DEUT442 In Western legal systems, justice is an instrumental good, a commodity important for social peace and welfare. That motivation to achieve justice appears in Jewish texts as well, but Jewish sources add another important motive. God demands justice and makes the existence of the world depend on it because God Himself is just. In fact, He is the ultimate judge who “shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing him with food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-8) As Moses proclaims in his parting poem (Deuteronomy 32:3-4). It is precisely because God is just that Abraham can call Him to account for His plan to destroy Sodom, regardless of the innocent people in it ... (Genesis 18:25). God's justice is also at the heart of Job's complaint (See, for example, Job 9:22) and God thunders and reply, “Would you impugn My justice? / Would you condemn Me that you may be right?” (Job 40:8)

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DEUT441 [Among the fundamentals of repentance]: (17) The pursuit of acts of lovingkindness and truth, as it is written (Mishlei 16:6): by lovingkindness and truth, transgression is expiated." But if the sinner does not return to the Blessed One, his sin will not be atoned by an act of lovingkindness, as it is written [this verse]: "Who does not show favor and does not take graft," which our Sages have interpreted (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 947): "He does not take mitzvos as a bribe for overlooking transgressions."

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DEUT443 Instead of using whatever prominence and influence we have only to advance ourselves, should use it to help others. [This verse] describes the Lord as "the God of Gods and the Lord of lords," while the next verse tells us that "God executes justice for the fatherless and the widow." The first verse speaks of God's preeminence, while the second suggests that one of God's greatest concerns is to help the vulnerable. Similarly, successful people should imitate God by helping "the fatherless and the widow," and all others who are vulnerable. A friend who has achieved considerable fame confided that its greatest benefit is that it makes it easier to do good for others. For example, he knows that if he, as a well-known person, calls someone who is sick, his fame will help the vulnerable person feel better about him-or herself ("The fact that an important person calls me means that I am important"), more so than if the call came from a less prominent person. (This is not fair, but, fair or unfair, this is how the world works.) We should also use whatever prominence and connections we have to make calls or write letters of recommendation to help people find employment or a better job. What a different take on fame in a society in which prominent people who are not afforded the respect they take for granted are known to shout, "Do you know who I am?"

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DEUT444 See [[DEUT1670]] Deuteronomy 32:4 perfect DUTIES 139-41

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DEUT445 See [[DEUT445]] Deuteronomy 10:18 fatherless BOROJMV 146-7

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DEUT447 See [[EXOD172]] Exodus 12:49 one AMJV 352

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DEUT446 Our God, though unique and supreme, is humble enough to be involved with ordinary people. As R. Yohanan said: "Wherever Scripture mentions the transcendence of the Holy One, blessed be He, it also immediately makes reference to God's humility.… The Torah says, 'For the Lord your God, Adonai is the God of Gods and the Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17), and then immediately indicates, 'Adonai executes justice for the fatherless and the widow' [this verse]. We also find this in the Prophets: 'For thus says the High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity…' [Isa. 57:15], only to say immediately afterward, 'I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit--refreshing the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite' [Isa. 57:15]. It is stated a third time in the Writings: 'Extol him that rides up on the skies, whose name is Adonai' [Ps. 68:5], and immediately afterwards it is written, 'A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows' [Ps. 68:6]" (Meg. 31a). Jewish humility arises from the living relationship between an empathetic humanity and its involved God. "'The fear of God which is wisdom's crown is the heel of humanity's sandal' (Yer. Shab. 1:3), for all the wisdom of the world cannot compare with humility" (Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim).

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DEUT448 Deuteronomy 10:18-19 provides yet another indication that love in the Torah is defined primarily through actions. Verse nineteen commands the Israelites "to love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt," while verse eighteen teaches that God "loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing." The Torah's instruction to the Israelites to follow in God's ways (Deuteronomy 28:9), means that their love for the strangers should be expressed, as is God's, by providing them with food and clothing and taking care of their other needs. Also, the rationale for loving the stranger, "for you were strangers in the land of Egypt," makes no sense if it refers to emotions. Why should the fact that the Israelites were "strangers" in Egypt, in and of itself, cause them to feel love for other strangers? But it makes perfect sense if what is being commanded is loving behavior, so that Jews are instructed to treat the stranger "in the way Jews would have liked to have been treated when they were strangers in Egypt" (Professor Stephen Harvey) "Love," in Cohen and Mendes-Flohr, eds., Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought, 559). Professor Harvey points out that a while it is impossible to expect masses of people to feel the same "sincere and unbounded desire and concern for the well-being of others [as they have for themselves], what can be commanded is the performance of acts of love, treating others as one would if one truly cared about their well-being." (Ibid.)

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DEUT449 [Continued [[EXOD950]] from Exodus 25:40 pattern LEHRMAN 226-7] At a time when the contemporaries of Israel tolerated slavery, barbarism and blood-vengeance, the Jew was distinguished for his sympathy and benevolence. It was his Lawgiver who described God as righteous, merciful and holy, "who executeth the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and who loveth the stranger by giving him food and raiment" [this verse]. The Rabbinic teachers developed this conception of the Deity and spiritualized the Jewish message, making piety and charity the concentrated aims of life, stressing the importance of motive in human conduct.

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DEUT450 In Judaism, the ideas about God are synonymous with right conduct, both being intertwined and expressing the ideal of holy living and holy doing. Ethics and Religion are one and the same. Man, in whose being divinity is reflected, must be true to the Law of God wherein he will be taught how to model his ways after the divine pattern. He will find in it and its precepts that the God whom Israel must revere is the apotheosis of all ethical qualities [this and preceding verse]. The Torah, true to its function, is an infallible guide to perfection, begins with an act of kindness -- God clothing Adam and eve--and concludes with another gracious act--the burial of Moses (Sot. 14a. In this connection, it must be pointed out that just to care for the dead, whilst being impervious to the needs of the living poor, is not to be Godlike. God not only buried Moses; He clothed Adam and Eve, too.)

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