Is it not enough to be a moral person? Is there any added value in being Jewish beyond the essentials of morality found within cultural heritage and traditions? Meaning, can a person, albeit in a less predetermined manner, achieve the same morality and spiritual accomplishments just by living a good life and being a good person?

Our Gemara on Amud Beis tells us that Rav Yosef would especially celebrate on Shavuous. Rav Yosef declared that if not for the Torah, there are plenty other “Joes” (Yosef) in the marketplace.

Peri Tzaddik (Shavous 13) asks, why is Rav Yosef’s greatness contingent upon the Torah? Our forefathers achieved greatness prior to the giving of the Torah. Rav Yosef could have become great just as Avrohom Avinu did, via meditation, realization of truth and eventually prophetic inspiration. To this he answers based on another Gemara (Sotah 49b) about Rav Yosef that describes him as exceedingly humble. Due to Rav Yosef’s extreme humility, he did not believe in his own value based on any accomplishments. Rather, through his confederacy with Judaism and the Jewish people and his Jewish soul he gained an automatic and undeserved elevation in stature.

However, this only begs another question: Why is it fair that someone with a Jewish soul gets an advantage? The answer to this, is that it is no different than every other aspect of reality. Clearly, some people are born into more advantageous circumstances than others. Children of wealthy people, powerful people, genetically and Intellectually and endowed people will tend to have an advantage, sometimes even spiritually and morally due to the opportunities of a wholesome upbringing. This seems to be an inevitable consequence of the material world. We cannot guarantee equality in terms of initial advantage or disadvantage. However, we can promote processes that provide all people as many opportunities as possible spiritually or materially.

The lesson for us is, though someone may be born wealthy or with intellectual or social advantages as a result of their family or culture, there’s no point in feeling sad or guilty about it. Quite the contrary, it should be celebrated and seen as a wonderful privilege and be used to one’s advantage. In doing so, there is no contradiction to also promoting opportunities for the less advantaged. 

It seems that for some people in today’s social and political culture, it is seen as enlightened to trash one’s own heritage because others have less. This is absurd and actually ungrateful and lazy. Rav Yosef who was exceedingly humble and saw himself as not deserving any benefit or stature, still celebrated his various cultural and spiritual gifts from his heritage. Being part of the chosen people is not an excuse to be arrogant but neither an excuse to deny its intrinsic benefits and make use of them.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

Do you like what you see? Please subscribe and also forward any articles you enjoy to your friends, (enemies too, why not?)