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| Rabbi Doniel Hartman |
I’m not a fan of Rabbi Doniel Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute. And his latest book, Putting God Second is one reason why. The very title is
problematic in that it says that we should put God second in all of our
undertakings.
I think I understand his motivation in making this claim. One
can point to mountains of misdeeds done in the name of God. The best example of
which is ISIS… or any Islamic Jihadist that commits heinous acts in the name of
God. We see this almost every day now. And history is replete with such thinking
- from the Crusades to the Inquisition. People were murdered and tortured in
the name of God.
Such thinking is not the exclusive domain of non Jewish
religions. Is there any question that mass murderer Baruch Goldstein and Rabin assassin Yigal Amir were acting on what they believed was God’s will – all
based on the Hashkafos they followed?
And then there are lesser acts done be other Orthodox groups
that are nevertheless pretty disgusting. Like the violence that takes place
during riots protesting government policies; beating up women in busses for ‘not
sitting where they belong’; throwing rocks at people that violate Shabbos; or yelling
and screaming at a 7 year old girl - calling her a prostitute during a demonstration
in Bet Shemesh. I could go on, but there
are far too many incidents like that to include in a relatively short essay.
So I get what Rabbi Hartman is trying to say. We should be
looking at ethical behavior first, and at God second.
The problem with this kind of thinking is that God is the
center of all our actions, including ethical behavior. Rabbi Hartman ignores
the Bein Adam L’Makom (man’s interaction with God) in favor of Bein Adam L’Chavero
(man’s interaction with man).
But God mandates both for us. He doesn’t just mandate one.
Of course ethics are important. But ethics are as much a part of God’s mandate
for us as is ritual behavior. To say that God should be second to ethics denies
that God even has a part in that. Had he said that God places more value on the
latter than the former would have been one thing. But putting God outside of
ethics is to deny an essential attribute of God Himself.
That there are ethics outside of the Torah (God’s blueprint
for all behavior – both spiritual and interpersonal) may be true. But beside
the point. The point is that when it
comes to ethical behavior we are commanded by God to have it. God is therefore not secondary, but primary.
That said, I agree that a lot of bad behavior is based on
doing what people think is God’s will - as I illustrated above. I have said this
many times. But that kind of thinking is just a distortion of God’s will. While it is
true that some Orthodox Jews tend to ignore ethical behavior and focus mostly
on ritual that is not because the Torah does not require it. So I agree that many
of us in Orthodoxy need to readjust our thinking along more ethical lines But
that is precisely because of God’s will, not because God doesn’t care as much about it.
That is pure Apikursus.
And another thing. By focusing on ethics Rabbi Hartman falls
into the same trap that the Reform
Movement did. Their founding fathers defined Judaism as ethical behavior – claiming
that ritual behavior doesn’t matter anymore. They believed that all ritual behavior
in the Torah was designed to produce ethical behavior anyway so now that a
more enlightened mankind knows that – ritual is no longer needed.
That is a prescription for extinction. It took them awhile
but they now realize this. Ethical behavior is not the sole domain of Judaism.
So that there ceases to be any difference between Jews and non Jews as long as
they both behave in ethical ways. Which is why the Reform Movement now encourages ritual
observance (although they do not require it). They now understand that in order
to retain our identity we need to be different.
Now I’m sure that Rabbi Hartman does not mean that we should
abandon ritual observance. I’m sure he agrees that the Torah requires it of us
and that he is observant. But by putting God second he minimizes its importance
– thus inviting a lot of people to minimize it or simply ignore it. Since ethical
behavior is so much more important, that is what people will put all of their
energies into. A very slippery slope if you ask me.
