Perfection

A thought on Passover from Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, excerpts below:

The advent of Passover and Easter… beckons a deeper discussion about one of the principle differences between Judaism and Christianity… it is the difference between a values system based on struggle and a values system based on perfection.

The reason there are no perfect people in the Torah is that we don't believe in perfect people…Do you know what the perfect person lacks that the imperfect person has? An imperfect person fights to do what is right. He struggles with his conscience. When you fight for something, you demonstrate its worth.

Personally, I have no patience for perfect people. I find them boring, predictable, and judgmental. It is human beings whose goodness is real, yet purchased amid Herculean effort and struggle, whom I find so endlessly fascinating.

People used to think Martin Luther King Jr. was a saint… But then we discovered that in fact he was deeply human and did things that betrayed big character flaws. Suddenly... his true greatness was thereby manifest: He was flawed and frail and still he accomplished so much. You mean he was scared in front of those attack dogs and Bull Connor? He had to struggle to do those things? My G-d, that truly is a great man. To me, that is so much more inspiring. King wrestled with his conscience. Now he speaks to me, because I'm just like him. He was not an angel, not a saint, just a person who struggled to live righteously and courageously.

The truth is that perfection fosters dependency. It is an engine that actually retards human progress, because it continually tosses humans back on a sense of their own inadequacy. Rather than lift them up, it keeps them down.

Those for whom life has been so sweet and smooth, those who refuse to struggle, will never know the true taste of courage. They will never develop the ability to overcome obstacles to do what is right. They will never firmly establish that their convictions are not just feelings. Struggle is where the infinite value of goodness is established.