The Bible, with its this-worldly emphasis, makes its ethical demands compatible with social life, avoiding any suggestion of Asceticism or withdrawal from day-to-day life. At the same time, the maximum measure of justice attainable within the existing reality is demanded with concise and uncompromising clarity, involving a marked emphasis on social ethics.
These are expressed not in abstract principles from which ethical behavior may be deduced but in legislation. The Pentateuch enjoins the defense of the widow and orphan (Ex. 22:21-23); forbids oppression of the (non-Jewish) stranger (ibid., v. 20); requires the humane treatment of slaves (Ex. 21:1-11, 26, 27; see Slavery); prohibits the bearing of false witness, Bribery, and judicial favoritism (Ex. 23:1,3; Deut. 16:18-20, 19:16-17); and demands care for the poor (Deut. 15:7-11). The thrust of such legislation is the avoidance of harming one's fellow man and the protection of society's weakest elements. Such concern is also highlighted (perhaps symbolically) in the prohibition against placing a stumbling block before a blind man and of cursing the deaf (Lev. 19:14). The Bible's ethical ideal finds expression in the verse, "You shall not take vengeance; nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18).
While the demand to love one's neighbor as oneself seems to be unique to the Bible in ancient times (see Love of Neighbor), regulations similar to those of the Bible are not unusual in other documents of the period. However, while many of the Bible's social ethics are not unique in content, the role of ethics in other Ancient Near Eastern cultures seems to be marginal, whereas it is central in the Bible. This centrality is articulated most dramatically in the writings of the later Prophets, e.g., "Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glories, glory in this: that he understands, and knows Me, that I am the Lord Who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, says the Lord" (Jer. 9:22-23). The ethical aspirations of other ancient cultures are not always part of the religious cult or social organization, whereas the Bible on numerous occasions makes it clear that the observance of ritual commandments is meaningless in a society not governed by ethical principles: "Yea, though you offer Me burnt-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; and let Me not hear the melody of your psalteries. But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:22-24).
The sages of the Talmud amplified the Bible's ethical concerns. Hillel, an early tanna, asked to summarize all of Judaism, declared, "What is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow man" (Shab. 31a). R. Akiva, a later tanna, pronounced the command to love one's neighbor as oneself to be the central principle of the Torah, to which his contemporary, Ben Azzai, responded that man's creation in the image of God (an expression of the absolute worth of every human being) is an even more fundamental principle (Sif. to Lev. 19:18). The sages also expanded biblical legislation out of concern for the disadvantaged. Thus, for example, they introduced the Ketubbah (marriage document) to protect the rights of divorcees and widows, instituted the Prosbul to help the poor receive loans, and decreed that a woman may not be divorced against her will. They referred to Charity by the Hebrew term tsedakah, which derives from the word "justice," thus emphasizing the obligatory nature of helping the poor. They ruled that every town must have at least two charity wardens, who must be well known and honest, and that these should collect money from the people every Sabbath eve and distribute it to the poor. The ultimate outgrowth of this was the various charitable associations that have continued to operate from the Middle Ages until the present (see Community).
Application of biblical law is discussed at length in the Talmud, where the principle known as Li-Fenim Mi-Shurat Ha-Din is derived from the biblical text. This means going beyond the letter of the law for the purpose of humane dealings, with various commentators differing on the extent to which such behavior is obligatory. The importance that the rabbis attributed to this notion may be seen in the assertion that Jerusalem was destroyed because its inhabitants were never willing to go beyond the letter of the law (BM 30b).
A similar point, although more radical because it is expressed in the concrete legal framework, is made by the amora Rav in his ruling in the case of porters who have, apparently by negligence, broken a cask of wine (BM 83a). Rav requires the cask's owner not only to return the impoverished workers' clothes, held by the owner against possible damages, but to pay their wages as well. Asked if this is indeed the law, Rav answers in the affirmative, citing the verse, "That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteousness" (Prov. 2:20).
The Jewish ethical ideal is one of substantive justice, as contrasted with the Western standard of retributive or distributive justice. While the latter is subsumed under substantive justice, it consists essentially of rules of procedure, i.e., how one ought to act. The former is an expression of how things ought to be and is based on an ultimate (in the case of Judaism, Messianic) ethical vision. Substantive justice seeks full enhancement of human and particularly social life, and as such is expressed in all institutions and relationships. The image of God is understood as human potential. Contemporary writers have observed that the Bible combines concrete legislation on a case-by-case basis with demands for absolute ethical behavior (such as Lev. 19:18; Deut. 16:20; Jer. 9:22-23). This combination provides a system for dealing with everyday problems as they arise, while pointing the individual and the society toward long-range ethical improvement.
See also Bittul Ha-Tamid; Business Ethics; Ethics; Labor and Labor Laws.
SOFER (or SCHREIBER) MOSES (1762-1839). Rabbi, halakhist, and defender of Orthodox Judaism; known as Ḥatam Sofer, after his main work. Born in Frankfurt, where he was a student of Phinehas Horowitz and Nathan Adler, Sofer became rabbi of Dresnitz (Moravia), Mattersdorf, and in 1806 Pressburg (Bratislava), where he remained to the end of his life. His second wife was the daughter of the great talmudist, Akiva Eger. His vast knowledge of talmudic and rabbinic literature brought him questions on all aspects of Jewish law from rabbis in many parts of the Jewish world. A powerful preacher and rabbinic leader, he displayed great energy in the struggle against Neology, maintaining that to substitute the vernacular for Hebrew in the prayer book would damage Jewish unity. A guiding principle of Sofer was that all innovation is prohibited. Opposed to any attempt, however slight, to change the status quo in religious practice, he was the outstanding leader of Orthodoxy during his lifetime.
His Responsa appeared in seven volumes entitled Ḥiddushé Teshuvot Mosheh Sofer, generally known by its intials as Ḥatam Sofer. A prolific writer, he was also the author of two volumes of sermons, Novellae on the Talmud, commentaries on the Bible and kabbalistic poems. Many editions of his ethical testament, devoted entirely to his struggle on behalf of Orthodoxy, have been published.
His eldest son, Abraham Samuel Benjamin Wolf Sofer (1815-1875), known as Ketav Sofer, after his collection of responsa, Bible commentaries, and talmudic glosses by that name, succeeded his father as head of the Pressburg yeshivah. Sofer's second son, Simeon, became rabbi of Cracow, where he established the Orthodox congregation, Maḥziké Hadas.
