Derech Eretz Kadma l'Torah
Shut up, kofer. Nothing comes before the Torah.
I hesitated greatly in writing this article, because others might read it and learn to stop saying stupidities, which will take away from the immense joy I get every time someone utters the phrase, “Derech Eretz Kadma l’Torah” in my presence. But the benefit of the Jewish populace being better informed is more important (kodem) than the pleasure I receive every time an am ha’aretz blabbers kefirah to my face. So here it goes!
No Jew has escaped school, or even a scolding by a fellow adult, without hearing the phrase “Derech Eretz Kadma l’Torah.” By now, most of us think we know what this means instinctively, after having it drilled into our skulls often enough, but most of us have likely never analyzed what it actually means. The obvious implied translation is thoroughly ridiculous: derech eretz, meaning “being nice,” comes before Torah. If you take a minute to analyze that for even a moment, it’s a completely asinine statement. But enough “rabbis” and otherwise frum NPC authority figures have repeated it to us like trained parrots that we are no longer even stunned by the implication.
This quote is also used in more nefarious circumstances, often by those associated with the Reform institution known as “Yeshiva” University. The femboys over there translate derech eretz as “the way of the land,” so the slogan becomes, “The way of the land comes before Torah.” YU NPCs will blurt this out in an attempt to convince you that Torah wants you to minimize your Yiddishkeit, especially in public spaces. I genuinely cannot think of a more laughable assertion, but I guess that’s YU “genius” for you.
Whether the NPC weaponizing this kefirah quote is attempting to get you to be “better behaved” or to quiet down your Yiddishkeit, rest assured that either way, you’re dealing with a blithering idiot who should be ignored.
Now let’s actually analyze the source of the quote “Derech Eretz Kadma l’Torah.” Many readers are already smugly chanting “Pirkei Avos” inside their little heads. No, stop being an NPC, that is not the source.
The only source for this phrase is Midrash, Vayikra Rabbah 9:3:
עשרים וששה דורות קדמה דרך ארץ את התורה
Esrim v’shishah dorot kadmah derech eretz es haTorah.
Derech eretz preceded the giving of the Torah by twenty-six generations.
The best part is that if any of the NPCs who parrot this line had a handle on basic Hebrew, they would immediately realize how stupid they sound when they use it the way they do. So, a basic Hebrew lesson:
קָדְמָה – kadma - preceded, came earlier in reality or development
קוֹדֵם – kodem - takes precedence, has priority in obligation or importance
The entire perversion of this phrase depends on a simple sleight of hand: quietly swapping kadmah for kodem and hoping no one notices. The first describes chronology, while the second describes priority. Switching the two is not an accident, but done to code our youth with complacent behavior.
Chazal very deliberately used kadmah, not kodem. So what does the quote mean? In context, it’s saying that derech eretz existed before the Torah was given, and that’s it. It is not saying derech eretz is more important than Torah, chas v’shalom. It is not saying derech eretz overrides Torah. And it is certainly not saying to water down your Yiddishkeit so goyim feel more comfortable around you.
And when people insist that derech eretz here means a “basic human baseline,” what they are actually smuggling in is a modern, Globohomo definition of acceptable behavior: be agreeable, be palatable, don’t offend, don’t stand out, and definitely don’t prioritize Torah when it causes friction. That perverted value system is not a neutral baseline, it is new-age agreeableness which Chazal were certainly not endorsing.
If these imbeciles actually knew what they were saying, they would have replaced kadmah with kodem to make their intended message coherent. But they didn’t, because most people repeating this quote in these contexts are morons. And if these imbeciles had basic knowledge, they would realize that Chazal had a perfectly good word for precedence and chose not to use it. When someone barks at you, “Derech Eretz preceded the Torah!” the only correct response is: “Yeah, thanks for the history lesson?” It’s a timeline, not an argument. And when people throw it at you like it’s a moral mic drop, they don’t even comprehend how moronic they sound.
I remember the first time I heard this phrase weaponized against me, it bothered me deeply. Something comes before Torah? Nothing comes before Torah, we all know that! The perverted meaning sounded off, like it was cooked up by some YU fag (which apparently it was). So I went digging, and everything above is what I found. The slogan only works if you don’t know the source, don’t know the Hebrew, and don’t notice the word that was quietly swapped.
Once you actually read the Midrash, the subversion attempt collapses. Kadmah is chronology, not hierarchy. And anyone using this line to police your behavior is not quoting Chazal, they’re ventriloquizing them. So, the next time some shmuck throws this slogan at you, laugh at them and tell them to stop being a kofer.