The general gravity with which business ethics are treated in Jewish thought is illustrated by the widely quoted Talmudic tradition (
Shabbat 31a ) that in one's
judgement in the next world the
first question asked is: "were you honest in business?" Similarly, the punishment to be received for dishonest business practice is held to be more severe than for other categories of sin. In the
Book of Sirach, verses 26:29-27:3 offer a "remarkably sceptical" view of business: In addition to these, and numerous other Talmudic passages, the
Mussar and
Chassidic literature also discuss business ethics at great length. Examples follow by genre. •
Aggadic and
Midrashic discussions relating to honesty in business include the following.
Yoma 86:B is an often cited example, where this obligation is examined in the context of
profanation of God's Name () and of
the Love of God (). To position the question, a
Talmudic dictum (
Bava Kamma 30a) states: "He who wishes to achieve saintliness should study the [mishnaic] order of
Nezikin."
Avot de-Rabbi Natan teaches that "character is tested through business." • The major
Mishnaic principle of
Torah im Derech Eretz - which underpins much
Hashkafah and
Jewish thought - requires that one earns one's living through productive labor, while also warning against
materialism; see section
#Earning a livelihood there.
Kiddushin 4:14 discusses a general approach to work, and the requirement that one's profession be "clean", i.e. without prospect for dishonesty. • Talmudic teachings define as fraud - every mode of taking advantage of a man's ignorance, whether Jew or Gentile; as theft - gains obtained by betting or gambling, or by raising the price of food through speculation; as usury - advantages derived from loans of money or of other items; as a sin provoking God's punishment - every breach of promise in commerce; as a culpable transgression - every act of carelessness which exposes men or things to danger or damage. • The
Mesillat Yesharim, considered a foundational Mussar text, devotes much discussion to honesty in business, and the role this plays as regards
character development in general; see for example . Rabbi
Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (19th century), founder of the
Musar movement in Eastern Europe, put a great deal of emphasis on business ethics, and taught that just as one checks carefully to make sure their food is kosher, so too should one check to see if his money is earned in a kosher fashion. The
Chofetz Chaim’s first published work concerned honesty in weights and measures. • Some examples in Chassidic thought follow; for further resources here see and. Based on a
Maamar of the
Lubavitch Rebbe,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, it is learned that meditation and prayer, while spiritually transformative, do not match the power of doing business ethically (
Padah B’Shalom, 5739). The
Admor of
Belz, Rabbi
Aharon Rokeach, in discussing the angels descending and ascending on the
ladder seen in the dream of Ya'akov, notes that the
gematria value of
sulam, ladder, is equivalent to that of
kesef, money. The teaching here is that while a few are able to ascend spiritually in the way they earn and spend their money others, instead, descend here. Indeed, therefore, "nowhere in the whole field of human activity are the lusts and needs that need separation and religious guidance greater than in this field of human activity". The "Shelah",
Isaiah Horowitz, states (in ''Sha'ar Haotiyot'') that ::"The
Mezzuzah that we affix to the doorpost is connected to the things that we bring in and take out of our houses. We gather into our homes the wealth that G-d has bestowed upon us. All should therefore be in truth and in faith as befits a house on which the Law of G-d is inscribed on the door posts. This is the secret of conducting one's business in faithfulness. In other words, what one brings into the house, that is what one earns, should be in faithfulness. What we take out, what we spend our money on should also be in faith." ==Legal treatment==