“Morality,” says Avishai Margalit, “is what we direct at strangers; ethics is what we direct to our near and dear.”

In March 2006, Margalit became the first Jewish scholar to speak at the Kroc Institute’s annual John Howard Yoder Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion, and Peace. The lecture and ensuing conversation are named for the well-known Mennonite theologian and founding fellow of the Kroc Institute.

The Jewish model of relations keeps separate issues of ethics and morality, Margalit argued during the lecture. Christians, on the other hand, try the “very ambitious” approach of aiming to replace morality with ethics — that is, they believe the ideal is to treat everyone as they would treat relatives or friends, he said.

“John Howard Yoder tried to narrow the gap (between ethics and morality), which he thought was unnecessarily highlighted,” said Margalit, who is the Schulman Professor of Philosophy at Hebrew University.

Margalit’s talk was titled “The Kiss of Betrayal: From Family to ‘Friendship in Faith.’” It was a wide-ranging exploration of how different religions approach morality, and whether faith in God or belief in a cause should trump relationships with friends and family. He asked when friendship forged by faith — such as that shared by Jesus and his disciples — outweighs obligations to others.

Margalit’s references ranged from the poet Dante to the placards waved by angry British football fans upset when a player “sold out” to another team. The latter,
he said, dealt with the most widely accepted definition of betrayal, which is represented by Judas: handing one’s friend over to the enemy in return for money.

“The kiss calls for proximity,” he said. “It is a sign
of extreme trust.”

Among his other examples was that of British poet Iris Murdoch, whose husband decided, after her death, to reveal information to her biographers that she wouldn’t have wanted known. Margalit posed the
question: “Is betrayal acceptable providing the betrayed can never find out about it?”

Margalit’s lecture in the Hesburgh Center auditorium was followed by conversation with the speaker over lunch. Among those present were members of the university and local community, including Anne-Marie Yoder, John Howard’s widow, and other Yoder family and friends. Margalit shared his perspectives on
topics ranging from the Israel/Palestine conflict — “Transformation of political conflict into religious conflict is a disaster” — to pacifism: “Hitler eradicated all of my family. There are very few survivors. I am for resistance … A world that tolerates a Hitler is a very bad world.”

Margalit’s books include The Ethics of Memory and A Decent Society. He has published widely in philosophical journals on such topics as philosophy of language, logical paradoxes and rationality, social and political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion. He was the 2001 winner of the Spinoza Lens Prize, awarded for “a significant contribution to the normative debate on society.”