And It Shall Come to Pass: Judaism as an Explicit Long-Term Strategy to Leave-Descendants

Evolutionary explanations of religion propose that religious traditions were favored by natural selection. They had the effect of increasing the long-term descendant-leaving success of ancestors. This has been called the descendant-leaving strategy explanation of religion. “Descendant-leaving strategy” and “descendant-leaving success” are used to emphasize that evolutionary fitness is better measured over many generations than it is by the one or two generations indicated by the phrases “reproductive strategy” or “reproductive success.” The word “strategy” has been previously used only in the evolutionary sense of a behavior having the consequence of being favored by selection, without implying any explicit awareness of, or desire for, that consequence. This paper deviates from previous research and examines the extent to which long-term descendant-leaving success may have been an explicitly stated strategy, and not just an unintended consequence. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examine aspects of Jewish religious traditions retold in biblical, Mishnaic, Talmudic and other rabbinic literature. We hope to answer the question: To what extent is the descendant-leaving success proposed to be the function of religion an explicitly stated goal of Judaism. The Midrash in which Moshe is “thrown back” into Rabbi Akiva’s classroom can provide an example. Moshe, the Midrash tells us, wanted to ensure that his teachings would be followed in the future. His mind was ill-at-ease as he could not understand Akiva’s teachings. That until Akiva proclaimed that this was indeed Torah l’Moshe mi’Sinai. Once reassured that his efforts were not for naught, Moshe was put at ease