Chapter 35: Is Jewish Utilitarianism a Thing?

On The Good Place, Michael and Janet meet Doug Forcett, who lives his life as a happiness pump after discovering the point system; Eleanor deals with her own greater knowledge of the big picture; and Jason teaches Chidi Jacksonville-style pool, where you make up your own rules and point values. On the podcast, Shmuly Yanklowitz (rabbi/kidney donor who has corresponded with Peter Singer) and Jon Spira-Savett discuss how utilitarianism and Judaism speak to each other. When is the utilitarian calculus a compelling imperative in Judaism, and when do other Jewish principles override it?

Miscellaneous Background (Not Particularly Jewish)
Mary Tyler Moore, part of Doug Forcett’s snail’s posthumous name, was the star in a show of the same name from a golden age of TV comedy in the 1970s. It was a groundbreaking role as a woman who was both a professional and a single person, and a really funny show (She also starred in The Dick Van Dyke show.)

Michael McKean, who plays Doug, is also a comedy legend, from TV’s Laverne and Shirley to the film This Is Spinal Tap to Better Call Saul, with cameos and guest appearances all over. Friends fans will know him as Mr. Rastatter, the Mockolate guy.

Texts and Concepts
(Go to Jewish Lexicon on this site for more on Jewish terminology, names of texts and other background. The links here in the citations take you to the specific quotes in their full contexts.)

Once again, we loop back to:
Rabbi Moses Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4
Every person should see oneself the entire year as though perfectly balanced between merit and guilt, and also the entire world as though perfectly balanced between merit and guilt.

If a person does one more wrong, that person tilts the balance personally and tilts the balance for the whole world to the side of guilt...

If a person does one mitzvah, that person tilts the balance personally and tilts the balance for the whole world, all of it, to the side of merit, and saves and rescues both oneself and the whole world.

A new concept we referred to is pidyon shvuyim (redeeming captives). In Talmudic and medieval times, it was not uncommon for bandits or even the authorities to kidnap or imprison a Jew to extract a ransom. Judaism puts a high value on saving individual life (pikuach nefesh) and also defines the Divine fundamentally as the One who redeemed us from captivity in Egypt. There were many debates over whether there were limits to what a community should pay for a single person, with consequences known and unknown being a major consideration. Maimonides in his Laws of Gifts for the Poor (8:10-12) summarizes the importance of this duty and its complicating factors:.

Ma’aser means “tithe” (giving ten percent). In the Torah there is an elaborate system of tithes to support the Temple and people who are poor, widows, and orphans. The term ma’aser sometimes is used to refer specifically to giving ten percent for tzedakah. In the Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 50a, it is taught:

Rabbi Ile’a said:
In Usha [the Sages] instituted that one who dispenses [his money to charity] should not dispense more than one-fifth.
That is also taught elsewere: One who scatters should not scatter more than one-fifth, lest he need the help of other people.
There was an incident involving a certain one who sought to dispense more than one-fifth, and his friend did not let him.

Mishnah Pirkei Avot 3:15 with commentary by Maimonides
Everything is foreseen yet choice is given. And the world is judged with goodness. And everything is according to the majority of deeds.

[In his commentary to that — full text in the link — Maimonides says that it is better to give a larger number of smaller gifts to contribute toward supporting more poor people or redeeming more captives, than a single large gift, because the repetition of the act makes one more generous in the future.]

Deeper Dives

Shmuly interviews Professor Peter Singer: “Utilitarian Perspectives on Saving Lives, Organ Donation, & End-of-Life Ethics”

A good summary, though a bit dry, on the ethics of pidyon shvuyim (redeeming captives), with particular reference also to contemporary Israel and soldiers held by terrorists, is in this analysis by Rabbi David Golinkin.

A very long deep dive, full of source material, is by Noam Zion of the Shalom Hartman Institute — “Triage: Setting Tzedakah Priorities in a World of Scarcity”

Learn more about Shmuly and Jon, and how to follow them, on our Hosts page!

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