The ethical will is an ancient document from the Jewish tradition whose purpose is the transmission of one’s values and ethics to the future generation. The original template for its use came from the Book of Genesis, chapter 49. A dying Jacob gathered his sons to offer them his blessing and to request that they bury him not in Egypt, but instead in Canaan in the cave of Machpelah with his ancestors. The final book in the Torah-Deuteronomy-is, from the beginning to the end, Moses’ ethical will; his hopes and desires for the ancient Israelites delivered in the final moments of his life.
Forty years earlier, Moses stood before Pharaoh speaking truth to power. With the support of the One God, Moses demanded the Israelites be freed from their bondage in Egypt. Through rejection, punishment, and acts of retribution Moses held the line. His would be a cause worth dying for; the freedom of his people. Now, as he faces his own mortality, he reflects on the great strides taken and the monumental tasks that still lie ahead.
Ours is not to complete the task; but neither are we free to desist from it!” (“Pirke Avot: Ethics Of Our Ancestors”)
Congressman John Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020. He, together with Martin Luther King, were the face of the Civil Rights movement. This past week the entire nation became aware of the life and achievements of this great man. Born the son of a sharecropper in Troy, Alabama, from age 15 until his death at 80, he devoted his every breath to the fight for the human and civil rights of African Americans. In his final week of life he asked the New York Times to print his ethical will to be published on the day of his funeral. In keeping with this request, the Times published his words on July 30. In it he wrote:
“Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring. When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.”
Freedom and democracy do not come easy. They require constant diligence to the precepts on which they were founded. Be it the words of the Torah, or the Constitution of a democratic nation, the effort to preserve these ideals from one generation to the next require personal sacrifice. In the words of the Jewish tradition, “Eitz Hayim He-[These ideals] are a Tree of Life to them that hold fast to it; and all its supporters will find happiness!”
Rabbi Howard Siegel