Where Do We Learn Right from Wrong?

How does one learn right from wrong? The answer for Jews seems easy: the Torah, our Tree of Life. In actuality, it’s not so easy. The Ramban taught:

It is impossible to mention in the Torah every detail of a person’s conduct with his neighbors and friends, all of his business dealings and the policies of towns and countries, but after it (the Torah) mentioned many (individual laws)…it went back to state generally that we should do the right and the good in everything (Ramban commentary, Devarim 6:18).

Inevitably, society evolves, and every rule from a past era and context should not, and cannot, be slapped upon a new scenario. And, of course, religious law is not the answer to every complex moral dilemma. We often must weigh a considerable number of competing values to determine the appropriate response in a given situation. The Chazon Ish (Rabbi Abraham Yeshaya Karelitz) taught that there is an important distinction between ratzon haTorah (the Torah’s will) and ratzon Hashem (G-d’s will). There are clear ethical mandates (ratzon Hashem) that cannot be found in Biblical verses. Nevertheless, one needs tools to discern moral truths.

Rav Kook taught that we must be engaged in contemplative life, where we tap into the conscience of our souls:

Morality, in its natural state, with all its profound splendor and might, must be fixed in the soul, so that it may serve as a substratum for the great effects emanating from the strength of Torah… Every element of Torah must be preceded by derekh eretz (natural ethical behavior) (Orot HaTorah 12:2-3).

In addition to all the answers not lying within the Torah, they also do not all sit exclusively with the Jewish people. The rabbis are clear that there is wisdom to learn from gentiles (Kiddushin 31a, Zevachim 19a). We must look out to all people of wisdom, to nature, even to animals:

Rabbi Yochanan said: If the Torah had not been given, we could have learned about modesty from the cat, honest labor from the ant, marital fidelity from the dove, and good manners from the rooster—who first coaxes his hen and then copulates with her (Eruvin 100b).

One must take an analytic and open approach to every possible idea of truth. Consider Rav Kook’s value for an open intellectual life:

One must carefully distinguish between a holistic perspective, which succeeds in penetrating the roots of every opinion, enabling it to appreciate every opinion for its intrinsic worth, and the cold tolerance resulting from the difficulty of integrating the spiritual world into life. The later must retreat in its confrontation with the light and energy of life.” (Letters of Rav Kook, Jerusalem, 5745, 79).

Rav Kook teaches further that we do not live in a deterministic, cyclical, declining, or static world. Rather, since the Exodus, we are a part of continuous progress toward ultimate liberation and redemption (Olat Reiyah II, p. 268, cited in footnote).

So if we are to grow morally from the wisdom of the Torah, conscience, gentile wisdom, nature, animals, and all ideas that move the human condition toward progress, how are we to decide what to harvest amidst all of this complexity?

We must hold ourselves accountable to not merely follow authorities but to make hard moral decisions on our own after consulting other forms of wisdom. Gandhi once said that the only tyrant that he ever listened to was his inner voice. May we all take in so much wisdom from the Torah, from our souls, from others, and from the world to the point that we are overflowing, and then may we have the courage to do the hardest job of all: tap into our deepest intellectual and spiritual faculties and make difficult, moral choices.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Executive Director of the Valley Beit Midrash, the Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek, the Founder and CEO of The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute and the author of six books on Jewish ethics.  Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America.”