Sacred Compromise

Abstract

From the perspective of an outsider looking in, the belief that religious individuals and communities should not compromise on matters sacred or holy is seemingly obvious and self-evident. The well-known Israeli philosopher Avishai Margalit, in his recent book, On Compromise and Rotten Compromises (2010), describes this belief clearly and unequivocally. He writes, “The religious picture is in the grip of the idea of the holy. The holy is not negotiable, let alone subject to compromise. Crudely put, one cannot compromise over the holy without compromising the holy” (p. 24, emphasis added). Or, just one page later, he writes, “The logic of the holy as an ideal type is the negation of the idea of compromise.” The purpose of this chapter is to challenge Margalit, and both those outsiders and religious insiders, who share this belief. In my view, from a Jewish perspective, the assertion that the holy is unalterably opposed to the idea of compromise is both false and dangerous.

Be holy for I am holy.

Leviticus 11:44

Then God said, “Let us make man in our likeness, and let there be a creature not only the product of earth, but also gifted with heavenly, spiritual elements.” Truth then appeared, falling before God’s throne, and in all humility exclaimed: “Deign, O God, to refrain from calling into being a creature who is beset with the vice of lying.” Peace came forth to support this petition. “Wherefore, O lord, shall this creature appear on earth; he will bring about war and destruction in his eagerness for gain and conquest.”

Whilst they were pleading against the creation of man, there was heard, arising from another part of the heavens, the soft voice of Charity: “Sovereign of the universe.” The voice exclaimed, in all its mildness, “vouchsafe thou to create a being in thy, likeness, for it will be a noble creature striving to imitate thy attributes by its actions.” The Creator approved of the pleadings of Charity, called man into being, and cast Truth down to the earth to flourish there; and he dignified Truth by making her his own seal.

Midrash Rabba