Business ethics In the
Torah, there are more commandments concerning the kashrut (fitness) of one's money than the kashrut of food. These laws are developed and expanded upon in the
Mishnah and the
Talmud (particularly in Order
Nezikin). The weights attached is evidenced via the widely quoted tradition (Talmud
Shabbat 31a) that in one's judgement in the next world, the first question asked is: "were you honest in business?" Laws concerning business ethics are delineated in the major codes of
Jewish law (e.g.
Mishneh Torah, 12th century;
Shulhan Arukh, particularly
Choshen Mishpat, 16th century). A wide array of topics on business ethics are discussed in the responsa literature. Business ethics received special emphasis in the teaching of Rabbi
Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (19th century), founder of the
Musar movement in Eastern Europe. Enforcing laws regarding the proper treatment of workers in the food industry has been central to the efforts of
Conservative Judaism's
Hekhsher Tzedek commission and its 2008 approval of a
responsum by Rabbi
Jill Jacobs which required paying workers in accordance with Jewish law and treating workers with dignity and respect.
Charitable giving The Jewish idea of righteousness ("
tzedakah") gives the owner of property no right to withhold from the poor their share. According to
Maimonides in the
Mishneh Torah, the highest level of tzedakah is giving charity that will allow the poor to break out of the poverty cycle and become independent and productive members of society. Tzedakah may come in the form of giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying upon others. Traditional Jews commonly practice "ma'aser kesafim", tithing 10% of their income to support those in need. The Rabbis decreed (against Essene practice, and against the advice given in the New Testament) that one should not give away much, most or all of their possessions. They did not expect a supernatural savior to come and take care of the poor, and so they held that one must not make oneself poor. Given that nearly all Jews of their day were poor or middle-class (even the rich of that time were only rich relative to the poor), they ruled that one should not give away more than a fifth of his income to charity, while yet being obligated to give away no less than 10% of his income to charity. Many pages of the Talmud are devoted to encouragement in giving charity, and this topic is the focus of many religious books and rabbinic responsa. In addition to voluntary individual donations to the poor, the
Mishnah required communities to supply each person in need with daily food rations and a place to sleep, funded by collections from the population.
Ethics of speech Evil-speaking is a sin regarded with intense aversion both in the Bible and in rabbinical literature. The technical term for it in the latter is
lashon hara, "the evil tongue". In the Bible, the equivalent words are: dibbah, meaning "talk" in a sinister sense; rakhil, the "merchandise" of gossip with which the talebearer goes about; and ragal, a verb, denoting the "peddling" of slander. As these words indicate, that which is condemned as
lashon hara denotes all the deliberate or malicious accusations or even the exposure of truthful information which has the purpose of injuring one's neighbor, that is, calumny proper, and also the idle but mischievous chatter which is equally forbidden, though it is not slander. The Babylonian Talmud indicates that putting one's fellow human to shame is in the same category as murder and at one point describes slander, talebearing, and evil talk as worse than the three cardinal sins of murder, immorality, and idolatry. The spreading of evil reports, even when true, is branded as a calumny. Listening to slanderous gossip, or the causing of suspicion, or the provoking of unfavorable remarks about a neighbor is also forbidden. One commandment in the Torah is to use one's speech to correct, admonish, or reprove others (Leviticus 19:17). Some Jews have explained this as a matter of "
giving musar" (discipline, instruction) in line with a verse from Proverbs 1:8: "Hear, my child, the discipline (musar) of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother." Some rabbis have emphasized the importance of what to say when giving musar, to whom one should speak, and when (how often) one should "give musar". Rabbi
Yisroel Belsky said that when there is a need to give musar to a friend: "Give musar as a friend." Some
musar is on topics that are a major part of everyday life, such as consoling mourners and visiting the sick. Rabbi
Shimon Schwab taught that although "[at times] you must
give musar" the command to do so (Lev. 19:17) is followed by
love your neighbor as yourself. and that "if you want ..(someone).. to change, (it must be)
done through love."
Jewish family ethics The Jewish tradition gives great stress to reverence for parents. More
Orthodox forms of Judaism view the father as the head of the family, while seeing the mother as entitled to honor and respect at the hands of sons and daughters. More liberal Jews view the mother and father as equal in all things. The
family plays a central role in Judaism, both socially and in transmitting the traditions of the religion. To honor one's father and mother is one of the
Ten Commandments. Jewish families try to have close, respectful family relationships, with care for both the elderly and the young. Religious observance is an integral part of home life, including the weekly
Sabbath and keeping kosher dietary laws. The
Talmud tells parents to teach their children a trade and survival skills, and children are asked to look after their parents.
Marriage and sexual relations Marriage is called
kiddushin, or 'making holy', often understood as meaning that it is an institution imbued with holiness.
Monogamy is widely seen as the ideal. Celibacy is regarded as contrary to the injunction to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 2:18 and Isaiah 45:18). According to the
Talmud and
midrash, man is enjoined to take a wife and obtain posterity. "He who lives without a wife lives without joy and blessing, without protection and peace"; he is "not a complete man", and for it, he has to give reckoning at the great Judgement Day. After her period has ended, a woman is expected to fully immerse herself in a
mikveh (the ritual immersion pool), entering a state of ritual purity. Sexual relations may then resume. Most non-Orthodox Jews have rejected these laws regarding abstinence during menstruation. but other Jews view various forms of homosexual behavior or all forms of homosexual behavior as permitted by the tradition. In Judaism, extramarital sex is widely frowned upon. Jewish ethics across denominations agrees that
adultery and
incestual relationships (Leviticus 18:6–23) are prohibited.
Medical ethics and bioethics Jewish medical ethics is one of the major spheres of contemporary Jewish ethics. Beginning primarily as an
applied ethics based on
halakhah, more recently it has broadened to
bioethics, weaving together issues in
biology,
science,
medicine and
ethics,
philosophy and
theology. Jewish bioethicists are usually rabbis who have been trained in medical science and philosophy, but may also be experts in medicine and ethics who have received training in Jewish texts. The goal of Jewish medical ethics and bioethics is to use
Jewish law and tradition and Jewish ethical thought to determine which medical treatments or technological innovations are moral, when treatments may or may not be used, etc.
Political governance The ethics of proper governance is the subject of much contention among Jews. Various models of political authority are developed in the
Hebrew Bible,
rabbinic literature, and later Jewish literature. Many prominent Jewish thinkers, such as
Maimonides, see monarchy as a moral ideal, while others, such as
Abravanel, disparage the model of the monarchy. Modern Jews have championed a variety of
Jewish political movements, often based on their conceptions of Jewish ethics.
Ethics of warfare Jewish war ethics are developed by Maimonides in his "Laws of Kings and their Wars", part of his
Mishneh Torah, where he treats on both a
Mandatory war and a
Voluntary war. Modern Jewish war ethics have been developed especially in relation to the Israeli military's doctrine of
purity of arms.
Capital punishment The
Jewish Bible says murderers should be executed but even in ancient times Jewish leaders were hostile to capital punishment, and the Talmud requires conditions for application of the death penalty so extremely stringent that the death penalty became effectively impossible.
Relationship to non-Jews Jews widely believe that non-Jews who follow the
seven laws of Noah will be equally recognized by God. According to rabbinic interpretation of Genesis 2:6 and 9:4, the laws of the Noachide code are: do not commit idolatry; do not blaspheme God; do not murder; do not steal; do not commit adultery; do not eat meat cut from a living animal; and establish courts of justice. The principle of
Kiddush Hashem requires Jews to conduct themselves in every way as to prevent the name of God from being dishonored by non-Israelites. The greatest sin of fraud, therefore, is that committed against a non-Israelite, because it may lead to the reviling of God's name. A desire to sanctify the name of God may help to motivate some Jews to treat adherents of other creeds with the utmost fairness and equity. Exhortations to love the stranger "as yourself" (Ex. 22:20; Lev. 19:33) and "Remember the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 10:19), have an important role in many forms of Jewish ethics.
Treatment of animals According to Jewish tradition,
animals have a right to be treated well, even ones that might belong to one's enemy. The Biblical commands regarding the treatment of animals are amplified in rabbinical ethics, and a special term is coined for the prohibition on causing suffering to animals ("
tza'ar ba'alei hayyim"). Not to sit down to the table before the domestic animals have been fed is a lesson derived from Deuteronomy 11:15. Compassion for animals is declared to have been the merit of
Moses which made him the shepherd of his people, while
Judah ha-Nasi saw in his own ailment the punishment for having once failed to show compassion for a frightened calf. Consideration for animals is an important part of Judaism. It is part of the Noachide code. Resting on the Sabbath also meant providing rest for the working animals, and people are instructed to feed their animals before they sit down to eat. At harvest time, the working animals must not be muzzled, so that they can eat of the harvest as they work. All animals must be kept in adequate conditions. Sports like bullfighting are forbidden. Animals may be eaten as long as they are killed using
shechitah, a method where the animal has its throat cut using a specially sharpened knife. Jewish butchers are trained in this method which must meet the requirements of
kashrut. Enforcing laws regarding the treatment of animals in the certification of food products has been part of the effort of
Conservative Judaism's
Hekhsher Tzedek commission. In modern times, a
Jewish vegetarian movement has emerged, led by Jews who believe that Jewish ethics demands
vegetarianism or
veganism.
Environmental ethics The
Book of Genesis 1:26 indicates that God gave people control over the animals and earth, while Genesis 2:15 emphasizes that people were put in the world to maintain it and care for it. The Talmud teaches the principle of
Bal tashkhit, which some take to mean that wasting or destroying anything on earth is wrong. Many take the view that pollution is an insult to the created world, and it is considered immoral to put commercial concerns before care for God's creation. However, humans are regarded as having a special place in the created order, and their well-being is paramount. Humans are not seen as just another part of the ecosystem, so moral decisions about environmental issues have to take account of the well-being of humans. Trees and other things of value also come within the scope of rabbinical ethics, as their destruction is prohibited, according to Deut. 20:19 as understood by the Babylonian Talmud. In modern times, a
Jewish environmentalist movement has emerged, led by Jews who believe that Jewish ethics demands
environmentalism. ==See also==