EXOD286 We should be eager to serve food to Torah scholars. … Where was Moshe? The Midrash replies that Moshe stood before them and served them. When Rabbi Gamliel made a feast for Torah scholars, all the scholars in Israel came and Rabbi Gamliel personally served them. When the Sages protested that they could not allow Rabbi Gamliel to do so, Rabbi Yehoshua rabbi told them ,"Let him serve, for we find someone greater than him who also served his guess. If Avraham deemed it fit to serve the angels who he thought were idol worshipers, all the more so should Rabbi Gamliel be allowed to serve scholars who study Torah." Rabbi Tzodok then told them, "we find someone even greater than both Rabbi Gamliel and Avraham who serves people. The Almighty constantly supplies food to the entire world; not only to the righteous, but even to idol worshipers. All the more reason that Rabbi Gamliel should serve Torah scholars." (Mechilta 18:12)

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EXOD287 R. Avin Halevi said: All who partake of a feast in which a Torah scholar is a principal, are basking, as it were, in the Divine Presence. As it is written: "And Aaron came and all the elders of Israel to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God." Now is it before God that they ate? Is it not before Moses that they ate? From here we infer, then, that if one partakes of the feast in which a Torah scholar is a principle, it is as if he would bask in the Divine Presence (Berachoth 64a).

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EXOD288 R. Yishmael taught: Now is it before God that they ate? [Is it not before Moses that they ate?] From here we derive that one who pays attendance upon his fellow man is paying attendance, as it were, upon the Shechinah itself (Yerushalmi Eruvin 5:1).

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EXOD289 Judaism views criminal justice as more than just a ledger of laws. Criminal justice is a process; it's fairness depends on how the laws are ministered, not just on what they state. Thus, judges play a critical role in the Jewish justice system. Moses judged cases even before the revelation of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Later, God directed Moses to appoint judges. (Deut 16:18) People, not God, determine the fate of other human beings. Indeed, perhaps the most crucial aspect of Judaism's approach to the criminal justice system is not the content of its laws, but its insistence that those who participate in the criminal justice system have the integrity and ethics to apply them honestly. To ensure the justice of judicial procedures, Judaism sets forth intricate procedural rules for criminal cases. From the nature of the oath, to what qualifies as evidence, Judaism has constructed criminal procedures that are designed to lead to honest and just verdicts. Consider just a few examples. (Continued at [[EXOD304]] Exodus 18:21 trustworthy OXFORD 481). (By Laurie L. Levenson, "Judaism and Criminal Justice"

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EXOD290 And it is written: "And the people stood," which teaches us that the judges sit and the litigants stand (Shevuoth 30b).

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EXOD291 A Torah scholar must be especially careful in his behavior toward others. In this verse, Yisro tells Moshe what he must teach the men who will be appointed as judges. The Talmud (Bava Metzia 30b) explains that this verse refers to bestowing chesed, visiting the sick, burying the dead, keeping the laws, and going beyond the letter of the law. The Chofetz Chayim said that the reason why judges especially must be taught these obligations, even though they are obligations which everyone must fulfill, is in order that their exemplary behavior serve as a means to sanctify the name of Heaven. When people witness the benevolence and integrity of their judges, they will readily submit themselves to their authority and heed their teachings. Furthermore, the Sages have always stressed the responsibility of someone who studies Torah to behave in a manner that will generate in others a desire to have their children also study Torah (see Yoma 86b). Chofetz Chayim al Hatorah on this verse). Rabainu Yonah cites this verse in Shaarey Tshuvah (3:13) and writes that doing chesed is the fulfillment of the positive commandment. He writes: "A man is obligated to exert himself for the welfare of his people regardless of whether he is poor or wealthy. This obligation is among the most stringent and fundamental demands made on a person, as it is stated: "He (God) has told you, O man, what is good, and what does God require of you: but to act justly, to love chesed, and to walk calmly with your God' (Michah 6:8)."

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EXOD292 [Among the more weighty of the positive commandments are those that the Jewish populace are not heedful in their performance, such as …] the performance of acts of kindness, which is a positive commandment, as the pasuk says [this verse], "'Inform them of the path that they shall follow'--this is a reference to the performance of acts of kindness" (Bava Metzia 30b). The Sages (Sukkah 49b) said concerning this, "Performing acts of kindness is greater than giving charity: charity is only for the poor, while the performance of acts of kindness is both for the poor and the rich." For this reason our Sages said (Avos 1:2), "The world depends on three things--on Torah, on the Divine service, and on acts of kindness." Charity is performed with one's money, while acts of kindness are performed both with one's body and with one's money. This is because one must extend himself in the pursuit of what is good for his people and expand his energies for the improvement of others, whether they are poor or wealthy. This is among the more serious and fundamental requirements placed upon a person, as the pasuk says (Micah 6:8), "[Hashem] has informed you, man, what is good[for you], and what Hashem requires of you: [it is] just to carry out justice, and acts of loving kindness."

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EXOD293 It is also a mitzvah for one to go beyond the letter of the law, as the pasuk says [this verse], "[Inform them of …] the deeds that they shall do." Our Sages, z"l, said (Bava Metzia 30b), "This is a reference to [one's requirement to] go beyond the letter of the law." There are many ways in which this mitzvah may turn out to be of the more weighty mitzvos--all within the context of [the application of] the law--as our Sages, z"l, said (ibid.), "Yerushalayim was destroyed only as a result of their basing their words on the letter of the law, instead of going beyond it."

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EXOD294 Eleazar Ha-Moda'I says: … "'that they shall do'" -- this means lifnim mishurat ha-din." (Mekhilta) The Midrashic text here lists acting beyond a letter of the law as something on a par with other acts of kindness and sociability, clearly as a value that is to be aspired to. As such it is not defined or illustrated in any more detail. In the Babylonian Talmud the phrase is called upon prominently in the context of the laws of property to describe the demonstrations of uncalled-for generosity by rabbinic sages toward others [B. Bava Metzia 30b, in the story of Rabbi Yishma'el. ben R. Yossi helping the wood carrier; B. Bava Kamma 99b-100a, in the story of Rabbi Hiyya who misjudged a monetary case; and B. Ketubbot 97a, where Rav Papa returns from a field.] or to recommend acts that would entail forgoing monetary advantage [B. Bava Metzia 24b, with regard to returning property that one could leally keep.] It is also cited twice to describe God's merciful quality as a judge of His people. [B. Berakhot 7a and B. Avodah Zarah 4b]. The statement that is often used to demonstrate the weight of the phrase is the one attributed to Rabbi Yohanan that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. "Because they [the Jews] established their lives in accordance with the local law but did not act lifnim meshurat ha-din" (B. Bava Metzia 30b). However, this statement is clearly hyperbolic and is in line with a number of moral failures, such as sin'at hinam ("hatred without cause," B. Yoma 9b) to explain why God punished the people of Israel in that cataclysmic event. From this handful of sources it remains difficult to conclude that the rabbinic sages in charge of compiling the talmudic tradition operated with a principled idea as to the legal or ethical "status" of the concept of lifnim meshurat ha-din. [See Louis Newman, Past Imperatives: Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), p. 33]. None of the sources explicate that acting lifnim meshurat ha-din makes one a better person, a more moral person, or a superior judge. But the fact that the talmudic corpus sites this concept a few times and the suggestive nature of the phrase itself do suggest that time and again the talmudic tradition reminds its students and sage/scholars that being correct and acting correctly in accordance with the halakhic tradition is not necessarily sufficient, that a concern for the disadvantage to other people is something to be considered. Perhaps the sum total of these texts can be described as seeds of a corrective for absolutist legalism. Halakhah is what it mediates human relations in rabbinic tradition, but concern for how it is implemented is part of that same tradition. (By Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, “Ethical Theories in Rabbinic Literature”)

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EXOD296 [In this verse] the "way" is taken by Chazal to indicate gemiluth chesed. The Ten Commandments announce (Exodus 20:6) that God shows chesed to thousands of generations, and it is necessary for us to follow the example of His virtues. The Sidrah of Mishpatim (Ibid. 22:24) mentions the duty of "lending money to My people" and regulations governing the restoration of a pledge (v. 11) which also stem from the virtue of benevolence, as explained in Deuteronomy (24:13). Many topics are discussed in the Sidrah of Behar (Lev. Chap. 25), all of them aspects of chesed, such as: redeeming relatives from slavery and "your brother shall live with you." I thereupon concluded that there is no end, indeed, to the chesed mentioned in the Torah. So many positive and negative commandments emanate from His virtue of chesed, may He be blessed.

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