I heard about #RBG's passing on the first day of #RoshHashanah so I had time to (mentally!) rewrite my sermon, for today, riffing on a 1953(!) Rabbi Norman Lamm gem about Adam & Eve and the forbidden fruit (all of which, according to rabbinic tradition happened on RH)
The question is why God was so adamant about humankind NOT internalizing the difference between Good and Evil (literally, by eating the fruit). Maimonides answers that the point was that good/evil is the wrong axis. We are supposed to work within the axis of True/False.
As he explains, Good/Evil are subjective. What is good for *me*, what is bad for *me* - of course, "me" can be plural as well. My family, my country, my community, my political movement, my faith group.
The point is that we're making our determinations based on what is our perceived interest. This is as opposed to True/False, which represents making choices based on principles and values, even if they are not always to our direct benefit.
It is telling how the forbidden fruit is described as enticing, both in terms of its appearance and its taste. Rabbi Lamm notes wryly that, had there been a Tree of Truth in the Garden of Eden, its fruit may not have been so attractive.
After all, we face ugly truths. We taste bitter truths. We grapple with painful truths. The truth often hurts, etc.
I described how in 1979, facing a tough reelection and a key opening at the top of government, President Jimmy Carter nominated Paul Volker, a former Nixonite, to lead the Fed, over the objections of his political advisors.
By raising interest rates dramatically, Volker sent the economy into recession and spiked the unemployment rate, effectively killing Carter's reelection efforts (Carter saw this coming). But the move also squashed the inflation, and led to years of strong economic growth.
Volker died this year. Carter, reflecting back with the hindsight of 40 years, still thinks he made the right call. It was a call based on the true/false axis, not the good/bad axis.
Contrast that with what is happening now. No question that the only considerations that Trump and McConnell are making are good/bad - in terms of reelection efforts, cementing a conservative majority.
For Trump and McConnell this is all about personal (or group) interest with no regard for:
- integrity (what they said in 2016)
- further polarizing an already critically divided country
- likelihood of a Dem response like court-packing
- the future legitimacy of SCOTUS
Of course, voters also have to choose (this is more what I focused on). This is a time to decide what they want: politicians who want to win at all costs (good/bad), or leaders who value american democracy as a principle to begin with (true/false).
Originally, my contrast to Carter appointing Volker was going to be, per Woodward, Trump downplaying covid-19, despite knowing so much from the very beginning, to avoid taking a political hit. The cost of the good over the true is tens of thousands of lives - so far.
Anyway, the snake said to Eve, "God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.”
For Rabbi Lamm per Maimonides, tasting the fruit of Good & Evil - living live based only on perceived self-interest - is essentially worshipping a god made in one's own image. The DSM might call it narcissism. A theologian would call it idolatry.
You can follow @AvBronstein.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: