Measuring Morality

 Something that bugs me is when I see people decry “today's” degenerate culture, and wax nostalgic about how much more moral the world used to be. In the frum world, this often manifests as rhetoric along the lines of, “In the alte heim, even the goyim were tznius!” Whereas now, boys have to leave the city during the summer, because there’s pritzus everywhere you look.

 

Oddly, when people talk about “morality” and how terrible the world is “these days,” they’re always only talking about sex. Specifically, how much easier it is now than in the past to see things they find erotic, and how it is now acceptableto talk about sex in public. “People today have no shame!”

 

Whether or not a guy seeing a woman in short sleeves (or in a bikini on the beach) is a moral issue at all is debatable, as is whether it really is easier to see or talk about erotica than it was in most of the past, but let's grant it arguendo. Even so, why is that the measure of morality “today?” Why are all other moral categories excluded? What about grift, or theft, or violence, or murder? Surely murder is a more serious moral issue than whether it’s okay for people to wear t-shirts and shorts when it’s hot out.

 

I saw an interesting statistic. In Europe in the 21st century, the murder rate is approximatly 1/100,000. Contrast that with tribal societies, where about half of men are murdered over one thing or another - honor, women, property, etc. (The reasons for this mostly have to do with the state claiming a monopoly on violence, not something inherent to tribal people vs. urban people.) If we assume that men are about half the population of these tribal societies, and ignore any murders of women that may occur (in order to give these societies as favorable a standing as we can) that gives us a muder rate among tribal societies of about 25,000/100,000.

 

If we use murder rates instead of bare skin as a measure of morality, people in the modern cultures the moral guardians think are so much worse than in the past are 25,000 times more moral than tribal societies. We’re also 100 times more moral than medieval Erope, which had a murder rate of about 100/100,000. 

 

It doesn’t seem like we’re so immoral after all.

The Jewish Zoroastrian Afterlife

Here's something fun. Well, something I find fun.

Professor of Rabbinics Dr. Candice Levy gives a description of Zoroastrian beliefs about the afterlife that, by changing a few words, could be a description of current Jewish beliefs. To make the point about how closely Jewish beliefs about the afterlife align with Zoroastrian beliefs of antiquity, let's do exactly that.

 First, Dr. Levy’s description of Zoroastrian beliefs.

 

"Zoroastrianism includes a belief in the afterlife, where the person survives death and transforms into the urvan (soul or self) to be judged and recompensed for their actions in this life. Upon death, the soul remains around the body for three days and then travels to the heavens for judgment and reward. All persons have the potential to enter heaven, where access is granted based upon the moral and ethical conduct of the individual. Passage into heaven requires crossing the Chinvat bridge where the deeds of a person are weighed and the good person is rewarded with entry into the “House of Good Thought” with Ahura Mazda while the wicked go to the “House of the Lie” or “House of the Worst Thought.” Eventually, the souls will be reunited with a more perfected body at the time of the resurrection. In Zoroastrianism, the resurrection was a collective one, where the Saoshyant will reunite the dead bodies with souls. The Bundahishn details the unification of the body and soul as well as the process of refinement that follows it, which is a painful process for the wicked while the righteous pass through easily. Nonetheless, all persons emerge purified and free from sin to enter into the “newly reconstituted earth.” The Bundahishn imagines a completely transformed existence and world following the resurrection. Ahura Mazda will come into the world to offer a final sacrifice, of which the righteous will partake and as a result, their bodies will become eternally young and immortal. Angra Mainyu will be forced to retreat and the world will be devoid of evil. The earth will be flattened by a fiery flood that will leave the earth as a perfect environment where people will be reunited with their families and live in harmony as a unified community." [1]

 

Now, let's swap out a few words and see how well this describes frum beliefs.

 

Zoroastrianism Frumkeit includes a belief in the afterlife, where the person survives death and transforms into the urvan neshama (soul or self)  [is] to be judged and recompensed for their actions in this life. Upon death, the soul remains around the body for three days* and then travels to the heavens for judgment and reward. All persons have the potential to enter heaven, where access is granted based upon the moral and ethical conduct of the individual. Passage into heaven requires crossing the Chinvat bridge coming before the Beis Din Shel Ma’aleh where the deeds of a person are weighed and the good person is rewarded with entry into the “House of Good Thought” Gan Eden with Ahura Mazda Hashem while the wicked go to the “House of the Lie” or “House of the Worst Thought.” Gehenom. Eventually, the souls will be reunited with a more perfected body at the time of the resurrection techiyas hameisim. In Zoroastrianism Frumkeit, the resurrection was a collective one, where the Saoshyant Hashem will reunite the dead bodies with souls. The Bundahishn gemara details the unification of the body and soul as well as the process of refinement that follows it, which is a painful process for the wicked while the righteous pass through easily.** Nonetheless, all persons emerge purified and free from sin to enter into the “newly reconstituted earth.” The Bundahishn Midrashim imagines a completely transformed existence and world following the resurrection. Ahura Mazda Hashem will come into the world to [be] offer[ed] a final sacrifice [of the Levyasan], of which the righteous will partake*** and as a result, their bodies will become eternally young and immortal. Angra Mainyu The Satan will be forced to retreat and the world will be devoid of evil. The earth will be flattened by a fiery flood that will leave the earth as a perfect environment where people will be reunited with their families and live in harmony as a unified community.

 *Also a Jewish belief, see Bereishis Rabbah 100:7 and Vayikra Rabbah 18:1

** One example of a gemara that says something similar is BT Sanhedrin 91b, which says that the soul will be reunited with the body for judgment.

***Several midrashic sources say that the Levyasan will be a korban and the tzadikim will eat it.[2]

[1] Levy, C.L. (2013). Arbiters of the Afterlife: Olam Haba, Torah and Rabbinic Authority. UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

[2] Y.D. Eisenstein, Otzar Midrashim, Vol. 1 (New York: Nobel Offset Printers, 1915), pp. 217-222, in Noegel, S.B. (2015). JONAH AND LEVIATHAN Inner-Biblical Allusions and the Problem with Dragons.