DEUT1627 See [[DEUT1614]] Deuteronomy 30:15 set AMEMEI 116

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1629 See [[GEN62]] Genesis 1:26 image AMEMEI 34

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1645 Every seventh year, the entire Jewish people were not permitted to work the land (Leviticus 25:1-6) This was a special miracle that God guaranteed in the Torah that they would not starve (Leviticus 25:19-22); this would be unworkable in a modern secular society. What did all the Jewish people do during that year, since they could not work the land and essentially had nothing else to do? It is believed that the Jews sat and learned Torah during the Shemitah year. Thus, while putting their trust in God to give them food, they also grew spiritually during this Sabbatical year. (This is the origin of the modern concept of sabbatical, in which some educational institutions realize the importance of educators "recharging your batteries" every seven years.) At the end of this year, during the following holiday of Sukkot, the king would gather the entire people and also teach them Torah [this and following verses]. The overall effect would be that the people who had been so involved in their "business" would begin to realize another, spiritual side of life when they were forced to take a break from the regular pattern of work. In addition, they also had to realize that not everything depended upon them, but upon God. Although this does not relate directly to the economic system, these ideas played a very important role in the overall attitude of the people to the economy.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1660 See [[DEUT513]] Deuteronomy 11:14 grain AMEMEI 167

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1695 There is another Jewish disadvantage to becoming wealthy. The wealthier a person gets, the more a person tends to forget about God and to think only about himself. The classic reaction to wealth and the "good life" is in the Torah [this verse], describing the person who "kicked," that is, complained, when he became "fat," that is, successful, as he no longer appreciated God. People who work hard and accumulate riches tend to think that it is through their own efforts alone that they have become wealthy and that therefore, all the wealth belongs to them. The prophet (Chagai 2:8) teaches us that all money belongs to God, and none of it belongs to man. The entire world is God's to begin with (Psalms 24:1) and the more one accumulates, the more one tends to forget this, as power can go to a person's head.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1704 Since each minute of life has infinite value, ending a life a few minutes earlier than it would have ended naturally Is considered to be taking away infinite life and is murder. Thus, the man who helped King Saul to die (2 Samuel:9-10) is later condemned to death as a murderer (2 Samuel 1:13-16) since he ended Saul's life early. When Rabbi Chananya ben Tradyon was being burned alive by the Romans, his students begged him to open his mouth in order to die more quickly, but he refused because ending life early, even in torture and even though being murdered by someone else, is still forbidden as taking a life (Avodah Zarah 18a). Therefore, even if someone is dying and by ending his or her life, a person will relieve pain, it is prohibited in Judaism (Maimonides, Hilchot Rotze'ach 2:7). In addition to the reason that each moment of life has infinite value, there is another concept behind the prohibition for a human being to end life early. Determining the exact moment of death is an act that is not meant to be a human activity (for oneself or others). The Talmud (Pesachim 54b) says that the moment of death is something that is left up to God. The Torah itself implies this [this verse] when God says that He alone gives life and death. Therefore, we see that man can't "play God" and can't ever determine who and when a person will die.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1711 See [[NUM108]] Numbers 12:3 humble AMEMEI 184-5

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1718 See [[LEV695]] Leviticus 19:18 love AMEMEI 212-3

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1726 According to Maimonides (Hilchot De'ot 5:13), one of the characteristics that make someone a talmid chacham, a Torah scholar, is that he deals honestly in business. Apparently, Maimonides understood that being ethical in business is a vital component in being a Torah scholar. The Midrash (Midrash Tanchuma, Veyechi 11) based on [this] Torah verse, that portrays the tribe of Zevulun going out, and the tribe of Issachar staying in a tent, describes the unique relationship between the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun. The people of the tribe of Zevulun were the business people, and they supported the people from Issachar who sat in the "tent" and learned Torah. The Midrash implies that Zevulun, the businessman, receives and even greater reward than Issachar, the Torah scholar, and is thus placed first in the verse. Rashi concurs (his commentary on this verse). In an amazing statement, it is recorded that the blessing pronounced by the High Priest upon leaving the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur was a prayer that the Jews should prosper in business during the coming year, that is, that the economy should flourish (Taanit 24b). Of all the possible prayers that the holiest person, upon leaving the holiest place on the holiest day, could have uttered, why did the Kohen Gadol select this particular prayer, which seems non-holy? One of the answers advanced is that the High Priest understood very well that with the repentance of the people on Yom Kippur and a desire to improve during the coming year, if their business needs were not satisfied, they would not be able to actualize their desire for change. An adequate economy had to be a reality in order to make their prayers come to fruition. Hence, the High Priest understood the relationship between business and spirituality. The rabbis were not merely mouthing words when they spoke of the highest ideals of business ethics. They practiced what they preached. Maimonides records (Hilchot Talmud Torah 1:9) that the greatest Torah scholars in the time of the Talmud (far greater than any of today or any who emerged since that time) worked in the marketplace, often with most menial jobs, even though they studied Torah every free moment.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

DEUT1737 See [[DEUT608]] Deuteronomy 13:5 walk AMEMEI 235

SHOW FULL EXCERPT