Who Defines Good and Evil? How the Torah Guides Us to a Moral and Purposeful Life

G-d provides us with time, space, and resources to fulfill our life’s purpose. How can we ensure that we use these tools for good?

The Torah serves as a guidebook for human life and clarifies for us what is good and what is not. When a scientific discovery is made, how do we determine its ethical boundaries? What defines moral use? Humans alone are unable to answer that. The same applies to politics, economics, and many areas of life. If we don’t consult the Torah, we risk basing decisions on a confused or double-edged understanding of good and evil.

Everyone Wants to Do Good

In today’s world, everyone claims to act for the greater good, even though their ideologies completely contradict each other. People often fight one another in the name of justice, nearly destroying the world in their attempts to fix it.

Even people with clearly harmful intentions claim they’re doing good. Hitler believed he was creating a more “just” world by building a “pure” German nation- at the cost of millions of innocent lives. His justification was his vision of an ideal society.

Pol Pot, a communist dictator in Cambodia (1975–1979), was responsible for the deaths of around two million people. His goal was to build a perfect society without capitalism, social classes, or trade. He emptied cities, forced citizens into rural agricultural labor, and executed those who represented the “old culture.” Even children were indoctrinated so deeply that they willingly turned on their own teachers and leaders. We see similar trends in modern extremist organizations.

In fact, many of history’s worst atrocities were committed by people who believed they were doing good.

Only G-d Can Define What Is Truly Good

Questions of right and wrong are not only political or philosophical, but are deeply personal and touch on your own life mission. If you're a skilled tailor and sell a Jewish client a suit made of wool and linen, you’ve unknowingly violated a Torah commandment that forbids wearing such a garment (shatnez). However, if you provide a beautiful and kosher suit, you’ve fulfilled your social and spiritual role with integrity.

Even volunteer work can be negative if it's not aligned with divine will. Imagine someone with charisma and leadership skills who forms a movement with noble-sounding goals. In practice, however, the movement spreads injustice, ignites war, and causes loss of life. This is why we must remember that the path matters more than the goal.

The Torah teaches that you can’t kill to create a better society and you can’t steal or sell drugs to fund a revolution. The ends do not justify the means. Torah teaches the right way to act.

Justice must always be aligned with G-d’s law. Before embracing a cause or ideology, we must ask: Is it consistent with the Torah? After all, as we’ve learned, the mitzvot serve as signals to help us avoid danger.

Torah: The Ultimate Tool for Fulfilling Your Purpose

If you have time, material resources, and the opportunity to study Torah to gain moral clarity, you have everything you need to live your mission.

The Torah shows us that our purpose isn’t as overwhelming as it may seem. We don’t need to change the world overnight. Most mitzvot focus on daily, practical matters such as how to work, what to eat, how to wash your hands, and how to treat others.

What About Freedom?

Sometimes it may feel like these laws limit our freedom- similar to rules from a dictator who wants to control us.

However, even in a tolerant, democratic society without religion, we are not completely free. There is always something influencing our actions. Freud described three forces within human psychology:

• The Id (instinctual drives),

• The Superego (social expectations and learned values),

• The Ego (the conscious self that balances the two).

For example, when you're hungry and see a chocolate ad that everyone is raving about, your desire to buy and eat it comes from a mix of personal craving and social pressure. You may feel like you made a free choice, but in reality, you were heavily influenced.

Similarly, when you're attracted to someone, that internal drive greatly affects your decisions. Even according to Freud, true freedom doesn’t exist. Our decisions are always shaped by instincts and society.

This is where Torah comes in- not to restrict us, but to liberate us. It frees us from being slaves to impulse and public opinion and allows us to live by a higher truth.

Even in a morally confused society full of tempting yet hollow offers, the Torah helps us swim against the current and build a life of true meaning. Its laws don’t limit freedom, but rather provide us with the freedom to live by what we really believe.

Torah Is Also the Goal Itself

While the Torah is a means to fulfill your life’s mission, it’s also a goal in itself. Learning Torah is a direct way to connect with G-d, and it's a mitzvah of its own- referred to as “Torah lishmah” (Torah for its own sake). Even if you don’t fully understand what you’re learning, or don’t reach clear conclusions, the very effort to learn fulfills your mission.

This is crucial to every Jew’s purpose because while everyone has a unique role, we all must learn Torah. If you want to contribute positively to the world and don’t know where to begin, start learning. Step into a beit midrash (study hall), or open a book and begin.

The Torah is a precious treasure, known to only a few. Seek it with persistence. Even a little in the morning and a little in the evening makes a difference. Start gradually- perhaps twice a week- and increase as you enjoy it. The quality of learning matters more than the quantity.

From the book "Dan's Journey to Finding the Meaning of Life" by Roni Dayan.