Ethical Literature

Paradoxically, Judaism's concern with morality, so central in the primary sources, did not, in later eras, receive the same attention and development in Jewish thought as other aspects of Judaism.

While it is likely that there were talmudic discussions of the Mishnaic tractates Avot, Derekh Erets, and Kallah, which had ethical components, these have not been preserved. Many of the moral teachings, like the rest of aggadic literature, did not receive the systematic attention of the codifiers. Only those teachings with defined behavioral implications found their way into the halakhic process and received appropriate elaboration.

While some systematic philosophers of the Middle Ages, such as Maimonides and Saadiah Gaon, included treatments of morality in their works, the first book devoted wholly to Ethics was the 11th-century work by Baḥya Ibn Pakuda, Ḥovot ha-Levavot ("Duties of the Heart"); its title is meant to contrast with the "duties of the limbs." Baḥya criticizes the preoccupation of the scholars of his time with the external physical acts prescribed by Judaism and calls for greater attention to the internal---faith, love and fear of God, purity of motive, repentance, and humility.

Jonah ben Abraham Leon Gerondi's Sha'aré Teshuvah attempted to show how personal development and closeness to God are dependent upon attitudes and speech. In the 18th century, Moses ḥayyim Luzzatto's Mesillat Yesharim ("The Way of the Righteous"), which prescribed steps for reaching inner piety and holiness, became the most popular and widely studied work of its type.

None of these works deals with morality as such, or with the obligations between man and his fellow man directly; they rather see character traits, such as humility and purity, as rungs on the ladder of self-perfection and reverence for God. Such traits are, of course, central to morality. However, they are treated together with attitudes such as faith and trust in God, which may be characterized as specifically religious.

Another literary form in which moral instruction was given developed during the Middle Ages in Europe, known as ethical wills, letters in which parents, in rather brief form, conveyed their last teachings to their children, stressing the importance of moral behavior. These were particularly frequent in the Middle Ages and developed into a literary genre. It became a custom in some families for every generation to pass on an ethical testament.

In the 13th century, a group known as ḥasidé Ashkenaz produced an "ethical" literature including Sefer ha-Roke'aḥ by Eleazar of Worms and Sefer Ḥasidim by Judah He-ḥasid. The kabbalists also produced a number of "ethical" works, such as Reshit Ḥokhmah by Elijah de Vidas and Tomer Devorah by Moses Cordovero.

Most of the literature produced in the 18th century by Ḥasidim could be called "ethical." Among the better-known works are Tanya by Shneur Zalman OF LYADY and Sefer ha-Middot by Naḥman of Bratslav.

The MUSAR MOVEMENT, founded in the 19th century by Israel SALANTER and continued by his disciple Isaac blaser, stressed the ethical dimension of Judaism. The movement, an educational trend within the yeshivot of Lithuania, was a conscious reaction to what was believed to be an unfortunate distortion in the emphasis of the religious community of the time. Although the rank and file of observant Jews had developed great sensitivity to ritual precepts, moral precepts such as the prohibition of gossip, respect for the privacy and property of others, readiness to extend kindness, and the avoidance of ostentation and vulgarity, were seen to be neglected.

The Musar Movement sought, by means of certain educational innovations in the curriculum of the yeshivot, to develop in the individual a greater sensitivity to the pietistic and ethical aspects of Judaism. Its founders and later exponents drew upon a keen intuitive understanding of human psychology in formulating their educational approach to character development.

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