VIOLENCE AND CHOICE October 20, 2023
In 1992, Rodney King, a Black man viciously beaten by Los Angeles police a year earlier, asked during violent riots, “Can’t we all get along?” Last week’s Torah portion, “Genesis,” and this week’s, “Noah,” address this sorry aspect of human nature.
Gen. 1:26 states: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Surely, humanity would exhibit only love and kindness. But the Sages explain that “in our image” means that people can reason and choose the moral path.
The first humans chose wrong. The serpent goaded Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. Not an apple. Maybe a pomegranate or fig. Eve offered Adam a bite. He chomped down. Christians call this original sin. Jews believe that people aren’t condemned to sin by birth. The Sages speak of the yetzer ha-tov (good inclination) and yetzer hara (bad inclination). Our actions must reflect choices.
Later, God accepted the offering of Adam and Eve’s younger son Abel but rejected his brother Cain’s. Cain was morose. God advised, “Surely, if you do right, / There is uplift. / But if you do not do right / Sin couches at the door; / Its urge is toward you. / Yet you can be its master” (Gen. 4:7).
Cain killed Abel. God asked Cain—rhetorically—where his brother was. Cain answered, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). The Torah tells us yes and provides moral guidelines not only for Jews (613 commandments) but all humanity (the seven Noahide laws).
Several generations later—humanity having descended from Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth—Lamech boasted to his wives, “I have slain a man for wounding me, / And a lad for bruising me” (Gen. 4:23). Some early people still were drawn to bloodshed.
Now to this week’s portion, “Noah.” God saw what His human creations were doing and was angered. He told Noah—“a righteous man; he was blameless in his age” (Gen. 6:9)—“I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them” (Gen. 6:13). The Hebrew word for lawlessness—also translated as violence, outrage, wrongdoing, robbery—is hamas. The Flood followed. God then decided never to destroy humanity with another flood.
Hamas continues.
If only Cain had heard and adhered to the commandment “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). This is opposed to kill, permitted in self-defense and military matters. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and more because God recognized the makeup of human nature. Still, humanity can rise above. We can choose to exercise the yetzer ha-tov rather than the yetzer hara.
The challenge daunts us. Following the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, Israel seeks to destroy Hamas. The task will be difficult because Hamas is an idea as well as an organization, one that devalues both Jewish and Palestinian lives.
Torah also teaches, “Justice, justice you shall pursue” (Deut. 16:20).
The line between justice and revenge is thin. The Israel Defense Forces will conduct themselves as well as possible while making life-and-death decisions few of us have ever experienced. Those demanding perfection will be disappointed.
May the IDF act with determination while choosing its—our, humanity’s—yetzer ha-tov.
Found this post interesting? Please pass it on.
Order The Short (Pun Intended) Redemptive Life of Little Ned in softcover or e-book from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com or iuniverse.com. Or your favorite bookstore.
Several years ago our Rabbi Larry spoke about free will – is there such a thing? We look at this from our near god-like self identities and believe yes or no. All humans, as well as all primates, do not necessarily have a penchant for violence, nor do all have a penchant for peace. Whether we are scholars or barely hominids, this is extremely complicated. The causes of our proclivities are worthy of debate.
Shalom,
Jean
Jean: Torah understands the complexity of human nature. The Sages and later commentators may have debated the fine points of “why.” We still do. But the first item of business is recognizing that people can do bad and good. From Judaism’s perspective, we must struggle to do good. I emphasize “struggle.” We are not free, however, to give in to our yetzer hara without that struggle, to claim we have no free choice despite what we know today of human behavior. And, we must take responsibility when we fail.
You’ve said a mountain here. These lines are my takeaway: “The task will be difficult because Hamas is an idea as well as an organization.” and
“The line between justice and revenge is thin… Those demanding perfection will be disappointed.”
Perfection is always demanded as to Israel, especially by those with “no dog in this hunt”. Why this is a passion for non-Jews, and non-Palestinians, remains a mystery. Those among us, so comfortable, who have never faced battle, are the most vocal, and it will be a long and sad road.
May Justice bring Peace. Shabbat shalom.
Well said, Claudia. And Shabbat shalom to you.
We’re in Hanoi. Yesterday we had the privilege to meet the son of General Giap, the Vietnamese military leader who defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu and then outlasted the United States. The encounter was profound as he described his father’s thinking and answered our questions with candor and grace. Two things jumped out: one was the Vietnamese people’s deep sense of patriotism, which led them to suffer unimaginable losses to secure their country. The other was the American mistakes, beginning in 1945 when we did not respond to Ho Chi Minh’s entreaties to support his newly declared government and left him dependent on the Soviet Union and later China.
Sometimes our Yetzer Hara is not evil in the sense that we normally think of it, as something perverse or corrupt. It’s the lack of humility that leads us to think we know more about what’s the right thing to do than we actually know. Recognizing our own limits — that we are created in the divine image, but are not in fact divine — is critical to staying on the right path. Lives — in some case millions of lives — may be in the balance.
Our egos, David, easily can get the best of us. At the same time, we have to have confidence that we can recognize the right path and go down it. Always a tough balancing act. Here’s hoping Israel can achieve objectives well thought out with eyes on the long term. I haven’t the answers.