GEN605 … the basic moral principles upon which the Decalogue is based were in fact already well known and enjoyed some degree of approval long before Israel stood at Sinai. This is implied by the biblical narrative itself. Judaism, however, not only assumed the widespread dissemination of the basic principles of morality but also made the normative judgment that all men are bound by thee moral standards. Since the fatherhood of God implies the brotherhood of man, the prophet could ask: “Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brothers?” Malachi 2:10; See also, Job 31:15  And when moral behavior was not forthcoming from man, the consequence was punishment: “For the earth is filled with violence thoroughly them; and, behold, I will destroy them …” [this verse] Later, in speaking of the nations of Amon and Moab, the Torah faults them for immoral behavior, “because they met  you not with bread and water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 23:5  With this in mind, we must ask ourselves what is unique and distinctive about Jewish morality. Certainly, there are some obvious distinguishing characterizations that can be made. It would appear that Jewish morality is strongly deontological in character, emphasizing a sense of duty and obligation that embraces the concept of what is right. Furthermore it would have to be acknowledged that Jewish morality is essentially humanistic in nature, placing the highest value upon human life and personality in directions that encourage justice and righteousness, love and kindness in social relations, and humility and moderation in our personal development. But even if we add the theological component and say that we have in Jewish morality a sort of religious humanism, we are still in the realm of class-membershp and general classification. We have as yet not put our finder upon what is distinctly Jewish about the morality of Judaism. What seems clear to the present writer is that there is no Jewish morality either in the sense that Judaism can be expected to offer some uniquely different definition of right and wrong or in the sense that the essentials of Jewish morality obligate Jews only. … In a previous chapter we pointed out that in the biblical and rabbinical view, morality is the chief demand made upon man by God, whose own nature, insofar as it can be known, is moral. This conviction was supported by the historical memories of the Exodus, which seared into the national consciousness the concept of a God who hears the call of those in pain and liberates the oppressed. This imparted a very clear and overriding centrality to morality in every areas of life. While attempts had been made earlier in human history to endow morality with religious sanction, it was always wisdom, human or divine, which was seen as its source. Just as there are wise rules who compose good laws for their people, so might there be wise gods who recognize effective laws and urge them upon man for the benefits they bring. At Sinai, however, a new source and a new authority were revealed for morality. “Thou shalt not steal” may be good advice in order to achieve a stable and orderly society, but it must first be seen for what it is: an expression of the divine will. “In the Israelite conception, justice and morality belong to the realm of prophecy, not wisdom … The divine imperative from a God … whose will is essentially moral and good.”  Y. Kaufmann, “The Biblical Age,” in Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People, ed. L.W. Schwarz (New York: Random House, 1956), p. 24. Such a radical and unprecedented shift in the perception of the source of conventional morality resulted in and new and dramatic emphasis upon the importance and significance of morality in the destiny of the nation. This message was clearly and forcefully hammered home by the long line of Hebrew prophets. Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol 6., col. 934, and Leo Baeck, God and Man in Judaism (New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1958), pp. 26-27. A quality that most impresses the reader of the prophetic literature is the intensity of the passion and the almost “hysterical” tone with which these messengers of God denounce the immorality of their times.   SPERO 119-121