Striving Toward Virtue: A Contemporary Guide to Jewish Ethical Behavior (review)

160 SHOFAR Fall 1997 Vol. 16, No.1 of "ethical hermeneutics," and his careful, respectful, and impassioned readings of Levinas and Rosenzweig can certainly serve as our models. There are also questions for which Cohen's text does not prepare us. One such question is, in light of the elevation of the Other for both Levinas and Rosenzweig, how do we read their "others"? Levinas's others include Derrida and feminism. But Cohen's treatment of these others is anything but ethical. Feminist critics of Levinas, many of whom have deep sympathies with his work, are dismissed by Cohen as having an "agenda" (cf., p. 195, n. 1). Derrida, while given more careful consideration than the feminist critics, is clearly considered "the enemy" in Cohen's concluding chapter. While Cohen's interests are clearly in defending Levinas's thought, one would do well to pause and consider Levinas's others from a position more dignified than the excluded enemy. For, as Cohen himselfrepeats, the task that lies before us in the wake ofboth Levinas and Rosenzweig concerns not textual/conceptual territory, but the concrete, infmite work of ethics. This extends to Levinas and Rosenzweig, as well as their (and inevitably our) others. John E. Drabinski Department of Philosophy University of Memphis Striving Toward Virtue: A Contemporary Guide to Jewish Ethical Behavior, by Kerry M. Olitzky and Rachel T. Sabath. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1996. 187 pp. $23.00. This volume purports to be a musar book for our times. At first blush, it succeeds. The overall structure of the book is divided into three sections, "Turning Toward Self," "Reaching Toward Others," and "Moving Toward God." This tripartite division of Jewish ethics has its roots in the sixteenth-century writings of the Maharal of Prague and the seventeenth-century talmudic commentary of his descendant, Rabbi Samuel Edels, the Maharsha. Each of the 23 chapters is assigned to one of these three categories. Each chapter focuses on a moral vice and its corresponding virtue, not unlike medieval musar books. Each chapter is then divided into sections on "knowing, being, and doing." Though the volume is completely in English, the authors assign it a Hebrew title and label the virtues and vices of each chapter with Hebrew terms. This Hebrew title is Madreigot Ha-Middot, "The Stairway of Virtues." Examples of chapter titles include: "Goirig Backwards/Making the Turn," labeled in Hebrew as "Yeridah/ Teshuvah"; "Deceiving the Self/Building Integrity," i.e., "Hashlayah/Shelemut." According to the authors, the volume "is informed by the classic Sefer Ma 'alot HaMiddot by Yehiel benYekutiel ben Benyamin Ha-Rofe of Rome in the late thirteenth century. The authors' single stated goal in compiling this book is "to help you consider Book Reviews 161 your behaviors and the life you choose to lead...." Regretfully, this attempt to compose a modern musar book modeled after medieval musar, books such as Ma 'alot Ha-Middot, does not succeed. Its apparent goals of continuity and authenticity seem contrived. Hebrew chapter titles are "forced." Both the tone of discussion and the use of "trigger words" like "change," "growth," "process," "attitude" (all found on a single page, p. 5) are more reminiscent of American "selfhelp " books than ofmedieval or more recent works of musar. Surprisingly, sources for the tripartite division ofthe book are never acknowledged. (Indeed, this rubric was used by Seymour Cohen and me in How To Be a Jew: Ethical Teachings ofJudaism [Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1992].) Short textual excerpts from classical and modern Jewish writings often seem almost randomly chosen, in that they do not seem to reflect a deep familiarity with the range, depth, and subtleties of Jewish ethicalliterature--either classical or modern. The clear relevance of Ma 'alot Ha-Middot for our times is glossed over, e.g., on issues of Jewish ethical behavior in a socio-economically privileged community. In addition; there are certain glaring factual mistakes, e.g., equating Rosh Hodesh (New Month) with the kabbalistic observance of Yom Kippur Katan, when the latter is actually observed the day before the former. Glaringly absent from the list of virtues discussed is the most central of all Jewish virtues, namely, study of the Torah. Despite is various...