DEUT305 The medieval commentator Nahmanides (Ramban, 13th-century Spain) offers a profound elaboration on the verse: “Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:18). He says that no amount of legislation can cover every single situation because there will always be one more variable or nuance to be considered. So the Torah offers a long list of specific and general instructions, and then tells us to “do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord.” That is, we are to build on both the general principles and specific laws that we see in the Tradition, and then extrapolate from them the guidance we need to do the right thing.... It is my call to the readers of this essay to consider these teachings and to guide themselves in a way that is “right and good.” Any pleasure, and certainly that which is gained by deceit, is momentary. But the satisfaction one gains from acting honorably, the self-esteem that comes from knowing that we live in accordance with our values, endures. (By Uzi Weingarten)

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DEUT300 Although the Torah and the later Jewish tradition went about as far as any society could go in translating its moral and spiritual commitments into legal terms, rabbinic authorities recognized that justice can never be captured totally in law. As a medieval Jewish phrase puts it, one can be a “scoundrel within the limits of the law” or, interpreted somewhat differently, “a scoundrel with the sanction of the Torah” (naval b’reshut haTorah). Consequently, although the Bible as a whole depicts the substance of the law as both lifegiving and the source of goodness (See, for example, Deuteronomy 30:15 and Psalms 19:8-10 and 119:33-40). 20 -- in sharp contrast to the abominable acts of the other nations (See, for example, Leviticus 18;20) -- the Torah in addition requires the doing of “what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 6:18). The Rabbis of the Talmud take that and other verses in the Torah as the basis for declaring that people are obliged to act “beyond the letter of the law” (lifnim m’shurat ha-din). (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Amalek,” “Yitro,” on Exodus 18:20, 198, parashah 2; B. Bava Metzi’a 83a.) Commenting on that biblical verse, Nachmanides (1194-c. 1270) said: “This refers to compromise [rather than judgment according to strict law] and conduct beyond the requirements of the Law. The intent of this is that initially [in Deuteronomy 6:17] God had said that you should observe the laws and statutes that He had commanded you. Now God says that, with respect to what He has not commanded, you should likewise take heed to do the right and the good in His eyes, for He loves the good and the right. This is a great matter, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all of a person's actions towards his neighbors and acquaintances, all of his commercial activity, and all social and political institutions. So, after God had mentioned many of them... He continues to say generally that one should do the right and the good in all matters through compromise and conduct beyond the requirements of the Law.” (Commentary on the Torah, on Deuteronomy 6:18). Indeed, the Rabbis state that the Second Temple was destroyed because people did not acknowledge or fulfill such moral duties. (Leviticus 19:2). Thus, while the Torah and rabbinic tradition helped make justice a reality by giving it concrete expression in law, Jewish law itself recognizes that justice sometimes demands more than the law does, that moral duties go beyond the letter of the law. Moreover, such moral duties sometimes require reshaping the law so itself so that in each new age it can continue to be the best approximation of justice. [Continued at [[LEV273]] Leviticus 19:2 holy DORFFDRAG 118]

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DEUT301 From the Torah’s point of view, the task of discerning the right and the good and then acting on that knowledge is not just central to Jewish identity; it is what God demands of us: “Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.”

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DEUT302 Goodness, though, is not our only moral ideal. We also seek to do the right thing. After all, the Torah demands that we do both “the right and the good in the eyes of God.” (Deuteronomy 6:18). The differences between the right and the good were discussed in Appendix A, and we certainly want to do both in our private lives and on the social plane. How, though, do we determine what is the right and/or good thing to do? The Jewish tradition has depended primarily on a legal method of identifying the right and the good, all the while acknowledging that there are moral duties “beyond the letter of the law.” Because Jews tend to think that the whole world thinks and acts as Jews do, it is helpful to note that other traditions have chosen very different ways of discovering the right and/or the good. ... Catholics depend on their clerical hierarchy and, ultimately, on the Pope to define what is right in good. Indeed, the First Vatican Council declared in 1870 that in matters of faith and morals, the Pope has the right to declare something “infallibly.” ... Protestant theorists place strong emphasis on individual conscience in defining the right and the good. They expect that individual Protestants should be guided in their moral perceptions and actions by Scripture, in particular the stories of Jesus. ... American secular thought, with strong roots both in Protestantism and Enlightenment thought, places great faith both in individual conscience and in rule by the majority and a government with checks and balances.

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DEUT307 Unfair competition in the Talmud was tantamount to committing adultery (Talmud Sanhedrin 81). A person's business affairs were expected to be infused with a spirit of fairness, the rabbis taught, even where the law has nothing to say about the matter. The rabbis based this principle on [this verse].

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DEUT309 While the laws of halakhah are obligatory only for Jews, our approach maintains that these legal rules express and enunciate eternal and universal ethical principles. This idea was given very eloquent expression by the great medieval authority Nachmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman). In his great commentary on the Torah, Nachmanides discusses the commandment "And you shall do what is straight and right". [This verse]. Here the Torah is commanding us to act in an ethical way, yet the commandment begs the question of how we know what course of action is the ethical one. Nachmanides explains that we are able to deduce general ethical principles from the specific mandates of the many laws of interpersonal behavior, principles that apply even in instances that may be beyond the scope of the law. ... ethical behavior, the good and the straight, is neither independent of fulfillment of the commandments nor synonymous with them; it is an extension and extrapolation of the ethical examples embodied in them.

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DEUT308 We should go beyond the letter of the law in our dealings with others. The Ramban cites the words of our Sages who explained that this verse exhorts us to go beyond the dictates of the law in our dealings with our fellow man. The Ramban adds that this is a very great principle, since it is impossible for the Torah to actually list every last detail as to how a person should behave with his neighbors and friends. An example of this is when a plot of land is for sale. The owner of a plot of land adjacent to the plot that is for sale should be given the first right to buy it. Even if someone else is interested in acquiring that land, the seller should give his neighbor the option to buy it first. Since someone who owns land bordering on the plot that is for sale will gain more from that plot then others, other interested buyers should purchase elsewhere. (See Rashi, Bava Metzia 108a). The Talmud (Bava Metzia 30b) states that Jerusalem was destroyed because its inhabitants failed to go beyond the letter of the law. Rabbi Zalman of Volozhin explained that this alone was not the cause of the destruction, for they had other transgressions as well. But had they gone beyond the letter of the law in dealing with others, God would have gone beyond the letter of the law in dealing with them. Consequently, Jerusalem would have been saved. (Toldos Odom). Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian used to cite this passage during the month of Ellul (the month preceding Rosh Hashanah). He added that before Rosh Hashanah everyone tries to find extra merits. From here we see that the most effective merit is to go beyond the letter of the law in our dealings with others. (Lev Eliyahu, vol. 2, p. 192). Rabbi Yosef Y. Hurwitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Nevardok, used to say, "Someone who is lax in fulfilling matters that are beyond the obligation of the letter of the law will eventually be lax in fulfilling laws that are explicitly expressed and self-evident." (Tnuas Hamussar, vol. 4, p. 297)

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DEUT304 Nachmanides comments, “The meaning of this verse is as follows: First, God tells you to keep the statutes and laws which He has commanded you to. And then He tells you that even with regard to those matters concerning which there is no specific command, you should see to it that you do only that which is good and right in His eyes, for He loves that which is good and right.” Thus, there is no law mandating that we leave a waiter a tip. But waiters' low salaries are based on the presumption that people will offer gratuities. Therefore we must do the "right and the good" and act generously.

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DEUT306 The medieval Torah commentator Ramban (Nachmanides, 1194-1270) notes that the broad but vaguely worded commandment "And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of God" [This verse] was necessary because the Torah could not issue ordinances that would cover every contingency ("It is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man's conduct with his neighbors and friends"), and so included this general admonition to act ethically to cover cases where there is no specific law. According to the Talmud, this verse mandates that we sometimes even ignore a law if adherence to it will lead to injustice. For example, if a debtor does not pay a debt on time, the creditor may seize his land in payment. If the debtor later comes up with the money owed, the creditor may say to him, "Too late, I prefer to keep the land." Basing itself, however, on the verse "And you shall do that which is right in good in the eyes of God," the Talmud rules that the land must be returned, even if the money was paid after it was due (Bava Mezia 16b). [In his eleventh-century Torah commentary, Rashi notes that this verse is intended to teach people in a dispute to compromise, and not to insist on the letter of the law.] Another talmudic passage sees this verse as so fundamental that it claims that the entire Book of Deuteronomy became known, as the "Book of the Right" [i.e., the Upright] simply because it contains the verse, "And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of God" (Avodah Zarah 25a).

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DEUT310 We earlier alluded to the following passage as containing one of the general moral principles of the Torah: [this and next verse]. As noted by Nachmanides, the command to do "what is right and good" must be seen in contrast to the preceding verse, which urges us to "keep the commandments." That is to say, where your situation is governed by specific commandments and statutes, by all means observe the commandments! But even where no particular precept or specific rule is relevant to your situation, you must nevertheless deliberate and determine on your own that which is "right and good in the sight of the Lord" and do it.

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