20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs

Righteousness

Righteousness Joshua o. Haberman T he meaning of righteousness is best expressed by the Hebrew word zedek which, in time, absorbed the connotations of mishpat Uustice), ~esed (fidelity to covenant), and emet (truth), as well as the adjectives yashar (straight, of integrity) and tamim (whole, without blemish). Righteousness, as illustrated in biblical and rabbinic usage, is morality in its totality or the moral ideal in all spheresprivate , social, and religious. At the same time, righteousness is of the very essence of God, the one attribute that, through revelation in Torah, may be open to human comprehension: "I will make all My goodness pass before you" (Ex. 33:19). Ethical abstractions are alien to the spirit of Judaism. Characteristically, the editor of the Mishnah, Judah ha-Nasi, asks, "Which is that right way which a man should choose?" (M. Avot 2:1). The inquiry is not about the summum bonum, the highest good-a question that intrigued classical philosophy and its interpreters throughout the centuries-but about specific rules for life. As in Judah ha-Nasi's answer, so in all of biblical and rabbinic Judaism, the "right way" is defined in terms of Torah commandments. 834 RIGHTEOUSNESS Righteousness is the pattern of conduct that is stipulated by the covenant relation between God and man and its implications for relations between man and his fellow. God's holiness and human righteousness are inseparably linked in the covenant. The key sentence "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy" (Lev. 19:2) provides the foundation of Jewish ethics as an imitatio Dei, that is, man, made in the image of God, emulating his Maker. The Talmudic sage Simlai suggested that all of the 613 commandments of the Torah may be compressed in anyone of several single sentences from the Prophets or Writings that accentuate righteousness as the summation of God's demands, for example: "Observe what is right and do what is just" (Isa. 56: 1), or "the righteous man is rewarded with life for his fidelity" (Hab. 2:4). Psalms 15 and 24 confirm the often repeated point of prophetic preaching that no one is nearer to God than the righteous-a theme richly developed in rabbinic literature. Rabbi Aibu taught that the sinfulness of man, beginning with Adam, caused the Shekhinah (divine Presence) to withdraw from the earth until Abraham and the most righteous of his descendants reversed the process: "For the wicked caused the Shekhinah to depart while the righteous cause it to dwell on the earth" (Num. R. 13:2). The Jewish concept of righteousness must be sharply distinguished from what is commonly called virtue. Virtues are various kinds of competence, such as the diligence of a student, the bravery of a soldier, or the loyalty of an employee, developed as character traits and endorsed by the community . However laudable these traits may be, they are not always or necessarily devoted to good ends. Righteousness, on the other hand, is inspired by divinely ordained law, which may radically differ from the prevailing community practice, as is indicated in many cases of prophetic protest against the commonly accepted standards of society (for example, Amos 5:10). One cannot fail to note a striking difference between the righteousness of man and of God. The Bible shows an amazing consistency and certainty in specifying the meaning of righteousness with reference to human conduct . But the righteousness of God is often problematic. Abraham is appalled by the pOSSibility that God's retribution may "sweep away the innocent along with the guilty" (Gen. 18:23); the psalms include many anguished outcries of innocent sufferers (for example, Ps. 44 and 74); Jeremiah rages against the unbearable burdens God imposed upon him and curses the day he was born Ger. 20); Ecclesiastes flatly contradicts the notion of God's justice (Eccles. 9:2). And the most profound discussion of innocent suffering, the Book ofJob, leaves the question about God's fairness RIGHTEOUSNESS 835 in limbo. Despite such wavering, God's righteousness is overwhelmingly affirmed. If not evident in the present moment, his righteousness is the redemptive power of the future: "Zion shall be saved by justice, her repentant ones by righteousness" (Isa. 1:27). Ultimately, in the messianic future, God "will instruct us in His ways.... And they shall beat their swords into plowshares" (Isa. 2:3-4). The vindication of God's justice in life hereafter, already envisaged...