18. Another shortcoming of the Synagogue and of Rabbinical Judaism in general was its formalism. Too much stress was laid upon the perfunctory "discharge of duty," the outward performance of the letter of the law, and not enough upon the spiritual basis of the Jewish religion. The form obscured the spirit, even though it never quite succeeded in throttling it. This formalism of the ignorant, but observant mult.i.tude was censured as early as the eleventh century by Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakudah in his "Duties of the Heart," a philosophical work in which he emphatically urges the need of inwardness for the Jewish faith.(1517) Later the mystics of Germany and Palestine, while strong supporters of the law, opposed the one-sidedness of legalism and intellectualism, and endeavored to instill elements of deeper devotion into the Jewish soul through the introduction of their secret lore, _Cabbalah_, or "esoteric tradition."(1518) Their offering, however, was anything but beneficial to the soul of Judaism. A mysticism which attempts to fathom the unfathomable depth of the divine accords but ill with the teaching of Judaism, which says: "The secret things belong unto the Lord our G.o.d, but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."(1519) The Cabbalah was but the reaction to the excessive rationalism of the Spanish-Arabic period. As the ultimate source of religion is not reason but the heart, so the cultivation of the intellect at the expense of the emotions can be only harmful to the faith. The legalism and casuistry of the Talmud and the Codes appealed too much to the intellect, disregarding the deeper emotional sources of religion and morality; on the other hand, the mysticism of the Cabbalists overemphasized the emotional element, and eliminated much of the rational basis of Judaism. True religion grasps the whole of man and shows G.o.d"s world as a harmonious whole, reflecting in both mind and heart the greatness and majesty of G.o.d on high. In order to open the flood-gates of the soul and render religion again the deepest and strongest force of life, the Synagogue must revitalize its time-honored inst.i.tutions and ceremonies. Thus only will they become real powers of the Jewish spirit, testimonies to the living G.o.d, witnessing to the truth of the Biblical words: "For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it too far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, "Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?" Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, "Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?" But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."(1520)
19. The Synagogue need no longer restrict itself to the ancient forms of worship in its appeal to the Jewish soul. It must point to the loftiest ideals for the future of all humanity, if it is to be true to its prophetic spirit of yore. "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples," exclaimed the seer of the exile.(1521) "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G.o.d, the Lord is one" must be echoed in all lands and languages, by all G.o.d-seeking minds and hearts, to realize the prophetic vision: "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be One, and His name One."(1522) Just as there is but one truth, one justice, and one love, however differently the various races and cla.s.ses of men may conceive them, so Israel shall uphold G.o.d, the only One, as the bond of unity for all men, despite their diversity of ideas and cultures, and His truth will be the beacon-light for all humanity. As the Psalms, prophets, and the opening chapters of the Pentateuch speak a language appealing to the common sense of mankind, so the divine worship of the Synagogue must again strike the deeper chords of humanity, in its weal and woe, its hope and fear, its aspirations and ideals. Therefore it is not enough that the inst.i.tutions and ceremonies of the Synagogue are testimonies to the great past of Israel. They must also become eloquent heralds and monitors of the glorious future, when all mankind will have learned the lessons of the Jewish festivals, the ideals of liberty, law, and peace, the thoughts of the divine judgment and the divine mercy. They must help also to bring about the time when the ideal of social justice, which the Mosaic Code holds forth for the Israelitish nation, will have become the motive-power and incentive to the reestablishment of human society upon new foundations.
Jehudah ha Levi, the lofty poet of medieval Jewry,(1523) speaks of Israel as the "heart of humanity," because it has supplied the spiritual and moral life-blood of the civilized world. Israel provides continually the rejuvenating influence of society. Israel"s history is the history of the world in miniature. As the Midrash says,(1524) the confession of G.o.d"s unity imposes upon us the obligation to lead all G.o.d"s children to love Him with heart and soul and might, thus working toward the time when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."(1525) All the social, political, and intellectual movements of our restless, heaven-storming age, notwithstanding temporary lapses into barbarism and hatred, point unerringly to the final goal, the unity of all human and cosmic life under the supreme leadership of G.o.d on high. In the midst of all these movements of the day stands the Jew, G.o.d"s witness from of old, yet vigorous and youthful still, surveying the experiences of the past and voicing the hope of the future, exclaiming in the words of his traditional prayers: "Happy are we; how goodly is our portion! how pleasant our lot! how beautiful our inheritance!"(1526) Our faith is the faith of the coming humanity; our hope of Zion is the kingdom of G.o.d, which will include all the ideals of mankind.
Chapter LIX. The Ethics of Judaism and the Kingdom of G.o.d
1. The soul of the Jewish religion is its ethics. Its G.o.d is the Fountainhead and Ideal of morality. At the beginning of the summary of the ethical laws in the Mosaic Code stands the verse: "Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your G.o.d am holy."(1527) This provides the Jew with the loftiest possible motive for perfection and at the same time the greatest incentive to an ever higher conception of life and life"s purpose. Accordingly, the kingdom of G.o.d for whose coming the Jew longs from the beginning until the end of the year,(1528) does not rest in a world beyond the grave, but (in consonance with the ideal of Israel"s sages and prophets) in a complete moral order on earth, the reign of truth, righteousness and holiness among all men and nations. Jewish ethics, then, derives its sanction from G.o.d, the Author and Master of life, and sees its purpose in the hallowing of all life, individual and social. Its motive is the splendid conception that man, with his finite ends, is linked to the infinite G.o.d with His infinite ends; or, as the rabbis express it, "Man is a co-worker with G.o.d in the work of creation."(1529)
2. Both the term ethics (from the Greek _ethos_) and morality (from the Latin _mores_) are derived from custom or habit. In distinction to this, the Hebrew Scripture points to G.o.d"s will as perceived in the human conscience as the source of all morality. Those ethical systems which dispense with religion fail to take due cognizance of the voice of duty which says to each man: "Thou shalt" or "Thou shalt not!" Duty distinguishes man from all other creatures. However low man may be in the scale of freedom, he is moved to action by an impulse from within, not by a compulsion from without. Of course, morality must travel a long road from the primitive code, which does not extend beyond the near kinsmen, to the ideal of civilized man which encompa.s.ses the world. Still man"s steps are always directed by some rule of duty. The voice of conscience, heard clearly or dimly, is not, as is so often a.s.serted, the product, but the original guiding factor of human society. The divine inner power of morality has made man, not man morality. Morality and religion, inseparably united in the Decalogue of Sinai, will attain their perfection together in the kingdom of G.o.d upon the Zion heights of humanity.
3. Ethical elements, greater or smaller, enter into all religions and codes of law of the various nations. Ancient Egypt, Persia and India even connected ethical principle and the future of the soul so closely, that certain ethical laws were to determine one"s fate in heaven or h.e.l.l. This led to the idea that this life is but the preparatory stage to the great hereafter. But antiquity also witnessed more or less successful attempts to emanc.i.p.ate ethics from religion. When the old beliefs no longer satisfied the thinking mind and no longer kept men from corruption, various philosophers attempted to provide general principles of morality as subst.i.tutes for the departed deities. Confucius built up in China a system of common-sense ethics based upon the communal life, but without any religious ideals; this satisfied the commonplace att.i.tude of that country, but could not pa.s.s beyond the confines of the far East. A semi-religious ascetic system was offered at about the same time by Gautama Buddha of India, a prince garbed as a mendicant friar, who preached the gospel of love and charity for all fellow creatures. His leading maxims were blind resignation and self-effacement in the presence of the ills, suffering and death which rule the entire domain of life. All existence was evil to him, with its pleasure, pa.s.sion and desire, its thought and feeling; his aim was a state of apathy and listlessness, _Nirvana_; while sympathy and compa.s.sion for fellow creatures were to offer some relief to a life of delusion and despair. The Hindu conception of the unbearable woe of the world corresponded more or less with the hot climate, which renders the people indolent and apathetic. In striking contrast to this was the vigorous manhood of the ethical systems developed on the healthy soil of Greece, under the azure canopy of a sky that fills the soul with beauty and joy. Life should be valued for the happiness it offers to the individual or to society. The good should be loved for its beauty, the just admired for its n.o.bility. Greek ethics was thus both aristocratic and utilitarian; it took no heed of the toiling slave, the suffering poor, or the unprotected stranger. Both the Buddhist and the h.e.l.lenic systems lacked the energizing force and motive of the highest purpose of life, because both have left out of their purview the great Ruler who summons man to his duty, saying: "I am the Lord thy G.o.d; thou shalt and thou shalt not!"
4. Between the two extremes, the h.e.l.lenic self-expansion and the Buddhist self-extinction, Jewish ethics labors for self-elevation under the uplifting power of a holy G.o.d. The term which Scripture uses for moral conduct is, very significantly, "to walk in the ways of G.o.d." The rabbis explain this as follows: "As G.o.d is merciful and gracious, so be thou merciful and gracious. As G.o.d is called righteous, so be thou righteous.
As G.o.d is holy, so do thou strive to be holy."(1530) Another of their maxims is: "How can mortal man walk after G.o.d, who is an all-consuming fire? What Scripture means is that man should emulate G.o.d. As He clothes the naked, nurses the sick, comforts the sorrowing, and buries the dead, so should man."(1531) In other words, human life must take its pattern from the divine goodness and holiness.
5. Obviously, Jewish ethics had to go through the same long process of development as the Jewish religion itself. A very high stage is represented by that disinterested goodness taught by Antigonus of Soko in the second pre-Christian century and by ben Azzai in the second century of the present era, which no longer antic.i.p.ates reward or punishment, but does good for its own sake and shuns evil because it is evil.(1532) As long as the law tolerated slavery, polygamy, and blood vengeance, and man"s personality was not recognized on principle as being made in the image of G.o.d, the practical morality of the Hebrews could not rise above that of other nations, except in so far as the shepherd"s compa.s.sion for the beast occasioned sympathy also for the fellow-man. After all, Jewish ethics became the ethics of humanity because of the G.o.d-conception of the prophets,-the righteous, merciful, and holy G.o.d, the G.o.d "who executeth the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment."(1533) The conception of Jewish ethics as human ethics is voiced in the familiar verse: "It hath been told thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord doth require of thee: only to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy G.o.d."(1534) The all-ruling and all-seeing G.o.d of the Psalmist made men feel that only such a one can stand in His holy place "who hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, nor sworn deceitfully."(1535) After law-giver, prophet, and psalmist came the wise, who gave ethics a more practical and popular character in the wisdom literature, and then came the _Hasidim_ or Essenes, who, while seeking the highest piety or saintliness as life"s aim, deepened and spiritualized their ethical ideals. Some of these considered the essential principles of morality to be love of G.o.d and of the fellow-man;(1536) while rabbinical ethics in general laid great stress on motive as determining the value of the deed. The words, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy G.o.d," so often repeated in the law, are taken to mean: Fear Him who looks into the heart, judging motives and intentions.(1537)
6. As the Mosaic Code presented the ceremonial and moral laws together as divine, so the rabbinical schools treated them all as divine commandments without any distinction. Hence the Mishnah and the Talmud fail to give ethics the prominent place it occupies in the prophetic and wisdom literature of the Bible and did not even make an attempt to formulate a system of ethics. The ethical rules in the "Sayings of the Fathers" and similar later collections make no pretentions to being general or systematic. The ethical teachings became conspicuous only through contact with the h.e.l.lenic world in the propaganda literature, with its aim to win the Gentile world to Judaism. Thus at an early period handbooks on ethics were written and circulated in the Greek language, some of which were afterward appropriated by the Christian Church. This entire movement is summed up in the well-known answer of Hillel to the heathen who desired to join the Jewish faith: "What is hateful to thee, do thou not unto thy fellow man; this is the law, and all the rest is merely commentary."(1538)
On the whole, rabbinical Judaism elaborated no ethical system before the Middle Ages. Then, under Mohammedan influence, the Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic philosophies in vogue gave rise to certain ethical works more or less in accord with their philosophic or mystic prototypes. In addition, ethical treatises were often written in the form of wills and of popular admonitions, which were sometimes broad and human, at other times stern and ascetic. One thought, however, prevailed through the ages: as life emanates from the G.o.d of holiness, so it must ever serve His holy purposes and benefit all His earthly children. "All the laws given by G.o.d to Israel have only the purification and enn.o.bling of the life of men for their object," say the rabbis.(1539)
7. Perhaps the best summary of Jewish ethics was presented by Hillel in the famous three words: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when then?"(1540) We find here three spheres of duty: toward one"s self, toward others, and toward the life before us. In contrast to purely altruistic or socialistic ethics, Jewish morality accentuated the value of the individual even apart from the social organism. Man is a child of G.o.d, a. self-conscious personality, who is to unfold and improve the powers implanted by his divine Maker, in both body and soul, laboring in this way toward the purpose for which he was created. Man was created single, says one of the sages in the Mishnah,(1541) that he might know that he forms a world for himself, and the whole creation must aid him in unfolding the divine image within himself. Accordingly, self-preservation, self-improvement and self-perfection are duties of every man. This implies first the care for the human body as the temple which enshrines the divine spirit. In the eyes of Judaism, to neglect or enfeeble the body, the instrument of the soul, is altogether sinful. As the Sabbath law demands physical rest and recreation after the week"s work, so the Jewish religion in general trains men to enjoy the gifts of G.o.d; and the rabbis declare that their rejection (except for disciplinary reasons) is ingrat.i.tude for which man must give an account at the last Judgment Day.(1542) The Pharisean teacher who opposed the Essenic custom of fasting and declared it sinful, unless it be for special purposes, would have deprecated even more strongly the ascetic Christian or Hindoo saint who castigated his body as the seat of sin.(1543) As Hillel remarked: "See what care is bestowed upon the statue of the emperor to keep it clean and bright; ought we not, likewise, keep G.o.d"s image, our body, clean and free from every blemish?"(1544)
In regard to our moral and spiritual selves the rabbinical maxim is: "Beautify thyself first, and then beautify others."(1545) Only as we first enn.o.ble ourselves can we then contribute to the elevation of the world about us. Our industry promotes the welfare of the community as well as of ourselves; our idleness harms others as well as ourselves.(1546) Upon self-respect rest our honor and our character. Virtue also is the result of self-control and self-conquest.(1547) "There shall be no strange G.o.d in thee." This Psalm verse is taken by the rabbis to mean that no anger and pa.s.sion nor any evil desire or overbearing pride shall obtain their mastery over thee.(1548) Man a.s.serts himself in braving temptation and trial, in overcoming sin and grief. Greater still is the hero who, in complete self-mastery, can sacrifice himself in a great cause. Martyrdom for the sake of G.o.d, which the rabbis call sanctification of the name of G.o.d,(1549) is really the a.s.sertion of the divine life in the midst of death. But desertion of life from selfish motives through suicide is all the more despicable. He who sells his human birthright to escape pain or disgrace, though greatly to be pitied, has forfeited his claim and his share in the world to come.(1550)
Not only our life is to be maintained amid all trials as a sacred trust, but also our rights, our freedom, and our individuality, for we must not allow our personality to become the slave or tool of others. Job, who battled for his own convictions against the false a.s.sumption of his friends, was at last praised and rewarded by G.o.d.(1551) The Biblical verse: "For they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold as slaves," is explained by the rabbis: "My servants, but not servants to servants," and is thus applicable to spiritual slavery as well.(1552)
8. Therefore the Jewish conception of duty to our fellow-men is by no means comprised in love or benevolence. Long before Hillel, other Jewish sages gave the so-called Golden Rule: "Love thy neighbor as thyself," a negative form: "What is hateful to thee do not do unto thy fellow men."(1553) Taken in the positive form, the command cannot be literally carried out. We cannot love the stranger as we love ourselves or our kin; still less can we love our enemy, as is demanded by the Sermon on the Mount. According to the Hebrew Scriptures(1554) we can and should treat our enemy magnanimously and forgive him, but we cannot truly love him, unless he turns from an enemy to a friend. The real meaning given by the rabbis to the command, "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is: "Put thyself in his place and act accordingly. As thou dost not desire to be robbed of thy property or good name or to be injured or insulted, so do not these things unto thy fellow man."(1555) They then take the closing words, "I am the Lord thy G.o.d," as an oath by G.o.d: "I am the Lord, the Creator of thy fellow man as well as of thee; therefore, if thou showest love to him, I shall surely reward thee, and if not, I am the Judge ready to punish thee."(1556) Love of all fellow-men is, in fact, taught by both Hillel(1557) and Philo.(1558) Love and helpful sympathy are implied also by the verse from Deuteronomy: "He (the Lord) loveth the stranger in giving him bread and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger."(1559) All members of the human household are dependent on each other for kindness and good will, whether we are rich or poor, high or lowly, in life or in death; so do we owe love and kindness to all men alike.
9. However, love as a principle of action is not sufficiently firm to fashion human conduct or rule society. It is too much swayed by impulse and emotion and is often too partial. Love without justice leads to abuse and wrong, as we see in the history of the Church, which began with the principle of love, but often failed to heed the admonitions of justice.
Therefore justice is the all-inclusive principle of human conduct in the eyes of Judaism. Justice is impartial by its very nature. It must right every wrong and vindicate the cause of the oppressed. "When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness,"
said the prophet,(1560) describing the just man as he "that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ear from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking on evil."(1561) Justice is the requisite not only in action, but also in disposition,(1562) implying honesty in intention as in deed, uprightness in speech and mien, perfect rect.i.tude, neither taking advantage of ignorance nor abusing confidence.(1563) It is sinful to acquire wealth by betting or gambling,(1564) or by cornering food-supplies to raise the market price.(1565) The rabbis derive from Scripture the thought that, just as "your balances and weights, your ephah and hin" must be just, so should your yea and nay.(1566) The verse, "Justice, justice shalt them follow,"(1567) is explained thus in a Midrash which is quoted by Bahya ben Asher of the thirteenth century: "Justice, whether to your profit or loss, whether in word or in action, whether to Jew or non-Jew."(1568) This category of justice covers also regard for the honor of our fellow-men, lest we harm it by the tongue of the back-biter,(1569) by the ear that listens to calumny,(1570) or by suspicion cast upon the innocent.(1571) "G.o.d in His law takes especial care of the honor of our fellow-men," say the rabbis, and "he who publicly puts his fellow man to shame forfeits his share in the world to come."(1572)
10. But the Jewish conception of justice is broader than mere abstention from hurting our fellow-men. Justice is a positive conception.
Righteousness (_Zedakah_) includes also charity and philanthropy. It a.s.serts the claim of the poor upon the rich, of the helpless upon him who possesses the means to help. "He who prevents the poor from reaping the corners of the field or the gleanings of the harvest, or in any way withholds that which has been a.s.signed them by the law of Moses, is a robber," says the Mishnah, "for it is written: "Remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the field of the fatherless." "(1573) Jewish ethics holds that charity is not a gift of condescending love, but a duty.
It is inc.u.mbent upon the fortunate to rescue the unfortunate, since all that we possess is only lent to us by G.o.d, the Owner of the world, with the charge that we provide for the needy who are under His special protection. Those who refuse to give the poor their share abuse the divine trust. "If thou lendest money to My people, to the poor with thee,"(1574) says Scripture, and the rabbis comment on this to the effect that "the poor are called G.o.d"s people; do not forget that the turn of fortune which made you rich and them poor may turn, and that you may then be in need."(1575) Nor is it sufficient merely to give to him who is poor; we are bidden to uphold him when his powers fail.(1576)
This is the very principle of ethics of the Mosaic law, the principle for which the great prophets fought with all the vigor and vehemence of the divine spirit-social justice. The cry: "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room,"(1577) the condemnation of those "that swallow the needy and destroy the poor of the land,"(1578) the curse hurled at him who withholdeth corn,(1579) laid the foundations of a higher justice, which is not satisfied with mitigating the misery of the unfortunate by acts of charity, but insists on a readjustment of the social conditions which create poverty. This spirit created the poor laws of the Mosaic Code, which were partially adopted by both Christians and Mohammedans. It dictated the Mosaic inst.i.tutions of the seventh year of release and the Jubilee year for the restoration of fields and houses, to prevent the tyranny of wealth from becoming a permanent source of oppression. While these were scarcely ever put into practice, they remained as a protest and an appeal. Their aim and permanent influence tended toward relations between the upper and lower cla.s.ses, which would insure the latter some degree of independence and dignity. In fact, the foundations laid by the Hebrew Scripture underlie all our great modern efforts to turn the forces of charity so as to check the sources of evil in our social organism. Modern philanthropy, taking its clue from the old Hebrew ideal, aims not to alleviate but to cure, and to stimulate the natural good in society, material, moral and intellectual, that it may overcome the evil. We are recognizing more and more the principle of mutual responsibility and interdependence of men and cla.s.ses. Yet this very principle, modern as it seems, was recognized by the Jewish sages, as we see in the remarkable pa.s.sage where the rabbis comment on the law concerning the case of a slain body found in the field, with the murderer unknown. The Bible commands that in such a case the elders of the city should kill a heifer, wash their hands over it, and say: "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it."(1580) The rabbis then ask: "How could the elders of a city ever be suspected of the crime of murder?" and their reply is: "Even if they only failed to provide the poor in their charge with the necessary food, and he became a highway robber and murderer; or if they left him without the necessary protection, and he fell a victim to murderers, they are held responsible for the crime before the higher court of G.o.d."(1581) That is, according to our station we are all responsible for the social conditions which create poverty and crime, and it is our duty to establish such relations between the individual and the community as will remove the causes of all the evils of society.
11. This, in a way, antic.i.p.ates the third maxim of Hillel: "If not now, when then?" Judaism cannot accept the New Testament spirit of other-worldliness, which prompted the teaching: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on," or "Resist not evil."(1582) Such a view disregards the values and duties of domestic, civic, and industrial life, and creates an inseparable gulf between sacred and profane, between religion and culture.
In contrast to this, Jewish ethics sets the highest value upon all things that make man more of a human being and increase his power of doing good.
To Judaism marriage and home life are regarded as the normal conditions of human welfare and sane morality, while celibacy is considered abnormal.(1583) Labor establishes the dignity of man,(1584) while wealth is a source of blessing, a stewardship in the service of society.(1585) In opposition to the practice fostered by the Essenes and afterwards adopted by the early Church, of devoting one"s whole fortune to charity, the rabbis decreed that one should not give over one fifth of one"s possessions.(1586) As has well been said, Judaism teaches a "robust morality."(1587) It regards life as a continual battle for G.o.d and right against every sort of injustice,(1588) for truth against every kind of falsehood. At the same time it fosters also the gentler virtues of meekness,(1589) kindness to animals,(1590) peaceableness and modesty.(1591)
12. Jewish ethics excels all other ethical systems, especially in its insistence on purity and holiness. Not only is any unchaste look, thought, or act condemned, exactly as in the Sermon on the Mount,(1592) as approaching adultery,(1593) but all profanity of act or speech is declared to be an unpardonable offense against the majesty of G.o.d.(1594) Modesty in demeanor and dress was both preached and practiced by the Jews throughout the Middle Ages, while in non-Jewish circles coa.r.s.eness and lewdness prevailed among high and low, in minstrel song and monastic life. "The Lord thy G.o.d walketh in the midst of thy camp ... therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unseemly thing in thee, and turn away from thee."(1595) These Biblical words created among the Essenes (the _Zenuim_) and later among the entire Jewish people a spirit of chast.i.ty and modesty which made the Jewish home of old a model of purity and sanct.i.ty. The great problem for modern Israel, amid our present allurements of luxury and pleasure, is to restore the home to its pristine glory as a sanctuary of G.o.d, a training school for virtue, so that its influence may extend over the whole of life.
13. Thus Jewish ethics derives its sanction from the idea of a G.o.d of holiness. But it never made life austere, depriving it of joy, or begrudging man his cheerfulness and laughter. On the contrary, the Sabbath and many of the holy days are seasons of joy, for gladness should bring the spirit of G.o.d near to man.(1596) Moreover, the Talmud holds that we should encourage every means of promoting cheer among men. This is ill.u.s.trated by one of the popular legends of the prophet Elijah, who told the saintly Rabbi Beroka, who prided himself upon his austerity, that his companions in Paradise were to be two jesters, because they cheered the depressed and increased the joy in the world.(1597)
As a matter of fact, the Jewish ideal of holiness is all-inclusive. It aims to hallow every pursuit and endeavor, all social relations and activities, insisting only on a pure motive and disinterested service. As the Ruler of life is the source of all morality, so all of life should be made holy with duty. Man becomes a child of G.o.d through his responsibility, instead of remaining a mere product of the social forces about him or of claiming self-sufficient sovereignty and refusing to acknowledge a higher Will. Jewish ethics is autonomous, because it insists on the divine spirit in man.(1598) As we follow the divine Pattern of holiness, all that we have and are, body and soul, weal and woe, wealth and want, pain and pleasure, life and death, become stepping-stones on the road to holiness and G.o.dliness. Life is like a ladder on which man can rise from round to round, to come ever nearer to G.o.d on high who beckons him toward ever higher ideals and achievements. Man and humanity are thus given the potentiality of infinite progress in every direction. Science and art, industry and commerce, literature and law, every pursuit of man comes within the scope of religion and ethics. For G.o.d"s kingdom of truth, righteousness and peace, as beheld by Israel"s seers of old, will be fully established on earth only when all the forces of material, intellectual, and social life have been unfolded, when all the prophetic ideals, the visions and aspirations of all the seers of humanity have been realized, and the Zion heights of human perfection have at last been attained. "The wise have no rest, neither in this world nor in the world to come, for it is said: "they go from strength to strength, [until] they appear before G.o.d on Zion." "(1599)