ABSTRACT
The conflict between the ideal and the real is about how far a religion is based on a realistic understanding of the way things are and how far it insists on pursuing what it sees as ideal, as a perfect state of affairs. For example, there is a notion of physical love which represents what is for us our normal idea of the emotion, and then there is divine or perfect love, a relationship which is based on something stronger and more lasting than the desires of particular finite creatures. There is also the understanding that when human beings talk to each other they often do not tell the whole truth, and may have motives behind their shaping of the truth in order to reflect positively on themselves or negatively on others. Of course, we ought always to tell the whole truth, or so it might be thought, but the real position is that we tend to avoid the ideal. This conflict arises very much in political life when we consider the nature of peace, something that religions tend to advocate, yet in practical life is very difficult to pursue unreservedly. As we shall see, Judaism is quite clear on the necessity for violence to be employed in some instances, or so it might seem. On the other hand, it constantly sets out peace as an ideal, something that we should aim at and see as the culmination of our efforts. How does Judaism reconcile the pursuit of the ideal with the experience of practical life and the highly imperfect nature of the real world?
