I have to begin with something personal. The Australian media once called me “the rabbi of tolerance”. Unfortunately it is not entirely true, because there are some things for which I have never been able to summon any tolerance. I can’t tolerate stupidity, injustice or inefficiency, and I don’t even try. I could explain my aversion to all three things in detail, but for the moment let me stick to stupidity.

One aspect of my distaste for stupid things is linked with this week’s Torah portion. There is a verse which, dealing with the wife suspected of infidelity, begins, “If a man’s wife goes astray...” (Num. 5:12). The sages expand the discussion by saying that no-one ever goes astray in any way unless a spirit of stupidity enters them (Sotah 3a).

In other words, what makes a person sin is that a mood of stupidity has caught hold of them. From the theological point of view the sages seem to be saying that people are inherently good and no-one would ever deliberately or defiantly commit a sin. It’s a remarkably positive description of human nature, though other statements seem to contradict it – think only of the categories of sin enunciated in the Yom Kippur prayers. For our purposes we need to know how the idea links up with the suspected adulteress. Is it just the similarity of sound between the Hebrew for “going astray” and “foolishness”?

It’s probably much more. Compromising a marriage is not worth it in the long run: it may bring pleasure for the moment but objectively it is foolish. On a broader canvas, if a person goes astray from God and commits spiritual adultery it is also rather stupid. So we can say that in the view of the rabbis, sin is stupidity.

Can we also say that stupidity is sin?

Loving Peace, Pursuing Peace

The priestly blessing begins, “Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel” (Num. 6:25). It ends with the word shalom, “peace”. According to the blessing, it is God who grants peace. Not that peace descends magically upon the world, bringing a sudden mood of harmony and stability. It needs our help. If we work towards peace, God strengthens our hands.

Aaron the first high priest should be our model. We know from Pir’kei Avot (1:12) that he was ohev shalom v’rodef shalom – he “loved peace and pursued peace”. Loving peace is the first step. Our philosophy must be one of peace. Peace must be our highest ideal, our chief value. The second step is to follow the paths of peace in whatever we do, wherever we are, whatever the circumstances.

There was a campaign some years ago called “A Million Minutes of Peace”. It’s a good slogan. Every minute of every day must be filled with acts of peace. The minutes will become hours, the hours will become days, the days will become years, the years will become an eternity, and the priestly blessing will suffuse the whole of the universe and all of God’s creation. That’s the magic, that’s the miracle.

If so, what about Arabs and Jews? Did Arabs and Jews ever get on?

Answer:

This is obviously not an academic question, though a number of academic historians have researched and written on the subject. Since human experience seems to be that history repeats itself, there is every good reason to wonder whether the two peoples were ever able to enjoy a good relationship and what the prospects are for the future.

The story seems to begin with Abraham, regarded by both peoples as their ancestor. The Jews claim descent from one of his sons and the Arabs from the other. Certainly both derive from Semitic forebears and their languages are interconnected.

In Biblical times, long before Mohammed and Islam, Arabs and Jews were frequently allies, especially in commerce and trade. Late in the Biblical period there was an Arab nation, the Nabateans, who developed a sophisticated culture in the south of Judea, with advanced engineering skills and achievements. As the Jewish Diaspora spread far afield, Jews lived in prosperity in the Arabian Peninsula and played a significant role as merchants.

Early in the 7th century CE, Mohammed proclaimed a new religion which all scholars admit owes a good deal to Judaism. At first Mohammed expected support from the Jews but when this was not forthcoming he became hostile towards them. The Caliph Omar, Mohammed's successor, set out laws concerning "unbelievers", and though there were restrictions against Jews the roles were often ignored and Jews fared better under Islam than under Christianity.

There followed a long period of cultural cross-fertilisation in which Islam had a debt to Judaism and in turn influenced Judaism in literature and philosophy. In Spain in particular there was a so-called Golden Age in which the two cultures enriched each other. Thereafter the Jewish relationship – or lack of it – with Christianity loomed much larger on the scene of history, but Jews and Muslims continued to have intermittent contact.

Both groups developed a passionate national feeling in the 20th century. Jews have no aggressive designs on Arabs, though prior to 1948, few had worked out much of a blueprint as to how the Jewish-Muslim connection would operate once the Jewish State came into being

Note:the Jews offered the Arabs equal rights in the Jewish state, but felt that the Jewish people deserved a national homeland since the Arabs had 22 of them, the Arabs also rejected a plan for partitioning the area and began a war which they hoped would annihilate the Jews three years after Hitler's attempt ended, ed..

The current hostility is doing neither side much good, and the question is whether a period of quietness could lead to a new chapter of cross-fertilisation.