GEN1092 … Judaism’s dual covenant represents … On the one hand that we are human, and we share a set of basic obligations to one another by virtue of that fact. We are all in the image and likeness of God. We are all bound by the basic rules of justice and fairness. Every life is sacred. Violence and murder are assaults against the human condition. This is what Abraham meant when he explained to Avimelekh, king of Gerar, why he said Sarah was his sister, not his wife: “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me’” [this verse]. Fear of God-identified as Elokim rather than Hashem -- is assumed in Genesis to be a basic, shared set of principles as to what morality requires, even between strangers.  On the other hand, the covenant of Sinai is not addressed to humanity as a whole. It is addressed specifically to the Israelites in their role as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” Exodus 19:6. This is more demanding than the Noah covenant, both because the Israelites are expected to be exemplars and role models of the holy life, and because there are strong ties of kinship between them. They share a past, a set of memories, and a fate. They are like an extended family. Much of the social legislation, for example in Leviticus 25, uses the language of kinship: “When your brother becomes poor….” There have been ages in which the primary group has been the tribe. The result was war. There have also been attempts to abolish groups altogether in favor of the universal. A classic example was the European Enlightenment. However, group identity returned in the 19th century, in the form of the nation–state and the [worship of] race. The result of European nation– states was two world wars. The worship of race brought about the Holocaust. We cannot escape identity, and hence the tension between in-group and out-group. The only solution known to me that addresses this issue clearly and in a principled way is that of the Torah with its two covenants, one representing our duties to humanity as a whole, the other our duties to our fellow members of the community of fate and faith. This unusual duality represents the two great features of the moral life: the universality of justice and the particularity of love. On this, see Jonathan Sacks, Not in God’s Name (New York: Schocken, 2015), and Avishai Margalit, The Ethics of Memory (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002).  SACKS xxxi

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GEN1093 … gratitude is a fundamental principle of our holy Torah as the author of the Chinuch notes in his commentary on [this verse]: “The roots of this commandment are that one ought to be grateful and benevolent towards one who did something good for him, and not be duplicitous, two-faced and ungrateful.   For this is an evil trait, and one that is utterly despicable in the eyes of God and men … And when he will imbed this trait in his soul, he will be elevated by it to recognize the goodness of God towards him.” EYES 68

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GEN1094 If one is able, by word of mouth, to prevent harm befalling another, this also constitutes chesed.  An instance of this would be if, by chance, someone happened to meet a group of suspected robbers.  He believed that they intended to rob someone, since he overheard them discussing this person’s wealth.  It is his moral duty to misrepresent, to say that the intended victim is poor, even though he knows, in his heart, that this is not true ... So we find Abraham telling Sarah [this verse].  It would be even better if the person could forewarn the intended victim to guard himself against their nefarious designs.   He is certainly obliged to do so, according to the law of the Torah (end of the Chosen Mishpat).  AHAVCH 225

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GEN1095 … the Gemara also says Berachos 19a “A person should never open his mouth to the Satan [i.e., the adversary –AJL].   This means that you should not say negative things. … It is [the] special power of the lips that makes a curse so damaging and so dangerous. The Gemara warns that one should not take lightly even a curse from a simpleton, and even from a non-Jew, as we see that Avimelech cursed Sarah, and the curse was fulfilled in her child, Yitzchak. Talmud, Bava Kama 93a, Megillah 15a. Avimelech gave a thousand pieces of silver to Avraham and said to Sarah [this verse]. This was a curse. Since she hid from him the fact that Avraham was her husband, and thus caused him to be afflicted, Avimelech cursed her that her children should have covered eyes. This was fulfilled when Yitzchak was older, and became blind.   CASTLE 402, 407-8

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GEN1096 Health (b’riyut) is one of our most valued gifts, and preserving life (pikuah nefesh) is one of the highest duties in Jewish tradition.   Virtually any activity or mitzvah should be set aside in order to save a life.   Closely related to this obligation is the duty to heal, the duty to restore oneself and others to health.  Another duty, that of self-care, stems from the idea that the world is God’s, as is everything in it (ladonay ha’arezt um’lo’o).   [Some who are uncomfortable seeing the world as belonging to God may prefer the Hasidic reading of “m’lo kol ha’aretz k’vodo.” “The fullness of the world is God’s glory.” (Likkutim Yekarim)   That is, God’s kavod is nothing other than the world in its completeness. Hence, healing and health are clearly what God is.]   According to classical rabbinic thought, our existence as creatures carries an obligation to do the will of the Creator.  Acknowledging the interdependence of our lives generates an obligation to care for ourselves as part of our obligation to others.   Jewish tradition regards hearing (refua) as a duty one has both to oneself and to others.  By contrast North American culture talks about the right to healthcare without recognizing a duty of individuals to provide healing, which complicates the ongoing American debate about who is responsible for how much healthcare provision.   Seeing healing as a duty would shift the American debate.  Jewish tradition sees the duty to heal as incumbent upon every individual, as well as on society as a whole. … The Bible presents a very strong tradition of God as a healer [this verse]. Since we are created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image, it is incumbent upon us to sever as healers both individually and through established institutions. AGTJL 475

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GEN1099 If someone injured you, even though he paid fully, he is not forgiven until he asks your forgiveness. [Bava Kama 92a. This is learned out from what Hashem told Avimelech to do after he had been smitten because of taking Sarah.] Chazal [Mishnah, Bava Kama 92a. Rambam, Hilchos De’os 6:6; Choshen Mishpat 422:1. This shows that you are only obliged to forgive him in order not to be cruel, but you are not in violation of bearing a grudge if you do not forgive him, even after he asked your forgiveness. However, this might be restricted to physical assault for which bearing a grudge is permitted according to most Poskim. (Mitzvos HaLevavos)] say that if you do not forgive, you are considered cruel, but you must forgive as Avraham did as it is written [this verse].  CASTLE 829-30

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GEN1098 (Continued from [[EXOD1039]] Exodus 34:7 forgiving DORFFDRAG 188-9) The search for forgiveness and restoration of bonds with God and people, while the focus of the High Holy Day season, is not restricted to it. Judaism seeks forgiveness as a critical part of ongoing human interactions, and it provides a specific way to accomplish it. (See Dorff (1998b) “The Elements of Forgiveness: A Jewish Approach.” In Discussions of Forgiveness: Psychological Research and Theological Perspectives (29-55) Ed., Everett Worthington Jr., Templeton Foundation). Here I note those parts of the tradition dealing with individuals’ forgiveness of each other that formed the background for Judaism's understanding of communal forgiveness. If one has physically injured another, Jewish law maintains that payment of compensatory sums is not sufficient; the assailant must also ask the victim’s forgiveness. M. Bava Kamma 8:7; B. Yoma 85b; and M.T. Laws of Repentance 2:9-10. It is not only the injury that must be repaired, but the relationship. This imposes a reciprocal obligation on the wronged party: He or she, when asked for forgiveness, must forgive. Injured parties who refuse to do so even when asked three times in the presence of others are, in turn, deemed to have sinned. B. Bava Kamma 92a; Tanhuma, Hukkat 19; M.T. Laws of Forgiveness 3:10. They are called cruel and are not regarded as descendants of Abraham; for ever since Abraham forgave Abimelech, forgiveness has been a distinguishing mark of Abraham’s descendants, a special gift God bestowed upon them. Genesis 20:17, B. Bezah 32b, B. Yevamot 79a, and Numbers Rabbah 8:4. Such people also cannot expect divine forgiveness for their own sins: “All who act mercifully [forgivingly] toward their fellow creatures will be treated mercifully by Heaven, and all who do not act mercifully toward their fellow creatures will not be treated mercifully by Heaven.” B. Shabbat 151b. Moreover, they have failed to imitate God, for just as God is forgiving, so we are supposed to be. B. Shabbat 133b. This does not mean that people who have been wronged are supposed to squelch their feelings of anger. The Torah prohibits retaliatory action: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself.” Nevertheless, in the verse immediately before that one, it sanctions, and even commands, that people express their feelings of outrage after being wronged: “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him.” Leviticus 19:17-8 According to rabbinic interpretation, this even justified students criticizing their teachers, and the rebuke could be repeated even one hundred times over-- although another rabbinic dictum urges us to admonish only those who will listen. There was a dispute among the Rabbis about whether the censure could take the form of physically striking the offender, but all agreed that it could not include public embarrassment. B. Bava Metzia 31a; B. Arakhin 16b, B. Yevamot 65b and Rashi there. Biblical and rabbinic law did, however, stipulate in considerable detail the ingredients of a just punishment and/or compensation for the range of human transgressions of one person toward another. It also stipulated the rules under which a community as a whole could punish its members. The communal court would impose these punishments. One of the clearest expressions of communal distaste for an act was the penalty of excommunication, for then the very essence of the punishment was that the community was saying that a particular person was no longer fit to live with us -- at least until he or she abided by the dictates of the court. Once the culprits pay the penalty, however, Jewish law requires that the community take them back into the community wholly. “When the parties to a suit are standing before you,” Judah, the son of Tabbai said, “you should regard them both as guilty; but when they have departed from you, you should regard them as innocent, for they have accepted the verdict.” M. Avot 1:8. Unlike American law, under which a felon continues to suffer disabilities and embarrassment for the rest of his or her life, Jewish law demands that the community's forgiveness be complete -- even to the point of not mentioning the crime any longer. M. Bava Metzi’a 4:10 and B. Kiddushin 40b; compare M.T. Laws of Repentance 1:3. In sum, while wrongs are to be redressed and the emotions accompanying them assuaged, the ultimate goal is to mend human ties through forgiveness and reconciliation. As Hillel said: “Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures and bringing them close to the Torah.” M. Avot 1:12.

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GEN1101 Our tradition … knows quite well that sometimes human beings wrong others, and it goes to great lengths to specify what justice demands in such circumstances. But it also prescribes that we not only accept evidence of remorse in other individuals and groups but actively seek to achieve a world of peace.   “If a person has been injured, then even if the wrongdoer has not asked his forgiveness, the injured part must nevertheless ask God to show the wrongdoer compassion, even as Abraham prayed to God for Avimelech [this verse] and Job prayed for his friends. Rabban Gamliel said: Let this be a sign to you that whenever you are compassionate, the Compassionate One will have compassion upon you.”   T. Bava Kamma 9:29-30  DORFFDRAG 211

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GEN1103 Shall we forgive [the Catholic Church for its historical mistreatment of Jews]? That is a matter the Jewish community must still discuss. It depends, in large measure, on continued evidence of a Catholic desire to repent. A positive Jewish response to this will probably not take place in one single moment, and it will not be universally offered by Jews. Forgiveness will rather be achieved little by little, through joint word and action, just as personal forgiveness usually is. Over a period of time we will test the degree of the Church’s appropriate regret and get used to working with each other in a series of cooperative ventures. Ultimately, we may apply the tradition’s eagerness for forgiveness among individuals to the Catholic community as a whole. Whether we will remains to be seen. This chapter has demonstrated, though, that, at least in a secondary form of forgiveness, it is logically possible for us to do so. If we do decide that reconciliation is warranted, our efforts to seek better relations with Catholics would be motivated not only by such practical factors but also by ideological commitments. Our tradition has not spared its contempt for nations that have attacked Israel, but it has also praised those who have sought to repair relationships. It knows quite well that sometimes human beings wrong others, and it goes to great lengths to specify what justice demands in such circumstances. But it also prescribes that we not only accept evidence of remorse in other individuals and groups but actively seek to achieve a world of peace. “If a person has been injured, then even if the wrongdoer has not asked his forgiveness, the injured party must nevertheless ask God to show the wrongdoer compassion, even as Abraham prayed to God for Avimelech (Genesis 20:17) and Job prayed for his friends. Rabbi Gamliel said: Let this be a sign to you, that whenever you are compassionate, the Compassionate One will have compassion upon you. (Talmud, Bava Kamma 9:29-30).

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GEN1105 When a man sins against another man, he [the latter] shall not hate him and remain silent.   As it is said about the wicked: “And Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor evil, although Absalom hated Amnon.”   Samuel 2 13:22. [After Amnon had forced their sister, Tamar, to lie with him, Absalom hated Amnon and did not rebuke him.]  Rather, he is commanded to speak to him, and to say to him: “Why did you do such-and-such to me?  Why did you sin against me in such-and-such a matter?”   AS it is said: “You shall surely rebuke your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:17. If he repents and requests forgiveness from him, he needs to forgive and shall not be cruel.  As it is said [this verse]. [After Abimelech showed regret from having taken Sarah, whom he had supposed to be Abraham’s sister, Abraham asked God not to punish Abimelech.]   EWM 48

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