The Ethics of Judaism

Chapter IV. Sanctification Is Moralization

§181. In contradistinction to ritual holiness we have what has been called ethical holiness. The former is merely symbolic of an order of existence higher than the natural world; the latter is holy in and through itself. Not as a symbol, but as a genuine and real higher world, the moral sphere takes its place within the natural world. It is holy by virtue of the elements of which it is composed and their inherent properties. The prototype and source of the idea of holiness lies in the thought that God himself is holy; at the same time, all descriptions in Sacred Writ by which we arrive at a knowledge of God are of ethical attributes and relations.¹ Therefore, the notion of ethical holiness must be discussed as the aim of all morality. But first the notion of holiness must be made perfectly clear by reference to a third sort of holiness and its relation to the other two. As we shall be dealing with a notion on the borderland of ethics, a brief characterization will suffice.

§182. At first blush it might seem that the two sorts of holiness of which we have been speaking might have been indicated by the terms religious and ethical. This is not the case. Religious holiness is not conceivable apart from ethical holiness, nor does ethical holiness sacrifice aught of its peculiar character in being at the same time religious holiness. [ . . . ] Again, the highest conceivable good in the future world, or the most effective means in our present life for securing its enjoyment, is simply morality, the very end which, without reference to a future world and its conditions, looms up before our eyes as the necessary and only dignified aim of life. Mortal man is frail and infirm; the lawgiver, the Prophets, and the Rabbis were well aware of his nature; yet all of them have but little to say of sickness and death, unless they are treating of the moral duties connected with them.²

§188. These considerations yield, in brief, the following as the Jewish view of the place of holiness in man’s life: The ritually holy, whose significance depends entirely upon its character as a symbol of elevation and purification, reaches perfection only when the advance has been made from the external to the spiritual, from performance to thought, from act to character; in a word, when the ritual has been transmuted into the religious. But the religious—the relation man establishes between himself and God, his exaltation through God, and his devotion to God—has the ethical as its basis and its nucleus; for the lightsome knowledge, the emotional energy, the rapturous feelings, leading to the apprehension and understanding of the godly, can be inspired only by the moral notions of the divine essence. By means of morality alone, finite man can become the image of God, the infinite. The spiritualization of feelings, the purification and strengthening of the will, the purging, illumination, and ennoblement of all thought, derive their impetus from the idea of morality, and only through morality reach their aim. [ . . . ]

The ethical notion of sanctification is neither extravagant nor mystical.³ Still it implies an ideal infinitely beyond the highest yet attained by human conduct. But though this ideal is so remote as to seem quite unattainable, it is, after all, the impelling force that determines every step in its direction, and, therefore, for finite man each step in itself constitutes an aim.

§190. Ethical holiness means the perfection of morality.

The perfection of morality demands above and beyond all else that morality shall be absolutely unconditioned. Its meaning, worth, and dignity inhere in itself. It is to be progress for its own sake, for no other reason, for no ulterior purpose. Life develops an abundance of purposes which man strives to realize, and an abundance of values which he seeks to acquire, both increasing with the advance of civilization; and their number is exceeded by the sum of progressive means contrived to avoid evils, and to attain enjoyments and secure their permanence. The moral life is crossed and interlaced with all these purposes and the means, negative and positive, for their realization. But morality may not serve them; it should dominate them, make them subservient to itself, in fact. It may never be considered the means to attain some other purpose; it is its own and sole purpose and at the same time the purpose of all purposes.

For, to be perfect, morality may not even be regarded as co-ordinate with other purposes, distinct from them but resembling them in kind; in the same way, for instance, as science and art, industry and trade, economic organization and administration stand next to each other in the reciprocal relation of means and end. Morality to be perfect, to be the expression and incarnation of holiness, must occupy a solitary position opposite to the aggregate of all other human purposes. It is holy when it is independent and absolute; when it asserts itself as the final and the highest motive of all action, as the force that makes for nobility of character, as energy rejoicing to create and produce. [ . . . ]

§194. Finally, the perfection of morality requires, besides the harmony of moral ideas, the union of all moral agents, the co-operation of all moral missionaries, the coalition of all responsible efforts directed towards the morality, not only of the individual, but also of the community. Before entering upon this subject (see ch. vii), we must define clearly the personal relation of the individual to the notion of holiness.

Over and above all, it must be borne in mind that man can never be, he can only become, holy. Man is called upon to strive, not for holiness of person, but for holiness of living. God alone is holy; for man it is to aspire after holiness. Sanctification is an infinite task; in its performance man, the finite being, makes himself a sharer in the infinite. With each achievement, the task is renewed and enhanced. Every accession of strength, every gain in refinement, every extension of liberty, raises the demands made upon man, and increases the measure of his responsibility, which extends beyond his own conduct to the moralization of the community. The Rabbis clothe this thought in various garbs; for instance, Ben Azai said: “Virtue is the reward of virtue,”⁴ and we have the well-known expression: “The Holy One, blessed be He, holds the pious to strict account.”⁵ The Talmudic sages had a distinct conception of the improvement possible in man and of his duty to improve. Man can rise from achievement to higher achievements; his circle of noble activities should widen, his activity become more and more pregnant.

From the variety of the mental traits, the energetic endeavors, and the original achievements, of the Biblical and the Talmudic heroes, our forebears derived, for their own and for our instruction, the manifold forces, the various degrees, the different kinds, forms, and standards of advancement, as well as of decadence, in ethical culture. Thus they leveled for us the spiritual paths along which our characters must travel to reach the goal of their sanctification.

§195. Sanctification is moralization—the uninterrupted striving for perfection of morality, constantly renewing itself, constantly growing stronger. Here, again, the nucleus, the ideal standard of development, is the notion of unity in a twofold aspect: on the one hand, objective unity, with reference to conduct (object)—the continuity of its constituent elements and its symmetrical development according to a plan; on the other hand, subjective unity, with reference to the moral agent (subject)—the continuity of his abilities and functions and the harmonious development of character.