Jewish ethics is based on the fundamental concepts of Judaism, which holds that ethical duties of mankind are derived from the Hebrew Bible. The starting point is the belief in the unity and holiness of God, in whose image man was created.
The Hebrew term mussar, while literally derived from a word meaning "tradition," usually refers to Jewish ethics in general, or (and more commonly) refers to the Jewish ethics education movement that developed in the 19th century Orthodox Jewish European community. There is a separate article on the Mussar Movement.
The classical rabbinic Jewish works of ethics and moral instruction, still studied today, include:
Great stress is laid on reverence for parents. Central to society is the nuclear family. Its head is the father; yet the mother as his equal is with him entitled to honor and respect at the hands of sons and daughters.
Monogamy is the ideal (Gen. ii. 24). Marriage within certain degrees of consanguinity or in relations arising from previous conjugal unions is forbidden; chastity is regarded as of highest moment (Ex. xx. 14; Lev. xviii. 18-20); and abominations to which the Canaanites were addicted are especially loathed.
Virtue is believed to flow from the recognition of God, therefore idolatry is the progenitor of vice and oppression
The non-Israelite is within the covenant of ethical considerations (Ex. xxii. 20; Lev. xix. 33). "You shall love him as yourself," a law the phraseology of which proves that in the preceding "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18) "neighbor" does not connote an Israelite exclusively. There was to be one law for the native and the stranger (Lev. xix. 34; comp. Ex. xii. 49). Non-Israelites were not forced to follow the Israelite faith.
Honesty and truthfulness are absolutely prerequisite. Stealing, flattery, falsehood, perjury and false swearing, oppression, even if only in holding back overnight the hired man's earnings, are forbidden.
The reputation of a fellow man is sacred (Ex. xxiii. 1). Tale-bearing and unkind insinuations are proscribed, as is hatred of one's brother in one's heart (Lev. xix. 17). A revengeful, relentless disposition is unethical; reverence for old age is inculcated; justice shall be done; right weight and just measure are demanded; poverty and riches shall not be regarded by the judge (Lev. xix. 15, 18, 32, 36; Ex. xxiii. 3).
Even animals have a right to be treated well, (Ex. xxiii. 4), even one that might belong to one's enemy.
The Biblical prophets exhort all people to lead a righteous life. The ritual elements and sacerdotal institutions incidental to Israel's appointment are regarded as secondary by the preexilic prophets, while the intensely human side is emphasized (Isa. i. 11).
The prophets preached that the people of Israel were chosen by God, not on account of any merit, but as having been "alone singled out" by God; in this view, choseness means that its conduct is under more rigid scrutiny (Amos iii. 1-2). Israel is seen as the "wife" (Hosea), or the "bride" (Jer. ii. 2-3) of God; in this view, the laws of Judaism are a covenant of love (Hosea vi. 7). This leads to the corellary that idolatry is an adulterous abandoning of God. From this infidelity proceed all manner of vice, oppression, untruthfulness. Fidelity, on the other hand, leads to "doing justly and loving mercy" (Micah vi. 8).
Kindness to the needy, benevolence, justice, pity to the suffering, a peace-loving disposition, 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. xxix. 7). "Learn to do good" is the key-note of the prophetic appeal (Isa. i. 17); thus the end-time will be one of peace and righteousness; war will be no more (Isa. ii. 2 et seq.; see Messiah).
Hillel formulated the Golden Rule of Jewish ethics "What is painful to you, do not do unto others". (Talmud, tracate Shabbat 31a; Midrash Avot de Rabbi Natan.) His contemporary, Akiva states "Whatever you hate to have done unto you, do not do to your neighbor; wherefore do not hurt him; do not speak ill of him; do not reveal his secrets to others; let his honor and his property be as dear to thee as thine own" (Midrash Avot deRabbi Natan.)
Ben Azzai says: "The Torah, by beginning with the book of the generations of man, laid down the great rule for the application of the Law: Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18; Midrash Genesis Rabbah xxiv.)
Rabbi Simlai taught "Six hundred and thirteen commandments were given to Moses; then David came and reduced them to eleven in Psalm xv.; Isaiah (xxxiii. 15), to six; Micah (vi. 8), to three; Isaiah again (lvi. 1), to two; and Habakkuk (ii. 4), to one: 'The just lives by his faithfulness'"
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" (Taan. 11a, 22b). A person has to give account for every lawful enjoyment he refuses (Yer. Ḳid. iv. 66d).
Man is in duty bound to preserve his life (Ber. 32b) and his health. Foods dangerous to health are more to be guarded against than those ritually forbidden.
A person should show self-respect in regard to both his body, "honoring it as the image of God" (Hillel: Lev. R. xxxiv.), and his garments (Shab. 113b; Ned. 81a).
One must remove every cause for suspicion in order to appear blameless before men as well as before God (Yoma 38a).
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).
Social ethics is defined by R. Simeon ben Gamaliel's words: "The world rests on three things: justice, truth, and peace" (Abot i. 18). Justice ("din," corresponding to the Biblical "mishpat") being God's must be vindicated, whether the object be of great or small value (Sanh. 8a). "Let justice pierce the mountain" is the characteristic maxim attributed to Moses (Sanh. 6b). They that ridicule Talmudic Judaism for its hair-splitting minutiae overlook the important ethical principles underlying its judicial code.
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 breadstuffs through speculation, is theft (B. B. 90b; Sanh. 25b). The Talmud denounces advantages derived from loans of money or of victuals as usury; 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.
The Talmud extends far beyond Biblical statutes responsibility for every object given into custody of a person or found by him. A rabbi in the Talmud opines that putting one's fellow man to shame, in the same category as murder (B. M. 58b), and brands as calumny the spreading of evil reports, even when true. Also forbidden is listening to slanderous gossip, or the causing of suspicion, or the provoking of unfavorable remarks about a neighbor.
"The first question asked at the Last Judgment is whether one has dealt justly with his neighbor" (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a).
"A good deed brought about by an evil deed is an evil deed" (Suk. 30a).
The Jewish idea of righteousness ("tzedakah") includes benevolence and charity. The owner of property has no right to withhold from the poor their share.
The Rabbis decreed against Essene practise, and against advice given in the New Testament, that one give away much, most or all of their possessions. Since they did not expect a supernatural saviour to come and take of the poor, they held that one must not make themselves poor. Given that nearly all Jews of their day were poor or middle-class (even the rich of that time were only rich relative to the poor), they ruled that one should not give away than the fifth of his possessions to charity (Ket. 50a; 'Ar. 28a).
Peace is everywhere recommended, and urged as the highest boon of man (Midrash Numbers Rabbah xi.; Talmud Pesachim i. 1.) Hatred, quarreling and anger are condemned as unethical, and potentially leading to murder
From the thought of a holy God emanated four virtues:
(a) Chastity ("tzeniut" = "bashfulness"), which shuts the eye against unseemly sights and the heart against impure thoughts. Hence R. Meïr's maxim (Ber. 17a): "Keep your mouth from sin, your body from wrong, and I {God} will be with thee."
(b) Humility. The presence of God rests only upon the humble (Mek., Yitro, 9; Ned. 38), whereas the proud is like one who worships another god and drives God away (Soṭah 4b).
(c) Truthfulness. "Liars, mockers, hypocrites, and slanderers can not appear before God's face" (Sotah 42a).
(d) Reverence for God. "Fear of God leads to fear of sin" (Ber. 28b), and includes reverence for parents and teachers.
The idea of God's holiness became in rabbinical ethics one of the most powerful incentives to pure and noble conduct. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" (Deut. vi. 5) is explained (Sifre, Deut. 32; Yoma 86a) to mean "Act in such a manner that God will be beloved by all His creatures." Consequently a Jew is not only obliged to give his life as witness or martyr for the maintenance of the true faith, but so to conduct himself in every way as to prevent the name of God from being dishonored by non-Israelites.
The greatest sin of fraud, therefore, is that committed against a non-Israelite, because it leads to the reviling of God's name. The desire to sanctify the name of God leads one to treat adherents of other creeds with the utmost fairness and equity.
Respect for one's fellow creatures is of such importance that Biblical prohibitions may be transgressed on its account (Ber. 19b). Especially do unclaimed dead require respectful burial (see Burial in Jew. Encyc. iii. 432b: "met miẓwah"). Gentiles are to have a share in all the benevolent work of a township which appeals to human sympathy and on which the maintenance of peace among men depends, such as supporting the poor, burying the dead, comforting the mourners, and even visiting the sick (Tosef., Giṭ. v. 4-5; Giṭ. 64a).
Friendship is 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).
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 Cruelty to Animals ("tza'ar ba'ale hayyim"). Not to sit down to the table before the domestic animals have been fed is a lesson derived from Deut. xi. 15. Compassion for the brute is declared to have been the merit of Moses which made him the shepherd of his people (Ex. R. ii.), while Judah ha-Nasi saw in his own ailment the punishment for having once failed to show compassion for a frightened calf.
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.)
Bioethics is a field of study which concerns the relationship between biology, science, medicine and ethics, philosophy and theology. Jewish bioethicists are usually rabbis who have been trained in medical science and philosophy, but may also be Jewish laypeople experts in medicine and ethics who have received traning in Jewish texts. The goal of Jewish bioethics is to use Jewish law and tradition and Jewish ethical literature to determine which medical treatments or technological innovations are moral, when treatments may or may not be used, etc.
Mussar movement
Classical ethical literature
Jewish family ethics
Altruistic virtues
Prophetic ethics
Ethics in rabbinic literature
Justice
Truth and Peace
Charity
Peace and hatred
Sanctification of God's name
Animals and the environment
Bioethics
References
Bioethics
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