d’var torah
Ethics Evolve
Rabbi Jon Cutler
W Parshat Va Yikra
e begin the next book of the
Torah, Va Yikra – the Greek
name is Leviticus. It is the operating
manual for the Levites to operate the
Mishkan, or the Tabernacle.

We begin with the list of sacrifi ces
and the conduct of the Levites. There
are sin off erings, elevation off erings,
dedications, holy days and so on. We
learn the many details of the laws
of animal sacrifi ce. It is hard for us
to comprehend how, at one point in
Jewish history, the religious practice
was built around off ering cattle, sheep,
goats and birds on the altar to God.

In the Orthodox prayer book, during
the Musaf service, Jews still pray for
prostitutes, something the Torah explic-
itly forbids. When God gave the Torah,
it was given to a people who expected
cultic sacrifi ces.

The Torah put a limit on allowing only
certain animals from the herd and sacri-
fi ces carried out by the priestly class.

Maimonides taught the laws of sacrifi ce,
he admitted that humanity had evolved
and sacrifi ce was no longer necessary
in his day and age.

Our ethics have evolved over time.

The Torah discusses and allows slavery,
it allows capital punishment for crimes
ranging from witchcraft to profaning the
Sabbath, and it permitted the stoning of
a son who rebels against his parents.

Women were of second-class status.

It was under the auspices of rabbinic
law that the rabbis would reinterpret
these laws as their ethical under-
“Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them,
‘If any man of you brings an off ering to the Lord,
you shall bring your off ering of the cattle, of the
herd, and of the fl ock.’” (Leviticus 1:2)
the rebuilding of the ancient Temple in
Jerusalem and the reestablishment of
these sacrifi ces. Conservative Judaism
has made a liturgical change with a
theological twist. The Conservative
prayer book speaks of the Temple
where “our ancestors used to bring
these sacrifi ces.”
We no longer desire a Judaism based
on animal sacrifi ce. Jewish ethics have
evolved. Maimonides thought that animal
sacrifi ce was a compromise based on
the norm of how people lived in ancient
times. Animal and often human sacrifi ce
were the common practice.

Often these sacrifi ces were tied with
the worship of idols and a variety of
cultic practices, often sexual in nature.

Ancient temples employed sacred
standing evolved. Human ethics are
constantly evolving. And this has great
relevance for our day and age.

It is common today to judge people
in the past by contemporary ethical
standards. Thomas Jeff erson, one
of the great leaders of the American
Revolution, owned slaves. Stephen
Foster composed his song “Swanee
River” (“Old Folks at Home”) using racist
lyrics. The lyrics were rewritten when it
became the state song of Florida.

I have seen how ethics have evolved
in my lifetime.

I am old enough to remember the
Jim Crow laws in the South. When I
was a child, I traveled with my family to
North Carolina. I remember distinctly
two water fountains at the train station:
“One for Whites and one for Colored.”
I asked my father, how come? He did
the best he could to explain to me, a
10-year-old, about the Jim Crow laws.

This is unthinkable today.

My grandparents, caring Jews, would
not understand a bat mitzvah and would
fi nd a female rabbi or cantor unthink-
able. And, of course, gay marriage was
beyond their consideration. They were
not bad people. Ethical sensitivities and
standards have evolved since their day.

It's not right to judge people in the past
by the ethics of today.

Instead of judging the Torah for
endorsing animal sacrifi ce, or the rabbis
of the Talmud for their view toward
women, we ought to judge people
within the framework of their own time.

We ought to look at ethics not as
permanent and unalterable, but always
in process.

We need to appreciate how far we
have come in our ethical understanding
from earlier generations, and always
strive to do better. Ethics evolve. ■
Rabbi Jon Cutler is co-president
of the Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia and rabbi of Beth Israel
Congregation of Chester County.

The Board of Rabbis is proud to
provide diverse perspectives on Torah
commentary for the Jewish Exponent.

The opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
necessarily refl ect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

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