them staring and helpless," said
Leonard Peikoff, Ms. Rand's in-
tellectual heir.
Objectivist metaphysics ad-
heres to the philosopher Aris-
totle's belief: A is A. There is no
supernatural realm.
"Facts are facts, independent
of man's feelings, wishes, hopes
or fears," Ms. Rand wrote.
Second: Epistemology. This
is the study of how human be-
ings come to know what exists.
Ms. Rand said that man uses
reason, not intuition or faith, to
understand the world around
him.
"Reason (the faculty which
identifies and integrates the
material provided by man's
senses) is man's only means of
perceiving reality, his only
source of knowledge, his only
guide to action, and his basic
means of survival," she wrote.
She stressed that a person
who accepts those premises will
logically deduce a third: "Man,
every man, is an end in himself,
not the means to the ends of
others...
"He must exist for his own
sake, neither sacrificing himself
to others nor sacrificing others
to himself. The pursuit of his
own rational self-interest and
of his own happiness is the
highest moral purpose of his
life."
Ms. Rand's book The Virtue
of Selfishness expanded upon
this belief, which shocked many
Jews and followers of other re-
ligions. It's bad enough that she
repudiates God, they said. But
an ethic of selfishness? Isn't that
oxymoronic? Religions general-
ly uphold self-sacrifice as a mitz-
vah; selfishness is considered
myopic, at best.
"I think the Jewish attitude
is a balance of self-sacrifice and
self-interest," said Rabbi Mar-
tin Berman of Congregation
Beth Achim. "Hillel said, 'HI am
not for myself, who will be for
me? And if I am only for myself,
what am I?' "
There is a famous talmudic
argument concerning self-sac-
rifice, Rabbi Berman said. It de-
scribes the dilemma of two
dehydrated men with only one
bottle of water. If both drink,
they'll both die. There's simply
not enough water to share.
But, if only one of the men
drinks, he'll live; the other will
perish. •
"Rabbi Akiva argued that the
one who owned the bottle
should drink," said Rabbi
Berman, noting that the pas-
sage also contained arguments
to the contrary.
Whereas Ayn Rand posited
that charity and taxes should
be completely voluntary, Jew-
ish law requires that individu-
als give of themselves and their

Gary Rimar considers himself more of a Libertarian.

pocketbooks.
"That's where we differ," Rab-
bi Berman said. "It is a God-giv-
en requirement to give
tzedakah."
In his codes of law, the Jew-
ish philosopher Moses Mai-
monides allowed Jews to
publicly embarrass others for
not giving tzedakah. They could
even be coerced into giving —
something Objectivism strictly
denounces.
Lastly, politics. Ms. Rand ad-
vocated laissez-faire capitalism,
but not the system in America
today. This is not true capital-
ism, she said. The America she
envisioned was one in which
there is a complete separation
of state and economics "in the
same way and for the same rea-
sons as the separation of state
and church."
Ms. Rand's political enemy
was another Jew-by-birth, Karl
Marx, whose theory of Social-
ism is based on an ethic of al-
truism — the very antithesis of
self-interest, she said.
"Laissez-faire capitalism is a
system where men deal with
one another, not as victims and
executioners, nor as masters
and slaves, but as traders, by
free, voluntary exchange to mu-
tual benefit...Socialism is the
doctrine that man has no right
to exist for his own sake, that
his life and his work do not be-
long to him, but belong to soci-
ety."
In the realms of politics and
economics, Rabbi Berman also
distinguishes between Judaism
and Objectivism. The Talmud
makes a case for price regula-
tions (ie. price floors and ceil-
ings).
Does Objectivism? Never.
"If you look at Jewish law, it

is not really a totally laissez-
faire system," said Rabbi
Berman. "There was the idea
that items had a 'fair' value and
that people could not over-
charge. It was called onaah, or
overreaching."
Though Rabbi Berman notes
the differences between Objec-
tivism and Judaism, Marc Bak-
er of Birmingham says the
philosophies are reconcilable.
Mr. Baker is a Jew. He is also
an avid supporter of Ayn Rand.
In his eyes, the two ideological
systems are very much in sync.
Consider the Jewish and Ob-
jectivist views of determinism,
he says:
"The Bible's metaphysical
goal was to challenge the earli-
er philosophy of determinism.
Judaism says our fate is deter-
mined by our behavior. Ju-
daism parallels Objectivism in
the sense that the individual,
not a supernatural being, is in
control of his life and must take
responsibility for his actions."
Karen Wartell of Farming-
ton Hills agrees. Like Mr. Bak-
er, she became interested in
Objectivism after reading The
Fountainhead, a novel about an
architect who refuses to yield
his unique vision to a society op-
posed to innovation.
"I thought I was just reading
an excellent novel," she said.
However, as the novel's philo-
sophical underpinnings became
more apparent, Ms. Wartell
was surprised at how familiar
all of it sounded.
"It was the way I'd been
raised," she said, "only we didn't
talk about it."
To Ms. Wartell, the brand of
selfishness Ayn Rand espouses
does not advocate stepping on
the poor or refusing to give char-

have similar attitudes toward
the role of government.
Mainstream Libertarians be-
lieve that the government ex-
ists only to protect the rights of
individuals against initiators of
physical force. The only prop-
er functions of goverment, ac-
cording to Libertarians, are the
military, police and judicial sys-
tem.
These also were the roles Ayn
Rand prescribed for govern-
ment. Even so, the Ayn Rand
Institute in Marina del Rey,
Calif., stresses that Objectivism
should not be confused with
Libertarianism. Neither is Ob-
jectivism affiliated with a polit-
ical party.
Peter Schwartz, who sits on
ARI's board of directors, said
the Libertarian Party favors po-
litical freedom, but
that's not enough. To
sustain a free nation,
one must subscribe to
the proper metaphysi-
cal, epistemological
and ethical views, he
says.
"Objectivism main-
tains that politics is the
last in a long philo-
sophic chain of ideas,"
he said. "People don't
favor freedom in a vac-
uum. According to Ob-
jectivism, you could not
say you are in favor of
freedom while simul-
taneously saying you
are in favor of mysti-
cism and irrationalism,
because the second two
undercut the first."
arc Baker
thinks
back to his
days at
Hillel Day School to re-
Karen laden says Objectivism mirrors her values.
member when he em-
braced one of his first
ity. Rather, it encourages indi-
Objectivist views. It was during
viduals to preserve freedom —
recess[-He and a friend confid-
the freedom that enables them
ed in each other that they did
to achieve their goals. People
not believe in God.
should be allowed to reap re-
"We didn't view it as contra-
wards withoutexternatinter-
dictory with Judaism because'
ference. In fact, the less
we Were leartuog ethical prin-
encumbered individuals are, the
ciples," he said. Faith Wasn't es-
more likely they are to be char:-
ential to a jew, he paid.
itable, she says.
--: - To a degree; Ayn Rand might
Ms. Wartell objects to Israeli
have sympathized with Mr.
kibbutzim, which she thinks
Baker'§cilikpent. Juan inter-
demonstrate a socialist ethic.
view with Vlaybo y,.sliaaid:
"I'm against sharing the
,•• 'As philosophies, some reli-
fruits of my labor as they do in
gions have very valuable moral
kibbutzim, because there's al-
points. They may have a good —
ways someone who will take ad-
influence or proper principles
vantage. Sharing makes you
to inculcate, but in a very con- c\I
lazy," she said. "It often rewards
tradictory context, and on a very icf,
someone for being unproduc-
— how should I say it? — dan- co
tive."
gerous or malevolent base: on
Ms. Wartell's words ring of
the ground of faith."
the Libertarian Party's politi-
So, when it comes to Objec- c)
cal platform. Many students of
tivism, Judaism and that
Objectivism consider them-
proverbial question: What do
selves Libertarians (and vice
you object to?— maybe there is
versa) because the ideologies
a one-word answer: faith. El

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