PirkeiAvinu_Lesson3

8/12/2019 PirkeiAvinu_Lesson3

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Section One: Cannibalsand Morals

Section Two:The Golden Rule

Section Three:Knowing God

Section Four:Write anarticle for FFOZ

Lesson Three:

CANNIBALSANDMORALS

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007FirstFruitsofZion.

2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to five copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ torequest additional copies. This document is a complimentary study resource for myffozmembers and their families.

Join myffozfree at myffoz.org. Myffozmembership is a like a free key that opens the online door to an ever-growing treasure vault of keyword-

searchable bible study helps and articles. Myffozmembers also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such as the popular eDrashand eRosh.


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CANNIBALSANDMORALS

by Boaz Michael,

FFOZ Founder and Director

REVIEW:We can distill central concepts of the lasttwo issues of Pirkei Avinuinto two simplesentences.

First:The wisdom of God is revealed to us inand through His Torah.

Second: We show ourselves to be wisethrough obedience to His words and not byour own intellect.

We need to take these concepts to heart as

we progress along in our studies.

Do you know what ethics are? Do youhave any? If you dont, where can youget some? You cant really buy them

online; they arent for sale in department stores,and you cant check them out of a library.

Ethics are moral standards that affect a personsconduct. They are principles that govern behavior.

Ethics:Moral standards that affect

a persons conduct; principles that

govern behavior.

Heres a few examples.

You are in the checkout line at a store whenyou accidentally drop a twenty dollar bill withoutnoticing. The man behind you sees, picks it upand returns it to you. Why did he do that? Hecould have just kept it, and you would not haveknown. He did it because he has ethical prin-ciples which tell him to return something lost to

its owner and that stealing is wrong.A ruthless playground bully beats the stuffing

out of other children who are only half his size.Why? According to his ethical worldview, mightmakes right.

A tribe of savage cannibals from South Americasees nothing wrong with eating human beingsfrom other tribes. Why? Because they do not have

an ethical problem with cannibalism. The ethicsthey follow approve of eating other people.

Some things seem to be obviously unethical.For example, when we hear about murder, abuseand other crimes that victimize people, we gen-erally agree that those things are unethical. But

what about dating? What about conversations?What about entertainment choices? Are thereethics that govern the every day things of life?There are. If we ever hope to live wise and godlylives, we better know where to get our ethicsfrom or we might end up with the playgroundbully and savage cannibal version of ethics inthese other areas of our lives.

WHOSAYSITSWRONG?One person thinks one thing is right. Anotherperson says it isnt. To the cannibal, there is

nothing wrong with cannibalism. He does notfeel guilty about it. Its just normal. Who are weto say that he is wrong and we are right? Whatmakes one persons ethics better than anotherpersons ethics? Actually, ethical values changefrom culture to culture and from generation togeneration. So how do we know whats reallyright and whats really wrong?

This is where Wisdom comes in. Rememberthat the wisdom of God comes from above.It is not one persons opinion. It is Gods owninstruction. This wisdom is revealed to us in and

through His Torah.The Torah contains many rules and laws. A

majority of them seem to be irrelevant to ourlives today. For example, do we really need lawsabout how to handle an ox? Most people todaydont have oxen. If you dont own an ox, whywould you care about a law about oxen?

Even though you might not have an ox, you canstill learn the ethical principle behind the lawsof dealing with oxen. Once you learn the ethicalprinciple, you can apply that principle to otherareas of life that do matter to you.

All the laws of the Torah are there to teach usGods ethics. When we know Gods ethics, then weknow what is truly right and what is truly wrong.

THEMANWHOSTOODONONEFOOTThis can be illustrated with a famous story fromthe Talmud:

PIRKEIAVINU The Sayings of our Father

2 Lesson Three: CANNIBALSANDMORALS

2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to five copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. Thisdocument is a complimentary study resource for myffozmembers and their families. Join myffozfree at myffoz.org. Myffozmembership is a like a free key that opens the

online door to an ever-growing treasure vault of keyword-searchable bible study helps and articles. Myffozmembers also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings suchas the popular eDrashand eRosh.


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icus 19:18). In other words, treat others the wayyou would want to be treated.

Rabbi Hillel was not the only Rabbi to distillthe Torah down to this simple ethical statement.Rabbi Akiva, the Torah leader of his generation,declared that to love ones neighbor as oneselfwas the greatest principle of Torah. Rabbi Paul ofTarsus said that every commandment of Torahis summed up in this saying, You shall loveyour neighbor as yourself (Romans 13:9). Evenmore importantly, Yeshua of Nazareth said, Ineverything, therefore, treat people the same wayyou want them to treat you, for this is the Torahand the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

THEMOSTIMPORTANTCOMMANDMENTS

One of the scribes came and heard

them arguing, and recognizing that

he had answered them well, asked

him, What commandment is the

foremost of all? Yeshua answered,

The foremost is [Deuteronomy 6:5],

Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is

one Lord; and you shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and withall your mind, and with all your

strength. The second is [Leviticus

19:18], You shall love your neighbor

as yourself. There is no other com-

mandment greater than these. The

scribe said to him, Right, teacher;

you have truly stated that He is One,

and there is no one else besides him;

and to love him with all the heart

and with all the understanding and

with all the strength, and to love

ones neighbor as himself, is much

more than all burnt offerings and

sacrifices. (Mark 12:2833)

On another occasion it happened

that a certain heathen came before

Rabbi Shammai and said to him,

Make me a proselyte, on condi-

tion that you teach me the whole

Torah while I stand on one foot.

Thereupon Shammai repulsed him

with the measuring stick which was

in his hand. When he went before

Rabbi Hillel [with the same request],

he said to him, What is hateful to

you, do not to your neighbor: that is

the whole Torah, while the rest is the

commentary on that. Now go and

learn it. (b.Shabbat 31a)

In this famous story, Rabbi Hillel summarizesthe entire Torah is just a few words. There arefour components of Rabbi Hillels answer.

What is hateful unto you, do not do toyour neighbor.

This ethic of love is the meaning of thewhole Torah.

The rest of the Torah is commentary

upon this ethic.

Now that you know the central ethic, goand learn the rest of Torah.

Consider how this simple ethic applies toeach of the above examples. If you accidentallydropped a five dollar bill, you would hate it if theguy behind you in line just pocketed it for him-self. If you were a little kid on the playground,you would hate it if a kid twice your size beat thestuffing out of you. If you were in the deep bushof South America, you would hate it if a hungrytribe of cannibals decided to eat you. So dont dothose things to others. Thats a good example ofan ethical principle. Sometimes this principle iscalled the golden rule.

THEGOLDENRULEWhere did Rabbi Hillel get this ethical principlefrom? He got it from the Torah. The Torah says,You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Levit-

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WHATDOESTHELORDREQUIRE?Where do we get proper ethics from? We get themfrom the laws of the Torah. Think about the tencommandments for example. Each of the ten com-mandments teaches important ethical principles:

I am the Lord: love of God

Do not worship idols or other Gods:loyalty; love of God

Do not misuse Gods name: reverence,respect, humility; love of God

Keep the Sabbath: gratitude, humility;love of God

Honor Father and Mother: reverence,respect, gratitude; love of neighbor

Do not murder: love of neighbor

Do not commit adultery: love of neighbor

Do not steal: love of neighbor

Do not bear false witness:love of neighbor

Do not covet: gratitude; love of neighbor

There is not a commandment for every situationthat we face in life. Often times we have to decidewhat to do on the basis of the ethical principleswe have learned from the other commandments.Perhaps this is what the Torah means when itsays and you shall do what is right in the eyes ofGod (Deuteronomy 6:18). This broad and vaguelyworded commandment essentially tells one toact ethically, according to ethics that God wouldapprove of.

Ultimately, God is not nearly so concerned about

creeds, beliefs, sacrifices and rituals. Rather Heis concerned about how we behave. The prophetMicah sums this up when he says, He has toldyou, O man, what is good; and what does the Lordrequire of you but to do justice, to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

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KNOWINGGODWhere do we get ethics from? Not from the library,not from the grocery store and certainly notonline. We get them from God. As our creator, Heis the only moral authority who has the right todefine what is right and what is wrong. He com-

municates His ethics to us in His Torah. There-fore, by keeping His commandments, we learnto walk according to His ethics. The Apostle Johnsums this idea up when he says, The one whosays, I have come to know Him, and does notkeep His commandments, is a liar, and the truthis not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in himthe love of God has truly been perfected. By thiswe know that we are in Him. (1 John 2:45)

The ethical life results from knowing God.When we know God, we know what behaviors willplease Him and what behaviors displease Him.

We learn to know Him through the revelation ofHis Torah, His commandments, and of course,most importantly, through His Son Yeshua.

The Bible says that the only thing really worthbeing proud of is knowing God and His ethicalstandards. Wisdom is nothing if you dont knowGods wisdom. Might and power are worthinesswithout Gods ethical principles behind it. Richesare empty and useless without the knowledge ofGod. In other words, life is meaningless unlesswe know God and His ethical will and wisdomfor our lives:

Thus says the Lord, Let not a wise

man boast of his wisdom, and let

not the mighty man boast of his

might, let not a rich man boast of

his riches; but let him who boasts

boast of this, that he understands

and knows Me, that I am the Lord

who exercises lovingkindness, justice

and righteousness on earth; for I

delight in these things, declares theLord.(Jeremiah 9:3424)






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WRITEANARTICLEFORFFOZI want to hear from you and give you the oppor-tunity to share your thoughts with thousandsof others around the world. You may makean impact for the Kingdom as you share yourthoughts and allow God to work through you to

bring understanding to others.Search for the eleven traits in Psalm 15 that

answer the question,

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

Write a short teaching article or story about yourpersonal quest for these traits. We will select someof the articles and publish them on our websiteand perhaps other FFOZ resources. Here are someparameters:

Article length: Maximum 2000 words

Due Date: Friday July 6th, 2007

Submit to:www.ffoz.org/eRoshupload

Cover Illustration by Nachalim Ben Yochanon( 2007 First Fruits of Zion)





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