba Metzia 38a Who does not recall the advice placed into the mouth of the dove when, with an olive-leaf in her beak, she returned from the flood without to the safety of Noah’s Ark? [this verse] “Let my food be bitter as an olive, O God, but dependent on Thee, than sweet as honey, but dependent on the gifts of flesh and blood.”  [A prayer so acceptable, that it has been incorporated, with some slight changes, into the Grace After Meals; see Singer’s Prayer Book, p. 281].  “He who eats of his own bread is like the child reared at his mother’s breast.” Abot d’R. Nathan 37  “He who eats of the bread of another fears to look at him.” Orlah 1:3; “The mind is not contended unless man eats of the fruit of his own labour.” Shekalim 3. LEHRMAN 289-90

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GEN641 See [[GEN132]] Genesis 1:28 “blessed” LEHRMAN 3

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GEN650 To obtain forgiveness, the Jew makes a direct approach to God. There is no “iron curtain” between him and his Heavenly Father. As the erring child is received with open arms by the father whose mercy he seeks to obtain and whose forgiveness is always his for the asking, so God is ever ready to welcome back those who have strayed. Ezekiel 18:2-32; Psalm 130:7-8 To be sure, “the imagination (inclination) of man’s heart is evil from his youth” [this verse], but when canalized towards righteous paths, this propensity to evil can be curbed by good example and constant reminder of the true moral standard. Our evaluation of the divine soul within us saves us from the belief in the depravity of human nature, a state of mind responsible for much that is harmful around us.  Why should one strive towards perfection when tainted by “original sin”? Why practice restraint when one is credited with descent from an anthropoid ape? Robbed of the ethical incentive of noblesse oblige, man will behave as befits one springing from lowly origins.  Judaism warns us that human nature is susceptible to sin and emphasizes that the soul was given to us in a pure condition and it is our bounden duty to keep it pure. “Behold”, says that wisest of all men, Ecclesiastes 7:29, “this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” Once we admit moral freedom, we must automatically admit moral responsibility. One is a corollary of the other. Freedom of will is not negatived by a staunch belief in divine Providence. Both are correlative and complementary. Deuteronomy 30:19; Jeremiah 18:7-11; Proverbs 5:22; Avot 3:19, 4:1. Not all who mock their chains are free. To possess freedom without moral responsibility is to be forced often to place manacles on our hands to keep them from trembling.  LEHRMAN 157-8

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