DEUT300 Although the Torah and the later Jewish tradition went about as far as any society could go in translating its moral and spiritual commitments into legal terms, rabbinic authorities recognized that justice can never be captured totally in law. As a medieval Jewish phrase puts it, one can be a “scoundrel within the limits of the law” or, interpreted somewhat differently, “a scoundrel with the sanction of the Torah” (naval b’reshut haTorah). Consequently, although the Bible as a whole depicts the substance of the law as both lifegiving and the source of goodness (See, for example, Deuteronomy 30:15 and Psalms 19:8-10 and 119:33-40). 20 -- in sharp contrast to the abominable acts of the other nations (See, for example, Leviticus 18;20) -- the Torah in addition requires the doing of “what is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 6:18). The Rabbis of the Talmud take that and other verses in the Torah as the basis for declaring that people are obliged to act “beyond the letter of the law” (lifnim m’shurat ha-din). (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Amalek,” “Yitro,” on Exodus 18:20, 198, parashah 2; B. Bava Metzi’a 83a.) Commenting on that biblical verse, Nachmanides (1194-c. 1270) said: “This refers to compromise [rather than judgment according to strict law] and conduct beyond the requirements of the Law. The intent of this is that initially [in Deuteronomy 6:17] God had said that you should observe the laws and statutes that He had commanded you. Now God says that, with respect to what He has not commanded, you should likewise take heed to do the right and the good in His eyes, for He loves the good and the right. This is a great matter, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all of a person's actions towards his neighbors and acquaintances, all of his commercial activity, and all social and political institutions. So, after God had mentioned many of them... He continues to say generally that one should do the right and the good in all matters through compromise and conduct beyond the requirements of the Law.” (Commentary on the Torah, on Deuteronomy 6:18). Indeed, the Rabbis state that the Second Temple was destroyed because people did not acknowledge or fulfill such moral duties. (Leviticus 19:2). Thus, while the Torah and rabbinic tradition helped make justice a reality by giving it concrete expression in law, Jewish law itself recognizes that justice sometimes demands more than the law does, that moral duties go beyond the letter of the law. Moreover, such moral duties sometimes require reshaping the law so itself so that in each new age it can continue to be the best approximation of justice. [Continued at [[LEV273]] Leviticus 19:2 holy DORFFDRAG 118]
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