For Better Or For Worse

No, this will not focus on the vows of marriage, where both parties pledge to try to stay together for better or for worse – although if anyone will be getting married soon, this could apply to them as well – but rather to an unusual discussion in the page of the Talmud studied around the world (Sahedrin 72) on Thursday.

Daf 72 begins with the sweeping ironic and very meaningful series of statements: “[T]he death of evil people is beneficial to them [suicidal terrorists who expect to be rewarded for their murders] and also beneficial to the world [ending the murders of the innocents of the world], while the death of the righteous is detrimental to them and detrimental to the world.

“The sleep and wine of the wicked is beneficial to them and beneficial to the world (preventing them from carrying out bad acts) while that of the righteous is detrimental to them and detrimental to the world (preventing them from carrying out good acts).

“The failure of evil people to be united in one place is beneficial to them and to the world, while the failure of good people to be united in one place is detrimental to them and to the world.”

So what does all of this have to do with all of us as we begin the month of Purim, when we strive not to know the difference between baruch Mordechai and arur Haman – blessed is Modechai and cursed is Haman?

Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency is in the process of cutting government programs, and openly doing so with a chain saw rather than with a scalpel, and it is clear that what is good and ideal to many of us is bad and wasteful to many others of us. We can all think of examples, and advocate for them either way, but the basic concept is the same – the same action can be for good or for evil, depending on one’s perspective.

The power of good and the power of evil can also apply to fire power. Guns, missiles, and bombs can be a force for good or for evil, as witnessed in Gaza and Israel. Gaza, incidentally, is mentioned in the page in the Talmud to be studied on Wednesday (Sanhedrin 71).

And one page before that (Sanhedrin 70), eating of meat and drinking of wine can be a good thing or a terrible thing, again depending on the context.

And finally, this section of the Talmud can indeed apply to the wedding vows mentioned at the beginning of this article. Views that may be advocated when a couple is under the wedding canopy are not always shared by the couple getting married, though of course they should be and sometimes the views of one or both of the members of the couple may change – for better or for worse – though they generally should not, of course, if they are good.

May we all strive for the day when all humankind will share the values articulated in Jewish law – whether in all 613 commandments that apply under Jewish law or the Seven Categories of the Noahide laws, as well as the laws of the secular assuming they do not contradict the basic principles of the Torah.