Section One: Cannibals

and Morals

Section Two:
The Golden Rule

Section Three:
Knowing God

Section Four: Write an
article for FFOZ
Lesson Three:
CANNIBALS AND MORALS

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2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to
request additional copies. This document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families.
Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership 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. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such as the popular eDrash
and eRosh.
CANNIBALS AND MORALS
by Boaz Michael,
FFOZ Founder and Director
REVIEW:
We can distill central concepts of the last
two issues of Pirkei Avinu into two simple
sentences.
First: The wisdom of God is revealed to us in
and through His Torah.
Second: We show ourselves to be wise
through obedience to His words and not by
our own intellect.
We need to take these concepts to heart as
we progress along in our studies.
D
o you know what ethics are? Do you
have any? If you dont, where can you
get 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 persons
conduct. 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 when
you accidentally drop a twenty dollar bill without
noticing. The man behind you sees, picks it up
and returns it to you. Why did he do that? He
could have just kept it, and you would not have
known. 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 stufng
out of other children who are only half his size.
Why? According to his ethical worldview, might
makes right.
A tribe of savage cannibals from South America
sees nothing wrong with eating human beings
from other tribes. Why? Because they do not have
an ethical problem with cannibalism. The ethics
they follow approve of eating other people.
Some things seem to be obviously unethical.
For example, when we hear about murder, abuse
and 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 there
ethics that govern the every day things of life?
There are. If we ever hope to live wise and godly
lives, we better know where to get our ethics
from or we might end up with the playground
bully and savage cannibal version of ethics in
these other areas of our lives.
WHO SAYS ITS WRONG?
One person thinks one thing is right. Another
person says it isnt. To the cannibal, there is
nothing wrong with cannibalism. He does not
feel guilty about it. Its just normal. Who are we
to say that he is wrong and we are right? What
makes one persons ethics better than another
persons ethics? Actually, ethical values change
from culture to culture and from generation to
generation. So how do we know whats really
right and whats really wrong?
This is where Wisdom comes in. Remember
that the wisdom of God comes from above.
It is not one persons opinion. It is Gods own
instruction. 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 our
lives today. For example, do we really need laws
about how to handle an ox? Most people today
dont have oxen. If you dont own an ox, why
would you care about a law about oxen?
Even though you might not have an ox, you can
still learn the ethical principle behind the laws
of dealing with oxen. Once you learn the ethical
principle, you can apply that principle to other
areas of life that do matter to you.
All the laws of the Torah are there to teach us
Gods ethics. When we know Gods ethics, then we
know what is truly right and what is truly wrong.
THE MAN WHO STOOD ON ONE FOOT
This can be illustrated with a famous story from
the Talmud:
PIRKEI AVINU The Sayings of our Father
2 Lesson Three: CANNIBALS AND MORALS
2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. This
document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families. Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership 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. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such
as the popular eDrash and eRosh.
icus 19:18). In other words, treat others the way
you would want to be treated.
Rabbi Hillel was not the only Rabbi to distill
the Torah down to this simple ethical statement.
Rabbi Akiva, the Torah leader of his generation,
declared that to love ones neighbor as oneself
was the greatest principle of Torah. Rabbi Paul of
Tarsus said that every commandment of Torah
is summed up in this saying, You shall love
your neighbor as yourself (Romans 13:9). Even
more importantly, Yeshua of Nazareth said, In
everything, therefore, treat people the same way
you want them to treat you, for this is the Torah
and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).
THE MOST IMPORTANT
COMMANDMENTS
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 with
all 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
sacrices. (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 summarizes
the entire Torah is just a few words. There are
four components of Rabbi Hillels answer.
What is hateful unto you, do not do to
your neighbor.
This ethic of love is the meaning of the
whole Torah.
The rest of the Torah is commentary
upon this ethic.
Now that you know the central ethic, go
and learn the rest of Torah.
Consider how this simple ethic applies to
each of the above examples. If you accidentally
dropped a ve dollar bill, you would hate it if the
guy 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 the
stufng out of you. If you were in the deep bush
of South America, you would hate it if a hungry
tribe of cannibals decided to eat you. So dont do
those things to others. Thats a good example of
an ethical principle. Sometimes this principle is
called the golden rule.
THE GOLDEN RULE
Where did Rabbi Hillel get this ethical principle
from? He got it from the Torah. The Torah says,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Levit-
1.
2.
3.
4.
PIRKEI AVINU The Sayings of our Father
3 Lesson Three: CANNIBALS AND MORALS
2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. This
document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families. Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership 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. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such
as the popular eDrash and eRosh.
WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE?
Where do we get proper ethics from? We get them
from the laws of the Torah. Think about the ten
commandments 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 situation
that we face in life. Often times we have to decide
what to do on the basis of the ethical principles
we have learned from the other commandments.
Perhaps this is what the Torah means when it
says and you shall do what is right in the eyes of
God (Deuteronomy 6:18). This broad and vaguely
worded commandment essentially tells one to
act ethically, according to ethics that God would
approve of.
Ultimately, God is not nearly so concerned about
creeds, beliefs, sacrices and rituals. Rather He
is concerned about how we behave. The prophet
Micah sums this up when he says, He has told
you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
KNOWING GOD
Where do we get ethics from? Not from the library,
not from the grocery store and certainly not
online. We get them from God. As our creator, He
is the only moral authority who has the right to
dene what is right and what is wrong. He com-
municates His ethics to us in His Torah. There-
fore, by keeping His commandments, we learn
to walk according to His ethics. The Apostle John
sums this idea up when he says, The one who
says, I have come to know Him, and does not
keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him
the love of God has truly been perfected. By this
we 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 will
please Him and what behaviors displease Him.
We learn to know Him through the revelation of
His Torah, His commandments, and of course,
most importantly, through His Son Yeshua.
The Bible says that the only thing really worth
being proud of is knowing God and His ethical
standards. Wisdom is nothing if you dont know
Gods wisdom. Might and power are worthiness
without Gods ethical principles behind it. Riches
are empty and useless without the knowledge of
God. In other words, life is meaningless unless
we know God and His ethical will and wisdom
for 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 the
Lord. (Jeremiah 9:3424)
PIRKEI AVINU The Sayings of our Father
4 Lesson Three: CANNIBALS AND MORALS
2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. This
document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families. Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership 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. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such
as the popular eDrash and eRosh.
WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR FFOZ
I want to hear from you and give you the oppor-
tunity to share your thoughts with thousands
of others around the world. You may make
an impact for the Kingdom as you share your
thoughts 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 your
personal quest for these traits. We will select some
of the articles and publish them on our website
and perhaps other FFOZ resources. Here are some
parameters:
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)
PIRKEI AVINU The Sayings of our Father
5 Lesson Three: CANNIBALS AND MORALS
2007 First Fruits of Zion. We welcome you to print up to fve copies for personal or congregational use. Please contact FFOZ to request additional copies. This
document is a complimentary study resource for myfoz members and their families. Join myfoz free at myfoz.org. Myfoz membership 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. Myfoz members also receive exclusive weekly and monthly Torah teachings such
as the popular eDrash and eRosh.