LEV642 For the nontheist, an autonomous basis for morality must be affirmed for moral behavior to be justified. For the theist, the existence of God serves as the ultimate source of a justification for moral behavior. For example, a rabbinic text interprets the well-known verse from Leviticus (19:18): "You should love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord"-- to mean: "You should love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord, because I [God] have created him." Berakhot 59b.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV643 Just as the physical can serve as an entrée to the spiritual, so can the spiritual be an invitation to the physical. Human love can serve as a path to love us God, but to be complete, love of God must be a portal to love of one's fellow. In this view, communion with God is the foundation for ethical behavior. Figuratively, the verse, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord" (this verse) was taken to refer the to the love of God, i.e., one's "neighbor" is God. (See Rashi to Shabbat 31a; also see Exodus Rabbah 27:1). Literally, the verse was taken to refer to one's fellow human being. In other words, love of God is the premise upon which ethics rest. Through love of the Creator, one comes to a love of His creatures. As a rabbinic text states, commenting on this verse, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord, because I have created him." Avot d'Rabbi Natan, Solomon Schechter, "A" chap. 16 end, p. 32b.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV924 In his gifts for the poor the owner has no option as to the recipient; rather the poor may come and take them regardless of the owner's wishes. Even if he is the poorest person in Israel, these gifts must be extracted from him.… The poor of the heathens may not be excluded from these gifts; rather they may come together with the poor of Israel and take of them, for the sake of promoting ways of peace....

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1004 [Continued from [[EXOD748]] Exodus 23:1 false HTBAJ 205-6]. The second category [of gossip]; he who speaks gossip that is true. Even if he should remind another in private of some evil deed of his ancestors, he transgresses what is written in the Torah, "And you shall not wrong one another" (this verse); it is concerning wrongs done with words that the Scripture speaks. Baba Metzia 58b.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1011 The biblical admonition, "You shall not wrong one another" (this verse) has been interpreted to apply to all kinds of deception, including deceptive business practices. Hullin 94a. For example, Moses Hayyim Luzzatto interprets this verse to relate to one who advertises one's wares with extravagant praise that actually amounts to the deceit of potential customers. Luzzatto refers also to the talmudic prohibition against painting old goods to look like new goods. Luzzatto, following talmudic precedent, further distinguishes between appropriate and inappropriate advertising strategies. It is appropriate to praise good qualities that merchandise actually has, to make good merchandise more attractive for sale by the manner of its presentation to the potential customer, to proclaim the good value of a sale when such value is offered. However, any deviation from integrity or honesty is not deemed acceptable. Baba Metzia 60a-b One should not, for example, camouflage defects in one's goods; one should not indiscriminately "mark up" goods, thereby trying to convince shoppers that they are worth more than they are. In other words, honest persuasion is permitted; deception is forbidden. Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim --The Path of the Upright, Mordecai M. Kaplan, trans. (Philadelphia: JPS, 1936), chap. 11, pp. 144-156.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1047 It is a positive commandment to give alms to the poor of Israel, according to what is fitting for them, if the giver can forward it, as it is said, "You shall surely open your hand into him" (Deuteronomy 15:8), and again, "Then shall you uphold him; as a stranger and a settler shall he live with you… That your brother may live with you" (this and following verses). He who sees a poor man begging and turns his eyes away from him and fails to give him alms, transgresses a negative commandment, as it is said, "You shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your needy brother" (Deuteronomy 15:7). You are commanded to give the poor man according to what he lacks. ... "Sufficient for his need in that which he needs" (Deuteronomy 15:8).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1053 There are eight degrees of almsgiving, each one superior to the other. The highest degree, than which there is none higher, is one who upholds the hand of an Israelite reduced to poverty by handing him a gift or a loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or finding work for him, in order to strengthen his hand, so that he would have no need to beg from other people. Concerning such a one Scripture says (this verse), meaning uphold him so that he would not lapse into want.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1059 See [[EXOD694]] Exodus 22:24 interest HTBAJ 216

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEV1132 (Continued from [[DEUT613]] Deuteronomy 13:6 evil HTBAJ 203) And our Sages said, "Everyone for whom it is possible to protest against the sinful things of the people of his household, and he does not protest, is considered guilty of the wrongs of the men of his household. If it is possible for him to protest against the deeds of the people of the city and he does not do so he is held responsible for the wrongs of the people of the city. If it is possible for him to protest against the wrongs of the whole world and he does not do so, then he is considered guilty of the wrongs of all the world." Shabbat 54b. And it is said, "And they shall stumble over one another" (this verse). And our Rabbis, of blessed memory, explained it as meaning, "Each man for the sin of his brother," which teaches us that all Israel are responsible, for one another.…" Sanhedrin 27b. Sefer Orhot Zaddikim -- The Ways of the Righteous

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

NUM14 Maimonides identifies confession as a religious obligation. Summarizing the vast biblical and rabbinic literature regarding confession that preceded him, and adding some embellishments of his own, Maimonides writes: "With regard to all the precepts of the Torah, affirmative or negative, if a person transgressed any one of them, either willfully or in error, and repent and turn away from his sin, he is duty-bound to confess before God, blessed be He, as it is written (this and preceding verse); this means confess in words, and this confession is an affirmative commandment. How does one confess? The penitent says: "I beseech you, O Lord, I have sinned, I have acted perversely, I have transgressed before you, and I have done such and such, and I repent and am ashamed of my deeds, and I never shall do this again." This constitutes the essence of the confession. The fuller and more detailed the confession one makes, the more praiseworthy he is." Maimonides, Hilkhot Teshuvah 1:1. Confession of sin became both a public and a private activity. The prayerbook contains public confessionals, recited during communal prayer, such as those recited on the Day of Atonement, as well as private confessionals such as the deathbed confessional. Regarding private confession, Isaiah Horowitz records that his father made private confession of his sins three times daily: "And every night before he would retire he would list the deeds he performed that day. Then, he would sit alone and contemplate them. He would scrutinize the actions he performed not only that day but all the days of his life up until that point." Horowitz, Shnei Luhot ha-Brit. 3 Vols. Jerusalem: Edison, 1960, p. 171b.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT