Thursday, November 9, 2023

To Humankind: "Can We Talk?"

"Fundamental to the moral law of Holiness are the two principles which lie at the basis of man's creative cooperation with God -- Justice and Righteousness, Justice being the negative aspect of Holiness; Righteousness, its positive aspect. Justice means the recognition of six fundamental rights. These are the right to live, the right of possession, the right to work, the right to clothing, the right to shelter, and finally the right of the person, which includes the right to leisure and the right to liberty, as well as prohibitions to hate, avenge, or bear a grudge."

"Righteousness is to manifest itself in the acceptance of duties, especially in the concern for the poor, the weak, and the helpless, whether friend or foe. It is also to show itself in the conception of earthly goods, the possession of which is to be regarded not as a natural right but as a divine trust. When a neighbor is in difficulty, a loan is to be made to him for which no interest is to be charged. If he is obliged to surrender his ancestral property, it is to revert to him. The difficulties of a man's neighbor are not to be used to increase his own income. Economic life in the Torah is thus to mean essential services to one's fellow man; and behind this ethic stands the law of love as formulated by the golden rule 'Thou shalt love thy fellow as thyself', which is expressly stated to include the non-Israelite stranger."


from Judaism by Rabbi Isidore Epstein.