● In the Bible,
Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, and Job all argue extensively with God.
● In Midrash, rabbis
argue with one another on the basis of the principle that there are seventy
“faces,” or interpretations, of every text.
● In the Mishnah the
rabbis argue about Jewish law.
● In the Gemara they
argue about the arguments of the Mishnah.
● Every later text
comes with its own commentaries and counter-commentaries.
In
the twelfth century, Moses Maimonides did the most daring thing of all: he
wrote a code of law with, all the arguments removed. This generated
more arguments than any other text for the next eight hundred years until
today.
Arguments For The Sake
of Heaven
The
rabbis came up with a major distinction, between “an argument for the
sake of heaven” and other arguments.[i] The classic example was
the relationship between the rabbinic schools of Hillel and Shammai. They had
been arguing over something for three years when a voice from heaven announced:
“The words of Hillel
and Shammai are the words of the living God,
but the law will be in
accordance with the school of Hillel.”
Why
did the voice from heaven rule in favor of Hillel? “Because Hillel’s words were
kindly and modest. He studied his own rulings and those of Shammai too. Hillel
was so humble as to mention the teachings of Shammai before his own.” The
concept of “argument for the sake of heaven” allowed the sages to
reframe disagreement – making it a unifying force, instead of being divisive.
This is implicit in a radical new idea:
Two opposing opinions
can both represent the words of the living God.
Both sides are doing
their best to do God’s will.
When
Jesus started teaching, he became part of arguments that had been going on for
a long time in Jewish circles. One of those arguments was about how to keep the
commandment in Leviticus 19:18:
“You shall love your
neighbor, as yourself.”
The
focus of the argument was about the meaning of the phrase, “as yourself.”
Hillel’s position is found in one of his most famous stories.
“A certain gentile once came to Hillel and
said, “I’m ready to become a Jew, but only if you can teach me the whole Torah
while I stand here on one foot.” Hillel answered him, “What is hateful to
you, don’t do to your fellowman; that is the whole Torah, and the rest… is just
a commentary. Go then and learn it!” (Shabbat 31a).
Hillel’s
interpretation of “as yourself” is the earliest, “Golden Rule” -- “What
is hateful to you, don’t do to your fellowman.” [ii]
“You shall love your
neighbor,
what you hate, do not
do to him.”
Jesus
added his interpretation to the argument – “Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.” Keep in mind that implicit in both sides of the argument
is that both represent “the words of the living God.” Instead of “either
/ or” their positions can be “both / and”.
“You shall love your
neighbor.
What you hate, do not
do to him.
Do unto him as you
would have him do unto you.”
Hillel,
Jesus and other rabbis taught that love of man is a central pillar of the
Torah’s teaching, but behind it there is something even more basic. “Love of
neighbor” is itself derived from an even greater principle:
Humans are made in the
image of God because God loves humans.
For humans to love God they
must do it by loving what God loves.
When we love other people,
we are loving God.
This is the only way to
love God!
For
Jesus, and the other members of the Jewish culture, love is much more than just
“feelings and emotions” – love is concrete actions. Those action measure
up to the Creator’s TOV Standard – they protect and preserve lives, make lives
more functional, and increase the quality of life.
Jim Myers
[i] Morality: Restoring The Common Good In Divided Times By Jonathan Sacks © 2020; Basic Books, New
York, NY; pp. 186-188.
[ii] The Life and Teachings of Hillel by Yitzhak Buxbaum © 1994. Jason Aronson Inc. Northvale, NJ; p. 95
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