We must do the right thing because it is right
Back in the fall of 1994, when I was a relatively impoverished rabbinical student living in Israel, I went to my local Bank Leumi branch to make a withdrawal. After the transaction, I asked the teller to print out my new balance, and when she did, I was startled to discover that, according to the bank, I now had $60,000 in my account. I went back to the teller to explain that there had been some sort of mistake, but she insisted that the money was now in my account and everything was “kol b’seder.” Despite repeated visits to the bank, the money stayed in my account for nearly two months before the error was cleared up.
As the money came into my account just before Yom Kippur, I always believed it was a personal test. At moments such as these, I often think of the famous quote attributed to American author and philosopher, Aldo Leopold, who wrote, “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching.” In Judaism, we take Leopold's words to heart, as our tradition emphasizes the importance of doing the right thing not because it will profit us, but simply because it is the right thing to do.
Indeed, during this High Holy Day season of confession (vidui) and teshuvah, our Yom Kippur Torah portion, Nitzavim, challenges us to be better, more ethical, people, both in public and in private. In Deuteronomy 29:28, the Torah reminds us that “Concealed acts concern the Lord our God; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching.”
This verse is traditionally interpreted as a warning that even one's private behavior – the deeds that no one else will ever know – will still be accounted for by God. In short, even when no one appears to be looking, even when it may not impact anyone but us, still, we must be accountable to our Creator. As the Yom Kippur liturgy reminds us, for our sins against God (the ones no one else can see) only God can accept our teshuvah.
But Rashi expands on the meaning of this verse, offering an additional ethical responsibility. He notes the community's concern for the possibility that someone's private deeds - which cannot be known by anyone - may lead to God's collective punishment. Rashi then answers his own objection, explaining that covert deeds are solely within God's purview, and that any consequences will be limited to the individual only.
However, Rashi further explains that overt transgressions — deeds that the entire community is aware of — are often passively accepted and even condoned. In Rashi’s own prophetic words, “but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children…and if we do not execute judgment upon them, the whole community will be punished.”
In this season of repentance, we are not expected to be responsible for anyone else's private behavior. But when those deeds are revealed to us - as they so often are in this day and age - they now “belong” to us and to our children. Instead of turning away, or simply ignoring the person’s behavior, Judaism teaches that we are collectively responsible for these misdeeds, and accordingly, must condemn them. Such deeds may not directly impact our lives, but they surely impact the larger society in which we live. As our Torah teaches, in Deuteronomy 22, indifference is not an option.
May this new year of 5785 be a year of peace for all of us, for our nation, and especially for the State of Israel. Shanah tovah and Gamar Chatimah Tovah.
RABBI HOWARD VOSS-ALTMAN is the spiritual leader of Temple Habonim, in Barrington.
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