The Reward of a Good Deed: Shasta and Abraham

If you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.

("The Horse and His Boy," page 155)

Previously we suggested that Lewis' above assertion was parallel to the declaration in Ethics of our Fathers that the reward of fulfilling one command is the opportunity to fulfill another. However, this parallel does not address the second part of Lewis' statement, that the next "good deed" would be a "harder and better one."

Perhaps a more accurate portrayal is, instead, the series of tests God placed before Abraham. Again turning to the Ethics of our Fathers we find:

Abraham our father, peace be upon him, was tested with ten tests and he withstood all of them. This is to demonstrate the great love of Abraham our father, peace be upon him. (5:3)

The commentaries disagree as to the exact identity of these ten tests (see for example the list of R' Ovadia Bartenura). But what was God's goal of administering these tests? The answer to this lies in the second part of the quotation from Ethics of our Fathers, "to demonstrate the great love of Abraham." The language is ambiguous and could mean:

(1) Abraham demonstrated his love of God by passing the ten test. 

(2) God demonstrated his love for Abraham by administering to him the ten tests.

The first meaning is straightforward. Abraham's willingness to follow God's commands, even when difficult and at times defying logic, demonstrates how much Abraham loved God. The second meaning is more opaque: how is God's love demonstrated by testing Abraham? Are the tests not challenging? Did not tests such as God's call to Abraham to sacrifice his son cause Abraham pain and anguish? To address these questions we must ask a more fundamental one: why does God administer tests in the first place? Does God not know the outcome of the test beforehand?

There are two general approaches to the question of why God administers tests. The first approach posits external reasons. For example, Abraham's successful completion of the tests explains to the world why God favors Abraham above all others, and perhaps encourages others to support Abraham and learn from his ways.

The second approach indicates internal reasons for the tests. In school for example, a teacher may give a test, not only to determine how well the students know the material, but to force students to study the material. The study itself is a goal, as only through study will the students internalize the material. The test is simply the method used to encourage the students to study. God, of course, knows the results of the test. Even so, a test administered by God is a growth opportunity for the one who takes it. With each successive, more difficult test, Abraham climbs to greater and greater spiritual heights. 

We can now return to our previous question: how does the administration of tests by God demonstrate His love for Abraham. The answer is self-evident. God’s love for Abraham is demonstrated because He continually provides Abraham with opportunities for spiritual growth. 

This latter approach is the one encapsulated in Lewis' above quoted assertion. Shasta felt that, having passed one test to show his loyalty to Narnia and the North, he should be given the opportunity to rest on his laurels and take a break at the home of the Hermit of the Southern Marsh. Aslan deemed otherwise. His love for Shasta required that Shasta have the opportunity for continued spiritual growth. This was especially and immediately necessary for Shasta as he was soon to be declared the prince, and future king, of Archenland. The opportunity to provide further spiritual growth is accomplished by charging Shasta with an even harder and better good deed; the quest to warn King Lune of the coming danger from the army of Rabadash. 

What was true for Shasta is true for each of us in our own lives. God constantly provides us, and at times forces us, into situations where we have the opportunity for spiritual growth. It is easy to be dismissive and at times even resentful of this, especially if we do not perceive others with the same challenges. Shasta's story teaches us not to give up. But even more so, his story teaches us that opportunities to perform good deeds are a reflection of God's love.

Welcome to Torah From Narnia!

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again (dedication of, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," to Lucy) Welcome to Torah from Narnia! 

My attraction to the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis began when I was nine years old. I loved everything about the books: the stories, the characters and the adventure. Even then, as a fourth grader in an Orthodox Jewish private day school, I knew that there was a Christian component to the stories. Honestly though, I never really paid much attention to it. 

Some time much later I became old enough to read fairy tales again and returned to the Chronicles of Narnia. As I read and re-read the Chronicles (I tend to read books over and over again), it was not only the Christian themes that struck me, but the universal ones. Eventually, I started making connections between Lewis’ themes and those of my traditional Jewish lifestyle. I started incorporating quotes and elements of the Chronicles into talks I would occasionally give on the weekly Torah portion or the Jewish Holidays. Certainly, there were people who felt it was slightly (or perhaps more than slightly) unorthodox, but for me it became a natural way to bring out important Jewish themes. 

For a while, I’ve been threatening to start a blog and, finally, here it is: Torah from Narnia. Of course, I have no idea if anyone else is interested in overlaps between Jewish thought and C.S. Lewis so I'll use this blog to help concretize my thoughts by being forced to put them into written words. But maybe I'm wrong. So, if you do find anything here interesting, no matter what your faith, I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment or email me at: torahfromnarnia@gmail.com In the meantime, enjoy!

The Reward of a Good Deed: Shasta

If you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one. ("The Horse and His Boy," page 155)

“The Horse and His Boy,” tells the adventures of the boy Shasta and the talking horse Bree as they attempt to escape Calormen into Narnia. On their way, they learn of a plot of the Prince Rabadash of Calormen to conquer the northern kingdoms, Narnia and Archenland. They must warn Archenland’s king of the coming attack or find that the destination they hope to reach no longer exists. After weeks of travel through Calormen Shasta and his fellow travellers finally cross the desert into Archenland. Tired and worn, having just escaped a lion, Shasta’s cohorts are left with the Hermit of the Southern Marsh. Shasta, however, cannot take a moment’s rest, but is called upon to go with all speed and warn Archenland’s King Lune of the impending attack. “[Shasta] writhed with the cruelty and unfairness of the demand,” for he had not yet learned the lesson that the reward for a good deed is not the opportunity to rest on one’s laurels, but being offered the opportunity to do a harder one. 

Lewis’ description of the usual reward for a good deed echoes a statement in Ethics of Our Fathers (4:2):

Ben (the son of) Azai says: you should run to fulfill an easy command as a hard one, and flee from a transgression. For one command pulls with it another command, and a transgression pulls with it another transgression. For the reward of [fulfilling] a command is [fulfilling] another command, and the reward of [violating] a transgression is [violating] another transgression.   

The classical commentaries suggest a number of possible readings for this statement. R’ Ovadia of Bartenura (15th century Italy) reads as follows. When fulfilling a command of God (a mitzvah or good deed) one accustoms himself to follow the word of God. Thus, in the future it will be easier to continue following in His path. As a reward, God will provide further opportunities to fulfill others of His commands. An example of this is described by our Sages as an explanation of the juxtaposition of certain commands listed in Deuteronomy (22:6-12). The midrash states: if one performs the command of chasing away a mother bird before taking the eggs, one will be rewarded by being able to build a new house. When building that house the person now has the opportunity to fulfill another command, putting a fence around the roof of the house (assuming a flat roof, or a balcony). If one fulfills that command one will be rewarded by being able to plant a vineyard and will now have the opportunity to fulfill the commands related to that endeavor (such as not mixing the vines with seeds of another species of plant), and so forth. 

This chain of good deeds arising from the fulfillment of one, partially parallels Shasta’s experience. He has performed the good deed of escaping, and helping others to escape, Calormen in hopes of a more fulfilling life in Narnia. Now, he can perform another good deed by warning the King of Archenland of an impending attack. While somewhat satisfactory, the suggestion that one good deed leads to another, seems too weak as an interpretation of Lewis’ assertion. According to Lewis Shasta's reward is not merely the opportunity to perform additional good deeds, but to perform “harder and better” ones. Why is this true? I will address this point in the next post.

In the meantime, I pray that starting this blog may be considered a good deed and will lead to the performance of additional good deeds.