Judaism and Human Rights

Lech Lecha

Gen. 12:1 -17:27

Précis: This parasha, “get you up” or “go yourself” (lech lecha) begins with “the call” of Abram to leave his home and depart for a new land. At God’s command, Abram and Sarai journey to Canaan. When famine strikes, they travel to Egypt, where Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s harem after Abram calls her his “sister,” but she escapes without harm. They then leave Egypt, with Abram now a rich man. To avoid family squabbles, Abram separates himself from his nephew Lot (who moves to Sodom), but Abram is forced to rescue Lot and reaches a negotiated settlement with the locals. God promises him an heir. Because Sarai is barren, she offers Abram her servant (Hagar), and Hagar gives birth to a son, Ishmael. Abram is then promised a son through Sarai, to be his true heir. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, in recognition of the new Covenant with God, which is then symbolized by Abraham’s circumcision.

Gen. 12:1 “And Adonai said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’”

            Dr. Shaiya Rothberg, writing in Torah Sparks (10/20/18) asks a basic question: why was it necessary for Abram to leave his homeland in order for him to succeed as God’s herald? The Sages suggested that he needed to leave a corrupt environment, but we know that Canaan was also a corrupt environment (see, e.g., Sodom).

            Rothberg cites the Sforno, who offers another explanation: “...when it was apparent that there was no longer any hope that the human race as a whole would repent...God then chose a pious man from among the entire species, Avraham, and his seed, to attain through them the goal intended by God from the moment humanity had been placed on earth.”

            God knew that Avraham would teach his children to do justice and righteousness (Gen. 18:19). So when they endured the slavery of Egypt, they understood that an oppressed minority maintained its rights. The root sin of Egypt was its belief that slavery and oppression were legitimate. On the other hand, Jewish law and tradition are based on the concept that there is to be equality between the citizen and the stranger. The state does not grant human rights, but rather human rights give rise to the state.

            Today’s so-called “alt-right” anti-Semites believe in “blood and soil” as the basis of state authority. Nothing could be further from Jewish tradition and law.  It is also the reason why Abram left his father’s land: his new community would not be based on “blood and soil” but rather on the belief that all are created in God’s image and with it a commitment to human dignity.

            Our Founding Father George Washington, in his famous letter to the Jews of Rhode Island, renounced the concept that “tolerance” was the basis for recognizing the rights of “others.” It is indeed a basic human right of all of us. What is asked o us? Only that we pursue justice.

Nature, Morality, and Justice

Noach

Gen. 6:9-11:32

Précis: The story of Noah (Hebrew: Noach) and the Flood appear in this parasha. Noah, called by God, builds the Ark and collects the animals. It rains for forty days and nights. Noah and his family are saved, and afterward leave the Ark, build an altar, and make sacrifices to God. God sets a rainbow as a promise not to destroy mankind again. Noah plants a vineyard, makes wine, and becomes drunk. An odd incident with sexual overtones takes place with his sons. The story of the Tower of Babel is included in this parasha, and it ends with a genealogy of the ancient peoples of the Bible, concluding with Abram.

Gen. 6:13 “The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.’”

             Mark Gary, writing in Torah from JTS (10/15/15) notes that these verses raise important questions about the relationship between the natural world, humanity’s morality, and God’s justice.

            At first, the story is simple: God is revealing his authority over nature to punish evil, while protecting the innocent (Noah and his family). This is a seminal Jewish belief, which we recite with the Shema every day: if we follow God’s law, the natural world will sustain us.  But if we don’t obey the mitzvot, the world will turn on us.

            Despite its significance, this is a troublesome theology, because it does not correspond with reality. It leads to fundamentalists blaming hurricanes or floods on sin. But it is not only modern folks who are troubled by this matter. Rashi saw the tale of Noah with more nuance. Rashi says, “Wherever you find sexual sin and idolatry, andralamousia [summary mass execution] comes to the world and kills good and bad [indiscriminately].” In other words, natural disasters do not discriminate between the innocent and the guilty; they ignore morality.

            Although Rashi concedes that natural disasters do not discriminate between the innocent and the guilty, he still insists that there is a connection between nature and morality. Rashi highlights the cause of the Flood as “sexual sin” such that there were no sexual borders relating to marriage, familial relationships, or even species. Such behavior is essentially narcissistic, and ignores the well-being of others.  In this light, Rashi sees the Flood as a Divine sentence resulting from the erasure of all moral borders.

            If there is a link between moral behavior and nature, it may be this: when we act only for ourselves and ignore the needs of others and future generations who will rely on our world, we bring humanity closer to the deluge.