{"id":69071,"date":"2022-08-19T04:04:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T09:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=69071"},"modified":"2022-08-19T04:04:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T09:04:31","slug":"off-the-pulpit-socrates-and-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-socrates-and-abraham\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Socrates and Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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As we read the Torah, we see that the biblical characters indeed embody both ideals — that of social restraint and spiritual aspiration. The laws of the Bible are intended to guide one to live well with other human beings and with the world. Yet, it is animated by a belief in something greater than the world. The Torah depicts souls that yearn for something greater, for a connection to God.<\/p>\n

The Bible does not fashion philosophic justifications for its directives. The characters seem far less self-conscious than the ancient Greeks. But in figures like Abraham, one-thousand years before Socrates, we see a noble soul aspiring for something higher than human beings had ever known.<\/p>\n

Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.<\/em><\/p>\n

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