It is one of the cardinal principles of Torah and a crucial
component of the Torah hashkofoh that neither a person
nor life is compartmentalized. Everything, great and small,
must be done properly, according to the moral and legal
prescriptions of Torah. "The law of a penny is the same as
the law of a hundred." Even the things that we crush
underfoot, we are taught, may truly stand at the heights of
the world.
There are no greater mitzvos and lesser mitzvos. We have
internal rules and priorities, principles that we can use to
resolve conflicts when there are competing obligations, but
these are not meant to belittle any mitzvoh. We cannot always
fathom the connection between different parts and it appears
that certain commandments have no reason behind them. These
are known as chukim. But we ignore them or belittle
them at our own peril. Everything comes from Sinai; the Torah
is one perfect whole and everyone must do everything that he
or she is obligated to do.
Most importantly there is no such thing as a great Torah
scholar who is otherwise corrupt. There can be great
scientists who are corrupt in their personal lives and there
were plenty of influential artists whose work is admired but
whose personal lives were a mess by any standard. But there
never was and never will be a great Torah sage who is corrupt
and decadent in his personal life. Different people of course
emphasize different parts of their lives and may choose to
focus on particular things. But they may not ignore other
things and must maintain minimum standards throughout.
This idea carries over to other areas as well. A state or a
society must maintain minimum standards throughout, or it
will collapse of its own sins. Corruption in one area will
spread until it consumes the whole system.
A case in point is the unfortunate Palestinian Authority. In
signing the agreements and turning over control to the
Palestinian Authority, neither Israel nor the United States
imposed sufficient controls to ensure that the societal
institutions would be properly run. In fact, to some extent
Israel cooperated with the corruption by agreeing to pay a
large portion of the tax money that it collects for the PA to
accounts that are personally controlled by Yasser Arafat. One
election was held, but regular elections were not even
discussed. Those who were close to the leadership became
wealthy, and the Palestinian people became poorer.
The resulting system was rotten. It does not behave
rationally because it is not a rational system. It cannot
persist.
We do not mean to suggest that Israel should suggest that the
Palestinian State should be run according to Torah. Rather,
these thoughts are stimulated by the upcoming anniversary of
matan Torah and reflecting on the powerful fount of
wisdom that we received in the Torah. If we and our brethren
turn to it as our main source of guidance in the big
decisions that require deep insights into human nature and
how it forms social systems, it will help us avoid mistakes
and tragedies.
As HaRav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch wrote, "The Torah is the
thoughts of G-d about man." There is no better source for
guidance.
