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During the past few months of pre- and post-election and hype we have been bombarded with party-political rhetoric. But the rash of rhetoric is not just a party-political malaise. Diverse religious systems and institutions across the globe proclaim themselves as the guardians of 'Truth', 'Justice' and 'Peace', despite their patent failure to put these noble ideals into practice - and Judaism is no exception. And so, it's not surprising that so many people in so many places have been infected with apathy and cynicism - about both 'politics' and 'religion'. Contrary to what some political and religious leaders may think, the strategy for countering the problem of apathy and cynicism is not to look for yet more subtle and sophisticated methods of delivering 'the message'. The only message that has any hope of getting across to people is the actual manifestation of Truth, Justice and Peace in the world. Is this a pipe-dream? In Pirkei Avot, the Sayings of the Sages, a compendium of the wisdom of the early rabbis, which is included in The Mishnah, the first rabbinic code of Jewish law edited around the year 200, we learn the following: "Rabban Simon ben Gamliel said, 'The world stands upon three things: upon Truth (haEmet) and upon Justice (haDin), and upon Peace (haShalom)'" (Avot, 1:18). In other words, without these three elements the world cannot be sustained - and further, like the pillars holding up the ceiling of a house, all three are essential - together: There can be no Truth in the absence of Justice and Peace; no Justice in the absence of Truth and Peace; no Peace in the absence of Truth and Justice. The word used for Justice in this passage is critical: HaDin implies, not simply, just action on the part of righteous individuals (tzedek) - but a system of justice. Only where the social order is regulated by a system of justice can Justice prevail. And the Hebrew word, Shalom, tells us that Peace is not just about the absence of conflict: Based on the root-letters, Shin Lamed Mem, Shalom is connected with shalem, 'wholeness'. Only when Truth, Justice and Peace are realised together can the world be whole - which is what Truth is about: Not correct doctrine, but the complete meaning of Life. From a Jewish perspective, Truth, Justice and Peace are not lofty ideas; they are the pillars we must put in place to sustain the world God created. Not a pipe-dream: a task shared by each person, each people, each society, each religion, by humanity as a whole - each and every day. © Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah |
