DEUT1572 As in other Western religions, for Judaism God is central not only to defining the good and the right, but also to creating the moral person. God does that in several ways. First, acting in God's judicial and executive functions, God helps to ensure that people will do the right thing. God is the infallible Judge for He knows "the secrets of the world," as the High Holy Day liturgy reminds us. Nothing can be hidden from God, and God cannot be deceived. Moreover, God holds the power of ultimate reward and punishment. To do the right thing just to avoid punishment or to gain reward is clearly not acting out of a high moral motive, but such actions may nevertheless produce good results. Moreover, the Rabbis state many times over that even doing the right thing for the wrong reason has its merit, for eventually correct moral habits may create a moral person who does the right thing for the right reason. (B. Pesachim 50b; B. Sanhedrin 105a; B. Arakhin 16b; B. Sotah 22b, 47a; B. Horayot 10b; B. Nazir 23b.) God also contributes to the creation of moral character in serving as a model for us. The underlying conviction of the Bible is that God is good, and God's actions are, as such, paradigms for us. The Bible itself raises questions about God's morality, for there are times when God appears to act arbitrarily and even cruelly; but for all that, Jewish texts trust that God is good. We, then, should aspire to be like God: "As God clothes the naked ... so you should clothe the naked" [etc.] (B. Sotah 14a). (Continued at [[DEUT1453]] Deuteronomy 25:13 not with us DORFFLOV 321-1).(By Elliot N. Dorff and Jonathan K. Crane)
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