Beth Shalom
Oceanside Jewish Center

Sixty five years ago this coming week a series of devastating pogroms took place in Germany that led to the Holocaust. Over the course of two nights in early November, 1938, 91 Jews were murdered, and 26,000 people were detained in concentration camps. Synagogues and businesses throughout Germany were burned to the ground and their windows smashed in what came to be known as "the night of the shattered glass."

Kristalnacht was directly and indirectly perpetrated by the German government and then justified after the fact by a series of far reaching laws which severely limited the economic and social rights of Jews throughout Germany. In a cynical move by the German government, the Jewish community was even charged and held responsible for the destruction of public property during these pogroms against its own community. This was the first step in solving Germany's "Jewish problem." More important Kristalnacht was a test case by the Nazis to see how the world would respond to the persecution of Jews. That night Jews were doubly victimized - first they were the victims of German bigotry, and second, Jews were the victims of world wide apathy. The world was silent and the stage was set for the darkest chapter in modern history.

Yet everything that happened on those two nights in 1938 and in the months and years that followed was perfectly legal from a German perspective. In their own diabolical way, the Nazis did everything "according to the book." They kept accurate records. They passed legislation. They faithfully followed the orders of superiors. So how are we to respond to a nation that creates a legal precedent for the persecution and hatred of others? The Jewish people were not the first nor were they the last ethnic group to face such legalized genocide and oppression, though this may have been the most systematic such effort.

So we must ask: does morality transcend the social contract created by society? In this age of moral relativism, "when you're ok and I'm ok," how are we to explain or condemn laws which were embraced by a community but which we implicitly feel are wrong? Are there absolute values of right and wrong that are true no matter who you are or where you live? The Nazis passed laws legalizing everything they did ; so how can we say they were wrong?

This morning we read the story of the great flood. We learn of a world so filled with hatred and evil that it is no longer deemed worthy of continued existence. When God sees how corrupt the world is, he turns to Noah and says: I have decided to put an end to all flesh because the world is filled with "hamas" with "lawlessness."

What we don't often consider when reading this story is what it assumes. From the very beginning of the Bible, there seems to be an assumption of some type of transcendent and universal moral law by which human beings are expected to live. Otherwise how could God condemn humankind to death for "its evil ways?" Long before Sinai, then, there was a moral standard by which all human beings were expected to live. Morality is not based on consensus. Human values are not relative. There are values that are absolute, that transcend human judgment and that are not subject to a popularity contest or any type of social agreement. These laws apparently are hard wired into the world by God. God seems to know them and apparently He assumes we know them as well. That's why God can condemn the world to destruction in the time of Noah.

After the flood, as Noah and his family reestablish life on earth, Noah is commanded to live by certain laws. While these laws were unstated before the flood, God now realized that He had to spell out His moral expectations for all humankind. Noah is told not to eat animal flesh while it is still part of a living creature (ever min ha-chai) and he is told in the strongest terms that murder is a capital punishment: "whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed."

The sages, extrapolating from these laws, developed the "Sheva Mitzvot B'nai Noach," the Seven Noahide laws by which humankind must live. There are six prohibitions including idolatry, blasphemy, murder, robbery, sexual immorality, and eating the limb of a living animal (we can call this cruelty to animals) plus a commandment to establish a system of justice to enforce the other laws. It's interesting to note that according to the sages most of these laws already existed, before Noah even though they are called Noahide laws. Only "ever min ha chai," cruelty to animals, was added to this list in the time of Noah.

The sages tell us that these are the laws which humanity must follow in order to be considered to be "human." Maimonides, in the Mishneh Torah, writes, "Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these seven Mitzvot and is precise in their observance is considered to be one of the Hasidei Umot HaOlam - one of the pious of among the nations of the world. Interestingly, Maimonides adds that this is the case only if the person believes that these laws were promulgated by the Holy One. In other words, if one arrives at these laws through logic or by legislation and not because God said so, one is not considered to be truly righteous. Faith in God as a transcendent source of moral authority is essential to a moral life, at least according to Maimonides.

The Torah establishes two standards of moral behavior. Jews have the Torah and its six hundred and thirteen commandments, while the rest of the world is expected to live by the seven Noahide laws. To put it in traditional terms - we have to fulfill all 613 commandments to get into heaven while the rest of the world only has 7. That doesn't sound like a fair deal if you ask me! Some of the sages point out, however, is that Noah's seven laws are general rules while the 613 are more specific. Apparently God had to spell things out for the Jews!

What we often forget is that the seven commandments of Noah also apply to us. They are not a definition of religion but of basic humanity. And I suspect that most people who say they are Good people because they "follow the Ten Commandments" really mean the seven Noahide laws, though they might not realize this. These laws are the rules that were hard wired into the very creation of the world and they define the lowest common denominator of true humanity. Murder is wrong. Cruelty must be punished. Robbery and adultery are moral wrongs under all circumstances and in all places. There are absolute rules of human behavior that apply to all societies from the perspective of Judaism.

So we must remember, even before we are Jews, we are B'nai Noach, descendents of Noah who are obligated to live by certain moral laws. And while its nice and even laudatory to be open to other cultures and ways of life we need to recognize that there is such a thing as right and wrong.

These days, watching the nightly news or reading the daily paper I'm struck by the fact there seems to be a double standard by which we judge the world. When Americans act to try to rid the world of tyrants and stumble in their efforts we're quick to condemn our own people but when terrorists act to destroy even innocent bystanders we go out of our way to try and understand their rage or to explain their culture. Sometimes I think we are much too tolerant of acts we know in our kishkes are simply wrong.

Similarly there is an underlying tolerance for Palestinian suicide bombers because they are "poor victims" of Israeli occupiers, but little sympathy for the fact that the vast majority of their victims are often innocent bystanders going about their daily routine: riding a bus, visiting a cafe, going to their markets.

I don't wish get into the political questions that these conflicts today; they are clearly complicate issues that need our serious consideration. I only want to point out that there is no moral justification for certain acts, no matter what may motivate the individual. Wrong is wrong. Murder is murder. Robbery is robbery. These issues are black and white. We can argue about our definition of terms and we can make distinctions between murder and killing but there are certain acts that are wrong under all circumstances no matter what may motivate the perpetrator. And I believe that deep down we know this. While there is a great deal of moral ambiguity in our world, there are certain acts that we know in the very depths of our soul are evil. And we should not be afraid to stand up and condemn such acts, no matter which side of the isle we find ourselves on.

There's a great deal about George Bush that I don't like and that I can't agree with, but about this I have to give him credit - he's not afraid to take a moral stand. Sometimes he's wrong in his moral stand, or at least I think so. There are dangers in seeing oneself as a moral arbiter of the world, but again, I would argue that apathy is far more dangerous to the world than occasionally risking moral judgment. All you have to do is study the history of the holocaust to understand this.

In an age of moral relativism, I think we need to look deep into our own souls. If we're unwilling to pass judgment against evil when evil so clearly exists, then I fear evil will ultimately triumph. There are limits, boundaries and expectations which all of us, Jews and gentiles alike, must be willing to live by.

Maybe we need to go back and study Noah's seven laws once again. And we must ask ourselves: In a world of grey, what can we say is black and white?

Shabbat Shalom