“Is the Good Book Bad? — A Traditional Jewish Response to the Moral Indictments of the Bible” by Rabbi Michoel Stern
How many hot topics can you list? Abortion, gay rights, animal rights, the death penalty, promoting violence and equality for women, just to name a few. Rabbi Michoel Stern takes all of them head-on in “Is the Good Book Bad?” He writes, “The impetus for my researching this topic was my own quest to sufficiently address for myself the myriad of moral accusations leveled against the Bible. You, as the reader, are invited to see where that quest has led me.”
The author, Rabbi Stern, lives in Cincinnati, and has spent over a decade learning in yeshiva and kollel. His mission is to prove to atheists and others that their accusations against the Bible are false. First, he outlines a moral accusation, and then he pleads his case like a rabbinic lawyer, citing case law from the Talmud. The reader is the judge and jury, left to decide whether he made his case or not. He writes, “…by uniting the literal words of G-d with the beauty of the traditional understanding of these words, we will see that the ‘Good Book’ is truly good.”
He begins by tackling accusations that the Bible promotes unwarranted violence. Next, he takes on allegations that the Bible promotes “Barbaric and Backward Practices” with views on slavery, women’s issues, homosexuality and animals. This is followed by a section advocating for the “Superiority of a Biblically Based Morality.” Throughout these discussions, he points out that the accuser is taking a superficial look at the text that doesn’t include the Oral Law from the Talmud to put things in full context.
He includes several detailed appendices. He takes a deep dive into philosophy in his appendix on “Philosophical Advantages to Divine-Based Morality.” He also expounds on previous discussions about homosexuality in a section titled, “A Critical Examination of Arguments Offered by Gay Activists.”
Rabbi Stern states in several places in the book that he believes using the Orthodox traditional interpretation of the text is the best way to prove his case. He wages a moral battle between theists and atheists, as he calls them, or believers and non-believers. His biggest challenge may be with Jews of different movements. I suspect those who are Orthodox will appreciate his conclusions the most. However, I can’t speak for Orthodox rabbis, so I don’t know for sure if they will agree with everything the author states. I happen to be a Conservative Jew, and I’ve been taught by mostly Conservative rabbis, like Rabbi Irvin Wise. Jewish denominations, such as Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist, started their own movements in part because their interpretation differed from Orthodoxy.
In the book’s Foreword, Rabbi Dr. David Gottlieb of Yeshivat Ohr Somayach acknowledges that readers come from diverse points of view. He writes, “Some readers may prefer approaches other than that of Rabbi Stern, but everyone will be better informed by his analysis and his wide-ranging sources. I congratulate him on his valuable contribution to the presentation of genuine Jewish sources on these difficult topics.”
“Is the Good Book Bad?” is an incredible conversation starter. In many cases, hot topics got even hotter for me. The author would say he proved his case — case closed, and it made me want to shout, “Wait a minute!” It made me want to call my rabbi to talk about it. His traditional interpretation of homosexuality probably got me going the most, since it was very different from my rabbi’s approach on the subject.
I read the hardcover version of the book, but I highly recommend also getting the Kindle version as a companion so you can search the text later. I think people will want to go back and locate quotes to discuss with their rabbi or study group. I remember reacting strongly to a few of the sections about animals. He is discussing humans’ superiority to animals when he writes, “…animal rights extremists will also maintain that there is no difference between humans and animals. This (naturalism — influencing and inflecting society) is why tragically, when many people are asked if in a situation where they could only save a human stranger or their dog, many say that they don’t know which one (or worse, say they would save the dog!).” It looks like I would fall into the author’s “or worse” category. Our dog, Minnie, is part of the family, and it wouldn’t be a simple decision for me to rescue the stranger and let Minnie die. I had a similar reaction to another section on whether it was right for the military to use dolphins to clear mines.
My wife and I have recently been binging the legal show “The Practice.” We both enjoy a good legal drama. In one episode, they debate defense theories for Lindsay’s professor, who was accused of murder. In the end, the judge agrees to the charge of manslaughter, which results in a much lighter sentence. In the book, the author presents similar arguments. In one example, he uses the text from Exodus 2:11-12, where Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster. He cites Professor Hector Avolas, who calls Moses’ act premeditated murder and not an act of self-defense. The author becomes Moses’ defense attorney and replies, “The truth is that by any modern legal standard, Moses did not commit premeditated murder; he merely defended another person who was being attacked. What happened (as is explicit in the verse) is that Moses saw a Hebrew being beaten (likely to death) and defended the Hebrew. In the process, he killed the Egyptian. By any legal system, this would be a justified homicide.” The book is filled with similar legal debates, which are often between the secular and religious sides of the argument.
I teach a weekly Torah discussion with two adult sisters. They are probably going to read this review, so you know who you are! As my rabbi told me many times, “The Torah is not a children’s story.” Sometimes the sisters look at me and wonder, “Will this be another fire and brimstone week with God killing thousands with a plague? Or are we going to talk about slaves this week?” Torah can be tough, especially for someone who isn’t a rabbi and doesn’t have the Oral Law (the Talmud) handy. As Rabbi Stern suggests, reading the Torah superficially without context is a major problem. Also, I have found that taking a step back from the text can spark a new perspective. The Kabbalists are known for finding meaning in the white space between the letters. Rabbi Stern’s book is a good resource for researching tough topics and finding relevant Talmudic texts. It also includes a wealth of related writings and lectures by rabbis and philosophers. For those who don’t agree with his interpretations, his book may get you or your group more involved in Torah study. It might also get you out of your chair to call your rabbi!