LEV698 The Tanakh's [Hebrew Bible] term for ethics, yir'at Elohim, "fear of God/gods," points to the blurred boundaries in ancient Israel between ethics and religion. A paramount element in the proper worship of Israel's God is action in the social realm to relieve the oppression of the poor and powerless and to prevent corruption of the judicial process. Further, many of God's commands are intended to deter the Israelite from acting toward his fellow with vengeance and malice. Indeed, the centrality of ethics is indicated by the placement of the command to "love one's neighbor as oneself" at the midpoint of the Torah [this verse]. (By Elaine Adler Goodfriend, “Ethical Theory and Practice in the Hebrew Bible)