GEN197 Rabbinic Judaism believes that man was initially endowed with good and evil tendencies Berachot 61a.  As a rational being, he must convert his evil impulse into a constructive force to serve the needs of society. In a midrashic interpretation of the Pentateuchal verse “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” [this verse], a rabbi alleged that “everything” is inclusive of the evil impulse. Had it not been for the evil impulse (lust), man would not take a wife, he would not procreate, and he would not establish a home. Shochar Tov on Ps. 9:1. One must therefore learn to serve God with both impulses, the good and the evil. Berachot 54a. BLOCH 203

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN199 The basic Jewish economic ethics argument can be summarized by the following approximation: What is apparently “evil” can be an instrument of “good” and what is apparently “good” can be an instrument for “evil.” This is demonstrated both in the area generally referred to as “Business Ethics” and also in “Philanthropy.” We begin with a Midrashic text which investigates the biblical formulation in [this verse] (God’s words after the creation of Man/Woman): [This verse]. The phrase “very good” is unique in the Creation narrative since after the other creations the text just states: “it (was) good” (ki tov). In the early rabbinic Midrash on Genesis called, Genesis Rabbah 9.5, the rabbis, using the interpretive message of word-play, interpreted the Hebrew word m’od (“very”) by a similar sounding Hebrew word mot (“death”) and stated: “In the teaching of Rabbi Meir they found written: ‘… and, behold, it was very good.’ and behold, death is good.” This type of rabbinic interpretation of unique phraseology and word-play is common in rabbinic texts and reveals an underlying method for ethical investigation of good and evil. The unusual formulation after the creation of the human being is that it was “very good” [this verse] and was seen by the rabbis as an area to express ideas which they held were basic to their concepts of good and evil. This argument approaches a “meta-ethical” argument [Such as those raised by Socrates in the Crito and the Euthyphro, for example] because the rabbis saw the Divine “very good” stamp of approval upon human creation as marking something beyond the “good” which was associated with all other creations. Also, the concept of “very good” distinguished the existence of something which was distinct from “good.” This distinction led the rabbis to speculate as to what was just “good” and what it was which characterized “very good.” In the continuing Midrash interpretation of [this verse] in Genesis Rabbah 9:7 it states the following: “(Rabbi) Nachman in the name of Rabbi Samuel (stated that [if it were written] ‘behold, it was very good’ [it would only mean] the good inclination.” ‘And, behold, it was very good’ is the evil inclination. And is it possible that the evil inclination ‘is very good?’ Yes, for if it were not for the evil inclination, a man would not build a house, and he would not marry and he would not have children, nor would he engage in business. Thus Solomon said [in Ecclesiastes 4:41]: ‘Again, I considered all labor and all excelling in work, that it is a man’s rivalry with his neighbor.’” The “and” here is used by the rabbis to indicate an additional part of man which was “very good” (tov m’od). Again, the rabbis are playing on the word m’od. This time they apparently assigned the meaning “power” as in the rabbinic translation of mo’d in Deuteronomy 6.5. Mishnah Berachot 9:5; Sifrei on Deuteronomy 32:5 Making the rabbinic translation of [this verse] and: “… And a behold, it [had] a power (m’od) (for) good.” Meaning that the created human being contained a power which could be used for good, but which was essentially an evil characteristic. It is not engaging in business which is evil according to this view, but rather a specific characteristic of business which can be inherently detrimental and human relations, in general, and in business in particular. Specifically, the text provides an insight into this evil characteristic evident in some types of business relationships. This relationship is characterized by competitive rivalry (described in the Ecclesiastes proof text) which, while promoting excellence, creates friction and contention among neighbors. Will Herberg, commenting on this Midrash, states the following: “No matter where we look or how far back we go, we find man engaged in great enterprises and we find him motivated by the passionate urge to self-aggrandizement that we have learned to deal with as the ‘evil impulse’ (yetzer ha-ra). So impelled, he creates technology, brings forth institutions, establishes civilizations and engages in all that is characteristic of social life.” W. Herberg, Judaism and Modern Man (New York: Atheneum, 1970) pp. 212-213. According to Herberg, the characteristic of self-aggrandizement is the evil power which can be used for creative or destructive purposes within society. Self-aggrandizement or in other words, total egoism, was seen by Herberg as the root of the problem of evil in the world in general, but also the necessary motivator for good. This attitude places the individual at the absolute center of his/her existence and converts the world and others in society into objects which serve and revolve around them. Natural resources, children and neighbors are only objects which serve the needs of this individual. It is no wonder that the rabbis saw the control of the individual’s yetzer ha-ra as the solution to the problem of economic and social justice. It is clear from other rabbinic texts that a “work ethic” was stressed by the rabbis and even could be vehicle for holiness. Abot D’Rabbi Nathan, 9:1 (22b). It is also clear that the engaging in business, and work, in general, were seen by the rabbis as neither inherently good nor evil, but vehicles for doing good or evil with methods which could be either good or evil. BT Berachot 17a, Shabbat 31a.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN195 For man to be man he must maintain the delicate tension between self and society, between personal privacy and public relationships.  Mediating between them is the family. Judaism is concerned with all three aspects of man’s existence. It addresses itself to the question of his psychic and spiritual life, his dignity and destiny.  But its major concern is with the quality of man’s relationships to the world around him, and these are usually developed within the family.  This emphasis on family and community may best be understood in terms of the way Judaism treats the very beginnings of man.  The Bible offers two accounts of creation, each giving a complementary insight.  In the first, a rather general report, things are created day after day until we come to man, who is seen as part of the natural order.  True, he is singled out as created in the “image” and “form” of the Creator; but he is essentially accepted in his natural settings: his lust for power, his reproductive function, his hunger and his appetites. God commands him, “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and master it” and rule over its creatures.  Within this context not only is man’s creation good, but … very good.  [this verse].  GOODSOC 4  [Comments continued at [[GEN310]] Genesis 2:18 not GOODSOC 4]

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN200 We, the people of the holy Torah, we believe that the Lord created everything as His wisdom directed, and that He created nothing that was ugly or shameful.  Were we to maintain that sex is obscene, we would have to say that organs of generation are obscene.  But this cannot be, for the Lord, may His Name be exalted, created them, as it is said, “Has He not made you and established you?” Deuteronomy 32:6. And the Sages said in the Talmud Hullin 56b that G- d created man so that only in this manner can he perpetuate himself and survive.  And the Midrash (to Koheleth 2:12) teaches that G- d and His heavenly court, as it were, considered each organ of man and had to approve it before creation.  Were the sex organs dishonorable, how would the Lord have created anything faulty or blemished or contemptible? Did not Moses say of Him that “the Rock—His work is perfect” Deuteronomy 32:4? And did we not learn that “and God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good” [this verse]?  GOODSOC 105

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN191 … in the Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin 48b, we are given two important Jewish reasons to eat locally: the preservation of green spaces in towns and cities for the health of the residents, and the enjoyment of eating food. Eating locally grown food preserves farms in and around cities and towns.  Without a viable market for the food that is produced, it is difficult for farmers to keep farmland for agricultural use and not turn it over to residential or commercial use.  Agricultural land use is more easily sustainable than homes or businesses, depending on how the land is farmed. … Another reason to eat locally is that it preserves the diversity of what is grown: “The Rabbis said: Even though you may think them superfluous in this world, creatures such as flies, bugs, and gnats have their allotted tasks in the scheme of creation, as it says, “And God saw everything that God had made, and behold it was good” [this verse].  B’reshit Rabbah 10:7  This midrash reinforces how everything has a purpose in creation, even the things that we might think we would be better off without.  When we require our food to be shipped long distances, we reduce the number of varieties that are grown, thereby reducing the biodiversity.  The varieties of tomato that “travel well” – in other words, the tomatoes that can be shipped with minimal loss—become the predominant varieties of tomato that are grown.  When the characteristics of disease and pest resistance or adaptability to climate are added in, the number of choices represented in the supermarket can become even fewer.  Eventually this push to market eliminates the varieties of tomato that are available.  We lose more than taste as we limit the number of varieties of tomato or strawberry or corn or anything else that is grown for our consumption.  When we diminish biodiversity, our agricultural industry becomes vulnerable to one disease or pest that can threaten an entire crop.  The gains that we achieve in developing a tomato that is more marketable makes the tomato plant more vulnerable.  As Wendell Berry writes in his essay “The Pleasure of Eating,” “But as scale increases, diversity declines; as diversity declines, so does health; as health declines, the dependence on drugs and chemicals necessarily increases.” With the increasing demand for locally grown food, there is an increasing interest in “heirloom” varieties of tomatoes, as well as other types of produce.  These older varieties are more fragile and less disease resistant, but have amazing colors, flavors, and tastes. (By Batsheva Appel, "Connecting Locally: Jumping Off the Production Line")  SACTAB 175-6

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN194 As a creation of the divine in the image of God, the human body is a source of wonder, a manifestation of divine wisdom, an opportunity for profound gratitude. The following blessing, recorded in the Talmud, was later included in the liturgy Jews recite each day: “Blessed is God who created human beings with wisdom, and created in each of them many orifices and many cavities.  It is fully known before the throne of Your glory that if one of them should be [improperly] opened or one of them closed, it would be impossible for one to stand before You … [Blessed are You] who heals all flesh and who performs wonders” Berachot 60b. This blessing is to be recited after going to the bathroom.  According to the commentaries to this text, the phrase “who heals all flesh” means that normal excretory function is a product of divine grace, that “evacuation is a healing for the entire body.” I know of no comparable blessing recited on a comparable occasion in any other religious tradition.  Here one encounters what the novelist George Eliot called Judaism’s “reverence for the human body, which lifts the needs of the animal life into religion.” To suggest that the human body or its natural functions are repulsive by nature is considered an affront to God’s image and to divine wisdom.  In themselves, bodily organs and functions are beautiful and good.  Only when abused or misused do then become ugly and repulsive. According to the medieval ethical treatise The Holy Letter: “’God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good’ [this verse]. … Nothing in the human organs are created flawed or ugly.  Everything is related with divine wisdom and is therefore complete, exalted, good and pleasant.  When one sins, ugliness becomes attached to these matters.” (1976, 45, 48). Through the performance of sacred deeds, the body, which is good by nature, becomes holy by actions.  According to Judah Loew, when an individual acts properly, one’s body becomes sacred, expressing the image of God, but when one does not act properly, one’s body is indistinguishable from that of any other animal Netivot Olom, sec. “Netiv Koah ha-Yetzer,” 2:130  SHER20C 14-5

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN196 Jewish thought perceives not only human existence, but all of creation as being characterized by polarity.  …. Each entity depends upon and derives meaning from its polar counterpart.  Without down, there cannot be up. Without evil, there could not be good.  As one medieval text put is, “God made each thing and its opposite … All things cleave to one another, the pure and the impure.  There is no purity except through impurity” (Midrash Temurah in Agadat Bereshit 1876, 49)  According to the late-nineteenth-century Hasidic master Zadok of Lublin, even a specific halakhic decision implies the validity of its opposite (1903, 9b).  The presence of such interdependent yet polar opposites also characterizes the realm of the human heart.  As the Zohar states, “Good issues from evil, and compassion issues from justice, and all are intertwined, the good inclination and the evil inclination, right and left … all depends upon one another ... otherwise, the world could not exist for even an instant” (1883, 3:79b).  In the human heart, described by the Talmudic rabbis as the source of reason and emotion, God implants both the good inclination (yetser ha-tov) and the evil inclination (yetser ha-ra) (see, e.g., Schechter 1909, 255). How a person utilizes these inclinations determines the moral quality of his or her behavior.  Not only the good inclination, but the evil inclination as well is candidly described by the talmudic rabbis as having been created by God (see, e.g. Berachot, 61a, Genesis Rabbah, chap. 14:4). In itself, the evil inclination (yetzer ha-ra) is not necessarily evil.  However, it becomes evil when it is misused.  Otherwise, paradoxically, the evil inclination is considered good.  For example, commenting on [this verse], a midrash observes that while the good inclination is good, the evil inclination can be considered very good, because without it human beings would neither build a house, nor marry, nor beget children, nor engage in commence (see Genesis Rabbah, chap. 9, sec. 7). In other words, without the basic human drives and ambitions engendered by the evil inclination the perpetuation of human civilization would become endangered (see, e.g., Rashi to Sanhedrin 107b). The stronger a person’s evil inclination, the greater the individual’s potential for greatness.  As the Talmud says, “the greater the person, the greater their evil inclination” Sukkot 52a.  The evil inclination is not only responsible for sustaining human civilization, but according to Judah Loew it is the catalyst for making manifest the divine image in which human beings are created (see, e.g. Jacobson 1987, 102-36).  Paradoxically, through sinning, Adam demonstrates that human beings are Godlike in that they are morally independent beings.  Yet, by making manifest the quality of moral volition that human beings share with God, human beings simultaneously alienate themselves from God through sin.  The human task then becomes reconciliation with God through the performance of the commandments, the cultivation of the moral virtues, and repentance. (see, e.g. Weiss 1969, 213-30, 347-50; c.f., Guide of the Perplexed, bk. 1, ch 2, 24-25).   SHER20C 151-2

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN198 The mitzvoth are indeed for spiritual cleansing.  We live in a world of temptation and brutality.  Our senses are constantly assailed by a barrage of banality and obscenity.  Our mass media seek largely to cater to the lowest common denominator, the worst instincts and interests.  Who knows how much of the invidious “fallout’ is absorbed by our nature? Exposed to so much “dirt,” we need frequent cleansing with “a strong detergent that has deep-down cleansing action” (to borrow or paraphrase some of Madison Avenue’s scintillating language).  The Almighty wanted Israel to be cleansed and pure; and so He gave us a comprehensive Torah and surrounded us with mitzvoth. The Talmud tells us that in the days of Ezra the Sages prayed that the evil yearning to worship idols, which was still strong at that time, should be removed from the world; and their prayer succeeded.  Emboldened, they entreated further, that the power of the entire yetzer hara, man’s evil inclination, be ended forever.  And the Talmud relates that the sensuous inclination was given over into their hands, to do with as they chose.  But a prophet warned them, “Beware: if you destroy this, the entire world will be destroyed.” They decided to render the yetzer hara powerless for three days.  But that very day they learned their lesson: A fresh egg was needed to help cure a sick person; and in all the land of Israel no fresh egg could be found. For with the evil inclination removed, all passion and drive to cohabit and procreate came to an end, the reproductive function ceased, and chickens even stopped producing eggs!  Perforce the Sages gave the yetzer hara its freedom once again. [Talmud, Yoma 69b, Sanhedrin 64a].   Later Sages, in the days of Talmud and Midrash, affirmed this idea. Scripture writes, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. [this verse]. And the Sages comment: “Very good refers to the yetzer hara. But is the evil inclination very good, then? Indeed, for if not for the yetzer hara [passion, lust] no man would build a house, marry, or beget children; nor would anyone engage in trade.” [Midrash Rabbah, Genesis IX, 7]. SINAI1 14-5

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN193 By ten pronouncements … Pirkei Avot V:1 Fashioned with care and supervision, this world is surely valuable and precious to its maker.  Then malicious indeed are the wicked who, with the heedless cruelty of the short-sighted, in any way destroy it.  As the Psalmist hymns, “let the Lord rejoice in His works”” Psalms 104:31.  At creation’s end, we read, “God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very good.” [this verse]. He had joy and He seeks joy in His splendid creation.  When the righteous fulfill His purposes, they uphold the world and justify its existence: the Almighty can truly “rejoice in His works.” How great must be their reward.  SINAI3 5

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

GEN202 In Germany, the Reform-Conservative movement was powerfully influenced by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Word of God was identified with the “Categorical Imperative” of the moral law, and Judaism was now described as “ethical monotheism.” It is our ethical conscience that reveals to us the One God. At the same time, Moritz Lazarus (1824 – 1903) expounded the ethics of Judaism as the endeavor to comply fully and in all domains of life with the moral-rational law. On the unity of the religious quest for holiness and the ethical aspiration for rightness, Lazarus made these observations: …  The problem of evil can be solved only by pointing to the opportunities for good that every evil offers -- particularly, in a social context. In the first half of the 19th-century, ethical investigators were occupied, in fact, they tormented themselves with the question of absolute evil. The fundamental thought of the system of social ethics that the Rabbis had in mind as an ideal offers an escape from absolute evil. When men are in close association with one another, evil must yield to some good in spite of itself. … the Rabbinic notion is that misery and distress exist chiefly to be alleviated by the good among men. They differ as to strength, possessions and events of their lives, “So that love and beneficence may have the opportunity to translate themselves into acts.” Exodus Rabbah 31 The thought herein developed… contains a true theodicy-true because ethical. Here we have an attempt, found nowhere else, to solve the problem of the divine sufferings of sin. As a rule, this toleration was excused on the plea that man’s morality must be the creation of this free will-a view that in a measure considers it a necessary evil, which certainly is not a worthy conception of the Divine government. The Rabbis virtually makes sin itself a constituent element of chastened morality, and so the Rabbinical interpretation of [this verse] is completely justified—“And behold it was very good” – “good,” that is, the Impulse for Good, “very good,” that is the Impulse for Evil [very good, in this sense of providing the chance for superlative achievements]. The Ethics of Judaism, volume II, chapter 5.  Lazarus’ conception of the rule of evil is paralleled by a famous saying of the founder of Hassidism, namely, “Evil is the foundation for the good.” Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, d. 1960. AGUS 263-8

SHOW FULL EXCERPT