What do we mean by “the right and the good?” How should one differentiate between the two? How we answer these questions has broad implications for our lives, whether we are Jewish, Christian, or secular in our values.

These questions, rather than what we mean by “the good and the evil,” came to mind while reading two statements. The first was made by Donald Trump. His statement, found on Truth Social, should be read in its full context. Trump writes:

Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about “fear” of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History. Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Trump followed this with a meme portraying himself as Jesus Christ.

The second statement was made by Pope Leo XIV on his flight to Algiers. As reported by Vatican News, the Pope said, in response to questions about the statements U.S. President Donald Trump made against him on the Truth Social network:

I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’. I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.

Speaking to other reporters, he added, “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the church works for. We are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have. I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems. Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way.”

The exchange of words clearly reveals to us the character of both men. Their words challenge us to consider what is “the right and the good.” Jewish ethics, as well as Christian ethics, emphasize justice and love. The moral life is guided by a combination of both. These are more than a universal law. These are more than commandments, legal statutes for Jewish observance and Christian testimonies. The good and the right are far more demanding.  

What is morality? Judaism teaches us that morality is more than code. In his comments on the stories in Genesis, Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin), observes that the patriarchs (and matriarchs) instruct us to be upright in our interactions with all people— be they Jewish, strangers, or of other faiths. Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin states this differently when commenting on the Shulḥan Arukh to a student. The Rabbi inquired how many sections there were in in the Shulḥan Arukh. A student answered, “Four.” “What,” asked Rabbi Israel, “do you know about the fifth section?” “But there is no fifth section,” said the student. “There is,” said the Ruzhiner. “It says: always treat a person like a mensch.” Jesus phrases this as, “Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).

As Judaism and Christianity teach us, our conduct, doing what is “the right and the good” cannot be reduced to the law and rules of conduct.

What does it mean to be a moral person? In his ethical will, Iggeret HaRamban, Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (known as Ramban) writes:

Listen, my son, to the thought of your father, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother." (Proverbs 1:8)

Accustom yourself to always speak all of your words calmly, to every man and at every time. In doing so you will prevent your anger from flaring, which is a bad attribute in a man which may cause him to sin. And accordingly said our Rabbis, may their memories be a blessing: (Nedarim 22a), "Anyone who gets angry - all of Gehinnom holds sway over him, as it says: (Kohelet 11:10) 'And remove the anger from your heart, and take away the bad from your flesh', and 'bad' can only mean Gehinnom, as it says (Proverbs 16:4): 'And the sinner, he too, will have his day of bad'."

When you will have freed yourself from anger, the quality of humility will enter your heart which is the best of all good traits, as is written (Mishlei 22:4), "The return for humility is fear of G-d."

What does it mean to be a moral leader? A moral follower of a leader? What features do we look for in either, and ourselves? Do we distort our ethical understanding, our humanity with the desire for dominance of others, or do we follow the desire for service and the desire for peace?

 How we answer these questions will determine our personal and communal humanity.   

Link:

Iggeret HaRamban,  a letter from the Ramban to his son, https://tikvah.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Lutch_59.pdf

Image: Moses directing the gathering of the manna, Artist: Polidoro da Caravaggio, Source: Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa; Collection: Art, Gift of Sir John Ilott, 1961

Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.27022467

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