Jewish ethics

Fundamental to the Jewish ethics are the Torah, the Talmud - especially the Pirke Avot contained in it (see below) - and the Halacha, a 1500 years continuously developed corpus of rabbinic statements. Even today the Jewish ethics is further developed by statements by rabbis of the various directions of Judaism.

Talmudic Ethics

There are already some peculiarities of the ethics of the time of the Talmud. Central to this is the passage from Leviticus (3rd Book of Moses ) 19, 18, which is often quoted as saying in Christian circles: "Love your neighbor as yourself". Closer to the original Hebrew would be the translation: "Love your neighbor, for he is like you ." Large parts of the Talmud and the Torah are also much in Notes to the concrete implementation of this charity.

The best known rabbinic text associated with ethics is the Tractate Avot of the Mishnah, which is often referred to Pirkei Avot, ie Ethics of the Fathers. This is a compilation of sayings of various Jewish scholars, divided into six chapters. For example, it is known the saying of Hillel in the first chapter: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? The beginning of the fourth chapter is: The son of Soma says: Who is wise? Who learns from every man. Who is a hero? Whoever controls his appetite (ie, self-controlled ). Who is rich? Who is looking forward to his share. Who is honored? Who other people honors.

General

The Jewish Ethics is a central part of Jewish philosophy. There you will find statements of modern rabbis on issues such as homosexuality, gender equality, birth control, artificial insemination, behavior of soldiers in the war, the heaviest loss experiences, euthanasia, suicide, and other things. However, it can be seen no general " Jewish opinion " in the statements in question. Each of the Jewish directions has their own views on these issues. After liberal Jewish opinion ritual laws are timeless, ethics, however, the current situation needs to be adjusted, which also includes adjustments in ethical areas of halacha in many cases.