What Causes People To Be Good and Follow the Laws of Their Family and Country? Part I

 Nadene                                                                 

Religion seems to be the cause of people's behaviors in keeping people obeying the laws of their lands.  They can be threatened about what happens to them when they die.  

In the beginning, to be fertile was the desire of all peoples; both for animals and for people in order for the future to exist. Sacrificing something dear to them was used to persuade their god to help them out.                                         

                  Finding baby Moses in bullrushes.  

Shiphrah (Hebrew: שִׁפְרָה  and Puah (Hebrew: פּוּעָה  were two midwives who briefly prevented a genocide of children by the Egyptians, according to Exodus 1:15–21. According to the Exodus narrative, they were commanded by the King of Egypt, or Pharaoh, to kill all male Hebrew babies, but they refused to do so. When challenged by the Pharaoh, they told him that Hebrew women's labour was short-lived because they were 'lively' or 'vigorous', and therefore the babies had been born (and protected) before the midwives arrived. God "dealt well with the midwives" and "made them houses".  

It says "the midwives feared G-d and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the boys to live."  According to the Sages, the midwives were really Jochabed and Mirium, mother andsister of Moses.   

Judaism developed out of the Laws of Moses, an Ivrit-from the other side-- Jewish man raised since birth in the Egyptian royal family to the point where he realized that beating a slave to death was not right, and he in turn when stopping the beating accidently killed the Egyptian beater and felt he had to flee being it was against the law to kill a man like that.  So Egypt had a rule about killing another, and this was a good 3,400 years ago.  We figure that Moses was born in 1391 BCE (almost 1400 BCE which was  3,422 years ago, and he was about 18 years old.  Moses knew of the law that was against killing a man, even under accidental circumstances.  He also may have had an instinctive feeling that what he did was overdoing a good deed and his killing someone was wrong.  As we understand, Moses was selected by G-d and given direction and laws so that the Exodus occurred. His family line went back to Abraham.  

Abraham (c1948 BCE) , ready to sacrifice Isaac, his son, but stopped by an angel, turned out to be a test of his obedience.  This was the only example of human sacrifice practiced by our Jewish people  of the Ivrit/ Hebrews   It was the Canaanites who sacrificed people.    

Abraham is considered as the father of Judaism due to his oral teachings to his children as they followed his and Sarah's behavior towards other people.  For instance, they always offered food and water to strangers passing by their tent. "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, HaShem appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations." Evidently in those days, strangers could be attacked and killed for whatever they carried with them.  That was 3,600 years ago.

Jews of the 40 year Exodus from Egypt, figured by some to have commenced by 1579 BCE, others by 1445 BCE, were the descendants of Abram/Abraham and Sarah, and their children:  Isaac, then Jacob-Israel and their 12 sons including Judah, Boaz, Oved, Jesse, David-king of Israel, Solomon.

   Moses confronting the Pharaoh when he returned to Egypt at about age 80-81.  

Moses was from Levi of the 12 sons of Jacob.  He was the son of Levi's daughter, Jochabed who was married to Amram. It was Jochabed who saved Moses's life by hiding him in the bullrushes as a time when the pharaoh put out a "papal bull" saying that all boy babies under age 2 had to be killed because he feared his own death would come from this person.   

  Even in the book, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, England was pictured as a very dangerous land in the 12th century CE.  So after almost 3,000 years, people were really no better in their treatment of other people in Europe.  That shows that we have improved a great deal from 822 years ago, though.  

It wasn't until Jews had been taken to Babylon in 597 BCE and then more taken in 586 BCE and living there until 538 BCE living there for about 60 years and writing the Babylonian Talmud after 200 CE, that they had developed  more to their original ideas about death which was that  when people died, they joined their fathers.  Death was not an evil thing, but a premature death was looked upon as a great misfortune.  Even today, the Jewish blessing is that a person will live to age 120 (like Moses did).  

                 The Moabites and their human sacrifice

Now this was regarded at a time when all other nations believed in human sacrifice in order to right a bad situation.  Human sacrifice was going on during our biblical family's existence.  That's one reason they fought to keep their own religion going by resisting the temptations to do so that existed.   

A belief was that in death, there was some kind of existence in SHEOL (situated far below the earth, whose inhabitants will not give thanks to the Lord.  Sheol is more especially the dwelling of the wicked.  The dead had a certain kind of psychic powers.  Sheol is not  subject of any Shabbat service.  It has never been mentioned in my experience.                     

Later on in Hebrew Eschatology, death came to be considered a prime evil.  At the End Of Days hopefully many years in the future, death would cease and all the dead would rise.  The idea of Resurrection became a fundamental doctrine of Pharisaic Judaism.  Faith in God came to mean believing in the the Reviver of the Dead.  The Rabbis taught that death came to the world because of sin either that of Adam, from which mankind still suffers, or else personal sin.  

There were some Rabbinic legends that held the belief that the dead carry on some connection with the living and even take an interest in their affairs.  The practice of praying for the intercession of the dead is considered by the rabbis as of early origin. 

 The last act of the dying Jew is the recitation of the Shema which is still in practice today.  Shema Yisrael Adonoi Elohenu, Adonoi Echad.  Hear oh Israel, God is One.  It is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: YHWH is our God, YHWH is one" (Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃), found in Deuteronomy 6:4

              Blowing the Shofar on Yom Kippur

Jews have a way of getting rid of their sin. First of all, what is sin?  It is defined as being any violation of righteous actions, whether toward God or one's fellow man, is considered sinful by Judaism.  There are variations in the degree of sin. 

1. unwillful sin (bet)

2. knowledgeable sin (avon)

3. rebellious sin (pesha)

No man is free of sin, although he has the free will to reject it.   

Jews have a day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.  Tishri 10  is the most solemn day of the year and is a fast-day of 25 hours of fasting and attending synagogue service.  In Lev.23:32 it is described as a Sabbath of solemn rest.  It is the day on which Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the 2nd tablets of the law and announced to the people the Divine pardon for the sin of the Golden Calf. 

(The people had been waiting for Moses by dancing around this golden calf they had made while waiting.  Aaron made it when the Israelites demanded it.  The calf was burnt by Moses who ground the gold to dust and subsequently obtained Divine forgiveness for the Israelites.  (Exod.32).  The sin of the Golden Calf immediately after the giving of the law, was regarded as the primary offense of the Hebrew people.)                          

Repentance and forgiveness are inextricably linked in Judaism with the subject of sin.  No sin is unpardonable.  Sacrifice, repentance, the Day of Atonement, and death bring forgiveness.  For a sin against a fellow-man, restitution and placation are essential.  Biblical narrative invariably links individual punishment and national calamity to sin.  Confession of sin is important in the Jewish conception of atonement.  This confession, however, is made directly to Heaven and not to any intermediary.  Moreover, it is considered improper to confess private sins aloud, and for this reason, the Day of Atonement ritual has all confessions in the plural. People recite together a list of sins listed in the prayerbook.  

 It just happened to be that calf worship had been going on with other people, especially the Canaanites.  Calves or young bulls were regarded as symbols of strength and fertility among ancient Semitic peoples.  Traces of calf worship are found in the bible in the stories of the Golden Calf constructed by Aaron at Mt. Sinai and the golden calves set up at Dan and Bethel by Jeroboam much later on after Solomon's death in 920 BCE.  

Mentioned in Exodus 32 and I Kings 12 in the Tankah or Old Testament, worship of the golden calf is seen as a supreme act of apostasy, the rejection of a faith once confessed. The figure is probably a representation of the Egyptian bull god Apis in the earlier period and of the Canaanite fertility god Baal in the latter.

Apis was the most important and highly regarded bull deity of ancient Egypt. His original name in Egyptian was Api, Hapi, or Hep; Apis is the Greek name. Worship of the Apis bull is recorded as early as the First Dynasty (c. 3150 - c. 2890 BCE) in ceremonies known as The Running of Apis but veneration of the bull in Egypt precedes this time, and so it is thought that Apis may be the first god of Egypt or, at least, among the first animals associated with divinity and eternity. He was originally a god of fertility, then the herald of the god Ptah but, in time, was considered Ptah incarnate. He was also, in some eras, depicted as the son of Hathor and was closely associated with her goodness and bounty.

        The bull is Baal, the Canaanite god.  

      Sargon, king of Assyria (721-712 BCE) is shown as a bull. He's the one who caused the 10 tribes of Israel to be taken to Assyria.  He had taken the throne when Shalmaneser III had died.  He died from being assassinated.      

We Jews do not make pictures or statues of G-d.  To us, G-d is an unseen force, the Supreme Being.  "The biblical God is already unique by virtue of His non-mythological character;  He has no body, no kindred, no human needs.  All depends on Him and He on nothing."  It definitely is not a man or woman, either, or animal like many in  the ancient world believed. 

                            Herman Wouk in Jerusalem 1955
 Herman Wouk(1915-2019) explains Judaism in This Is My God. "Our place in the world, I believe, depends on what we contribute to mankind.  We have contributed our Torah, the Mosaic vision of G-d, of right conduct, and of first and last things.  It is our life, and the length of our days.  As we keep that flame burning, it seems to me, we earn our right to survive as a people before G-d and man."  He's not a rabbi, but explains it so well.  Our rabbis, whatever type of Judaism they believe, whether Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, are highly well educated people in that religious persuasion.  

• Columbia University, New York, 1934 (A.B. with general honors)
• Yeshiva University, New York, 1954 (Hon. L.H.D.)Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City. The university's undergraduate schools—Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, Katz School of Science ...
• Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1960 (Hon. D.Lit.)
• American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1979 (Hon. Litt.D.)
• Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1990 (Hon. Ph.D.)

Grandson of Rabbi Mendel Leib Levine, rabbi in Minsk, New York, and Tel Aviv.  

After Christianity, Judaism is the next largest religious affiliation in the US, though this identification is not necessarily indicative of religious beliefs or practices. There are between 5.3 and 6.6 million Jews. A significant number of people identify themselves as American Jews on ethnic and cultural grounds, rather than religious ones. For example, 19% of self-identified American Jews do not believe God exists. (They could try reading This Is My God).  

 According to a 2020 study by the Pew Research Center, the core American Jewish population is estimated at 7.5 million people, this includes 5.8 million Jewish adults. According to study by Steinhardt Social Research Institute, as of 2020, the core American Jewish population is estimated at 7.6 million people, this includes 4.9 million adults who identify their religion as Jewish, 1.2 million Jewish adults who identify with no religion, and 1.6 million Jewish children.   According to a 2017 study, Judaism is the religion of approximately 2% of the American population.       Israel has two head rabbis and many synagogues.  

Empathy, the key emotion supporting a sense of right and wrong, emerges early and, it seems, naturally, said William Damon of Standford University.   Babies cry in response to the wails of other babies, "and not just because it's a sound that upsets them," notes Carolyn Zahn-Waxler of the National Institute of Mental Health. "They cry more in response to human cries than to other aversive sounds. Somehow, there's a built-in capacity to respond to the needs of others." Babies as young as 1 try to console others in distress. Toddlers offer their security blanket to a teary-eyed parent or a favorite toy to a distraught sibling, as if understanding that the very object that brings them comfort will do the same to another. 

This is used in Judaism, such as treatment of animals that show empathy.  We do not eat meat with milk so as not to hurt the feelings of the mother cow in that she gives mankind her self as meat, and she doesn't want to know that we drink her milk in this same meal. 

The Torah simply gives an example of a "kid in its mother's milk" because that was common practice in ancient times.

Some Jewish authorities give reasons for this prohibition. One reason given is, that it is cruel to cook a baby in the very milk that was intended to nourish it. The Torah forbids the cooking and consumption of any milk with any meat to prevent one from cooking a kid in its mother's milk.

 Even the whole law of kashrut teaches that only a small proportion of living creatures are permitted to be eaten, and every precaution is taken to avoid the consumption of blood or the partaking of meat with milk products.  Even milk from a prohibited animal is forbidden.  

Compassion is to be extended to animals as well as to humans. It is strictly forbidden to cause unnecessary pain to animals. There is a Talmudic rule (Gittin 62a), still followed by pious Jews, that before sitting down to a meal one must first see that the domestic animals are fed. The Midrash remarks that Moses proved his fitness to be the shepherd of Israel by the tender care with which he treated the sheep when he tended the flock of his father-in-law.

In Jewish teaching compassion is among the highest of virtues, as its opposite, cruelty, is among the worst of vices. 

The Amaleks were the cruelest of all people met shortly after the Exodus and always hostile to Israel, annihilating the weak and the wearyl.  they were eventually defeated by the Isrelite army under Joshua (Exod 7-8-13).  They were finally regarded as an eternal foe, the extermination of which was a national mission incompletely carried out later by King Saul. In king David's time they invaded southern Judah, burning the town of Ziklag.  David fought and defeated them heavily, but 400 got away.  In 720 BCE the tribe of Simeon overwhelmed the Amalekites and settled in their territory.  Haman, the Agagite, is regarded as a descendant of Agag, king of Amalek.  

The prophet, Jeremiah, speaks of the people from the north country who ‘lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion’ (Jeremiah 6:21). The people of Amalek, in particular, are singled out in the Jewish tradition as perpetrators of wanton cruelty, and an uncompassionate Jew is called an Amalekite. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States#:~:text=People%20with%20no%20formal%20religious,%25%20Catholic%20and%202%25%20other.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/golden-calf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shema_Yisrael

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Wouk

https://www.worldhistory.org/Apis/

https://www.jccmb.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/1339531/jewish/Milk-and-Meat.htm

https://ulpan.com/why-hebrew-is-called-ivrit/