LEV1083 Emphasized in these pages is the fact that Jewish ethics are not content merely with prescribing love and nothing else. They go further than the literal meaning of "And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself". Not only must our own lives be maintained amid all trials as a sacred trust but also the rights, freedom and individuality of others, and especially of those dependent on us for their sustenance and happiness must be guarded. God alone can claim the sole proprietorship of those whom He has created. Accordingly, man is not a slave to any other. "For they are My servants" says the Torah [this verse]; from which the Rabbis concluded: "but not servants to servants". (Kidd. 22b).

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LEV1107 The practical approach of Judaism to life is made further manifest by its conception of God and the teaching of the equality of all mankind. By attributing Omnipresence to Him, we declare that He is linked with the Eternity. "There is no place or time that is without Him" is a fundamental tenet of Judaism. His omnipresence is another reminder that His purpose and intervention in the lives of many cannot be frustrated. It is also an assurance of a divine, overruling power, a power which rewards and punishes according to our actions. (We cite some Biblical references to Reward and Punishment, a teaching contingent on the doctrine of man's Freewill. Exodus xx. 5-6; xxxiv. 6-7; Leviticus xxvi. 3-9; 14-16; Deut. vii. 9; xi. 13-17; 28-28; xxviii. I; Is. iii. 10-11; xxvi. 21; Jer. xxxi. 29-30; Ezek. xviii. 1-32; Ps. xxxi. 24; lxii. 12; cxlv. 20; Prov. v. 22; x. 29; xi. 31; xiii. 21; xvi. 4; xxi. 7; xxii. 8; Ecc. vii.15; xii. 13-14. Cf. Kidd. 39a "There is no reward in this world." Abot i. 3; iv. 2.) This consciousness will endow life with purpose and content instead of reducing it to a series of blind chance happenings. Remove this Omnipresence and you destroy with it a guarantee of our faith that no machination, whether t be in thought, word or deed can circumvent the ultimate realization of His purpose.

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LEV1109 The Talmud is emphatic: Pious deeds are not rewarded in this world. The Reward and Punishment mentioned in Leviticus xxvi and Deut. xxviii are to be viewed merely as attractions or deterrents to obedience or infidelity. Here below, we have a task to do; the reward for its fulfillment will come later. (Kidd. 39a. See also Luzzatto's Introduction to his Messillat Yesharim). What greater punishment can man have for an act spelling a Hillul Ha'shem than to be told that he has polluted the soul which God has put within him pure and unsullied at his birth? (See Leviticus xxvi. 3-9; Deut. v. 9-10; xi. 13-17; Isa. iii. 10-11; xxvi. 21; Ezek. xviii; Ps. xxxi. 24; cxlv. 20; Prov. v. 22; x. 29; xiii. 21; Talmud: Abot 1, 3; Sotah 3b; Makkot 24a).

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NUM118 See [[GEN1048]] Genesis 18:27 dust LEHRMAN 255-6

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NUM217 See [[GEN302]] Genesis 2:18 alone LEHRMAN 197-8

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NUM286 See [[GEN1176]] Genesis 24:14 water LEHRMAN 323-4

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NUM382 [Biblical ethics conveniently fall into three categories. These are: the Ethics of Love, the Ethics of Justice and the Ethics of universal humanitarianism.] … No division ultimately exists between the ethics of Love and those of Justice -- the second of our three groups. They are both correlated, being based on the Brotherhood of Man, itself a corollary of the Fatherhood of God. The distinction between them is slight, though subtle. Whereas the ethics of Love deal expressly with acts of kindness, the ethics of Justice concern themselves with acts of human rights. The ethics of Love express the loftiness in man's nature; the ethics of Justice aim at protecting the rights of others. Justice is a prerequisite to love. When man's feelings go unchecked, his nobility and generosity have a clear road to self-expression. The purpose of justice is to curb wronGodoing. That is why many of the commands in the Torah are couched in the negative form. What man should do is the province of the first group of ethics. Within the domains of Justice it is to warn man what not to do that he may be innocent in the eyes of God and man [this verse]. Since God "judges the world with righteousness" and has "established the foundations of the earth on justice", [Ps. xcvi. 13), man, in his pursuit of holiness and perfection, must do likewise.

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NUM383 [Continued from [[EXOD330]] Exodus 19:6 holy LEHRMAN 32-33] The perfect Jew must be kind in thought and deed, must observe all his holy days, sanctify his life by daily prayer, etherialize his home by piety and ceremony. His home by piety and ceremony. He must honour his parents and respect the aged and the learned; he must be considerate to the needs of the poor and not withhold payment from the labourer when his task has been done. The ethically-minded Jew must have an unsullied record for clean living and moral thinking and be the possessor of an untarnished reputation for straightforwardness and integrity in business and in social relationship [this verse].

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NUM385 See [[EXOD1052]] Exodus 34:28 eat LEHRMAN 279-80

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DEUT33 The passage dealing with a dead man who is found outside a city (Deuteronomy xv. 1-6) must be instanced again here, though passing reference has already been made to it. The elders of the city, responsible for the administration of its affairs, were bidden to slaughter a heifer and to wash their hands in public and exclaim "Our hands have not shared this blood". The Rabbis ask: (Sotah ix.7) "How could the elders be suspected of murder?" The reply is "If they failed to provide the poor in their charge with the necessary food, with the result that the needy man had to have recourse to highway robbery for his means of existence, losing his life while so engaged, it was the responsibility and the blame of the elders that a life had been taken. Similarly, if they left him without the necessary protection and he fell a victim by the roadside from starvation, it was again the responsibility of the elders before God." In this graphic way Judaism impresses upon its adherence that each one according to his station is responsible for the social conditions which create crime and poverty. A strict sense of justice sets the highest value upon all things that make man increase his power of doing good and of removing the causes of evil. From whatever angle we examine our ethical teachings, we see that our faith recommends and encourages a robust morality. It looks upon life as a continual battle for right against injustice, for truth against falsehood [this verse], for survival against extinction.

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