Rabbi Ethan Tucker/JTA
Jerusalem Post, Apr. 3, 2024
“Nothing was done except for principle, sometimes to his political benefit, sometimes not. You knew where he stood, and based on where he stood, you knew how he would respond.”
How do we live a life of principle and integrity, without closing ourselves off from others who do not share all of our values?
How do we build bridges and broad tents that include the diversity of human viewpoints and experiences, without forgetting what we stand for?
The message of the Talmud
The Talmud records a crisis from 2,000 years ago, when Rabban Gamliel, the political head of the Jewish community, was deposed as the leader of the main rabbinic academy. His sin? It seems his standards were too high: Rabban Gamliel demanded that all who entered the house of study meet the standard of tokho ke-varo, that their insides should be like their outsides. Like the ark in the Tabernacle, a scholar was meant to be a person of gilded character, inside and out, a paragon of integrity and principle. This was a standard most people cannot meet.