For access to all course resources - including books or articles mentioned and additional videos, go to the course Padlet. Let me know if something is missing!
(20) Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that your G-d יהוה is giving you.
(1) When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which your G-d יהוה has banished you, (2) and you return to your G-d יהוה, and you and your children heed G-d’s command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day, (3) then your G-d יהוה will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. [G-d] will bring you together again from all the peoples where your G-d יהוה has scattered you. (4) Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there your G-d יהוה will gather you, from there [G-d] will fetch you. (5) And your G-d יהוה will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and [G-d] will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors. (6) Then your G-d יהוה will open up your heart and the hearts of your offspring—to love your G-d יהוה with all your heart and soul, in order that you may live. (7) Your G-d יהוה will inflict all those curses upon the enemies and foes who persecuted you. (8) You, however, will again heed יהוה and obey all the divine commandments that I enjoin upon you this day. (9) And your G-d יהוה will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in your issue from the womb, the offspring of your cattle, and your produce from the soil. For יהוה will again delight in your well-being as in that of your ancestors, (10) since you will be heeding your G-d יהוה and keeping the divine commandments and laws that are recorded in this book of the Teaching—once you return to your G-d יהוה with all your heart and soul. (11) Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. (12) It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (14) No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
|
מדרש תהלים, מזמור יב |
אמר רבי ינאי: לא ניתנו דברי תורה חתוכים אלא על כל דיבור שהיה אומר הקב'ה למשה היה אומר מ"ט פנים טהור ומ"ט פנים טמא.
אמר לפניו: "רבונו של עולם, עד מתי נעמוד על בירורו של דבר?"
אמר לו: "אחרי רבים להטות" (שמות כג:ב): רבו המטמאין - טמא, רבו המטהרין- טהור
|
Midrash Psalms, 12 (900CE, Land of Israel) |
Rabbi Yanai said: The Torah was not given in a clear cut manner, rather on every statement G-d said to Moses, G-d would say forty-nine reasons (panim, lit. faces) the matter could be pure, and forty-nine reasons why the matter could be impure.
He (Moses) said to G-d, ‘Master of the Universe, when will we know the truth of the matter?’
G-d said to him (Moses): ‘Go according to the majority (Exodus 23:2): if the majority rules it is impure – it is impure; if the majority rules it is pure – it is pure.
(יז) כָּל מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, אֵין סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. אֵיזוֹ הִיא מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת קֹרַח וְכָל עֲדָתוֹ:
(17) Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure. Which is the controversy that is for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Hillel and Shammai. And which is the controversy that is not for the sake of Heaven? Such was the controversy of Korah and all his congregation.
|
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MAHLOKET: Elephant and Rider [Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion,” 2012.] |
V. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MAHLOKET: Moral Foundation Theory [Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion,” 2012.] |
“Innate” = Nature provides a first draft, which experience then revises… ‘Built-in’ does not mean unmalleable, it means ‘organized in advance of experience.’
Moral Foundations:
Care/harm: This foundation is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.
Fairness/cheating: This foundation is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy.
Loyalty/betrayal: This foundation is related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.”
Authority/subversion: This foundation was shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. It underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.
Sanctity/degradation: This foundation was shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. It underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions).
Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty. Its intuitions are often in tension with those of the authority foundation. The hatred of bullies and dominators motivates people to come together, in solidarity, to oppose or take down the oppressor.
c) Prioritizing Your Moral Foundations
Instructions
Think about how YOU would prioritize the 6 moral foundations.
Using the post-it notes at your seat, place your ‘highest priority’ moral foundation post-it on your desk. Place the post-it with your second most important moral foundation below the first. Continue this process until all your post its are on your desk in the order that reflects your prioritization of the six moral foundations.
For your own reference, you may want to write the order down on the lines below.
1: _________________
2: _________________
3: _________________
4: _________________
5: _________________
6: _________________
Place your ranking on the tables in the order that you’ve ranked them.
After exercise questions:
1. What do you notice about the post-it placements?
2. How might these observations inform our discussions together?
6. Consider the following scenario:
Scenario 1:
You’re head of marketing at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). It is a nonprofit animal rights organization known for its controversial approach to communications and public relations. PETA is considering launching a new campaign, named “Holocaust on Your Plate,” that compares the slaughter of animals for human use to the murder of 6 million Jews in WWII. The campaign centers around the power of emotion, the vice president of PETA has told staff that “The idea for the effort came from the late Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer, who wrote: ‘In relation to them [animals], all people are Nazis; for them it is an eternal Treblinka’ — a death camp in Poland” (CNN, 2003). A Jewish PETA member is offering to fund the campaign.
“Holocaust on Your Plate” juxtaposes 60-square-foot visual displays of animals in slaughterhouses with scenes of Nazi concentration camps. The VP explains that the campaign “Is shocking, startling, and very hard to look at. We're attacking the mind-set that condones the slaughter of animals” (CNN, 2003).
Again, you are the head of marketing at PETA. Your CEO and higher ups ask you to go ahead with the campaign. You’ve talked to some of your non-work friends about the campaign and they found it disturbing and harmful. You’ve also heard murmurings of discomfort from others in marketing. What do you do?
Scenario 2:
Your Jewish show choir group needs to fundraise to go to a national championship. Kanye West, who has made many clearly antisemitic remarks in public, has recently taken a turn and tried to make ammends for his antisemitic remarks. It is unclear if he has had a real change of heart or if a PR manager told him to do so. Seeing your general plea for fundraising on social media, he offers you the money you need to go to nationals. Do you take it?
Discuss in Havruta
- What would you do? You don't need to limit yourself to promote the campaign or not.
- How do you or don't see your ranking of moral foundations showing up in your response?
Discuss as a group
- Share a couple of insights from your havruta
- How could you in this role have dealt with the situation using restorative practices?