EXOD324 Among other things that the Torah requires of Jews so that they might become a holy people, it states that a lender may not intrude on a borrower's home to collect on a loan and people may not be tailbearers within the community. [Deuteronomy 24:10-13 and Leviticus 19:16]. Thus a holy people must protect a person's home, reputation, and communication by forbidding both intrusion and disclosure.

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EXOD390 In contemporary society, marriage and family are often balanced against the values of work. Judaism prizes work: "Six days show you labor and do all your work [this verse]. Jewish sources make it clear that work is important for the welfare of society as a whole, for its contribution to the psychological health and self-worth of the individual, and for the economic support it affords to oneself and to one's family.[See, for example, M. Ketubot 5:5; Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 2:2; Avot de Rabbi Natan 11; B. Nedarim 49b; and Tanhuma Vayetze, sec. 13]. For some people, though, the secular work ethic prevalent in contemporary society has made work the sole value, a virtual idol. Judaism would have us recognize the idolatry inherent in a life devoted exclusively to work and would have us balance our commitments to work with serious time and energy spent on other important values, most especially those of family. Overzealous commitment to work does have a deleterious effect on one's sexual and family relationships, and the Jewish tradition would have us remember that one's family should take precedence over one's job.

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EXOD405 See [[EXOD127]] Exodus 10:5 Mine DORFLOV 81

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EXOD410 … children must bury their parents and fulfill the mourning rights in their honor, and children are known in Jewish rituals by their first name and then son or daughter of their parents' names. [The rabbinic interpretation of the biblical commandments to honor and respect parents (found in this verse and Leviticus 19:3), appears in B. Kiddushin 31b; see generally 30b-32a]. The child clearly owes these things to his or her social parents, for the Talmud states that children must honor and respect their stepfather and stepmother. [B Ketubbot 103a and S.A. Yoreh De'ah 240:21ff]

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EXOD414 Abuse of elderly or infirm parents is, unfortunately, a growing phenomenon in our society, especially as people live longer and suffer from the mental and physical disabilities of old age. The Jewish tradition has no room for maltreatment of parents. Parents, of course, are human beings and are, therefore, protected under the provisions of Jewish law prohibiting assault and demanding monetary remedies for it. The Torah, though, makes parents special. It specifically prohibits striking one's father or mother, and it prescribes the death penalty for one who does so. [Exodus 21:15; compare B. Sanhedrin 84b. If the child did not cause a bruise while striking his or her parents, however, the child is liable for the damages of assault rather than for the death penalty; see M. Bava Kamma 8:3]. That leaves little room for doubt about the Torah's view of striking parents. If any more grounding is sought for prohibiting parental abuse, it would come from the Torah's positive commandments to honor and respect one's parents.

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EXOD416 Classical Jewish texts understand [the] commands to teach us not only about proper relationships to parents but also about the nature of, and our relationship to, God. In almost Freudian terms, God serves, in part, as an extension of our parents. According to the Rabbis, God is one of our parents: "There are three partners in the creation of every human being: the Holy One, blessed be He, the father, and the mother. The father provides the white matter [probably because semen is white], from which are formed the bones, sinews, nails, brain, and the white part of the eye. The mother provides the red matter [probably because of menstrual blood is red], from which are formed the skin, flesh, hair, and pupil of the eye. The Holy One, blessed be He, infuses into each person breath, soul, features, vision, hearing, speech, power of motion, understanding, and intelligence." B. Niddah 31a. Through showing honor and respect for parents, then, one learns, as Philo noted, how to relate to God. Honor and respect are fitting in each case because both God and parents have a role in bringing us into being, in nurturing us physically and psychologically, and in teaching us how to live. Both also have physical power over us- at least, in the case of parents, in our early years--and both influence us psychologically throughout our lives. We must learn these attitudes and the justifications for them intellectually, incorporating awareness of them into our perspective of ourselves and our relations to others; indeed, a portion of this lesson we must apply even to the inanimate world, recognizing our dependence on it and the aptness of our gratitude for it. Beyond our intellects, however, this knowledge must penetrate our being, shaping our personalities. Humility, care and concern for others, piety, and gratitude are the virtues one learns from honor and respect for parents. These lessons are so important that, according to the Rabbis, God puts honor and reverence for parents on a par with the honor and reference due God...

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EXOD428 Philo, a first-century Jewish thinker, suggested another lesson based on the placement of the fifth commandment within the structure of the ten. The Ten Commandments are commonly divided into two, the first five referring to the relationships between human beings and God, and the second group referring to strictly human relationships. That is because within the first group, the phrase "the Lord your God" is used five times, whereas the second group includes no mention of God. Furthermore, the first group features duties unique to the People Israel, but the second group seems to apply to all people; indeed, the laws of many other peoples of the ancient world specify parallel prohibitions, although it is only in the Torah that they are presented as divine commandments rather than the fruit of human wisdom. Finally, it is striking that the document opens with "the Lord your God" and closes with "your neighbor." This division into two groups of five, then, makes the command to honor parents the last of the Commandments governing our relationship with God, just before those relating to the human community exclusively. Noting this, Philo suggested that the command to honor parents is placed in that position so that it acts as a bridge between God and human beings, for it is our parents who teach us both how to behave in human society and we are to think and act toward God.

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EXOD448 The exact opposite of loving, marital companionship is adultery. Adultery is prohibited by the seventh of the Ten Commandments, and adultery and incest are together treated as one of the three prohibitions that, according to the Torah, a person is not to violate even on pain of losing one's life [Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17; B. Sanhedrin 74a] Indeed, the Torah prescribes the death penalty for both men and women involved in adultery [Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22]; And if for some reason that punishment is not carried out, the Talmud maintains that a woman who committed adultery is forbidden to both her husband and her paramour; that is, she may not continue in her marriage and she may not marry her lover [S.A. Even Ha'ezer 11:1].Thus the Jewish tradition clearly forbade adultery in the strictest of terms.

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EXOD507 Privacy is at the heart of mutual trust and friendship, tolerance and creativity. If you reveal things I tell you in confidence, I will think twice before trusting you as a business partner, a colleague, or a friend. Along the same lines, privacy is a prerequisite for a free and tolerant society, for each person has secrets that "concern weaknesses that we dare not reveal to a competitive world, dreams that others may ridicule, past deeds that bear no relevance to present conduct, or desires that a judgmental and hypocritical public may condemn" [citations omitted]. These moral concerns justify the protection of privacy in any society, but a religious tradition like Judaism adds yet other rationales for safeguarding an individual's privacy. First, since human beings, according to the Torah, are created in God's image, honoring them is a way to honor God and, conversely, degrading them is tantamount to dishonoring God. [Mekhilta Yitro on this verse; Sifra Kedoshim on Leviticus 19:18 (also in J. Nedarim 9:4 and Genesis Rabbah 24:7); and Deuteronomy Rabbah 4:4.]. One way we respect others is to safeguard their confidences. On the other hand, revealing people's secrets shows disrespect for them--and often downright shames them. But the Jewish tradition teaches us that when we reveal a person's secrets we not only defame that person but also we dishonor the image of God within that person and thus God Himself.

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EXOD533 Most other traditions in both the Occident and the Orient--and in American law as well, until recently--assume that men have sexual drives and women do not, but women acquiesce to the sexual advances of their husbands because they want economic security and children. Judaism, by contrast, from its earliest sources, assumes that women have sexual needs just as much as men do. [This verse] stipulates that even a man who marries a slave "must not withhold from her her food, clothing, or conjugal rights," and the Rabbis reasoned that this holds even more obviously for a man marrying a free woman. Thus, while a husband may never force himself upon his wife, the Mishnah stipulates the number of times each week he must offer to have sexual relations with her, which depends on how often his job enables him to be home. Conversely, he has rights to sex within marriage, too, and if his wife consistently refuses to have sex with him, he may gradually reduce the amount of money he has to pay her in the divorce settlement until he does not have to pay her anything. M. Ketubbot 5:6-7

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