Rabbi Yossy Goldman, Sydenham Shul
We read this same chapter every year on Yom Kippur afternoon. And every year in every shul around the world someone asks the very same question. “Why on Yom Kippur, Rabbi? Was there no other section of the Torah to choose besides the one about illicit sex? Is this an appropriate choice to read in shul on the holiest day of the year?”
Fair question. So the Rabbis explain that this is, in fact, the ultimate test of our holiness. The most challenging arena of human conduct, the one that really tests the mettle of our morality, is not how we behave in synagogue but how we behave in our bedrooms. To conduct ourselves appropriately in public is far easier than to be morally consistent in our intimate lives.
Old-fashioned? You bet. In a world of ever-changing, relative morality where absolutely anything and everything goes, the Torah does, indeed, seem rather antiquated.
Man-made laws are forever being amended to suit changing times and circumstances. When a new super-highway is built, traffic officials may decide that it is safe to raise the speed limit. Should there be a fuel shortage, these same officials may decide to lower the speed limit in order to conserve the energy supply.
But G-d’s laws are constant, consistent and eternal. Divine legislation governs moral issues. Values, ethics, right and wrong, these are eternal, never-changing issues. Humankind has been confronting these problems since time immemorial. From cavemen to Attila the Hun to nuclear superpowers, the essential issues really have not changed very much. Questions of moral principle, good and evil, have been there from the very beginning. These questions are timeless.
So we read that adultery was forbidden in Moses’ day, and it still is in ours. So is incest. But it wouldn’t shock me at all if the same forces motivating for new sexual freedoms soon began campaigning for incestuous relationships to become legal. Shocking? Why? If it’s all about consenting adults, why deny siblings? Given the slippery slope of our moral mountains, nothing is unthinkable any more.
Ultimately, morality cannot be decided by referendum. We desperately need a higher authority to guide us in the often confusing dilemmas of life. In Egypt and Canaan, lots of degenerate behaviour was acceptable, even popular. In this week’s Torah reading, G-d tells His people that He expects us to march to a different beat. We are called upon to be a holy nation, distinctively different in this, the most challenging test of our morality. It doesn’t matter what is legal or trendy in Egypt, Canaan, America, or Scandinavia. We have our own moral guide, our own book of books which requires no editing or revised editions for the new age.
When the Torah teaches us to be holy and distinctive, it is reminding us to be normal, not average. Average can be rather mediocre. Just be normal, and retain your Jewish uniqueness. It may not be easy. It may not always be politically correct either. You probably will not win any popularity contests. But you will be faithful to the eternal truths of life. And in the long run, you will be right. And happy.
