Shabbat Talmud Study: When is the Time for Moral Purity? When is the Time for Moral Compromise?

What a fraught and complicated week.

A helpful response to the emotional intensity of this moment is a lecture
given at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem by Tal Becker, one of its brightest stars. His lecture and sources are entitled: “Moral Purity vs. Moral Compromise: Derech Eretz and Public Policy.”

The rule, and he has sources to back it up, is moral compromise.
We live in an imperfect world. Hot mess is part of that world and is how God created it. Usually we just have to live with, and make our peace with, imperfection. In 610 out of 613 cases, be prepared for moral compromise.

It is a very tiny exception, 3 out of 613 cases, when we would insist on moral purity.

We will examine those 3 cases where we insist on moral purity and ask what is the resonance of those exceptional cases for our world today?

See you on Shabbat!

Shabbat shalom,
Wes