Major themes in biblical ethics: (All From Wikipedia) The writings attributed to
the Biblical prophets exhort
all people to lead a righteous life. Kindness to the needy, benevolence, faith,
compassion for the suffering, a peace-loving disposition, and a truly humble
and contrite spirit, are the virtues which the Prophets hold up for
emulation. Civic loyalty, even to a foreign ruler, is urged as a duty
(Jer. 29:7). "Learn to do good" is the keynote of the prophetic
appeal (Isa. 1:17); thus the end-time will be one of peace and righteousness;
war will be no more (Isa. 2:2 et seq.).
Loving-kindness and compassion:
"The world rests upon three things: The teachings (Torah), service to God, and
showing loving-kindness (Pirkei Avot 1:2). Loving kindness is
here the core ethical virtue. and closely linked with compassion
in the tradition. Lack of compassion marks a people as cruel (Jer. vi. 23). The
repeated injunctions of the Law and the Prophets that
the widow, the orphan and the stranger should be protected show how deeply. Friendship is also highly
prized in the Talmud; the very word for "associate" is
"friend" ("chaver"). "Get thyself a companion" (Abot i.
6). "Companionship or death" (Ta'an. 23a).
Self-respect: In addition to teaching caring for others,
Jewish sources tend to teach that man is duty bound to love himself and preserve his life
(Berachot 32b) and his health. Foods dangerous to health are more to be guarded
against than those ritually forbidden. Jewish ethics denies self-abasement.
"He who subjects himself to needless self-castigations and fasting, or
even denies himself the enjoyment of wine, is a sinner" (Taanit 11a, 22b).
A person has to give account for every lawful enjoyment he refuses (Talmud Yer.
Ḳid. iv. 66d). A person should show self-respect in regard to both his body,
"honoring it as the image of God" (Hillel: Midrash Leviticus Rabbah
34), and his garments (Talmud Shabbat 113b; Ned. 81a). According to Judaism,
real life goes beyond the concept of breathing and having blood flow through
our veins, it means existing with a purpose and connecting to God and others.
Areas of applied Jewish ethics:
Business ethics: In the Torah, there are more
commandments concerning the kashrut (fitness) of one's money than the kashrut
of food. These laws are developed and expanded upon in the Mishnah and
the Talmud.
The Talmud denounces as fraud every mode of taking advantage of a man's
ignorance, whether he be Jew or Gentile; every fraudulent dealing, every gain
obtained by betting or gambling or by raising the price of bread through
speculation, is theft (B. B. 90b; Sanh. 25b). The Talmud denounces advantages
derived from loans of money. Every breach of promise in
commerce is a sin provoking God's punishment; every act of carelessness which
exposes men or things to danger and damage is a culpable transgression. There
is a widely quoted tradition (Talmud Shabbat 31a) that in one's judgment in the
next world, the first question asked is: "were you honest in
business?"
Charitable giving: The Jewish idea of righteousness ("tzedakah")
gives the owner of property no right to withhold from the poor their share.
According to Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah,
the highest level of tzedakah is giving charity that will allow the poor to
break out of the poverty cycle and become independent and productive members of
society. Tzedakah may come in the form of giving an interest-free loan to
a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant
to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan,
grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying
upon others.
Evil-speaking: is a sin regarded with intense aversion both
in the Bible and in rabbinical literature. The technical term for it in the
latter is lashon hara, "the evil tongue." In
the Bible the equivalent words are: dibbah, meaning "talk" in a
sinister sense; rakhil, the "merchandise" of gossip with which the
talebearer goes about; and ragal, a verb, denoting the "peddling" of
slander. As these words indicate, that which is condemned as lashon hara denotes
all the deliberate or malicious accusations, or even the exposure of truthful
information which has the purpose of injuring one's neighbor.
Jewish family ethics: The Jewish tradition gives great
stress to reverence for parents. More Orthodox forms
of Judaism view the father as the head of the family, while seeing the mother
as entitled to honor and respect at the hands of sons and daughters. More
liberal Jews view the mother and father as equal in all things. The family plays a central role in Judaism, both socially and
in transmitting the traditions of the religion. To honor one's father and
mother is one of the Ten
Commandments. Jewish families try to have close, respectful family
relationships, with care for both the elderly and young. Religious observance
is an integral part of home life, including the weekly Sabbath and
keeping kosher dietary laws. The Talmud tells
parents to teach their children a trade and skills, and children are
asked to look after their parents.
Marriage and sexual relations: Marriage is called kiddushin, or
'making holy'. To set up a family home is to take part in an institution imbued
with holiness. Monogamy is the ideal (Gen. ii. 24). Celibacy is regarded
as contrary to the injunction to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 2:18 and
Isaiah 45:18). According to the Talmud and midrash,
man is enjoined to take a wife and obtain posterity (Yeb. 63b; Mek., Yitro, 8).
"He who lives without a wife lives without joy and blessing, without
protection and peace"; he is "not a complete man" (Yeb. 62a,
63a), and for it he has to give reckoning at the great Judgment Day (Shab.
31a).
Treatment of animals: According to Jewish tradition, animals have
a right to be treated well, even ones that might belong to one's enemy (Ex.
23:4). The Biblical commands regarding the treatment of the brute (Ex. xx. 10;
Lev. xxii. 28; Deut. xxv. 4; Prov. xii. 10) are amplified in rabbinical ethics,
and a special term is coined for the prohibition on causing suffering to
animals ("tza'ar ba'alei hayyim"). Compassion
for the brute is declared to have been the merit of Moses which made him
the shepherd of his people.
Environmental ethics: The Book of
Genesis 1:26 indicates that God gave people control over the
animals and earth, while Genesis 2:15 emphasizes that people were put in the
world to maintain it and care for it. The Talmud teaches the principle of Bal tashkhit,
which some take to mean that wasting or destroying anything on earth is wrong.
Many take the view that pollution is an insult to the created world, and it is
considered immoral to put commercial concerns before care for God's creation.
However, humans are regarded as having a special place in the created order,
and their well-being is paramount. Humans are not seen as just another part of the
ecosystem, so moral decisions about environmental issues have to take account
of the well-being of humans. Trees and other things of value also come within the scope
of rabbinical ethics, as their destruction is prohibited, according to Deut.
xx. 19 (Talmud, tracate Shabbat 105b, 129a, 140b, et al.). In modern times, a Jewish enivronmentalism movement has
emerged.