[Avodah] better not to have been born

[Micha Berger]

On his blog, RAF discusses this article by Peter Singer and why Beis
Shammai wouldn't agree with Mr Singer. See
http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/should-humanity-call-it-quits/

Here's the more Torah-oriented 2/3 of the post. Whereas I read in
the sources a dialectic between two humanist perspectives -- Is life
worth living by the person's own standards? -- as I understand him,
RAF questions the underlying use of a human metric.

    Neither the House of Hillel nor that of Shammai are comparing
    non-existence to existence. They are, instead, positing a preexistent
    soul, which exists and "lives" in a celestial realm, until it is
    called upon to inhabit a developing foetus.

    The dilemma being explored is best expressed in terms of 16th
    Century Lurianic Kabbalah. Prior to inhabiting a body, the souls have
    never had the opportunity to have any benefit whatsoever, and thus
    exist by Divine fiat and beneficence. Lurianists call that nahama
    dekhissufa, the bread of shame, underscoring that we generally are
    quite embarrassed to get benefits we didn't earn. By being born
    into a body, the soul, together with the body, earn some merit,
    even though they forever are indebted to G"d's goodness, both for
    having created them and for being merciful and forgiving of sin.

    The dilemma the Talmud explores is whether the initial total
    unworthiness of the soul is reason enough to come to life and earn
    some merit, despite the overwhelming likelihood that we will sin,
    as well, or whether the likelihood of sin is an even greater
    source of shame and discomfort for the soul, than the shame of
    total indebtedness.

    Thus Talmud's argument differs in two important ways from Peter
    Singer's thought. First of all, the discussion is entirely theoretical
    and is devoid of the kind of practical consequences Singer would
    advocate. Whatever the merit of life may be, does not impact one's
    obligation to procreate, as can be seen in the following passage:

	For so it says, In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And
	Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, came to him and said unto him,
	Thus saith the Lord, Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die
	and not live etc. (II Kings 2; Isaiah 38 )

    What is the meaning of 'thou shalt die and not live'? Thou shalt die
    in this world and not live in the world to come. He said to him: Why
    so bad? He replied: Because you did not try to have children. He said:
    The reason was because I saw by the holy spirit that the children
    issuing from me would not be virtuous. He said to him: What have
    you to do with the secrets of the All-Merciful? You should have done
    what you were commanded, and let the Holy One, blessed be He, do that
    which pleases Him. He said to him: Then give me now your daughter;
    perhaps through your merit and mine combined virtuous children will
    issue from me. He replied: The doom has already been decreed. Said
    the other: Son of Amoz, finish your prophecy and go. This tradition
    I have from the house of my ancestor: Even if a sharp sword rests
    upon a man's neck he should not desist from prayer. This saying is
    also recorded in the names of R. Johanan and R. Ele'azar: Even if a
    sharp sword rests on a man's neck, he should not desist from prayer,
    as it says, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. (Babylonian
    Talmud, Berakhot 10a)

    Secondly, nowhere does the Talmud indicate that the soul's shame or
    discomfort should be the deciding factor in establishing whether a
    soul ought to be born. In fact, the initial investigation is termed
    whether or not it is "more pleasant for man" to have been created,
    i.e., this is not an investigation into the duty to participate in
    life, but about what the egotistical choice of the soul would be.

    However, as it happens, our purpose is not to life egotistical life,
    but to be part of history's grand plan. To quote the Mishna in Avot
    (4:22):

	He [R' Eli'ezer haKappar] used to say: the born [are destined]
	to die, the dead to once be brought again to life, and the living
	to be judged; [therefore for all] to know and to make known,
	so that it become known, that He is God, the Fashioner, the
	Creator, the Discerner, the Judge, the Witness, the Prosecutor,
	and that He, blessed be He, will judge, before Whom there is
	no unrighteousness, nor forgetting, nor respect of persons, nor
	taking of bribes, for all is His.And know that all is according
	to the reckoning. And let not thy [evil] inclination assure
	thee that the grave is a place of refuge for thee; for without
	thy will wast thou fashioned, without thy will wast thou born,
	without thy will livest thou, without thy will wilt thou die, and
	without thy will art thou of a certainty to give an account and
	reckoning before the King of the kings of kings, blessed be He.

    The purpose of life is for man to facilitate the dissemination of
    people's knowledge and appreciation of G"d, and in His Image, to
    seek to create a just and spiritual society.

    Not only does the above differ markedly from Singer's utilitarianism,
    in that the coming about of life is disconnected from any speculations
    about what the soul would personally find more pleasant, but as it
    turns out, but keeping the unborn unborn, we are depriving them of
    the ultimate pleasure: to join with G"d in perfecting the world.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Good decisions come from experience;
micha at aishdas.org        Experience comes from bad decisions.
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