Our Jewish Heritage
Dr. Lenore C. Kipper, Judaic Studies Director Emerita
Middot, Virtues, and Values, an Essential Part of our Tradition
What are Middot?
Jewish virtues (middot) are really the values that represent the essential principles of Jewish living. They reflect how we behave, what we stand for, how we respond to others, and how we view life and the world around us. They are our personal qualities and attributes that determine our choices. In striving to achieve some of these virtues, we define and prioritize what really matters the most in our daily lives. Middot are derived from our collection of traditional texts. Although they were written to address the Jewish people, they have become universal ideals.
What are the origins of Middot?
We begin to learn about the importance of Jewish virtues from biblical interactions, through rabbinic times and folk literature, to contemporary writings. The first rabbinic listing of Jewish virtues is found in Pirke Avot, 6:5-6:6. It lists 48 virtues. Another source, The Way of the Righteous, appeared in 1581. Since then, many collections have been written about the virtues that are core to Jewish living.
The recent contemporary book, Jewish Moral Virtues, by Eugene Borowitz, was published in 1999. It is based on the writings of a late thirteenth-century Roman Jew, Yechiel ben Yekutiel, a scribe. The collection was called Sefer Maalot HaMiddot, The book of choicest virtues. He created a new form in Jewish literature. No one before him wrote about the specific virtues that Judaism esteems. I will select from some of these traditional texts, essential principles, and moral virtues that have guided our understanding and have established enduring relevant middot for our time.
Why Strive to Practice Middot?
When we choose to act in virtuous ways, we will see increased goodwill between people in our community. Practicing middot can lead to increased emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual fulfillment. It gives us an opportunity to enrich and help improve the lives of others. A fundamental assumption in our tradition is that each person has a divine essence, created in God’s image, b’tzelem elohim. The challenge for us is to walk in God’s ways.
What is Musar?
The term Musar is also identified with moral principles, virtuous attributes, and ethical behavior between people. Between 1840 and 1900, the Musar movement grew in Lithuanian yeshivot. Its founder was Rabbi Israel Salanter. Musar teachers sought to emphasize ethical behavior through the study of moral texts and daily self-reflection, in order to subdue vanity and overcome preoccupation with worldly matters. It was also established to balance the study of Jewish law and ritual preoccupations. On one level, Musar represents the personal characteristics that lead to becoming a mensch, a person who does the right thing because it is the right thing to do.
In Pirke Avot, we read: “In a place where no one behaves like a human being, a mensch, you must strive to become a mensch.”
A mensch is a person who is humble, reliable, honest, dependable, unselfish, kind, and sensitive to the feelings of others. A mensch is a person who thinks and acts in ways that make the world more just with respect, kavod, appropriate behavior toward all people, derech eretz, and performs acts of loving kindness, g’mee-loot chasadim.
On another level, Musar represents the communal responsibilities and obligations we have to one another and to the welfare of the community. Each person has the responsibility for repairing the world through tikkun olam, individual and collective religious action, emphasizing righteous giving, tzedakah, social justice, and the pursuit of peace.
The biblical text teaches us that Moses spoke to the entire community of Israel, saying, “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:1). What does it mean to be holy? The Jewish view of holiness is rooted in action. It demands that every human being perform good deeds and behave virtuously toward others, in accordance with the ethical and moral teachings of our heritage.
In every age, we are confronted with moral and ethical dilemmas, personally and communally. Every day, we hear and read about immoral behavior in government, organizations, and business. How do we respond to these conflicts? Jewish texts give us guidelines. We can become a community that reflects high moral standards in our personal and professional lives and advocates for moral virtues and values in our relationships between people and nations. This is the path that leads us to creating a K’hilah K’doshah, a community that answers the call, “You shall be holy.”
This year, I will share with you some of the middot from Jewish sources that are still relevant to us today.
During the recent difficult years in the U.S., in Israel, and in the world communities, there are many dilemmas that persist. May we be guided by the teachings of our heritage about middot.
L’Shalom,
Lenore