[Avodah] Cave or desert island

[Doron Beckerman]

R' Michael Makovi writes:

>> But the purpose of the Torah is to perfect the society! As Rabbi Aryeh
Carmel puts it in Masterplan, the aim of the Torah is not the
perfected individual, but rather the perfected society.

Any individual by himself can be righteous. And it's not because it's
easy. Rather, there's nothing to do! True, I haven't stolen or lied or
injured, but I couldn't if I wanted to! There's a saying, something
like "When there's nothing to steal, the thief regards his virtue as
real". So it isn't merely that the achievement was easily won. Rather,
there's no achievement at all whatsoever! <<


It may be true that the ultimate goal is to perfect society, but if the
choice is living in a corrupt society and trying to influence them, or
becoming a hermit/going to live in a cave for fear of them influencing you,
the Rambam in 6th Perek of Hilchos Deos is very clear on which option to
choose...
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