Our morality embraces all people

Vayikra 18 introduces the Torah’s list of forbidden relationships with the instruction to Moshe to tell the Israelites, “I am G-d. Do not follow the ways of Egypt where you lived, and as to the deeds of the land of Canaan to where I am bringing you, do not do [as well]. Do not follow their customs. Follow My laws, and be careful to keep My decrees, for I am G-d. Keep My decrees and laws, since it is only by keeping them that a person can [truly] live. I am G-d.”

There are many interpretations as to what the “ways of Egypt” and the “ways of Canaan” were, and what moral lesson the Israelites were supposed to take from these instructions. The implication of what it means to “truly live” is perhaps a reference to how the Torah’s guidance is supposed to inform our existence and inject depth and meaning into our lives.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch distinguishes between the references to Egypt and Canaan and the general “do not follow their customs,” as he defines the former as “patterns of social behavior” and the generalization of “their customs” to be instructive regarding “private conduct in the lives of individuals and families.”

To cite one example in his lengthy exposition, he writes that “only a family life of moral purity can produce a people that will champion justice and righteousness; and only a people that practices loving kindness and justice can produce people who are morally pure.”

There is no question that he was preaching to the choir. But I don’t believe the Jewish people who live by the Torah’s precepts can claim moral superiority to non-Jews who follow the Noahide laws. The same morality laws apply to all of humanity. People who follow the rules are to be admired; those who do not follow basic moral standards of society are not good role models.