DEUT584 (Continued from [[LEV438]] Leviticus 19:15 favor BLOCH 113) Fairness is a highly elastic quality. A higher degree of perfection and refinement is demanded of educated people than of the ignorant. A person in a position of leadership is expected to live up to higher ethical standards than what is normally demanded of the average man and woman. The test of civilized behavior is not whether a given act is permissible under the law but whether it is fair in the eyes of the public. The layman's concept of equity is an integral part of biblical ethical guidelines. Thus the injunction "to do that which is good and fair" [this verse] was interpreted by Rabbi Akiva (2nd cent.) to mean "that which is good in the eyes of heaven and fair in the eyes of men" (Sifre, this verse). Accordingly, the duty to act fairly is an obligation imposed on all people. This was also the basis of the mandate empowering rabbinic courts to render decisions, whenever necessary, in the spirit of equity rather than law. (Continued at [[EXOD295]] Exodus 18:20 way BLOCH 114-5)