153 Torah Book & Portion, Book of Deuteronomy, Va'etchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11), Source Book Keys, TELVOL1 DEUTERONOMY | 4:6 proof — DEUT55 This verse has at least two significant im... DEUT55 This verse has at least two significant implications: ● Jews are required to make the world aware of the teachings in the Torah; after all, if non-Jews remain unfamiliar with Jewish laws, those laws can hardly serve as proof of Judaism's wisdom. Thus, when appropriate, a Jew should make known to non-Jews some of Judaism's distinctive laws. For example, the laws of lashon hara mandate that it is forbidden to reveal an ugly truth about another person unless the person to whom you are speaking needs the information (see chapters 37–43); in secular society, most people assume that it is forbidden only to tell a lie about another, but never forbidden to tell the truth. Such teachings, by revealing Jewish law's unusual sensitivity to issues of fairness, help promote respect for the God and people who promulgated such laws.● Jewish law cannot permit the practice of laws that unfairly discriminate against non-Jews. [I emphasize the word "unfairly," though not the word "discriminate." Unfair behavior is always wrong, discrimination is almost, but not always, wrong. Thus, not counting a non-Jew in a minyan, a Jewish prayer quorum, is not unfair discrimination, since a minyan is expected to consist of people who are Jewish and who believe in Judaism. Not returning a lost object to a non-Jew who lives in a society in which non-Jews are expected to return lost items to Jews is both unfair and discriminatory.] It is inconceivable that non-Jews will regard Jews as a great or wise nation if they practice unfair laws. (Would Jews be impressed with the wisdom of another religion that promulgated many impressive laws but also discriminated against Jews?) Hence, any discriminatory laws that have crept into the Jewish tradition (for an example, see paragraph 8) must be regarded as false to the spirit of this Torah verse (Deuteronomy 4:6). Share Print Source KeyTELVOL1Verse4:6Keyword(s)proofSource Page(s)459-60 Switch article DEUTERONOMY | 4:6 proof — DEUT53 The superiority of Israel's God and His la... Previous Article DEUTERONOMY | 4:6 proof — DEUT54 This brings to mind Isaiah 49:6, which spe... Next Article