Proper behavior precedes the Torah

Proper behavior (or Proper ethical behavior) precedes the Torah (Hebrew: דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה),[1][2] or what is sometimes worded, "Decorum came before the giving of the Law," is a Jewish saying based on a passage from the Chazal found in the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 9:3),[3] one of the important interpretations of which is that before one can learn and put into practice the mitzvot of the Torah, he or she must pave the path with Derech Eretz,[4] meaning decent behavior, good personality traits, and suchlike.

The text in Leviticus Rabbah (known in Hebrew as Vayikra Rabbah) comes to show that in human history, proper behavior preceded the Torah, as written: "For twenty-six generations, Derech Eretz (appropriate behavior) preceded the Torah.

"The Torah was not given during the earliest years of humanity because it was first necessary to have proper preparation in terms of values.

This may teach us that proper character traits, especially those related to relationships between people, takes precedence over the religious mandates of the Torah.

[8] Another interpretation is that the Torah devotes its entire first book to stories of the forefathers and foremothers, to be used as models for decent behavior, and after having absorbed those, one is ready to go on to the laws and precepts of Jewish life.