ma 
 
 SRAEliS MISSION 
 ^S PEACE "
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY Of 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 
 presented to the 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 by
 
 ZTbe Ethics of 
 
 BY 
 
 M. LAZARUS, PH. D. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRIETTA SZOLD 
 IN FOUR PARTS 
 
 PART I 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 
 1900
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1900 
 
 BY 
 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 
 
 THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY 
 BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.
 
 DEDICATED 
 To THE MEMORY OF MY NOBLE FRIEND 
 
 WlLHELM VOX GUTMANN
 
 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF 
 AMERICA, having secured the American 
 and English rights to the EtJiik des Juden- 
 tluniis by Professor M. Lazarus, is now 
 enabled to render accessible to its mem- 
 bers and to other English-speaking persons 
 the first portion of this important book. It 
 is hoped that succeeding volumes will fol- 
 low at regular intervals, and that when com- 
 pleted it will serve to make clear the inner 
 life of Judaism, as the History of Graetz 
 portrayed the part which the Jews have 
 played in the world. 
 
 Doctor Lazarus, now in his 76th year, 
 for a long time Professor in the .University 
 of Berlin, has during half a century been 
 making fruitful researches in various fields 
 of science and Jewish learning. The work 
 now presented in an English dress is his 
 crowning service in the cause of Judaism.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This book has a history, but it is a his- 
 tory that will engage the interest of those 
 only who have made the acquaintance of 
 the book itself. Therefore I reserve it for 
 the end of the second and last volume. 
 There the reasons, purely internal, will ap- 
 pear why almost fifteen years elapsed be- 
 tween conceiving the plan to produce an 
 " Ethics of Judaism " and its present reali- 
 zation. There, too, honest account shall 
 be rendered of assistance sought and found 
 by the author. Yet I cannot refrain from 
 mentioning here a few at least of my 
 friends and pupils who were good enough 
 to give me their efficient aid especially 
 while the book was passing through the 
 press. Herewith I express my deep grati- 
 tude to Mr. Meyer Friedman, Reader at the
 
 x PREFA CE 
 
 Beth ha-Midrash in Vienna; Professor M. 
 Guggenheim, Ph. D., of Zurich; Mr. I. I. 
 Kahan of Leipsic; Dr. Alfred Leicht, head- 
 master in Meissen; Dr. Tanzer of Hohen- 
 ems, Rabbi of Tyrol and Vorarlberg; and 
 Dr. Unger, Rabbi in Iglau. 
 
 Of the task and the method of the work, 
 the first chapter gives a minute description. 
 One fact, however, I should like to empha- 
 size here. The reader may expect me, an 
 ethno-psychologist, to institute compari- 
 sons with other modes of thought related 
 racially and philosophically a method that 
 leads to apologetics as its result, and re- 
 quires polemics as its aid. 
 
 All such temptations I put behind me 
 with open eyes. 
 
 Even analogies with the ethical doctrine 
 of other ancient peoples are adverted to 
 only incidentally and cursorily. 
 
 Naught of apologetics! A purely ob- 
 jective statement was aimed at, and it must
 
 PREFA CE xi 
 
 speak and act for itself. An exception was 
 made only in the case of E. von Hartmann. 
 His charge against every system of ethics 
 based on theism is refuted from the point 
 of view of Judaism. 
 
 As for polemics, nothing could have jus- 
 tified its introduction; "if thou wilt make 
 an altar, thou shalt not wave thy sword over 
 it; for if thou wavest thy sword over it, thou 
 hast polluted it " (Exod. 20:25). 
 
 LAZARUS 
 
 Meran, Tyro!, September /j, 1898.
 
 PART I 
 
 FOUNDATION OF JEWISH ETHICS
 
 CONTENTS OF PART I 
 
 FOUNDATION OF JEWISH ETHICS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. On the Sources of Jewish Ethics i 
 CHAPTER II. The Principle of Jewish Ethics . 107 
 CHAPTER III. The Character of Jewish Ethics . 189 
 APPENDIX 247
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ON THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 
 i. The Bible is the text-book of Jewish The literature of 
 
 Jewish Ethics. 
 
 Ethics. Next rank the Rabbinical writ- 
 ings, that is, the Talmud, the Talmudic 
 Midrashim, and the later Midrashim, and 
 they, in turn, are followed by religious and 
 philosophic works, which elaborate and 
 continue the ethical thought of earlier 
 times. 
 
 2. The Bible in all its parts bears an Biblical 
 
 teaching by 
 
 ethical impress : the legal books contain ^ eans of h ! stor 
 
 ical narratives, 
 
 explicit and definite laws for the regulation 
 of man's conduct; the historical books 
 present examples, attractive or repellent, 
 as the case may be,. of deeds good .and just, 
 generous and stimulating, or unjust and 
 iniquitous; the Prophets are full of precepts 
 and exhortations looking to the elevation 
 and strengthening of character; and the 
 
 etc. Rabbinical 
 .scussion.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 poetic, philosophic, and proverbial writings 
 inculcate and extol virtue, adduce noble 
 views and noble conduct as exemplars, and 
 make their opposites appear despicable. In 
 the same way the Rabbinical writings pre- 
 sent direct teachings, examples, impressive 
 admonitions, and instructive reflections. 
 They expound, and so enrich and invest 
 with deeper meaning, the moral import of 
 Biblical deeds and words, thoughts and mo- 
 tives. 
 Manifold 3- Biblical thoughts become more and 
 
 application of . 
 
 Biblical more applicable as life vanes its mamfesta- 
 
 thoughts to life; 
 
 the ls ^guide! tions, as the relations of men become closer, 
 and the forms and aims of society are differ- 
 entiated. The. words of the Bible are in- 
 terpreted by and for the fulness of life. 
 Thus, on the one side, the Biblical word, 
 considered broadly as the word of God, is 
 entrenched in its dignity, and extended 
 in influence; and on the other side, life se- 
 cures a guide, a shaping force, an impulse. 
 4. Human activity, with its motives, ef-
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 3 
 
 forts, and aims, has its origin in the in- origin of human 
 
 activity in the 
 
 stincts, the material needs, and the intellec- establishes Ethics 
 tual demands, which fill and animate the OTder, r and n peace 
 
 among them. 
 
 soul of man. The purpose of ethics is to 
 assign definite boundaries to all instincts 
 clamoring for satisfaction, to establish order 
 among contradictory demands, and har- 
 monize the opposing claims that arise in 
 social intercourse. 
 
 5. But ethics has a more important An ideal, moral 
 
 world results 
 
 function than securing moderation, order, a ^eningof 
 
 j , i . f T , new and nobler 
 
 and peace among the instincts of man. It desires. 
 must produce new desires, higher and 
 nobler than his original impulses; must 
 create new needs in his soul, and provide 
 for their satisfaction ; must teach individuals 
 and society motives, forms of activity, 
 above all, methods of co-operation, and 
 valid aims removed far beyond the gratifica- 
 tion of elementary cravings. Upon the 
 natural world as a foundation should be 
 reared a second structure, a spiritual and 
 ideal structure the moral world.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 its foundation 6. The foundations of the moral world as 
 
 in the Bible and 
 
 c nti " u ^ i . I ? "J conceived by the Jewish mind are laid in the 
 
 the Rabbinical J J 
 
 W inte^?etati r on Bible. The Rabbinical writings continue 
 
 of the Bible, by 
 
 the method of the upbuilding of the structure according: 
 
 the thirty- 
 two rules. to a p ecu ij ar method, gradually crystalliz- 
 ing into thirty-two rules. By this method 
 a free, an almost unlimited application of 
 Biblical expressions is made, in order to 
 deduce from them, or read into them, ori- 
 ginal and progressive moral ideas, 1 
 This method 7. Through this persistent and unre- 
 
 secures homo- 
 
 untra e mme a ied strained application of the Bible word a 
 
 development. , '.L 1 1 
 
 marvelous spiritual phenomenon is pro- 
 duced. 2 By the interweaving of older 
 thoughts with the intellectual work of the 
 individual, amazing unity is brought about 
 
 1 See Appendix No. i, p. 247. 
 
 * This noteworthy circumstance has, to my knowl- 
 edge, not received due attention and historical ap- 
 preciation, despite the fact that the creative activity 
 of other nations offers no parallel. (Suggestions of 
 the same method in the Alexandrian ^chool, and 
 later among the Arabs, are probably of Jewish 
 origin.) The importance of the phenomenon ap- 
 pears only when we turn from the intellectual work
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 5 
 
 in the expressions of the national spirit 
 a uniform, progressive development of tra- 
 ditional ideas, an interpenetration of moral 
 doctrines, ethical convictions, and tenden- 
 cies of conduct. The paradoxical asser- 
 tion may be ventured, that the moral ele- 
 ment in the national spirit is preserved as 
 a homogeneous unit, yet with unrestricted 
 liberty of development. 
 
 The differences between epoch and 
 epoch, the peculiarity of historical condi- 
 tions, the individuality of thinkers, vanish 
 in the face of the prolific yet uniform devel- 
 opment of the triumphant national spirit 
 a development that depends upon the evo- 
 lution of fundamental thoughts, and draws 
 
 of the individual, its literary worth, and its place in 
 the history of literature, to take note of the national 
 spirit and its evolution. To consider a psychic pro- 
 duct for example, the development of a thought 
 as an isolated achievement, or in its relation to the 
 history of literature, is very different from consider- 
 ing it as a contribution to the life and progress of 
 what essentially constitutes a school, religion, state, 
 or race.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 its strength from the primary source of 
 ideas. 
 The work of the 8. All work, it is true, is done by indi- 
 
 individual a 
 
 manifestation of viduals. We have nothing beyond the 
 
 the national J 
 
 spirit pief"ever dicta of definite (known or unknown) per- 
 
 assailed. Mai- 1 - 
 
 monides- truly sons. Intellectual products are brought 
 
 Jewish 
 
 personality. f or th at certain times and under given con- 
 ditions. Yet, throughout the domain of 
 Jewish wisdom and intellect, the temporary, 
 the accidental, the individual, has but small 
 share ' in the power and dignity of the preg- 
 nant development that obeys the deepest 
 impulses of the national soul, and issues 
 from its primordial manifestations. Indi- 
 vidual contributions are products of the 
 national spirit, to which the author merely 
 gives tangible shape. Again, whatever is 
 alive in the community finds expression in 
 the words or works of individuals. 
 
 For, however thinkers and teachers may 
 
 1 In this respect essentially different from the 
 method and the form of intellectual development 
 characteristic of other nations.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 7 
 
 differ in character and mode of living, the 
 air they breathe is the same, their life-blood 
 flows from a common source, one heart- 
 beat throbs in their pulses. None denies, 
 or assails, or essentially modifies the funda- 
 mental thoughts, the opinions, the princi- 
 ples which close investigation discovers in 
 Bible and Talmud. Maimonides, for ex- 
 ample, developed into the original thinker 
 he was by virtue of a union of Arabic and 
 Greek with Hebraic culture. Yet only his 
 less high-minded and less cultivated ene- 
 mies could fail to discern that, striking as 
 his personality was, it was a thoroughly 
 Jewish personality. 
 
 In the life of a plant or other organism, 
 it is immaterial whether a given mass of 
 molecules or another similar mass under- 
 going metabolic changes effects its preser- 
 vation and reproduction; that is, promotes 
 its permanence under the law of evolution. 
 So the individual and his prominence in his 
 generation disappear before the impelling
 
 8 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 force of national ideas and before the laws 
 determining their development.' 
 This continuity o. To this continuous activity of the 
 
 makes possible 
 
 Jewish mind in the domain of ethics is due 
 
 of e system a in the possibility of formulating a complete 
 
 the sources. 
 
 system of moral doctrines, although in the 
 sources, the Bible and the Talmud, they ap- 
 pear only in isolated sayings and expres- 
 sions, never in a systematic form. 
 objective con- io. Accordingly, a statement of the 
 
 tinuity, subjective 
 
 presentation, ethics of Judaism is 'equivalent to demon- 
 strating the inner connection of all scat- 
 tered moral sayings. In other words, the 
 essential task is to show that a system is 
 present in the manifold ethical activities of 
 Judaism. The systematizer is to transform 
 the great mass of scattered ethical expres- 
 sions into a homogeneous unit. His sub- 
 
 1 It must be remembered that, though the progress 
 of thought tends towards ideal perfection, and at 
 times more or less closely approximates it, yet it 
 can never reach ideal perfection, because it is ham- 
 pered, like all that is human, by the necessary ad- 
 mixture of individual elements and their natural 
 limitations.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS g 
 
 jective action must, however, be performed 
 upon an objective basis the ba*sis afforded 
 by the inherent continuity of all ethical 
 requirements, manifestations, and ordi- 
 nances. He must put himself entirely at 
 the service of the homogeneous subject- 
 matter, must identify himself with it. And 
 the more searching the investigation of the 
 ethical subject-matter as revealed in single 
 concepts, the surer the attainment of a 
 systematic, unified result. The continuity 
 of the ethical cosmos need not be created. 
 Actually existing, it need only be recog- 
 nized and exhibited. 
 
 For this reason, the traditional sources 
 alone are to be drawn upon, and the sub- 
 ject-matter so obtained is to be put into 
 systematic form, according to logical order 
 and sequence. In the earlier as well as the 
 later stages of productive activity, this in- 
 herent system the inner, unbroken con- 
 nection of all ethical thoughts, constituting 
 in the aggregate the moral theory of Juda-
 
 10 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ism was tacitly accepted as a premise. In 
 fact, it often attained to naive expression- in 
 the view that upon a certain commandment 
 under discussion " all others depended " 
 (m rwfcnn). 
 Tracing ethical n. A favorite occupation of the Tal- 
 
 thoughts to early 
 
 sources a favorite niuclists was to establish the continuity of 
 
 theme in Tal- * 
 
 1C ExImpifs! moral doctrines; in other words, to derive 
 late ethical thoughts from earlier sources 
 and ultimately from the Bible .itself. It 
 must be admitted that the later meaning is 
 often read into the older text only by means 
 of an artificial method of interpretation. A 
 fine example is offered by the injunction 
 to exercise extreme care not to put nor per- 
 mit others to put a fellow-man to the blush 
 in public. There are touching instances 
 of the self-denial of great men in shielding 
 even unknown offenders against disgrace. 
 A beautiful series of typical anecdotes and 
 Bible interpretations dealing with this 
 subject is traced from R. Meir to Samuel 
 the Little, from him to Hillel, then through
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS \ \ 
 
 Shechaniah ben Jechiel (Ezra 10:2) and 
 Joshua back to Moses himself. 1 
 
 12. To discover and formulate the Jewish ethics 
 
 independent of 
 
 system of Jewish ethics requires deep non-Jewish 
 
 * r models. From 
 
 study of its genuine sources and of them ?ol s S ei des 
 alone. The work of systemization doubt- 
 less demands a mind disciplined by the 
 study of philosophy and its history, but it 
 will not do to draw the plan of Jewish 
 ethics in imitation of foreign patterns. 
 From Maimonides down to Fassel, in the 
 present century, attempts have not been 
 lacking to fuse the scattered doctrines of 
 Jewish morality into a system modeled 
 after alien philosophies as to form, state- 
 ment of principles, and methods of deduc- 
 tion. Such a course cannot possibly lead 
 to true recognition of the specific meaning, 
 the peculiar nature, of the Jewish theory of 
 the moral life. At bottom, Maimonides 
 expounds the ethics of Aristotle, and Fassel 
 the ethics of W. T. Krug, save that single 
 
 1 Sanhedrin n a . See Appendix No. 2, p. 248.
 
 12 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ideas borrowed from the one or the other 
 system are proved Jewish by means of Bible 
 verses and Talmud passages. 1 
 specific char- 13. The Jewish intellect and its promi- 
 
 aeter of the 
 
 throve! 1 nent exponents have again and again been 
 Mafrm>nides y enriched by a knowledge of the mental pro- 
 ducts of other nations. But precisely in the 
 moral theory of life the peculiarity of the 
 Jewish spirit asserts itself most clearly, and 
 maintains its independence most vigorously. 
 Maimonides misunderstood his task in pin- 
 ning his faith to the scientific form and the 
 principles of Aristotle, yet even he, in spite 
 of foreign guidance and system, preserved 
 the essence and independence of the Jewish 
 view of life and the world. 
 
 The ideas must 14. In a system of Jewish ethics, then, 
 
 be Jewish, the 
 
 form may only such ideas may be presented as are 
 
 be new. J 
 
 of undoubted Jewish origin; that is to 
 say, they must be drawn from living facts 
 (see 2 and hereafter), or be expressed in 
 traditional sayings. 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 3, p. 248.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 1 3 
 
 It must be remembered that the origina- 
 tors of such sayings neither spoke nor 
 thought as we do. Literal translation into 
 our language often fails to convey the 
 author's conception. Not only his words 
 must be put into our language, but his 
 mode of thought must be transposed into 
 ours. 1 Psychic forms of various kinds 
 a plastic image, a simile, an allegory may 
 hold equal contents; a concept may be ex- 
 pressed in direct or in figurative language. 
 To secure thorough understanding of a tra- 
 ditional idea, the spiritual vesture best 
 suited to bring it home to us must be 
 selected. 
 
 15. The true purport Of the SayingS Therefore, inves- 
 tigation of the 
 
 must first be elicited by impartial examina- tne 6 s^ect ng of 
 tion, and then stated as we conscientiously ^"of'hJtoricai 
 
 conscience rather 
 
 believe the authors would have stated them. than philological 
 
 skill. Examples. 
 
 had they been our contemporaries. Not 
 the word, but its real inwardness, is the im- 
 portant consideration. The shackles of a 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 4, p. 254.
 
 14 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 strange mode of expression and thought 
 must be loosed, and the essence of the idea 
 newly presented in an intelligible form. 
 Sometimes a peculiar and intentional brev- 
 ity (affected by the Prophets and still more 
 by the Rabbis); sometimes a fanciful, not 
 to say fantastic, mode of expression con- 
 ceals rather than reveals the idea. For us 
 it is to bring about its revelation, which is 
 facilitated by uninterrupted tradition and 
 a progressive transformation in meaning. 1 
 The perfection with which the task is ac- 
 complished depends on historical con- 
 science rather than philological skill. 
 Again and again, especially in the statement 
 of principles, we shall find ourselves face to 
 face with the necessity of drawing infer- 
 ences. For the present purpose a few illus- 
 trations will suffice. The saying, " The ark 
 
 1 As, analogously, the identity of a word in a 
 daughter language or in a later stage of a language 
 is recognized in its various forms and changes by 
 means of Grimm's law.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS \ 5 
 
 of the covenant bears its bearers; it is not 
 the priests that bear the ark," ' doubtless 
 means that the ethical life draws even the 
 physical forces it needs from the fountain- 
 head of the idea; the developments of the 
 idea are in no wise produced by physical 
 needs, forces, and gratifications. In other 
 words, the ethical cannot and may not be 
 derived from nature; the idea must refine 
 nature, and use her in its own service. 
 
 Again, the thought expressed by Kant 
 in these words: "If justice is subverted, 
 man's existence on earth is of no value," 
 was anticipated by the Rabbis in the alle- 
 gorical form, that God would make chaos 
 to reign again, if humanity did not take 
 upon itself the responsibility of the Law 
 (see part n, 230 scq.). 
 
 The phrase in Ecclesiastes (i : 9), " there 
 is no new thing under the sun," is com- 
 mented upon by the Rabbis of the school 
 
 1 Shemoth Rabbah, ch. 36. See Appendix No. 5, 
 P- 254.
 
 1 6 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 of Jannai in this wise : " not under the 
 sun, but above it." Without a doubt their 
 meaning was that the material world, regu- 
 lated by invariable laws, is unchanging; but 
 the realm of morality, on a plane over and 
 beyond that of nature, presents new phe- 
 nomena. The natural world is completed 
 by the originality of the moral order of 
 existence. Later on (118), we shall expa- 
 tiate upon the full meaning of this thought, 
 whose essence is the absolute negation of 
 every purely naturalistic basis of ethics. At 
 present, it is sufficient to discover the 
 thought underlying the figurative language 
 of the Rabbis. That it is the meaning in- 
 tended is proved by the recurrence, in Rab- 
 binical literature, of the view, in various 
 guises, that the moral world is an indepen- 
 dent complement of the natural world; as 
 in the sentence : " He who does a moral 
 deed, as, for instance, the judge who pro- 
 nounces a righteous judgment thereby 
 
 1 Sabbath 3O b .
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 1 7 
 
 associates himself with God in the work of 
 creation." 
 
 16. But a statement of the ethical sys- Tradition a 
 
 source of ethics; 
 
 tem of Judaism must depend upon sources theTrce 1 behhTd t 
 outside of the ethical doctrines explicitly nomeaa, such as, 
 formulated and transmitted as such. D61- 
 linger's just characterization of the religi- 
 ous ideas of the Jews is equally applicable 
 to their moral teachings and principles. 
 " The Jewish people," says Dollinger, 
 " moved in a circle of religious ideas part 
 of which only were expressed in its sacred 
 literature." After referring to the exist- 
 ence of a body of oral traditions, he con- 
 tinues : " Far from being a lifeless deposit 
 in the hands of a people living in spiritual 
 stagnation, they were instinct with the 
 power and the impulse to develop organi- 
 
 1 Mekhilta Yithro, ch. 2, in connection with the 
 classical passage in the Introduction to Jacob ben 
 Asher's Code, Tur Choshen Mishpat, ch. i, i. See 
 Appendix No. 6, p. 255. 
 
 1 Dollinger, Heidenthum und Judenthum, Vorhalle 
 sur Geschichte des Christenthutns, p. 819 seq.
 
 1 8 THE E THICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 cally and steadily. Tradition, on the one 
 hand, and the religious condition of the 
 nation, its whole history, on the other hand, 
 acted and re-acted vigorously upon each 
 other . . ." In later times, too, when all 
 tradition was piously cherished and culti- 
 vated in the academies, it was reduced to 
 writing only occasionally and by chance, 
 in the case of learned discussions or homi- 
 letic discourses. Universal truths especi- 
 ally were formulated only incidentally, by 
 single individuals. Despite the fact that in 
 the academies general principles ( txWn ) 
 were prized above particular statements, 
 those to whom we owe the preservation of 
 the old traditions as a rule preferred the 
 concrete, the living, the practical, and were 
 disposed to neglect abstract deductions. 
 Yet the moral element in the whole mass of 
 traditions is distinctly recognizable. It re- 
 veals itself unmistakably as the active force 
 behind certain historical phenomena. The 
 most important of these phenomena was ;
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS \ 9 
 
 17. The rise of a new form of idealism, Development of 
 
 a new form of 
 
 induced by strengthening all laws (develop- rSorwmenT 11 
 ment of the Halachah), spreading their new modTof we 
 
 in the Jewish 
 
 knowledge, and enforcing their execution, community after 
 
 the fall of the 
 
 When the Jewish state and the political fffiSS 
 
 i r 1 T i ben Zakkai 
 
 independence of the Jewish people had emphasizes three 
 
 ethical springs 
 
 been overthrown, and the ruin of the Tem- dmttc : rfUw' 
 
 ... ,. .... , spiritual life, 
 
 pie had put an end to the unity of the cult, 
 which had been the most peculiar mani- 
 festation of the national spirit, a new life 
 was awakened, a new mode of communal 
 existence developed new not alone for the 
 Jewish race, but also for humanity at large. 
 Such a change had not been known before, 
 none like^ it has since taken place. Three 
 aims were emphasized by the men who as- 
 sumed spiritual leadership immediately 
 after the destruction of the state and the 
 Temple, especially by R. Jochanan ben 
 Zakkai, his associates, and his successor. 
 The first aim was, in general, the elevation 
 of the spiritual life. Study, research, knowl- 
 edge, wisdom, were extolled beyond every-
 
 20 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 thing: " If thou art well versed in the Law, 
 do not boast of it, for to that end thou wast 
 created." Learning replaced all other 
 pursuits promoting civilization that were 
 followed under the protection of the state. 
 The best minds were attracted to it. Rarely 
 serving practical utility among the Jews, 
 it alone hallowed life, and satisfied its yearn- 
 ings. Science was cherished as a common 
 good, an ideal possession, the spiritual 
 bond and incentive of communal life. 2 
 by the founding 1 8. From this time on the homiletic dis- 
 
 of academies and 
 
 the development course (the remains of which were pre- 
 
 of the homiletic 
 
 ree - served in the Talmudic and in the later Mid- 
 rashim), with its exposition of laws and its 
 hortatory appeal to the hearts of the people, 
 grew more and more frequent, spreading 
 
 1 Aboth 2: g. 
 
 2 Among the Greeks, especially in the period of 
 political decline, the cultivation of learning was left 
 purely to individual devotion and taste; and in Rome 
 science never entered into the program of the state. 
 Cicero's attempt, in his oration pro Archia, to prove 
 it a matter of public interest is the best evidence that 
 it did not exist as such.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 2 1 
 
 among the masses the spiritual food pre- 
 pared in the academies. It is obvious that 
 such lively mental activity, on whatever 
 subject it exercised itself, inevitably tended 
 to increase the sum of ethical convictions 
 and bring about moral discipline in the 
 community. 
 
 19. The second aim was to lay stress secondly, charity, 
 
 as an ideal 
 
 upon the importance of benevolence and element. 
 charity, the love men bear one another. 
 In view of the lawlessness superinduced by 
 the loss of independence and by the oppres- 
 sion exercised by the Roman rulers, the 
 prosperity of communal life demanded 
 larger benevolence, devotion, forbearance, 
 and love than had been necessary in the 
 free commonwealth. Charity was express- 
 ly designated the ideal element which was 
 to compensate for the ruined Temple, for 
 the unity of worship, as well as for the loss 
 of political power. Jochanan ben Zakkai 
 offered as a solace for the discontinuance of 
 sacrifices following upon the destruction of
 
 22 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the place of sacrifice, the realization of the 
 old Prophetical view proclaimed by Hosea 
 in the words : " Love I demand, not sacri- 
 fice " (Hos. 6:6); 
 Thirdly, the 2O. The third aim urged at this time of 
 
 completion and 
 
 establishment providing Judaisti) with a. new basis was 
 the completion and establishment of law in 
 general and the religious and ceremonial 
 laws in particular. Simple evolution had 
 to be supplemented by a more conscious 
 process. In their furtherance of natural 
 progress, schools and parties had gradually 
 been betrayed into wrangling. Their dis- 
 putes had to be adjusted, and all made to 
 bow before a firmly established authority at 
 one with itself. 
 Ethical bearing 21. The significance, from an ethical 
 
 of the estab- 
 lishment of law. point of view, of a symmetrical develop- 
 ment and exact statement of the law in all 
 its ramifications is obvious. Private and 
 social life is so profoundly affected by the 
 
 1 Comp. i Sam. 15:22 and see Aboth de R. Na- 
 than, 4.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 2 3 
 
 provisions of the law of property and con- 
 tracts, of marriage and inheritance, the 
 penal law and the law of procedure, with all 
 their premises and consequences, that their 
 authoritative definition is necessarily ante- 
 cedent to the foundation of ethical conduct. 
 
 22. The ethical importance of the cere- The value of 
 
 ceremonial laws: 
 
 monial law will be discussed later on. Here 1 - The y area 
 
 source of moral 
 
 it is necessary only to mention some of the lament with 
 
 law and duty. 
 
 elements that make the legal prescriptions 
 of a religion a source of ethical instruction 
 and training. In the first place, they inter- 
 weave the whole of human life with com- 
 mands and their fulfilment. Work and 
 pleasure alike are regulated by injunctions. 
 Kant eliminates every non-essential from 
 the ethical concept of the good in the fol- 
 lowing expression : " There is no good in 
 the world or outside of it except a good 
 will." But a good will is a will in agree- 
 ment with duty and law. This basis and 
 value of the ethical are corroborated and 
 realized by every form of law-abiding con-
 
 24 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 duct. We shall see (in part n, ch. v) that 
 the Rabbis consciously deduced the ethical 
 value of obedience to law from this its 
 formal significance, and made use of it as an 
 ethical disciplinary measure. 
 2. They express 23. The network of ceremonies inter- 
 
 the moral unity 
 
 l ac * n g n fe symbolizes another formal aspect 
 of morality, higher than the last. Lotze 
 justly insists, that " the first formal condi- 
 tion of all moral living is the personality 
 of the human agent. He is to be a unit, not 
 a bundle of various, disjointed sensibilities 
 and instincts. For the sake of unity, the 
 soul striving after the moral ideal may not 
 suffer its notions to undergo the unstable, 
 inconsequent changes prohibited by the 
 duty of truthfulness." 
 
 Rabbinism collects, arranges, and in par- 
 ticular fortifies all traditions, hedging the 
 life of the individual and the community 
 about with law-bidden religious practices. 
 Laws encompass the times of the day, the 
 
 1 Geschichte der Aesthetik, p. 97 seq.
 
 THE SOUR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 2 5 
 
 seasons of the year, the phenomena of na- 
 ture, the fortunes of men. Each and every- 
 thing connected with the work and the joy 
 of human life is consecrated by a benedic- 
 tion, a symbolic act, a custom obeyed. 
 Thus the various activities of body and mind 
 are reduced to a homogeneous and organic 
 unit. The constant reference of all mani- 
 festations of life to God and his law is the 
 plainest symbol of an harmonious moral 
 nature true to itself. As such it was re- 
 garded and taught by the Rabbis, as well 
 as exemplified in their conduct. 
 
 This idea, that the unity of the agent 
 conditions all true morality, is suggestively 
 conveyed in the daily prayer for enlighten- 
 ment and elevation. In the words of the 
 Psalmist (Ps. 86:11), the petition is made, 
 " Cause our hearts to become one and 
 united." * 
 
 1 13*33^ irPl- Gesenius (ed. 10) says under -irv. " to 
 unify, unite, keep together (one's thoughts and de- 
 sires; opp. sich zerstreuen, to divert the mind)."
 
 26 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 3. Their execu- 24. This merely formal estimate of obe- 
 
 tion involves 
 
 the performance diencc to ceremonial injunctions is con- 
 ideal bearing. nected with anot her effect, psychologically 
 higher and more valuable. By religious 
 practices men are again and again liberated 
 from the thraldom of material life and 
 everyday duties, emancipated from the 
 tyranny of utilitarianism and pleasure-seek- 
 ing, and raised above sensual indulgences, 
 ordinary as well as refined. Whatever they 
 do or plan, they are in the atmosphere of 
 acts that serve ideal interests exclusively. 
 
 4. Especially in 25. But from an ethical point of view 
 
 their character 
 
 as symbols of these formal and abstract motives for the 
 
 ethical ideas. 
 
 observance of ceremonial laws are not so 
 important as the circumstance that all 
 acts prescribed have a definite meaning. 
 The main, consideration is not the fulfilment 
 of duty, nor even its fulfilment for the sake 
 of God, but the meaning attached to every 
 practice. All religious customs have a 
 symbolic meaning. They are symbols of 
 religious, more often of ethical ideas, and
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 27 
 
 the Rabbis, from oldest times down to the 
 present, have been indefatigable and un- 
 surpassed in explaining and inculcating the 
 ethical thoughts hidden under symbolic 
 guises. I adduce one example: 
 
 26. Symbolic acts are meant to arouse Historical 
 
 reminiscences 
 
 historical memories, in order to lead up to aroused by 
 
 symbolic acts. 
 
 the ethical teaching and exhortation issu- Igjt? f; rT 
 
 r notion of liberty 
 
 ing from them. I he exodus from Egypt and of man's 
 
 ethical vocation. 
 
 was unique in the history of the Israelites. 1 
 It gave birth to the nation and the state. 
 In the Roman period, when these results 
 of the great event were made nugatory, 
 nationality and government both having 
 been destroyed, and when vigorous Rab- 
 binism was in the ascendant, all commands, 
 festivals, customs, and ethical teachings 
 
 1 And, indeed, in the history of mankind at large. 
 Does history know of another horde of slaves trans- 
 formed into a highly cultivated people? (Comp. 
 Deut. 4:34. the religious aspect of the thought, 
 which, however, in the words, " to take to himself 
 a nation from the midst of the nations," goes straight 
 to the ethno-psychological root of the matter.) See 
 note to 167, p. 231.
 
 28 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 were brought into connection with the go- 
 ing out from Egypt. Whatever was noble, 
 edifying, devotional, became commemora- 
 tive of the Exodus (onvo nwh IDT). 
 
 Even in the Pentateuch ethical teachings 
 are connected with Egyptian reminiscences. 
 There it is the memory of the sojourn in 
 Egypt, the condition of the people as aliens 
 and an oppressed class, that is used as the 
 vehicle of ethical commands, especially to 
 dispose the people to justice and gentleness 
 towards the stranger, to mildness and mag- 
 nanimity towards the downtrodden; "for 
 ye know well the spirit of the stranger " 
 (Exod. 23 :9). 
 
 The Prophets and Psalmists, on the other 
 hand, employ the great historical event to 
 give reality chiefly to the religious idea of 
 God's providence and grace. The Rabbis, 
 finally, deduce from it the two fundamental 
 elements of man's ethical education : the 
 notion of liberty and the notion of man's 
 ethical task.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 29 
 
 Political and even civil freedom was lost. 
 The Roman Pharaohs, if they did not exact 
 labor, the more despotically exacted prop- 
 erty and blood, and aimed at the annihila- 
 tion of ideal possessions the Law, its 
 study, and its execution. Yet the notion 
 of liberty, inner moral and spiritual liberty, 
 cherished as a pure, exalted ideal, possible 
 only under and through the Law, 1 was asso- 
 ciated with the memory of the redemption 
 from Egyptian slavery, and this memory in 
 turn was connected with symbolic practices 
 accompanying every act, pleasure, and cele- 
 bration. 
 
 27. How the notion of liberty is con- connection 
 
 between the 
 
 nected with that of man's ethical vocation, tvvo notions. 
 
 with his essentially moral nature and task, 
 
 the Rabbinic mind has presented vividly, in 
 
 an exuberant variety of ways. That Israel, 
 
 and with Israel all mankind, was redeemed, 
 
 not at the Red Sea, but at Sinai, is a 
 
 thought reiterated in a number of passages; 
 
 1 See Aboih 6:2.
 
 30 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 in the allegory, for instance, that God bade 
 Moses write the Law in seventy languages 
 in order that all nations might have a share 
 in it. Again, it is said that " the Law was 
 revealed publicly, in the unclaimed desert. 
 If it had been given in the land of Israel, 
 the Israelites might have maintained that 
 the other nations had no part in it. There- 
 fore it was published in the open desert; it 
 is the property of the whole world; every 
 one is at liberty to assume the responsi- 
 bilities it imposes." 
 Last (5) result 28. The last but perhaps most import- 
 
 of authoritatively 
 
 ^the'spidtuai ant outcome of B. complete system of laws 
 
 oneness of the i j 11 j ,1 , 
 
 community, based upon generally recognized authority 
 
 Social Ethics. 
 
 was that it effected the spiritual union of the 
 community. No corporate body existed, 
 yet the legal prescriptions resolved them- 
 selves into a system of social ethics. With- 
 out an external, tangible unity, the inner, 
 spiritual oneness of the whole race was 
 more pronounced than ever before, more 
 
 1 Mekhilta Yithro Parshath Bachodcsh.
 
 THE SOUR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 3 1 
 
 pronounced perhaps than in the case of any 
 other people. Moreover, this oneness was 
 promoted with full consciousness of the ob- 
 ject in view. The (sacrificial) cult common 
 to all was replaced by a purer, more spiritual 
 divine service and by firmer religious laws, 
 symbols at once of ethical obedience and 
 the ethical communion. 
 
 29. The significance of this historical Historical differ- 
 ence between 
 
 difference between the Jews and other peo- other^nquercd 
 pies cannot be overestimated. Provided anceof S 'individ (1 
 
 . ualism. Ideal 
 
 nations do not suffer complete dissolution communion 
 
 through a 
 
 through the absorption of their members common ideal - 
 by their conquerors the later Greeks, for 
 instance, were not Greeks, the Romans not 
 Romans, the Babylonians not Babylonians 
 we see everywhere that they are led to 
 individualism by the decay of political in- 
 stitutions. And when individualism has 
 supervened, Stoics and Epicureans proceed 
 to justify it theoretically. Among the Jews 
 a peculiar sociological element asserted 
 itself, a new sort of union, part intellectual,
 
 32 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 part moral. It was highly characteristic, 
 for "example, that instead of compromising 
 with the invader's views, the Jews, sealing 
 their conduct with the sacrifice of numerous 
 martyrs, clung tenaciously to their own 
 law, to their traditional principles. And 
 precisely at this time their inflexibility was 
 heightened by the development of the legal 
 system with the purposes of equality and 
 uniformity in view. 1 The unity of all reli- 
 gious statutes gave rise in turn to the obli- 
 gation of every individual to guard the 
 honor, the dignity, the safety of the whole 
 people. Despite wide dispersion, no mat- 
 ter who and what the individual, wherever 
 
 1 Astute politician that he was, the Roman recog- 
 nized that the Jewish Law guaranteed the continu- 
 ance of the Jewish race, together with a certain 
 power of resistance. He therefore directed his per- 
 secutions mainly against the study and execution of 
 the Law. He hated the Law; he hated the Jewish 
 spirit more than the Jew. Hate makes blind. The 
 Roman could not appreciate the excellence of the 
 Jewish spirit. It seemed to him an enigma. It 
 would be instructive to contrast the Roman con- 
 quest with the invasion of Jewry by the Greek spirit.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THI CS 3 3 
 
 he may live, he owes the duty of " sancti- 
 fying the name of God" (Dt?ni?w|?). and 
 the community as such is a " sanctification 
 of the name of God " (oB>n enpo). 
 
 m The congregations began to develop New social con- 
 stitution. Poor 
 
 a new sort of social constitution. The old SJuSf 
 
 . . . . , . national 
 
 social-agrarian state with its statutory pro- consciousness. 
 
 Humanity. 
 
 vision for each family, its regulations con- 
 cerning the permanent allotment of real 
 property, its Sabbatical and Jubilee years, 
 its surrender of the gleanings, the corners 
 of the field, and the forgotten fruit to the 
 poor and (mark you) the stranger this 
 state disappeared. Its ideal of happiness: 
 " Every man under his vine and under his 
 figtree," became impossible of realization, 
 Instead, the congregations elaborated poor 
 laws of wide compass and great rigor. 1 
 
 1 Which grant non-Jews the same privileges as 
 Jews (see Gittin 6i a ; comp, ch. in). It is highly 
 characteristic of the continuity of the Jewish spirit 
 that Maimonides in his code (about thousand years 
 after the downfall of the agrarian state) presents the 
 charity regulations in the division on agricultural 
 laws (
 
 34 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Then the scattered Jews began to feel 
 that ethically each was surety for the other. 
 More than ever they regarded themselves 
 as the " people of God " ('n Di?). The deri- 
 vation of or, "people," from DOU, "to as- 
 semble," " to unite," was exemplified in the 
 feeling of the masses. The bond of union 
 no longer was of the earth was not a 
 fatherland, but the Father in heaven. The 
 increasing misery of the times fostered de- 
 votion to the past. The notion of " the 
 merit of the fathers " (nins mar) grew up 
 in its specifically Jewish sense, to which 
 there is no analogy among other nations. 1 
 All eyes were fixed upon the future, all 
 hopes centred in the reign of the Messiah, 
 which was to embrace the whole of man- 
 kind. The established liturgy, accepted 
 everywhere, iterated again and again the 
 prayer for the attainment of the goal of all 
 history, that " the earth shall be full of the 
 knowledge of the Lord." God's throne 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 7, p. 255.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 3 5 
 
 no longer stood in Jerusalem : " In every 
 place where I shall permit my name to be 
 mentioned, I will come unto thee, and I 
 will bless thee " (Exod. 20:24).' 
 
 Whithersoever the God-idea is borne, 
 wheresoever it is cherished, there is the 
 sanctuary. The whole of Rabbinic litera- 
 ture no disciple or sage dissenting, all in- 
 sisting upon it with profound solemnity is 
 pervaded by the ideal requirement : Every 
 house a temple, every heart an altar, every 
 human being a priest. Every human being, 
 not every Israelite is the hope and the 
 injunction. Numerous passages in the 
 Talmud and Midrash teach emphatically 
 that the commands of Biblical law are ad- 
 dressed to man: " Not priest, nor Levite, 
 nor Israelite, but only man " (= DIN, Adam) 
 is mentioned in the Scriptures as the bearer 
 of the Law. 2 
 
 1 Comp. Aboth 3: 7. 
 
 2 See Abodah Zarah 3* on Lev. 18: 5, and other 
 passages.
 
 36 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Simon the just 31. Above (in 1 7) Were mentioned 
 
 anticipates 
 
 Jocha zakkaT l ^ ie new etmca l elements put into the fore- 
 ground after the destruction of the Temple, 
 and it is true that they then asserted them- 
 selves energetically, in new forms corres- 
 ponding to changed historical circum- 
 stances. But in all their essentials they had 
 been present in the creations of the past. 
 As the thought discussed in the last para- 
 graph (30) sprang from Prophetical 
 sources, and is clearly expressed even in 
 Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the 
 Temple (I Kings 8:41 scq.); so the trend of 
 thought promulgated by Jochanan ben 
 Zakkai and the three ethical motives incul- 
 cated by him were anticipated by Simon 
 the Just. His sentence : " Upon three things, 
 Law, Divine Service, and Charity, rests 
 the (ideal order of the) world," 1 must have 
 been a current expression. By divine ser- 
 vice Simon doubtless meant the sacrificial 
 cult, but later every specifically religious 
 
 'Aboth 1:2.
 
 THE SO 67? CES OF JE WISH E THICS 37 
 
 practice was included under the term 
 Abodah, to the establishment and spread 
 of whose regulations the teachers of Jabneh 
 and of the succeeding schools devoted 
 themselves. 
 
 32. Famous deeds, whose memory is Historical 
 
 deeds the source 
 
 kept alive by the generations, are a notable ^^fe 
 source, not only of ethical instruction, but and impulse - 
 also of moral impulse in a community. They 
 enrich and confirm the moral import of life, 
 As historical research recognizes the moral 
 elevation of a people better by its heroic 
 deeds than by its writings and orations; so 
 a heritage of deeds is more influential than 
 a heritage of words. The heroism of the 
 past enkindles the young, exalts the old. 
 In the former it implants, in the latter it 
 nurses, noble views, Reality begets the 
 real. The acceptance of ideal require- 
 ments, boundless devotion amounting to 
 self-sacrifice, these convey ethical discipline 
 to the hearts of the people, in ways which 
 teach the true import of ethics more clearly
 
 38 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 and impressively than formulated doc- 
 trines. The wars of independence, for in- 
 stance, waged by the Jews against the 
 Greeks and the Romans, illustrate the Jew- 
 ish attitude towards life and its duties. 
 Though at first blush these conflicts seem 
 similar to the conflicts engaged in by other 
 nations, they differ from them fundamen- 
 tally. The others battled, to use the Roman 
 phrase, pro. aris atque focis, for hearth and 
 home. To be fighting for religion was a 
 new thing. Material possessions did not 
 enter into the question. Neither home, nor 
 property, nor even life was considered. 
 Though all mental and physical powers, 
 unparalleled courage, surpassing bravery, 
 were evoked by the conflict, yet, in the heat 
 of the bitterest encounter, the combatants 
 would lay down arms and offer up life 
 rather than desecrate the Sabbath. That 
 indicates that the soul of the people not 
 only was aglow with religious enthusiasm, 
 but was endowed with the highest moral
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 39 
 
 capacity for devotion to an idea and sacri- 
 fice in its furtherance. True, inner, spirit- 
 ual liberty, man's highest possession and 
 highest dignity, was at stake. Of course, 
 not every combatant was conscious of the 
 impelling force of the idea. But in all it 
 was effective, stimulating their energy and 
 urging its release in action. Few would 
 have been able to put into words or to 
 think out consecutively what animated 
 them, but however dimly it may have con- 
 veyed itself to the perceptions of the agent, 
 it was none the less true that he was irre- 
 sistibly actuated by the conviction that life 
 is of value only if religious views may reveal 
 themselves and be illustrated in conduct. 
 
 33. In earlier times, the preservation of The ethical 
 
 potency of 
 
 the state, that is, of political independence martyrdom. 
 and civil liberty, was part of the high pur- 
 pose of war. Later, soldiers were replaced 
 by martyrs. For the study of the sacred 
 Scripture and the fulfilment of its most im- 
 portant commands Rome decreed the death
 
 40 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 penalty, and moral hero after hero incurred 
 it. With dauntless courage they faced 
 death, gladly sacrificing a life that was 
 worthless if made void of its only true 
 meaning. Indeed, they considered the su- 
 preme purpose of life fulfilled in this one 
 act its sacrifice for religion. Akiba ben 
 Joseph dying at the stake calls himself 
 happy, because he is permitted to execute 
 literally the command to " love the Lord 
 with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with 
 all thy might," for, he said, " with all thy 
 soul " means " even if thou must yield up 
 thy soul." To him love of God was not a 
 single command like others: it was the real 
 content of human life. To prove his love 
 he willingly gave life itself/ 
 
 The fact must never be lost sight of that 
 so far as the great mass of the people, the 
 Jewish people in particular, are concerned, 
 all law has from time immemorial been 
 taught as divine. In their consciousness 
 
 1 Befakhoth 6i b .
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 4 1 
 
 no difference exists between religious and 
 ethical duties. Now, law is a standard aim- 
 ing at the ideal shaping of life, and the self- 
 sacrifice of martyrs is the seal of their un- 
 conditional obedience to law. Therefore, 
 more than instruction by Word of mouth, 
 the example of martyrs serves as an eth- 
 ical spring of action. Such examples, 
 moreover, live constantly upon the lips and 
 in the hearts of men. Martyrs are " per- 
 petual augmenters of the empire " of eth- 
 ical idealism, of the kingdom of God on 
 earth. Thus the ethical elements in the 
 soul of the populace are enriched, and the 
 ethical convictions of the masses strength- 
 ened. 
 
 The soul and the convictions of the peo- 
 ple, in turn, are the sources of inspiration 
 to leaders, who expound the ideal content 
 of life by luminous thoughts, and by flam- 
 ing words perpetuate it from generation to 
 generation as a real and efficacious influ- 
 ence*
 
 42 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Jewish poetry 34- History is supplemented by poetry 
 
 characterized. . .. ~ . , . 
 
 poetry an ethi- as a source of moral edification and ethical 
 
 cal incentive. 
 
 incitement. Poetry enlarges our grasp of 
 life; whatever fills our souls, whatever 
 moves our hearts, it seizes upon, refines, 
 and clothes in noble forms. 
 
 Two fundamental principles and tenden- 
 cies must be distinguished in poetry. They 
 underlie the division of poetry into its two 
 great classes, and characterize the difference 
 between nations devoted to the one or the 
 other kind. In epic and dramatic poetry, 
 as in the plastic arts, the creation of a 
 second world, as it were, is the object in 
 view. Left unsatisfied by what the exper- 
 iences of life, in detail and in the aggre- 
 gate, in the present and as recorded in 
 history, offer as reality, the mind resorts to 
 a self-created second world. The Indo- 
 European genius, not content with the vast 
 natural world, with a knowledge of actual 
 events, casts about to conjure up other hap- 
 penings, other actors and characters, other
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 43 
 
 complexities, in short, such things as " no- 
 where and ne'er have been." 
 
 The Semitic peoples, especially the Jews, 
 are far different. Their poetry is almost 
 exclusively lyric-didactic, dealing, not with 
 the shapes of untrammeled fancy, not with 
 the images of an unreal world, but with 
 actual phenomena, with forms, characters, 
 acts, and religious movements of history. 
 Nor does it stop when it has clothed this 
 real world in chaste, aesthetic forms. It 
 pierces to its depths by elevated thought, 
 interpenetrates it with fresh-welling, stimu- 
 lating feelings, selects its noble elements for 
 impressive presentation, or emphasizes 
 them in a tone of warning and instruction. 
 
 Both sorts of poetry strive to rise above 
 the commonplace to the heights of the 
 ideal. Epic-dramatic poetry seeks the ideal 
 in forms bodied forth by fancy, unsubstan- 
 tial, illusory figures; lyric-didactic poetry 
 seeks and establishes it in the world of ac- 
 tuality and history.
 
 44 
 
 Legends oma- 35. As folk-poetry in the true sense of 
 
 mental not 
 
 architectural, the W orcl and as a union at the same time 
 of the two tendencies just characterized, we 
 may consider legends which embellish the 
 lives of historical personages with fictitious 
 particulars. The poetic instinct of the Jew- 
 ish people was inexhaustible in inventing 
 tales and traits of Biblical and Talmudic 
 heroes. In social converse when the day's 
 work was done, and by women at their 
 spinning wheels, as well as by Agadists 
 from the pulpits, these folk-tales were re- 
 peated and varied endlessly, tricked out 
 with anecdotes and witticisms, and occa- 
 sionally spiced with a dash of sarcasm, es- 
 pecially if wicked characters were held up 
 as warning examples, 
 
 The Midrash literature contains no artis- 
 tic, organic descriptions of characters like 
 the Homeric heroes, for instance. Jewish 
 legends, in other words, are not invented 
 biographies, but embellishments of real 
 biographies; they are ornamental, not archi-
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 45 
 
 tectural. But every legendary addition to 
 the edifice of history has ethical signifi- 
 cance. It would be absurd to speak of a 
 conscious purpose running through the 
 whole body of legendary anecdotes, Yet 
 they are more than idle, diverting fancies. 
 Their burden is affectionate devotion to the 
 Biblical heroes, joy in the contemplation of 
 noble lives, and scorn and abhorrence for 
 the villains of history. That which is im- 
 puted to the good or to the bad, that to 
 which greatest importance is attached, indi- 
 cates the moral convictions, the ideal, un- 
 derlying the fiction. A critical analysis of 
 the network of legends with their ramifica- 
 tions and variations enveloping every Bibli- 
 cal personage, would enable an investigator 
 who sets out to discover their ethical struc- 
 ture and formulate it in dogmatic state- 
 ments, to compile the most important chap- 
 ters of an ethical system. 1 
 
 1 Cotnp., for instance. Dr. B. Beer, Das Leben 
 Abrahams nach Auffassung der jiidischcn Sage. 
 Leipsic, 1859.
 
 46 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Upon pulpits and in the academies the 
 interpretation of fictitious sayings, acts, 
 and events, gave rise to deductions from 
 ethical fundamentals, to a more detailed 
 differentiation of ethical concepts.. A good 
 deed readily suggests a good word. New 
 ethical motives are pointed out, or are dis- 
 engaged from their connection with other 
 incentives to action. The makers of the 
 Midrash were masters in this department, 
 as they were in the art of abstracting a new 
 ethical thought from the realistic particulars 
 of a legend. They expressed it in a lucid 
 sentence, or .ingeniously attached it to a 
 Biblical verse, where it found literary lodg- 
 ment and length of life. 
 Besides law, S ?6. Another equally important source 
 
 history, and 
 
 TnsututSni of original ethical thoughts and far-reach- 
 
 produce ethical , , 1 , , , t , i 
 
 principles, ing instruction are the institutions of the 
 congregation and other societies, with 
 their statutes or regulations, whether trans- 
 mitted in writing or by oral tradition, for 
 when writing is least resorted to memory
 
 THE SOUR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 47 
 
 is most faithful (as Plato avers in Phadrus). 
 
 The European civilization of the second 
 half of our own century is distinguished for 
 a multitude of flourishing organizations. 
 Ethical purposes which have not yet been 
 assumed by the state, and which formerly 
 were wholly or partially neglected, are now 
 promoted with energy by independent soci- 
 eties imbued with the sacredness of the 
 ethical task. 
 
 These associations are an excellent index 
 to the degree and the breadth of the ethical 
 activity of our time, better perhaps than 
 contemporary text-books of ethics. It is, 
 therefore, interesting to note that they 
 flourished in Jewish congregations in very 
 early times. Civilized Europe became ac- 
 quainted with Free Soup Kitchens in the 
 middle of the nineteenth century. In the 
 Talmud we find minute regulations con- 
 cerning the duties and privileges connected 
 with the dual institution of Tamchui and 
 Kuppah. The one provided for the daily
 
 distribution of victuals among the poor; 
 the other, obviously intended for the 
 shamefaced poor, provided for the weekly 
 distribution of raw food supplies, 1 Holy 
 brotherhoods and societies for the aid of 
 the poor, the nursing of the sick, the cloth- 
 ing of the needy, the providing of dowries, 
 etc., were attached to all but the smallest 
 congregations, Above all, the Talmud 
 Torah associations were so zealous in the 
 preservation of the noblest heirlooms, in 
 maintaining the continuity of the spiritual 
 life, that even in the most oppressive cir- 
 cumstances Jewish illiteracy was rare. 
 The -TWO 37. Ethics is not an empiric science. 
 
 Boxes." Their 
 
 theirTu C 8 cess d ^ * s to teach, not how men acted, or do 
 act, but how they ought to act. But when, 
 as here, the object is to give an historical 
 presentation of what a nation, a school, etc., 
 regarded as the content of ethics, then 
 every sort of historical experience con- 
 nected with it must be considered. Even 
 
 1 Peah 8: 7, and elsewhere.
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 49 
 
 ordinary facts may become a source of in- 
 struction. One example will illustrate my 
 meaning. 
 
 The Berlin Jewish community has sup- 
 ported a society for the aid of mourners 
 (Mishan Abelim) for one hundred and fifty 
 years. Its object is to furnish assistance 
 to poor families exposed to want through 
 the death of a member, in view of the fact 
 that the religious law enjoins the cessation 
 of work during the days of mourning. Out 
 of deference to the sensibilities of the recip- 
 ients, the following arrangements have been 
 made : Two locked boxes are sent to every 
 house of mourning, alike of the rich and 
 the poor. Box No. i contains a sum in- 
 tended for the needy. It is accompanied 
 by its key in a sealed package and by a let- 
 ter requesting the recipient to open the box 
 and empty it. In proportion to his need, 
 he may retain the whole or part of its con- 
 tents. If he requires no assistance, he is 
 directed to put the whole sum into Box No.
 
 50 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 2. Besides, the well-to-do are requested to 
 add to the contents of Box No. 2 a contri- 
 bution over and above the amount trans- 
 ferred to it from Box No. I. Compliance 
 with this request enables the association to 
 accomplish its object. Box No. 2 remains 
 unopened for some time during its passage 
 from family to family, so that no one, not 
 even the directors of the society, can be 
 aware of the identity of givers and takers. 
 If our sole knowledge of the customs, 
 principles, and ethical attitude of a com- 
 munity in a distant land or in remote times 
 were the existence, administration, and suc- 
 cess of the " Two Boxes," it would suffice 
 to establish, beyond the shadow of a doubt, 
 the following ethical ideas: Kindliness 
 should be a principle of action. It should 
 express itself in granting aid to the needy, 
 that is, in charity. Charity should be exer- 
 cised magnanimously, in such a way that 
 the recipient remains unknown. Every 
 pathologic taint, all softening of the heart
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 5 I 
 
 by the sight of the sufferer, should be 
 avoided. Only the nobility and dignity of 
 the ideal law should influence the giver. 
 Again, charity should be exercised with 
 delicacy. The recipient should remain in 
 ignorance of the giver. Every possibility 
 of the patron's displaying condescension or 
 the client's feeling mortification should be 
 excluded. In general, when aid is ex- 
 tended through the agency of a society or 
 an almoner, he who gives and he who takes 
 are unknown to each other. Yet it may 
 happen that a director or an almoner may 
 feel inclined to play the role of patron. 
 Then the danger arises that partiality or 
 neglect may be shown, or mortification in- 
 flicted, according to the character of the 
 parties concerned. From the " Two 
 Boxes " the gift may be taken without a 
 pang, as it is offered impersonally and dis- 
 passionately, in obedience to the ethical 
 law. The institution is a striking proof of 
 the energetic impulse imparted to its found-
 
 ers by the idea of benevolence. In order 
 to practise charity safeguarded by delicacy, 
 they deliberated and devised a beautiful 
 plan. 
 
 Furthermore, a peculiarly ideal value at- 
 taches to the institution, inasmuch as it 
 embodies the highest ethical principle, 
 whose significance transcends that of any 
 single idea, therefore transcends that of the 
 idea of benevolence. Since the institution 
 provides for the impersonal exercise of 
 charity, for the suppression of the giver's 
 and the recipient's individuality, public 
 spirit alone is active in all givers and in all 
 recipients. The community acts as an ethi- 
 cal unit. By means of ethical activity and 
 only by means of and for the sake of ethical 
 activity, a spiritual union is effected, the 
 ethical communion of all concerned. 
 
 Finally, attention must be drawn to the 
 circumstance that the whole proceeding is 
 based upon a high degree of confidence 
 felt in the members of the community.
 
 THE SO UK CES OF JE WISH E THICS 5 3 
 
 None, it is assumed, will take needlessly, 
 every one will give according to his means. 
 Confidence of this kind is not absolutely a 
 virtue; it may indicate carelessness. At 
 this point ethics must resort to the teach- 
 ings of history concerning the facts of real 
 life. History will teach whether, from an 
 ethical point of view, confidence is legiti- 
 mate. The act of each individual, it is 
 true, can be judged by God alone, the pos- 
 sibility of knowing it having been resigned 
 voluntarily. But the prosperity of the in- 
 stitution of the " Two Boxes " in the ag- 
 gregate, proved by statistics since the intro- 
 duction of the plan, confirms the psycho- 
 logic opinion that confidence placed in all 
 and felt by all is one of the strongest and 
 purest impulses for good affecting the will 
 of man. In the present case the confidence 
 has been brilliantly justified. 
 
 38. Again, popular customs and usages customs and 
 
 usages evidences 
 
 that are not based upon a legal prescrip- 
 tion, and therefore are not subjects of eth-
 
 54 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ical instruction, may serve as evidence and 
 as producers of ethical views. 
 
 A rule which the Halachah regards as a 
 custom, not as a law, bids the Jew join di- 
 rectly to the completion of one religious 
 duty the fulfilment of a second. 1 For in- 
 stance, in the evening following the Day of 
 Atonement, at the end of twenty-four hours 
 passed in fasting and prayer, it is custom- 
 ary, immediately after breaking the fast, to 
 do something towards the erection of the 
 booth used during the Feast of Taberna- 
 cles, which occurs four days later. There 
 can be no more beautiful and, from the 
 point of view of the education of the young, 
 no more stimulating way of evincing devo- 
 tion to the Law and willingness to fulfil its 
 behests. 
 
 Schiller maintains that man's moral edu- 
 cation is perforce reached by the circuitous 
 way of the aesthetic sensibilities. A much 
 
 1 Based upon a free interpretation of Ps. 84: 8 and 
 upon the change of a promise into a requirement.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 5 5 
 
 sounder psychologic basis underlies the 
 pedagogic method employed by all pure 
 religions, especially by Judaism, of produ- 
 cing ethical convictions by means of sym- 
 bolic-religious acts. 1 
 
 39. In consulting experience it is im- xheideaisof 
 
 the best the 
 
 portant to pay heed to the soul-life, not of standard. 
 the majority, but of the best. Furthermore, 
 in the best, ideals, not deeds, are to be 
 coined by us into rules of conduct. Again, 
 to leave ideals merely to be inferred from 
 their realization is not enough; they must 
 be shown to have actually existed as ideals 
 in the soul of the agents. 
 
 40. No elaborate demonstration is need- The reverse of 
 
 morality a 
 
 ed to prove that all narratives, true and he- source of 
 
 ethical teaching. 
 
 titious; that history, anecdotes, Biblical 
 tales, and legends alike, bring out immoral 
 as well as moral aspects of life. Both aspects 
 are made sources of ethical teaching. 
 Beside elevating, inspiriting models stand 
 examples of baseness and impiety to ad- 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 8, p. 256.
 
 $6 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 monish and deter. The transcendent ideal 
 on the one side is opposed on the other by 
 the remorse, penitence, and contrition of 
 sinners aware of their sinfulness. In the 
 individual who by his actions assumes an 
 attitude of negation towards the public 
 spirit, who, in short, violates the law, 
 morality manifests itself as twinges of con- 
 science. As a rule, little is seen upon the 
 surface to indicate the throes suffered by 
 the moral spirit in consequence of negation 
 and wrong, although the offensive act was 
 positive, as the law violated is positive. 1 
 Remorse, peni- 4 J - Yet positive moral results of a most 
 their positive potent kind may follow the emotional ex- 
 
 results. 
 
 citement caused by violation of law. The 
 
 1 In the province of religion, therefore, contrition 
 is justly required to express itself in a positive form, 
 first, by a confession of sin (>1Tl), then, by repent- 
 ance, and finally, by particularly good works, self- 
 imposed sacrifices, balancing the sin, as it were. In 
 the province of ethics this idea is brought into 
 prominence only occasionally, in certain depart- 
 ments, as, for instance, in the penal law. Absolu- 
 tion, setting free from the guilt as well as the penal 
 consequences of sin, by means of " works of super- 
 erogation " is foreign to ethics and to Judaism.
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 57 
 
 penitential Psalms of the royal singer (Ps. 
 32, 51, etc.) testify to the access of power ac- 
 cruing to the principle of good from its ne- 
 glect. Therefore the Rabbis gave frequent 
 and greatly diversified expression to the 
 requirement of nmtpn, remorse, penitence, 
 and improvement, always connecting it 
 with positive good. 1 
 
 More than this : in the phrase, " repent- 
 ance and good deeds " ( o3UD &mo) nawn ), 
 repentance is riot merely ranked with good 
 deeds, but takes precedence of them. The 
 Rabbis here had in mind the common ex- 
 perience that man rises to fulfilment of the 
 law through its violation. Conscience is 
 rendered acute by wrong committed. 2 
 
 1 As a consolation for the loss of the expiatory 
 sacrifices, it is distinctly said: Repentance and con- 
 trition are equal to the whole sacrificial service 
 (Vayikra Kabbah, ch. 7). The same holds good of 
 the subjugation of an evil desire (Sotah 5 b and San- 
 hedrin 43 b ). 
 
 2 Therefore, the oldest codes (as the Ten Com- 
 mandments) put most laws into a negative form. 
 Comp. M. Lazarus, Leben der, Seele, ed. 3, vol. in, p. 
 377 seq.
 
 58 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Besides restoring serenity to the soul, 
 deep, honest, quickening remorse was ex- 
 pected to purge and heighten the moral 
 sentiment. Therefore, the repentant sinner 
 was rated higher than the guiltless, who 
 lack the experience which serves as a 
 gauge for the baseness of immorality and 
 the elevation of morality. 1 
 
 Even the 42. In fact, even the degraded, hard- 
 obdurate yields 
 
 ethical ened, unrepentant criminal may serve as 
 
 instruction. 
 
 the text of an instructive ethical discussion, 
 for the shaping influence of moral ideas 
 reveals itself in the rejection of the bad as 
 well as in the recognition of the good. 
 
 To sum up : whether the facts taught by 
 experience or the ethical situations created 
 by fancy be moral or the reverse, the spirit 
 of ethics proclaims the same teaching, 
 though it may vary as to form. It is clear 
 that the presence of immorality in no wise 
 disturbs the harmony of the moral theory 
 of life. 
 
 1 Berakhoth 34 b and Sanhedrin 99*.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 59 
 
 43. The inquiry into the nature and unity of state- 
 ment despite 
 
 trustworthiness of the sources becomes disagreement 
 
 among the 
 
 more serious when we take note of the in- source8 - 
 disputable fact that the teachings and pre- 
 scriptions drawn from them often seem to 
 differ from one another, sometimes, indeed, 
 to be contradictory. The historical and 
 psychologic explanation lies near at hand. 
 The dicta and the rules which are to be ar- 
 ranged into a system originated in different 
 times and with different individuals. But 
 this explanation leaves ethical and method- 
 ological difficulties unsolved. How is a 
 homogeneous and harmonious statement 
 of the ethics of Judaism to be reached in 
 face of the disagreement among teachings 
 and teachers? To show the solution of the 
 problem and the principle which underlies 
 it, and which will be followed as a guide in 
 this work, it is necessary to say somewhat 
 more concerning the nature of our sources. 
 
 44. It is well-known that, broadly Ta imudic tradi- 
 speaking, Taimudic wisdom was preserved criticism.
 
 60 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 for several centuries only by oral tradition. 
 When the hard times came, the fear that 
 the destructive agencies of dispersion and 
 persecution might jeopardize the continuity 
 of tradition urged the compilation of all 
 scattered and fragmentary records together 
 with the precious matter handed down 
 orally. The compilers were governed by 
 the pious desire to perpetuate everything. 
 Whatever could be brought together was 
 accepted and set down in writing. An ex- 
 cess of modesty precluded criticism of in- 
 herited treasures. They were not sifted; 
 nothing was rejected as below the standard. 
 The sages of early times were looked upon, 
 no doubt justly, as so much more represen- 
 tative than the compilers that no one pre- 
 sumed to object to an heirloom. Inade- 
 quacy was charged against the judgment 
 and understanding of the later authorities, 
 never against the material bequeathed by 
 the past. 1 
 
 1 This exaggerated reverence is expressed in the 
 sentence which has attained the currency of a pro-
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 6 1 
 45. Moreover, in the treatment of tradi- Excessive 
 
 harmonizing. 
 
 tions the long dominant method had been 
 to harmonize them. A contradiction be- 
 tween two Biblical verses, between two 
 Rabbis, or between a Rabbi and the Scrip- 
 tures, was at the outset repudiated, consid- 
 ered void. Either a reconciliation was 
 effected at once, or it was confidently held 
 out as a prospect. 
 
 Therefore it seemed not only permissible, 
 but obligatory, to perpetuate and transmit 
 differing and even contradictory views. 1 
 
 46. Later ethical literature shows plain- Historical 
 
 development 
 
 ly how historical development put into P*nf n g he 
 
 , i 1 , process. 
 
 operation a winnowing and eliminating 
 process, and brought about genuine har- 
 mony between contradictory views. 
 
 This was possible only because the prin- 
 ciples were immutable. The fundamentals 
 of the ethical view of life were never shaken. 
 
 verb: " If our forebears were angels, we are men; H 
 they were men, we are like asses." 
 
 1 So early a source as Eduyoth i: 4 illustrates why 
 a dissenting tradition is preserved.
 
 62 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 The elaboration of the moral doctrine gave 
 scope to exuberant individualism. In striv- 
 ing for ideal perfection and a more and 
 more extended and discriminating applica- 
 tion of principles, nicety of conscience and 
 a strong desire to act in conformity with 
 the moral law were re-enforced by acumen 
 and dialectic refinement. The principles, 
 however, remained unswervingly the same, 
 equally valid for all. 
 Later dis- 47. Uncritical as the original compila- 
 
 crimination. . ...... 
 
 tion was, so discriminating is the later liter- 
 ature. A just distinction is made between 
 doctrinal articles and what is marked by 
 personal or historical circumstances as an 
 incidental expression. In this way, toasts, 
 illustrations used for pedagogic purposes, 
 humorous hyperbole, ejaculations, and all 
 similar expressions were rejected. 
 Humor in the 48*. In connection with this the pres- 
 
 Talmud. Bibli- 
 cal expressions encc of humor in the Talmud must be re- 
 
 satincally 
 
 applied. f erre( j t m t h e strongest terms. It radiates 
 its refreshing influence in the academic halls
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 63 
 
 alike of Jabneh and of Pumbeditha and 
 Sura. Rabbah, it is reported, was in the 
 habit of beginning his discourses with a 
 jocular introduction. 1 And why should R. 
 Meir not spice the leisure of a journey by 
 indulging in a pun at the expense of mine 
 host? His name was Kidor (~nT3), where- 
 from R. Meir inferred that he was a rogue 
 (perhaps the hotel-bill had something to 
 do with the conclusion !), for the Scriptures 
 have it : Ki dor tahpukhoth (" a perverse 
 generation "). 2 This satiric use of a Bibli- 
 cal expression, incredible if it were not well- 
 attested, should serve as a caution against 
 a too serious weighing of every Talmudic 
 sentence. 
 
 In the great discussion on the treatment 
 of the Am ha-Arez (the rural population), 
 in which the men of Jabneh distinguished 
 themselves by their nobility and their clear 
 recognition of the necessity of division of 
 
 1 Pesachim 117*. 
 
 in *1 (Deut. 32:20). Yoma 83 b .
 
 64 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 labor as a civilizing factor, 1 there are pas- 
 sages that cannot be considered as any- 
 thing but jests, as student jokes. Only a 
 soul hounded by persecution could harbor 
 the narrow pedantry that invests them 
 with serious meaning or Halachic signifi- 
 cance. 2 
 scale of 48 b . Accordingly, the traditional dicta 
 
 expressions. 
 
 range, on the one hand, from everybody's 
 thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge, which, 
 being the expression of the public spirit, 
 were current as household words, 3 to the 
 
 1 Their maxim was (Berakhoth i7 a ): "I am a be- 
 ing created by God, and he is a being created by 
 God. I have my trade in town, he has his on the 
 field. I rise early for my work, he rises early for 
 his (= I am industrious, and he is industrious). As 
 he does not boast of his (worldly, material) occupa- 
 tion, so I may not boast of my (intellectual) occupa- 
 tion. If you think that I accomplish much, and he 
 accomplishes little, remember what we have learned: 
 It matters not whether a man accomplishes much 
 or little, if only his soul is directed heavenward (to 
 the ideal)." 
 
 2 See Appendix No. 9, p. 256. 
 
 3 As, for instance, xn Nma^DI KJH (" the law of 
 the land is law ").
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 65 
 
 quotation, on the other hand, of some for- 
 gotten opinion, advanced by an individual, 
 on a certain occasion, in a given circle, and 
 perhaps regarded at the time as peculiar. 
 There follows necessarily a scale of values, 
 graded by history and to be graded in a 
 systematic statement. The clue to a just 
 estimate can be derived from a considera- 
 tion of the proverbs of all nations. As they 
 often contradict each other, so, even among 
 races of the highest moral standard, they 
 are apt to be harsh not a strange circum- 
 stance in view of the fact that most of them 
 originated in an early period of deficient 
 moral development. Overrating of the 
 useful, encouragement of self-interest, pain- 
 ful reprisals, are common. If, then, the 
 moral character of a nation is to be judged 
 by its proverbs, only the best of them may 
 go to form the verdict, only such as may be 
 considered the product of gradual ethical 
 growth. 
 
 49. A paragraph must be devoted to the
 
 66 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Their value and words wrung from the soul by the agony 
 
 their futility. . .... 
 
 Historical of persecution, by crying injustice, by sor- 
 row and grief over violence and oppression. 
 How often Simon ben Yochai's passionate 
 outburst : " Kill even the best of the 
 heathen ! " has been cast up as a reproach ! 
 The critics forget that Simon had been bit- 
 terly persecuted by the Romans. He had 
 been forced to spend thirteen joyless, in- 
 active years in hiding in a cave, for the 
 crime of having read and taught the Scrip- 
 tures nothing more. The Germans and 
 the French of this century are nations of 
 high ethical standing, yet the ebullitions of 
 rage and revenge during the Napoleonic 
 Wars and the War of 1870 make Ben 
 Yochai's cry of pain seem unimpassioned 
 by comparison. Wars, especially guerrilla 
 warfare, and wicked maladministration by 
 hostile rulers brutalize the consciences of 
 the sufferers. Immoderate, despairing rage 
 must be met understandingly, in the spirit 
 of the Talmudic principle : " No one is re-
 
 sponsible for words extorted by pain " 
 (of persecution). 1 They should not be 
 glossed over nor excused. As little may 
 they be set down to the discredit of the 
 nation or the speakers as their sober 
 opinions. 
 
 It would be at once foolish and unjust 
 to cite as principles of German and French 
 ethics the ireful utterances of the noblest 
 of the Germans in 1807 or of the French 
 in 1870. Likewise, Simon ben Yochai, one 
 of the most enlightened men of his time, 
 was surely far from desiring to formulate 
 as a doctrine the hard word into which the 
 bitter passion of his woe emptied itself/ 
 The originators of such utterances should 
 be accorded justice, though the utterances 
 themselves should not be allowed to escape 
 fair criticism. The narrowness of thorough- 
 going apologetes is sometimes as disastrous 
 to the recognition of truth as the blindness 
 and equivocation of fanatic foes. 
 
 1 Baba Bathra i6 b . ' See Appendix No. 10, p. 261.
 
 68 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Ethical conyic- 50. The most important lesson learnt 
 
 tion discernible 
 
 even in passion. an( j taught by ethics in connection with the 
 record of frenzied outbursts is that the 
 ethical view of life may assert itself even in 
 such reprehensible extremes of passion. 
 The pity of it is that a sickly, poisonous par- 
 asite battens upon the root of a healthy, 
 legitimate idea. Patriotism, heightened 
 perchance by an exaggerated sense of the 
 right of retaliation, and both deluded as to 
 the limits of their ethical justification, over- 
 grows and stifles the other moral ideas. It 
 is meet to praise the fire of patriotism, only 
 it should never be permitted to spread so 
 far as to consume other moral ideas. 1 
 Every age has 51. Turning to doctrinal utterances 
 
 its own 
 
 authority. p rO per, we must admit without reservation 
 that, individualistic as they are, their value 
 is unequal. To elaborate them into an har- 
 monious system of ethics it is above all 
 necessary to keep in mind the Rabbinical 
 principle, that the teacher of every age (in 
 
 1 See Appendix No. n, p. 265.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 69 
 
 theoretic, as the judge in practical ques- 
 tions) has the right and the duty, without 
 prejudice to tradition, to decide a mooted 
 point according to his understanding and 
 his conscience. In many forms the thought 
 re-appears that the authority of every age 
 must be upheld. A prophylactic was thus 
 provided against the inertia of the teachers 
 and the insubordination and litigiousness 
 of the laity, and on the other hand, vigor of 
 conscientious thought was fostered. This 
 principle is the basis of the prohibition to 
 reduce traditional decisions and explana- 
 tions to writing, which was observed in the 
 epoch, critical for Judaism, before and after 
 the fall of the state and the Temple. Nor 
 is this Rabbinical principle affected by the 
 discussion, philological and historical, 
 which probabjy, with our present sources, 
 will never be decided to the satisfaction of 
 all as to when and in what parts the 
 Mishnah was first written down, for even 
 laws supposed to be derived direct from
 
 70 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Sinai ( 3"o^n ) may be called into ques- 
 tion. 1 
 
 Many arguments, witty and wise, are ad- 
 duced to prove this fundamental principle 
 of Rabbinism a Biblical teaching. For in- 
 stance: "In Deuteronomy 17:9 it is said: 
 ' Thou shalt come . . . unto the judge that 
 shall be in those days and inquire.' Can a 
 man possibly go to a judge not of his 
 days? " The wording is said to be pe- 
 culiar, in order to indicate that the teacher 
 of a given time is clothed with authority. 2 
 Again, the seventy elders appointed by 
 Moses as his assistants were not enumer- 
 ated by name, so that they might not be 
 cited as authorities. Everybody is ex- 
 pected to draw truth from the original 
 sources, by the exertion of his own strength 
 and at his own peril. 
 Transformation 52. The Talmud makes distinct refer- 
 
 of a law often 
 
 its preservation. ence t o th e fact that later Prophets contra- 
 
 1 See Responses of Chawoth Yair, No. 192. 
 
 2 See Rosh ha-Shanah 2$ b .
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS ^ \ 
 
 dieted Mosaic words, and substituted their 
 own thoughts. 1 The principle stated by R. 
 Simon ben Lakish, that " sometimes to an- 
 nul a law is to establish it," was properly 
 adopted. Reform a new conception 
 often furnishes the real justification for a 
 law which, in its earlier shape, has dimin- 
 ished in value, has become irrelevant and 
 inexpedient. Reform, therefore, is pre- 
 eminently conservative. 2 
 
 53. The almost boundless esteem in Tradition a guide, 
 
 not a fetter. 
 
 which tradition was held was supplemented 
 by the distinct feeling that it was to guide 
 conscience, not fetter it; whet the mind, not 
 blunt it. This view found expression in 
 the clear-cut rule : " A decision depends, 
 not upon the age of the teacher, but upon 
 
 1 Makkoth 24*. 
 
 2 Menachoth 99* and b . That this is the true meaning 
 of the Talmud words, in spite of Rashi's disinclination 
 to accept it, appears from the opposition between 
 n^lti^ an( l m < lD > - The former cannot mean " in- 
 terruption of study," because the second clause can- 
 not possibly make sense if miD" 1 is taken as " occu- 
 pation with the Law." Rashi himself has subverted 
 the very Tn> (" foundation ").
 
 72 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 his arguments." Reverence for the hoary 
 head as enjoined in the Bible was a prime 
 virtue in the Rabbinical world. Yet, in the 
 establishment of truth, arguments are 
 prized above everything. And what holds 
 of the teachers, is valid of the teachings: 
 not their age, their truth must be proved. 
 Traditionalism 54. With reference to this question the 
 
 and rationalism. 
 
 Hiiiei's Prosbui. Judaism of the past presents two doctrinal 
 opinions, in fact, is divided into two oppos- 
 ing tendencies. Let us call the one tra- 
 ditionalism, the other rationalism. But the 
 latter is to be taken in a most restricted 
 sense, and is as consistently conservative as 
 its antagonistic trend of thought. 
 
 Traditionalism teaches and accepts noth- 
 ing, unless it has been handed down from 
 the past. For it a doctrine requires no 
 justification beyond the fact of its having 
 been so handed down. 
 
 The rationalistic attitude demands a rea- 
 son for every doctrine, in other words, de- 
 
 1 Baba Bathra I42 b .
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 73 
 
 mands proof of its truth or validity, either 
 quoted from Scripture or reached by rea- 
 son, that is, derived logically from another 
 law or from the reasons for the other law. 
 Such a course admits of real progress in 
 law-making, of positive development; even 
 new laws may arise. In fact, new ordi- 
 nances to serve some purpose of ethical 
 fitness or keep a practical condition within 
 legal bounds can and should be framed in 
 the spirit of the old laws. This method, 
 consciously pursued since Hillel's time, was 
 primarily calculated to apply the spirit of 
 old laws to completely transformed or new- 
 ly arisen conditions in social life and in 
 commerce. Its scope was enlarged to in- 
 clude ordinances which abrogated a distinct 
 Biblical law, or sanctioned its evasion, in 
 order to insure the fulfilment of its spirit 
 and purpose. 
 
 Hillel's Prosbul is an illustration in 
 point. 1 The sages of the time could neither 
 
 1 Prosbul was a document framed at court by a
 
 74 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 disregard recent momentous conditions of 
 commerce not allowed for under the old 
 law, nor abandon the situation to arbitrary 
 lawlessness. They therefore accepted a 
 solution which, though contradictory to the 
 letter of the law, rendered certain the exe- 
 cution of its spirit, namely, the promotion 
 of a commercial credit system in the inter- 
 est of the needy. 
 Traditionalism 55. Traditionalism appeals to and is 
 
 characterized. 
 
 its passivity, based upon memory. Rationalism demands 
 logical exercise of the mind and refinement 
 of conscience. In the Talmudic writings 
 traditionalism, though sometimes satirized, 1 
 is more frequently praised. It aspires to 
 
 creditor and attested by witnesses before the begin- 
 ning of a year of release. It recited that the ordi- 
 nance releasing debtors from payment (Deut. 15:2) 
 does not apply to the creditor named therein, and 
 that he reserves the right to collect the debt. The 
 exhortation in Deuteronomy 15:9 could not be 
 counted upon to influence capitalists in times of 
 growing commercial activity based upon credit. To 
 prevent the obstruction of commerce to the detri- 
 ment of the poor, a legal expedient had to be in- 
 vented. 1 Sukkah 28 a .
 
 THE SOUR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 7 5 
 
 and possesses a quality held in high and 
 general esteem. The traditionalist is abso- 
 lutely sure about his teachings : " I " have 
 heard it from my teacher," or " I have not 
 heard it " that is final. No need for anx- 
 ious seeking, for intellectual striving ! The 
 conflict of ideas, the battle of arguments, is 
 repudiated. There is no hesitation, no 
 doubt; on the other hand, no progress, no 
 creation. 1 Naturally, grievous embarrass- 
 ment was the portion of the traditionalist 
 in the presence of contradictory traditions, 
 of which there was no lack. His invulnera- 
 bility was imperiled. One of the most 
 unfortunate expedients in such a case was 
 decision according to the number of those 
 to whom the tradition could be traced. 2 At 
 first glance it might seem that traditional- 
 ism is a result of modesty. But closer ex- 
 amination reveals the fact, confirmed by his- 
 tory, that oftener its sources are pride and 
 greed of power. 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 12, p. 268. 
 
 2 See Appendix No. 13, p. 271.
 
 76 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Ethics requires 56. The decision of theological ques- 
 
 research. Variety 
 
 of practices (ions in view of the two tendencies of Tew- 
 
 compatible with J 
 
 torn e!Mcs f ish thought does not concern us here. With 
 regard to the science of ethics, however, 
 and the relation of Rabbinism to it, no 
 doubt can arise. We shall see later, in dis- 
 cussing the real nature and essence of the 
 ethical, that it requires, as its basis, intellec- 
 tual activity, clear insight, and a quick con- 
 science. 
 
 It is obvious that many details may be 
 left to successive generations and single 
 persons without detriment to ethics, pure 
 or applied. As it is, they spring from indi- 
 vidual views and circumstances. They af- 
 fect only the practical issues of life, which 
 may vary, though the teaching of ethics 
 be uniform. For instance, R. Mathias 
 teaches : " Be the tail among lions rather 
 than the head among foxes." l In the Jeru- 
 salem Talmud, the opposite, " Be the head 
 among foxes rather than the tail among 
 
 1 Aboth 4: 15.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 77 
 
 lions," is designated as a proverb, 1 and the 
 opposition between the teaching and the 
 current saying is expressly noted. 
 
 57. The required and actually existing solution of the 
 
 problem: multi- 
 Unity of the ethical, then, is opposed by a p] icit y of moral 
 
 * ideas. 
 
 variety of teachings and commands (as, for 
 instance, in regard to conduct towards our 
 fellow-men in given cases, our attitude 
 towards events and their consequences). 
 The solution of the problem thus presented 
 lies in the fact that morality manifests itself 
 in a multiplicity of ideas, some of which 
 exclude all others when applied to a stated 
 case, or, indeed, in the definition of a given 
 doctrine. For example, justice and mercy, 
 severity and mildness, assert themselves at 
 one and the same time as ideal require- 
 ments. In each generation and within 
 
 1 Sanhedrin 4: 10. The proverb is mere worldly 
 wisdom, the child of practical sense. The mind of 
 the Rabbi, on the other hand, is fixed upon the 
 ethical purpose. He, therefore, desires, above all, 
 association with his superiors in however modest a 
 capacity; the proverb gives preference to leadership, 
 though exercised among inferiors.
 
 78 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 every sphere, practical life works out a 
 standard, 1 but all human provinces and hu- 
 manity as a whole look to ethics for their 
 harmonious unification. It is for ethics to 
 mete out to every idea its just boundaries, 
 determine its co-ordination with others, de- 
 cide cases of conflicting duties, and set 
 doubting consciences at rest, 
 psychologic 58. From the point of view of the his- 
 
 differences 
 
 co-existent tory and development of the science of 
 
 with ethical 
 
 Thc^m^ ethics, it is extremely instructive to note 
 
 Arez question a .,.-... 
 
 case in point, the forms assumed by this conflict of ideas 
 how, in different individuals of equal ele- 
 vation and purity of motive, it renews itself, 
 or is adjusted under the influence, now of 
 the changing conditions of life, now of ad- 
 vancing culture. 
 
 One illustration will suffice to make this 
 
 1 The state, for example, or a religious brother- 
 hood, or communal and other associations, must 
 each make the decisions affecting its welfare. With 
 equal purity of ethical conviction, they are bound 
 to differ in action, because their aims and the means 
 at their command are not the same.
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 79 
 
 plain. We are in possession of opinions ' 
 diametrically opposed to each other con- 
 cerning the treatment of the so-called 
 Am ha-Arez, that is, of the mass of the rural 
 population brutalized by guerrilla warfare, 
 which, as we know, works more moral and 
 spiritual mischief than any other sort. This 
 frank disagreement indicates no ethical op- 
 position, nor even a gradation of moral 
 views, only a psychologic difference of opin- 
 ion as to the results to be expected. The 
 one sage hopes; the other despairs. The 
 one urges condescension towards the base 
 and their patient regeneration; the other in- 
 sists, for the safeguarding of morality, upon 
 the separation of the pure from the impure, 
 the docile from the intractable. The one 
 devotes himself to the rescue of whatever 
 souls can be saved, and, if he fails, does his 
 duty in the service of his kind; the other 
 strives to rescue the cause, the moral idea, 
 and therefore abandons individuals presum- 
 
 1 See I48 3 and Appendix thereto.
 
 80 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ably beyond human salvation. The one 
 provides for the good, and thus violates 
 goodness itself; the other takes pity on the 
 wretched, and attempts to plant in them 
 the seeds of his own goodness. Success 
 .itself cannot decide the question finally. 
 Though all efforts to raise the vile, to loose 
 the bonds of iniquity, be unavailing, yet 
 loving devotion, unselfish aspiration, are 
 themselves noble achievements. 
 Multiplicity of 59. Every being conscious of moral ob- 
 
 motives and the 
 
 the solution of the problem 
 
 living becomes 1 ., i 1,1 r i i * 
 
 objective only in the depths of his own personality. 
 
 teaching. 
 
 Inasmuch as men, despite historically en- 
 trenched and generally accepted standards, 
 must put forth constant effort to rise to 
 their height, such conflicts as the above will 
 present an ever new problem to the indi- 
 vidual. The question will recur again and 
 again : shall justice prevail or love, zeal or 
 meekness, care of the good or pity for the 
 wretched? Daily and everywhere the di- 
 lemma weighs upon us. In churches and in
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 8 1 
 
 synagogues, in the pulpit and on the plat- 
 form, religion and morality raise their high- 
 est ideals. But from the chambers of parlia- 
 ment and the halls of justice, as from every 
 house and cabin, issue the peremptory de- 
 mands of government and social order, of 
 all sorts of expediencies and utilities, and 
 of the necessities that constitute the actual 
 life of individuals and communities. 
 
 Here the power of personality asserts it- 
 self triumphantly. The inner life of some 
 man is stirred powerfully by the moral idea, 
 and his decision becomes a norm for the 
 public at large. His subjective living is 
 transformed into objective teaching. Be- 
 fore the purged and purified law the prob- 
 lem vanishes. In fact and in spirit it is 
 solved. It has no place upon the higher 
 plane of morality to which the soul has 
 mounted. 
 
 60. In reviewing the chief ideas con- Jewish ethics 
 
 derived only 
 
 cerning the sources to be consulted for a from the spirit 
 
 of Judaism as 
 
 systematic statement of the ethics of Juda- awhole -
 
 82 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ism, we must emphasize the circumstance 
 that we derive the Jewish ethical view, its 
 tendency and elevation, from the spirit of 
 the literature as a whole, rather than from 
 single formal doctrines. Of our subject it 
 is peculiarly true, that the details of a 
 written tradition are intelligible only 
 through the whole. Every member of a 
 living organism depends for its health and 
 function upon the whole more than the 
 whole depends upon each separate organ. 
 So the true bearing of single features of 
 Jewish literature can be learned only from 
 their relation to the whole. The spirit 
 that permeates, envelopes, and animates 
 single utterances must be thoroughly com- 
 prehended. It is the gauge and inter- 
 preter of their ethical value. He who would 
 merely place certain dicta of the Bible and 
 the Talmud alongside of equivalent moral 
 principles widely accepted among modern 
 civilized peoples (or formulated in some 
 system), is far removed from the legit-
 
 THE SOUR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 8 3 
 
 imate aim of a presentation of the ethics of 
 Judaism; he is not even on the road to it. 
 The facts of our case reveal a good his- 
 torical and psychologic reason for this. In 
 Rabbinical literature as in the Biblical writ- 
 ings, convictions, deep-seated motives, con- 
 duct, rarely present themselves to us nor, 
 indeed, did they to the authors through 
 the medium of introspective reflection. The 
 vitality of a tree resides out of sight in its 
 fibrous rootlets, and the sources of a spring 
 are hidden underground; so, with the Rab- 
 bis, the prime motive of action and the con- 
 sciousness of aim withdrew from the publi- 
 city of definition. 
 
 Much of what sprang from Jewish soil, 
 and was of the essence of Jewish life and 
 conviction did not appear in the form of 
 logically framed thoughts, certainly not in 
 the form of an orderly, systematic state- 
 ment. If it was conceived as a thought, it 
 did not secure expression in clear, precise 
 terms, in scientific language. Sometimes
 
 84 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 it was a spiritual experience; sometimes it 
 assumed shape in an act which was re- 
 ported; again, an allegory, a legend, an allu- 
 sion to a Biblical verse or narrative took the 
 place of plain and simple teaching. In 
 short, the fundamental ethical view was 
 more inclusive, more profound and clear, 
 than the notions developed under it or than 
 its detailed, logical application to practical 
 conduct. Therefore, the fundamental view 
 does not attain to pithy, scientific ex- 
 pression. 1 
 
 1 This characteristic of the Rabbinical mind is the 
 less surprising as Eucken discriminatingly points out 
 the same in Kant, past master in philosophic analy- 
 sis. Kant " does not attain to a clear, comprehensive 
 notion of man's being. Though Kant deserves the 
 greatest credit for his definition of such ideas as 
 personality, character, deed, etc.; though he was the 
 first to turn the light of scientific knowledge upon 
 them; yet he by no means brings this about by way 
 of philosophic abstraction. Rather the general for- 
 mula is supplemented by a greater wealth of original 
 inductions. But if the fundamental view is more 
 comprehensive than the single notions, it naturally 
 cannot attain to full expression through them." 
 (See Die Lcbcnsanschauung grosser Denker. Leipsic, 
 1890. P. 455-)
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 85 
 6 1. That untiring, varied elaboration of Lack of scientific 
 
 system. Causes. 
 
 the subject of ethics, which was carried on 
 with acumen and passionate devotion, 
 should co-exist with a method absolutely 
 lacking in ordinary scientific system and 
 logical consecutiveness l this, too, has an 
 historical explanation. First, the provis- 
 ions of the most ancient legislation de- 
 manded simply action (or refraining from 
 action). The moral impulse, the detail of 
 conviction specially involved in a given law, 
 in short, the motive, was stated, if at all, 
 only in the form of a general moral idea 
 (as, " ye shall be holy, for I am holy," and 
 similar reasons). Again, the Jewish reli- 
 gion covered life with a network of sym- 
 bolic actions, which present the elevated 
 moral view of life in the form of a concrete 
 illustration, or typify it as a psychologic 
 influence. Thus the need of an explicit 
 statement was felt neither in religion nor 
 in the sphere of moral acts and the moral 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 14. p. 273.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 views underlying the acts. It is indisput- 
 able that this method of teaching morality 
 leaves the ideal import of the doctrine in- 
 tact, and from the point of view of the stim- 
 ulation of the will is preferable to logical 
 analysis. Therefore the spirit of Rabbin- 
 ism rested satisfied, and was able to dis- 
 pense with scientific system. 
 Doubt and criti- 62. Another factor of great importance 
 
 cism foreign to 
 
 the Ra^i enters into the case. Scientific investigation 
 results from doubt and criticism. To the 
 Jewish mind all moral commands were at 
 the same time religious, that is, divine com- 
 mands. No doubt could arise concerning 
 the meaning of the laws in general and the 
 conviction underlying them, and criticism 
 would have been out 'of place. Now, as 
 the ethical in its broad outlines and inner- 
 most reason was unalterably fixed, it was 
 felt that an explanation of the specific im- 
 port of single laws and their logical deriva- 
 tion might be dispensed with. The cer- 
 tainty of obedience was thus heightened
 
 to the prejudice of clearness and definite- 
 ness of knowledge. 1 
 
 63. However, all Talmudic authors, es- The universal 
 
 derived from the 
 
 pecially the earlier ones (of the Mishnah, individual, 
 the Tosefta, and the Talmudic Midrashim), 
 permeated and governed as they are by the 
 spirit of Jewish literature and tradition, are 
 masters and models in deducing the univer- . 
 sal from the individual, the hidden from the 
 patent, the essence from the form. 2 
 
 1 Hence, in later times, less profound, if more 
 zealous, spirits went so far as to brand inquiry into 
 the specific reasons for a certain law as heretical (for 
 instance, in the famous and notorious Maimunist 
 controversy). Tracing a law to its reasons (K>m 
 N~IT1 nOtfD, "seek the reason of what is written") 
 was debated by the Tannaites in the Talmud, but 
 they had in mind chiefly its practical bearing upon 
 the interpretation of the law. 
 
 2 Comp. Michael Sachs, Beitrdge sur Sprach- und 
 Alterthumsforschung, Berlin, 1854, vol. u, p. 135. 
 " The narrative of antiquity becomes prophecy, the 
 poetry of later times retrospective symbolism." 
 Therefore, " the fathers are the feet of God's 
 throne"; for, according to Sachs' excellent inter- 
 pretation of these words, " through the Patriarchs, 
 knowledge of God and self-consecration to God es- 
 tablished a new realm of the higher life in this world.
 
 88 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 iiuie for the use 64. In the study and application of Tal- 
 
 of Talmudic 
 
 TiveTuth bJ not mu dic wisdom, some rule of guidance must 
 
 individual i i i T 11 
 
 license, be adopted, in every epoch, but especi- 
 ally in later times, even in the Gaonic and 
 its related literature, the Midrash was often 
 cultivated merely as a stimulating, pleas- 
 urable pursuit. By the side of research 
 which disclosed the true ethical bearing of 
 tradition, it indulged in arbitrary interpre- 
 tations, conceits, and ingenious witticisms. 
 It becomes our duty, therefore, to disen- 
 tangle what to the best of our belief and 
 knowledge is the ultimate principle, the 
 actual, genuine view of life. The Rabbis, 
 particularly the writers on religious and 
 ethical subjects, should certainly not serve 
 us as models when they depart from his- 
 toric, objective truth. 1 Though always in 
 
 . . . The wondrous past is mirrored in every word 
 [of the Song of Songs according to Midrashic inter- 
 pretation], and fanciful, arbitrary explanations and 
 paraphrases burst asunder the connecting chain by 
 enlarging every link to an independent, dispropor- 
 tionately large circle." 
 1 See Appendix No. 15, p. 279.
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 89 
 
 good faith and with the best intentions, yet 
 with unbridled arbitrariness and often with 
 full consciousness of their act, they carry 
 their own thoughts into the traditional 
 (Biblical and Talmudical) words. It is 
 true that, in treating of the ethical concep- 
 tion of life, they hold fast, with extremely 
 few exceptions, 1 to the fundamental view, 
 to the generally accepted attitude, the ulti- 
 mate principle, and the highest aim. 
 Throughout the wide domain of their liter- 
 ary and intellectual effort, the historical 
 continuity of the universal spirit and its 
 oneness are so admirably maintained that, 
 despite devotional conceits and pious fan- 
 cies, even the mystical longing of the Kab- 
 balah can scarcely withdraw from its unify- 
 ing influence. On the other hand, original 
 thoughts, because they are held to be truth, 
 are unhesitatingly represented as tradi- 
 tional. They are artificially expounded as 
 
 1 As, for instance, the Zohar, and even Bachya ibn 
 Pakuda and other mystics.
 
 90 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the meaning of some Bible verse, even if to 
 do so it be necessary to wrest the verse from 
 its context. When all other tricks of the 
 art of harmonizing fail, the wording is al- 
 most imperceptibly changed, perhaps by 
 the addition of a long-suffering particle. 1 
 Such artifices must be rigidly excluded in 
 making a scientific statement of traditional 
 ideas, and a plain distinction must be drawn 
 between one's own subjective thoughts and 
 
 1 Only two examples shall be cited to illustrate 
 how, with the help of fanciful construing and modi- 
 fying, original thoughts of fundamental import, 
 therefore of the highest scientific value, are joined 
 to Biblical words of simple, direct meaning. By a 
 figurative interpretation of Vfil^VD and iTUX. the 
 verse in Amos (9:6), "That buildeth in the heavens 
 his steps, and hath founded his vault over the earth," 
 gives rise to the moral thought that the majesty of 
 God reveals itself only when men are joined in one 
 union. Vayikra Kabbah, ch. 30. See Appendix No. 
 16, p. 281. 
 
 In Aboth 6:2, the simple assertion in the Bible 
 that the Ten Commandments were graven upon the 
 stone tablets suggests, by the change of D1"in 
 (" graven ") into miTI (" freedom "), the exalted 
 idea that man becomes truly free only through the 
 moral law.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 9 1 
 
 the objective, existing material. Our sole 
 duty is to superimpose the form, the scien- 
 tific and linguistic expression. The content 
 must be derived from tradition alone. The 
 skill in philological interpretation and 
 assimilation and the modesty that waives 
 recognition of originality may call forth 
 praise but not imitation. Our scientific 
 task turns neither upon ingenious art nor 
 upon the moral excellence of modesty, but 
 solely and alone upon the investigation of 
 objective, historic truth. 
 
 65. In agreement with the above rule The generally 
 
 . . accepted versus 
 
 determining our attitude towards the ethi- the original 
 
 meaning of 
 
 cal literature, another should be observed, sayings - 
 which at first might seem contradictory to 
 it. A number of expressions used in the 
 Bible and by the. Talmud sages are known 
 to have originated on definite, historical 
 occasions. 1 Accordingly, they had a defi- 
 nite, restricted meaning. 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 17, p. 282.
 
 92 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 In many cases such expressions were 
 taken literally as they stood, as detached 
 sentences, in their widest possible meaning, 
 and so perpetuated themselves for a thou- 
 sand years and more. The historical occa- 
 sion in connection with which the words 
 first appeared was forgotten or disregarded. 
 As sources of instruction for us such sen- 
 tences must be taken in their general ac- 
 ceptation. Not the original, special mean- 
 ing, but the meaning that acquired cur- 
 rency in the course of time is valid for us. 
 Our concern is not with the thought that 
 was, or should have been, suggested by the 
 words in the first place, but with the 
 thought they actually did suggest during 
 centuries. One example follows. Rabban 
 Gamaliel announced: He who will not 
 show his colors, that is (most probably), 
 will not declare himself publicly an ad- 
 herent either of Hillells party or of Sham- 
 mai's, may not come into the academy. 
 Every one was to be " the same within and
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 93 
 
 without" (raa iDin). 1 This expression 
 later became proverbial. The idea of 
 truthfulness was as old as Biblical times. 
 What one thinks and only what one thinks 
 should be spoken. It is sinful to mislead, 
 to dissemble, to flatter with false speech. 
 One may not act with a double or a divided 
 heart. Later, R. Gamaliel's pithy words 
 acquired a general meaning bearing no ref- 
 erence to, nor even a reminder of, the occa- 
 sion upon which they originated. 2 Inner 
 conviction and outward action should agree 
 with each other : I-QD I3in ! The brevity 
 of the saying was a recommendation. 
 Mouth caught it from mouth, generation 
 from generation. It became a pregnant 
 expression for the general idea of truthful- 
 ness, the battle-cry in the conflict between 
 being and seeming. 3 
 
 66. The last resort, however, should be, 
 
 1 Berakhoth 28 a . 
 
 2 For instance, the expression is used in connec- 
 tion with another matter by Rabbah in Yoma 72 b . 
 
 3 See Appendix No. 18, p. 283.
 
 94 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ultimate source not to the spirit pervading the literature, 
 
 the spirit of 
 
 the people. h u t O ^ e S pi r it animating: the race and the 
 
 Public ethical 
 
 ess " religious brotherhood. The literature is 
 itself but the outpouring of the people's 
 heart, and a formal statement of the ethics 
 of Judaism must draw its substance from 
 the same source, from the innermost es- 
 sence of the people's spirit, noting, at the 
 same time, its development in the course 
 of generations. The task is to watch the 
 faintest stirrings of the public conscious- 
 ness, to apprehend with delicately trained 
 senses the imponderable elements of the 
 ethical spirit, to give word and tangible 
 shape to whatever shadowy thought or 
 ideal longing moves the heart of the people. 
 Task of the 67. The real task of ethical science is to 
 
 science of ethics. , , . . .. , . , 
 
 The conscience preserve the living source of moral judg- 
 
 of the people 
 
 vested with m ent fresh and limpid; deepening, purify- 
 
 legislative * 
 
 >nty - ing and protecting it. The secret must be 
 laid bare, the dark illumined, the murky 
 cleared, the consecutiveness of what seems 
 partially contradictory demonstrated. To
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 9 5 
 
 accomplish this the soul of the people must 
 be made the object of investigation, so that 
 science may hold up a faithful mirror to it. 
 
 Such taking account of the public ethical 
 consciousness is in harmony with Rabbini- 
 cal views. The rule of the Rabbis before 
 the issue of certain ordinances : " Look 
 abroad and see what the custom of the peo- 
 ple is," ' is not applicable here. It probably 
 had reference chiefly to gaining insight into 
 practical needs and to the consideration of 
 peremptory expedients. But the general 
 principle, " Custom and usage developed 
 in Israel (naturally on the basis of the law) 
 are rules of law," 2 proves that the ethical 
 conscience of the people was regarded as a 
 source of legislative authority. 
 
 68. Ethical science and the Rabbis have The peculiar 
 
 qualification of 
 
 good reason to consider the public con- the Jewish race, 
 sciousness of the Jews, more than that of 
 
 1 -an KIDB *D nn DID- Berakhoth 45*. 
 
 2 See Weiss, Geschichte der Tradition, u, p. 68, and 
 elsewhere; also V't'VD (R- Solomon Luria) in n''1t? 
 No. 63, andLy"^' on Baba Kamma, ch. x, No. 42.
 
 96 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 any other nation of antiquity, as the source 
 of ethical concepts. Historical facts justify 
 their confidence. It would be false mod- 
 esty and reprehensible to omit mention here 
 of the circumstances that brought about the 
 special excellence of the Jewish race, 
 produced by 69. Over and above all a knowledge of 
 
 the spread of 
 
 religious and ethical principles, of the law, was spread 
 
 moral education. 
 
 abroad in a way unparalleled among other 
 nations. Facts of gravest importance may 
 escape observation on account of our famil- 
 iarity with them; they form part of our 
 earliest consciousness. Such is the fact, not 
 only that the Jews (as later the Christians) 
 possessed Holy Writings, acknowledged 
 sources of all moral and religious instruc- 
 tion, 1 but that by ordinance their contents 
 were to be imparted to the people at stated 
 times. They were read publicly, and often 
 the reading was accompanied by an explan- 
 ation (as in the synagogue discourses, the 
 
 1 See Bernhard Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 
 vol. i, pp. 660, 666 scq.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 97 
 
 patterns of the Christian sermon). Among 
 all, including the modern, nations, knowl- 
 edge of the law is taken for granted. Ig- 
 norance of the law is nowhere an excuse. 
 Yet no nation, ancient or modern, made 
 provision for spreading knowledge of the 
 law, of the moral doctrine. The Jews alone 
 possessed an old regulation enjoining the 
 public reading and expounding of the para- 
 graphs of the code at definite times. 
 
 70. The appreciation of knowledge constant exhor- 
 
 . tation: " Thou 
 
 among the Jews reaches back to earliest shalt know -" 
 times. Read the Homeric poems from be- 
 ginning to end, and though they contain 
 ethical gems, there is nothing to indicate 
 that knowledge, the perception of truth, 
 was a human need, the pursuit and ideal 
 of even the best of men. On the other 
 hand, Biblical and still more post-Biblical 
 literature is resonant with the exhortation : 
 'Thou shalt know" (rum), perceive, un- 
 derstand ! The loftiest ideal of the Prophet 
 is expressed in the sentence : " The earth
 
 98 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, 
 as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9; 
 comp. Jer. 31:33 and Hab. 2:14). The 
 knowledge extolled is, of course, moral and 
 religious, and this is the very knowledge 
 that makes the soul of the people the reposi- 
 tory of ethical material. 1 Further on we 
 shall consider the provisions made by the 
 Rabbis who in this respect were models 
 for a later stage of culture to impart this 
 
 1 Though it is true that at a late period the desire 
 for knowledge awoke with peculiar force in Greece, 
 becoming so energetic an impulse and producing 
 such masterly scientific results that the whole of sub- 
 sequent civilization looked to the Greeks as to 
 models and leaders, yet it must be borne in mind 
 that all their mental activity in no wise furthered or 
 established the ethical consciousness of the people. 
 The historical investigation of this fact has no place 
 here; further on one of its main aspects will be con- 
 sidered. In any event, the absence of ethical study 
 led gradually to the destruction of Greek national 
 consciousness, to the loss of the idea of a national 
 ethical mission, and thereby to the disintegration of 
 the national bond. The Jews, on the other hand, in 
 spite of political annihilation and wide dispersion 
 through military force, grew more and more pro- 
 nounced in their ethical traits.
 
 TH& SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 99 
 
 knowledge to children and spread it among 
 adults. Here it suffices to refer to the Tal- 
 muclic interpretation of the " anointed " (in 
 Ps. 105: 15) as the "school-children," who 
 " may not be disturbed even for the rebuild- 
 ing of the Temple " l surely an undertak- 
 ing sacred to the Jew. Mothers are ex- 
 empt from most of the duties of the cere- 
 monial law, because they have done enough 
 when they have " seen to it that their 
 children go to school." 
 
 The esteem in which the Rabbis held 
 knowledge was based upon a threefold rea- 
 son : Knowledge is considered the highest 
 and purest element of bliss, an element, too, 
 that can be enjoyed in this world; more- 
 over, it is the source of refined, unshakable 
 convictions; and finally, it is therefore in 
 itself an important feature of man's ethical 
 task the ethical pursuit pre-eminently 
 worthy of man's intellectual powers. 
 
 71. Here it is proper to advert to a cir- 
 
 1 Sabbath ng b . See Appendix -No. 15, p. 280.
 
 TOO THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Moral instruction cumstancc of extreme importance, namely, 
 
 the centre of the 
 
 stud^a e rdSo C us tnat tne spread of moral knowledge was 
 pur search "he early brought into immediate connection 
 
 climax of divine 
 
 worship, with the divine service; indeed, it was made 
 its central point after the destruction of the 
 Temple, and so it remains to the present 
 day. Again, this Jewish characteristic de- 
 pends intimately upon the fact that study, 
 the pursuit of knowledge and science, was 
 regarded in early times, and in the course 
 of time more and more, not merely as a 
 moral duty, but as the loftiest religious 
 practice. 1 
 
 Ezra and 72. Two other significant facts must be 
 
 Socrates. . The 
 
 sophists and the noted in connection with the foreeroingr. 
 
 " Men of the 
 
 biy.'^llublectiv- In the year 444 before .the Christian era, 
 
 ity proscribed 1 c 1 r 1 11 
 
 ambng the Jews, on the nrst day ot the seventh month, lizra, 
 on his return from Babylonia, for the first 
 time after long interruption, read from the 
 book of the Law to a great assemblage of 
 
 1 It is a psychologic fact readily understood that 
 the religious valuation put upon study could not but 
 exert an elevating and strengthening influence upon 
 its subject-matter.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS I O I 
 
 people gathered before the Water Gate in 
 Jerusalem. At about the same time, the 
 Athenian state under Pericles as well as the 
 culture of the Greeks had reached their 
 zenith. In Greece Socrates was demand- 
 ing consideration of primary ethical prin- 
 ciples and their definition, while Ezra in 
 Judea was simply reading the moral law to 
 the people and having it expounded to 
 them (Neh. 8:2 scq., especially v. 8). In 
 the former country illumination was 
 sought; in the latter, confirmation. The 
 moral purity of the ethics of Socrates, the 
 nobility and elevation of Plato's system, are 
 beyond cavil. But the fine aspirations of 
 Socrates and his disciples and successors 
 were nullified by the Sophists. They 
 brought about the disintegration of the 
 ethical consciousness of the nation. Ezra's 
 successors were the " Men of the Great 
 Assembly," 1 who effected the preservation 
 
 1 The historical reports concerning the " Men of 
 the Great Assembly " are inadequate, and produce
 
 102 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 and development of the moral law in the 
 spirit of the Prophets. The magnitude 
 and seriousness of the contrast cannot be 
 overestimated. Among the Jews there 
 never was not even in the most wretched 
 of times a confused, degenerate science of 
 ethics such as the Sophists produced in 
 Greece. 
 
 Destructive subjectivity was raised to the 
 position of a scientific principle among the 
 Greeks. The Jewish historian, on the other 
 hand, damns a period of basest corruption 
 by characterizing it as subjective. To 
 paint the decay of morals he does not tell 
 in detail of vile deeds; he simply says: 
 " Every man did that which seemed right 
 in his own eyes." In actual practice pos- 
 sibly, the disparity between knowledge and 
 
 contradiction rather than agreement among his- 
 torians. (Comp. A. Kuenen, Gesammelte Abhandlun- 
 gen zur biblischcn Wissenschaft. German tr. by K. 
 Budde, 1894. Lecture 4.) But whoever and what- 
 ever these men may have been, the achievements 
 ascribed to them in the text are beyond doubt. 
 1 Judg. 17:6; 21 : 25.
 
 THE SO UR CES OF JE WISH E THICS 1 03 
 
 deed, the proportion of cases of fulfilment 
 of the law to those of violation, may some- 
 times have been the same in Jerusalem as 
 at Athens. In point of fact, the subject- 
 ivity of the Jews is occasionally a promi- 
 nent feature. Often enough they have suf- 
 fered misfortune and ruin through its pro- 
 geny factionalism, stubbornness, self-will, 
 individualism, insubordination. 1 But at 
 least subjectivity was never exalted to the 
 dignity of a theory. Caprice was always 
 under the ban. 
 
 73. Another feature characteristic of the Ethical cohesion. 
 
 Ethical con- 
 ethical consciousness of the Tews asserted sciousness of a 
 
 * social-ethical 
 
 itself with wholesome results, especially in n! 
 later times of severe trials. To the present 
 day its influence is marked. Like all 
 minorities, particularly persecuted minori- 
 ties, the Jews developed ethical cohesion, 
 a feeling of mutual responsibility, to a great 
 degree. The thought, which, as we shall 
 
 1 Comp. Sabbath ng b and other passages on the 
 ethical reason for the destruction of Jerusalem.
 
 104 THE ET FIICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 see further on, lies at the substructure of 
 our oldest legislation, that all ethics, by 
 reason of its primary impelling force and its 
 highest aim, is social ethics, more and more 
 gained ground in actual life. 
 
 When all are equally exposed to calum- 
 nious accusations (bnta) a threatening 
 cloud, no one, not even the enemy, know- 
 ing where the bolt will strike the ethical 
 consciousness develops quickly and vigor- 
 ously. Thence arises a characteristic eth- 
 ical trait of the national consciousness; a 
 grave error, a crime, though committed 
 by an individual, is felt with remorse and 
 penitence as a " sin of the congregation." 
 The moral dignity of the community seems 
 to every member to have suffered diminu- 
 tion through it. 2 
 
 1 A Xtan m the n^Hp- See Appendix No. 19, p. 286. 
 
 2 The German nation, horrified by the two at- 
 tempts in the " seventies " to assassinate Emperor 
 William I, underwent a similar spiritual experience, 
 which was intensified by the love generally felt for 
 the noble monarch and by patriotic despair on ac- 
 count of impending degeneration.
 
 THE SOURCES OF JEWISH ETHICS 105 
 
 74. These, then, are my reasons for be- The author's 
 
 declaration 
 
 lieving that, beside and above all literary a^SSlSoi 
 
 ,1 i- I-,- i ,1 Jewish ethics. 
 
 sources, the living, traditional, constantly 
 growing spirit of the whole Jewish race may 
 and must be considered the fount of in- 
 struction upon the ethics of Judaism. It is 
 patent, that to use it as such the systema- 
 tizer of Jewish ethics must merge himself, 
 in love and devotion, into the spirit of his 
 people, and firmly and with open eyes 
 must renounce every desire to introduce 
 alien or original thoughts. Yet the most 
 self-sacrificing, exclusive attention to the 
 given material will not wipe out the per- 
 sonal equation will not prevent the intru- 
 sion of a certain measure of individuality. 
 And, in fact, as I have .shown, the spirit of 
 the Rabbis grants some freedom to the 
 peremptory subjective impulse. 
 
 As for myself, at the end of this chapter 
 on the sources available for a statement 
 of Jewish ethics, I declare, before God and 
 man, that I will not advance a thought in
 
 106 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 this work which I do not conscientiously 
 believe was born of the spirit of Judaism. 1 
 Whatever the Greeks, and the Romans, and 
 the philosophic and general literature of 
 modern nations have taught me, may as- 
 sert itself in my presentation as a shaping 
 force. The subject-matter I have drawn, 
 to the best of my knowledge and belief, 
 solely from Judaism and the Jewish spirit. 
 
 1 Foreign ideas, agreeing with or differing from 
 Jewish ideas, I shall always designate as such, and 
 trace to their origin.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF JEWISH ETHICS 
 75. The Rabbinical world experienced Research among 
 
 the Rabbis 
 
 no real need of a theoretic justification of directed towards 
 
 1 the idea of the 
 
 ethics (see 61). The main incentive was good - 
 lacking, namely, doubt of the authority of 
 the moral law. Outside of the academies, 
 it is true, covetousness, love of pleasure, 
 greed of power, self-will, egotism, often 
 enough rebelled against the requirements 
 of morality. Prophets and Rabbis, there- 
 fore, had frequent occasion and reason to 
 address themselves to the conscience of 
 their hearers, to fortify the morally ener- 
 vated, and scourge the refractory. But 
 when low ideals triumphed, it was due to 
 a weak or a bad will. The law had not 
 been gainsaid by critical reason, it had been 
 denied in acts. In other words, the idea 
 of the good was not repudiated theoreti- 
 cally, but violated in practice.
 
 108 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Within the academies, among true repre- 
 sentatives and wardens of moral truth, vio- 
 lation of the ideal law was considered im- 
 moral, reprehensible alike on the part of 
 communities and individuals, whether great 
 or insignificant. Uncompromising censure 
 of every immoral act was visited even upon 
 historical personages of highest deserts and 
 widest repute. 
 
 Yet, although the theoretic recognition 
 of the idea of the good and of the moral law 
 flowing from it was unassailable, and there 
 was no occasion to array positive argu- 
 ments against doubt, the eager, investigat- 
 ing spirit of the Rabbis constantly busied 
 itself with the ultimate cause of morality, 
 or the idea of the good. 
 
 Two thoughts regarding the cognition 
 of morality completely occupied the mind 
 of the Rabbis. 
 Perfect under- 76. On the one hand, the Rabbis held 
 
 standing of it is 
 
 bliss and man's that man s highest happiness is assured by 
 
 moral task. J 
 
 a perception of the innermost reason of
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 09 
 
 morality and the ultimate sources of the 
 good; by a realization of their paramount 
 value and sacred dignity; by an apprecia- 
 tion of their sublimity as the only revela- 
 tion of a world-purpose. On the other 
 hand, they held it an essential part of man's 
 moral task to lose himself, heart and soul, 
 in the contemplation of the ultimate reason 
 of morality, to drink deep of the waters 
 issuing from its sources, to promote and 
 secure the sway of a purified moral doctrine 
 over wider circles. It will not do merely 
 to follow the rigid letter of the law, to rest 
 satisfied with tradition as it stands. Men 
 should be " inventive in the execution of 
 the law " (mi^D3 D'onr) they should seize, 
 with acumen and penetration, with delicacy 
 and vivacity, upon the essence of all that is 
 good, and use the idea to guide and refine 
 the fulness of life. 1 
 
 77. In its origin Jewish ethics is theo- Jewish ethics 
 
 originally theo- 
 
 logic. For the Jewish mind the theistic \s^ : God the 
 
 f lawgiver. 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 20, p. 287.
 
 I 10 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 reason looms up in the foreground of all 
 speculation upon morality. The whole 
 Jewish conception of life is as little think- 
 able without God as our physical world 
 without the sun. 
 
 Within Judaism the essence of morality 
 has never been considered other than a 
 divine emanation, the expression of a divine 
 law, the fulfilment of a divine command. 
 For man's will and conduct there are stand- 
 ards, that is, moral laws to be obeyed, and 
 God is the lawgiver. Judaism regards 
 what is morally good and what is pleasing 
 to God, moral law and divine regulation, 
 as inseparable concepts, 
 stability of the 78. In practice this reference of all 
 
 law follows. 
 
 moral laws to God as the source of their 
 enactment has had a highly significant de- 
 velopment, differentiating the life of the 
 Jews radically from that of other peoples. 
 Legislation among the Jews does not ema- 
 nate from an earthly authority. Neither 
 deliberation, nor resolution, nor the will of
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 1 1 
 
 one man or of many was the originator of a 
 law. King, prophet, and priest could not 
 create laws nor annul those in force. Not 
 even the Great Assembly or the Sanhedrin 
 could do it. 1 
 
 If changed circumstances demanded pe- 
 culiar ordinances, or an extension or relaxa- 
 tion of the old ones, or new regulations, 
 they (rmpn) were decreed on the basis of 
 the old laws, in harmony with and as an 
 emanation from them. (Comp. 52 and 
 
 54-) 
 
 79. What is morally good and what is Divine command 
 
 because moral 
 
 pleasing to God, moral law and divine regu- law - 
 lation, we called inseparable concepts in- 
 separable, mark you, not identical. 
 
 An investigation of the essence and basis 
 of the moral law reveals that Judaism 
 everywhere clearly advances the thought, 
 that not because God has ordained it is a 
 
 1 Proofs are superfluous; however, see Megillah 
 14*. Also I take pleasure in referring to Dollinger, 
 Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 779 seq.
 
 112 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 law moral, but because it is moral, there- 
 fore has God ordained it. Not by divine 
 . command does the moral become law, but 
 because its content is moral, and it would 
 necessarily, even without an ordinance, 
 become law, therefore it is enjoined by 
 God. 
 The moral law 80. In the oldest version of the laws, 
 
 not the will and 
 
 command of dating- from a time when conscious, ab- 
 
 God, but an 
 
 e w s a being" stract consideration of the content and es- 
 sence of the moral law, of its purport and 
 basis, was out of the question, the thought 
 appears with unmistakable clearness: the 
 moral law does not exist by virtue of a 
 divine act or an authoritative fiat; it flows 
 from the essence of God's being, from his 
 absolute and infinite moral nature. There- 
 fore the fundamental law, " you shall be 
 holy," which sums up all morality in one 
 comprehensive expression, does not con- 
 tinue with " for I so will it," nor with " for 
 I so command"; it reads, "You shall be 
 holy, for I am holy," and other moral laws
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JEWISH ETHICS 1 1 3 
 
 close simply with the declaration, " I am 
 God " ('n '). 
 
 81. The same thought runs through the God's nature the 
 
 rule and reason 
 
 whole of Rabbinic literature. The Divine S 
 Being and therefore the knowledge of his 
 moral attributes, combined with the en- 
 deavor to emulate them in man's finite way, 
 constitute at once the rule and the reason 
 of morality: " Because I am merciful, thoti 
 shalt be merciful; as I am gracious, thou 
 shalt be gracious, etc." ("DI Dim ox no). 1 
 
 In a word, the fundamental doctrine of 
 Judaism reads : Because the moral is divine, 
 therefore you shall be moral, and because 
 
 1 There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that 
 ^S no is meant to express both " as I am " and 
 " because I am." Strictly, the meaning " as I am " 
 for 'OK nD is an impossibility; man can approach 
 the divine pattern, but he can never be equal to it. 
 The reason underlying the moral, however, can and 
 should be the same for man as for God. As God 
 can have no reason for morality but the nature of 
 the moral, so there shall be no other for man. It 
 is unnecessary to cite passages; the expression re- 
 curs again and again in Talmud, Midrash, every- 
 where.
 
 114 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the divine is moral, you shall become like 
 unto God. It may be said that the highest 
 form and ultimate purpose of human life 
 is likeness to God, and the ethical ideals 
 are conceived as attributes of God, in whose 
 image man was created, and whose copy 
 and image it is man's task to strive to be- 
 come. 
 Ethical ideals 82. The Bible does not expound, and 
 
 presented as 
 
 divine attri- the Rabbis do not inculcate, metaphysical 
 
 butes, to servo 
 
 ^fo^maS? notions or dogmatic teachings concerning 
 the divine nature, for the purpose of de- 
 ducing the legislative authority of God. 1 
 Man's duty of obedience is based neither 
 upon God's omnipresence, nor his omni- 
 potence, nor even his supreme wisdom. 2 
 
 1 On principle, metaphysics and mystical specula- 
 tion were confined to the most intimate circles 
 (Chagigah n b , and elsewhere). 
 
 2 Proverbs, especially chapters i and 8, seems to 
 be an attempt in this direction, made in the time of 
 Hezekiah. The Prophets do not continue the train 
 of thought, and the only other passages that can 
 possibly be made to bear upon it are the chapters 
 in Job indicating the peripetia.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 1 5 
 
 The ethical ideals are presented as attri- 
 butes of God, and for the sake of their 
 realization man is called upon to strive to 
 become like unto God. When the " glory 
 of God " is made manifest to Moses, only 
 moral attributes are enumerated (Exod. 
 34:6), and in the well-known verse from 
 Jeremiah, we have a clear statement of what 
 man can and should know concerning God : 
 " Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 
 neither let the mighty man glory in his 
 might, let not the rich man glory in his 
 riches; but let him that glorieth glory in 
 this, that he understandeth and knoweth 
 me, that I am the Lord which exercise lov- 
 ing-kindness, judgment, and righteousness 
 in the earth "' (Jer. 9 : 22, 23). 
 
 83. This, then, is the relation between Relation between 
 
 divine law and 
 
 divine lav/ and human ethics: 'God is the human ethics, 
 lawgiver, but he did not promulgate the 
 law as his pleasure or as an arbitrary or 
 despotic command; and man is not to obey 
 it as such. It is law for man, because he
 
 Il6 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 recognizes in God the prototype of all mo- 
 rality, because God is the creative force 
 back of the moral order and moral purpose 
 of the world. Moral law, then, is based, not 
 upon some dogmatic conception of God, 
 but upon the idea of his morality, that is, 
 upon the essential nature of morality. Not 
 God the master, but God the ideal of all 
 morality is the fountain-head of man's 
 moral doctrine. 
 The objective, 84. As a philosopher, a teacher of 
 
 impersonal 
 
 character of ethics, does not consider himself the law- 
 
 niorahty. Idea 
 
 nd person. gj ver . as j-,j s desires and inclinations exer- 
 cise no influence, and are meant to exercise 
 none; as the genius of morality, or the idea 
 of the good, working, as it were, through 
 his person, dictates the substance of his 
 teaching; as the moral idea of necessity 
 shapes itself thus and so and not otherwise 
 within him; as the principle underlying mo- 
 rality, whose bidding the will has but to do, 
 assumes form in his mind; so in Judaism 
 the majesty of the law produced the law.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 1 7 
 
 " This is your wisdom and your under- 
 standing," says Deuteronomy (4 : 6) with 
 reference to the law. When Kant calls the 
 force that decrees, teaches, makes demands, 
 by the term " practical reason," he but uses 
 another expression for morality. Call it 
 law, principle, idea, what you will, it is 
 always an objective norm, in no wise de- 
 pendent upon the pleasure of man, but con- 
 straining him as he knows himself to be 
 constrained by the laws of logic when he 
 thinks, by the laws of mathematics when he 
 computes. The all-important considera- 
 tion is the absolutely impersonal character 
 of the moral idea. This thought was strik- 
 ingly expressed in early times by Rabbi 
 Jochanan : " The words of the law are fully 
 established by him who considers himself 
 naught as compared with them " that is, 
 by one in whom objective truth has become 
 subjective and living, who has identified the 
 idea with his person. 2 
 
 1 Sotah 2i b . 2 See Appendix No. 21, p. 288.
 
 1 1 8 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 Relation of ethics 85. This view of the relation of human 
 
 to the Sinaitic 
 
 la lnd e a fter its etn i cs to divine law can be deduced from 
 
 migation. t j ie R a bbj n j ca i utterances upon its relation 
 to the Sinaitic law before, at, and after its 
 revelation. 
 
 Morality was not created by the Sinaitic 
 code; it springs from its own and from 
 man's peculiar nature. It could therefore 
 be said, as it was, that " Abraham observed 
 all moral laws." Reason was the source 
 of his ethical instruction. The Talmud 
 distinguishes accurately between laws of 
 reason, that is, laws independent of legis- 
 lation, and formal, ritual ordinances, laws 
 by virtue of their institution as such. It 
 says with reference to Leviticus 18:4 seq.: 
 " My judgments, that is, precepts if they 
 had not been laid down in Holy Scriptures, 
 law (pi), or practical reason, would have 
 demanded that they be put into writing; 
 ordinances, however, rest upon institu- 
 tion." The examples cited in connection 
 
 1 Last Mishnah in Kiddushin. 2 Yoma 67 b .
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 1 9 
 
 with this passage permit no doubt as to the 
 antithesis intended. " Judgments " are 
 illustrated by the laws of chastity, laws 
 against bloodshed, robbery, etc. ; " ordi- 
 nances," by the prohibitions against eating 
 swine's flesh, mixing divers fabrics, etc. 
 
 Moral laws, then, are not laws because 
 they are written; they are written because 
 they are laws. 
 
 86. Therefore, free moral convictions, Free moral con- 
 victions rated 
 not founded upon the authority and the act ^er thsm obe- 
 
 of revelation, are ranked above obedience tc 
 to this authority. R. Simon ben Lakish 
 taught : " The stranger who accepts the 
 law of his own free will stands higher in 
 the eyes of God than the hosts of the chil- 
 dren of Israel that surrounded Mount Sinai. 
 They saw the lightning, and heard the 
 thunder, the S ho far, and the divine voice, 
 else, perhaps, they would not have assumed 
 the yoke of the divine order (DW niD^o bitf). 
 The stranger heard naught of all this, yet, 
 of his own impulse, he seeks to live in har-
 
 120 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 mony with God \bv ^pi n"apr6 
 DW msbo ^11? and submits to the moral 
 order of the universe. Who can stand 
 higher"? 1 
 The content of 87. It is in consonance with this that in 
 
 the law has 
 
 the Ta l mud and the Midrash the authority 
 eray'age to of the teacher is in various ways represented 
 
 obey reason and . . 
 
 pass over and as a circumstance of small importance m 
 
 beyond written 
 
 laws, comparison with the significance and com- 
 pelling force of the content of the law. 
 Take, for instance, the principle that the 
 dictum of the humblest, if it contains truth, 
 is to be esteemed equal to the words of the 
 great and even of the Most High : " What 
 one has heard from a man of low estate 
 should be looked upon as equal to what 
 one has heard from a sage, from the Sanhe- 
 drin, from Moses, ay, from the mouth of 
 the Most High." Of still greater import- 
 ance is the thought (touched upon in 52), 
 recurring again and again in Talmudic lit- 
 erature, that every age is justified in disre- 
 
 1 Tanchuma Lckh Lckha. " Sifrc Dcbarim, 41.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 2 1 
 
 garding, more, is in duty bound to disre- 
 gard, the written law whenever reason 
 and conviction demand its nullification. 1 
 " Come," said R. Jacob ben R. Chaninah 
 to -R. Jehudah, " let us investigate the laws 
 again and again that no rust (mi^n) may 
 gather upon them." 
 
 88. Deep ethical wisdom lies in the Rab- Man's moral 
 
 nature mani- 
 
 binical view, that though man's moral char- fes ,: ed before 
 
 volition, in 
 
 acter, based on liberty of action, appears onhTgwd! 10 
 only in his desires and acts, his moral nature 
 is revealed, before the exercise of choice 
 and volition, in the perception and acknowl- 
 edgment of the good. Volition, then, 
 forms a second distinct step in moral activ- 
 ity. 3 This thought finds early and striking 
 expression in the Biblical words (Deut. 
 
 1 Rosh ha-Shanah 2 : 9. 
 
 2 Sifre Debarim, 306. See Appendix No. 22, p. 
 288. 
 
 3 See Debarim Rabbah, ch. 4: "131 -ju; x 1 ?! 'jn '"I "ION- 
 Even Hirsch Fassel, a strictly orthodox Rabbi of 
 our century, mentions not God but " reason as the 
 binding power in morality, because even a divine 
 injunction must often be disregarded."
 
 1 2 2 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 30:11-14) which teach that man need not 
 exert himself to obtain knowledge of the 
 law (from heaven or from beyond the sea), 
 for it is to be found very nigh to him, in 
 his mouth and in his heart. In Kantian 
 phrase, the moral law is autonomous, not 
 heteronomous. 
 independence of 80. In Judaism, then, and more particu- 
 
 the ethical idea 
 
 Se'chaLc'Ter larl y in the Rabbinic cycle of ideas, every 
 moral injunction is looked upon as being 
 at the same time a religious requirement. 
 Man's destiny is sought in his relation to 
 God, its goal being likeness to God and the 
 means of reaching it being obedience and 
 willing devotion to him, the prototype and 
 fountain-head of all morality. Yet the inti- 
 mate connection with religion does not an- 
 nul the independence of the ethical idea. 
 The reference to God is made, not to estab- 
 lish, but to urge the claims of the moral. 
 
 This Rabbinic thought is expressed with 
 astonishing clearness in the saying: "All 
 commands left to the human heart " that
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 2 3 
 
 is, to ethical research and conviction " are 
 accompanied in the Scriptures by the 
 words, ' Thou shalt fear God.' ' 
 
 90. Kant's fundamental principle has The autonomy of 
 
 morality and 
 
 met with general recognition. The ethical Jewish ethics. 
 
 writers, not alone of Germany, but of the 
 
 civilized world, concur in the statement that 
 
 the moral spirit is autonomous, that is, 
 
 must bear the source of law within itself, 
 
 and be independent of legislation and every 
 
 sort of outside dictation. It is, therefore, 
 
 incumbent upon us to examine and state 
 
 more in detail the relation of the ethics 
 
 of Judaism to Kant's principle, the more 
 
 so as critics are not lacking, who, in 
 
 the light of Kant's principle, presume to 
 
 fasten a stigma upon Jewish ethics, be- 
 
 cause it was originally based on theistic 
 
 grounds. 
 
 91. Investigators of the first rank have pertinent quota- 
 
 tions from 
 
 paid the highest tribute to this feature of ^?. tze - K5s "j? ! : 1 , 
 
 Gorres, and Banr. 
 
 the ethics of Judaism. For instance, Her- 
 1 Baba Mezia s8 b . See Appendix No. 23, p. 291.
 
 124 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 mann Lotze, in instituting a comparison, 
 on historical and psychologic lines, among 
 all the peoples of antiquity, praises the 
 Jewish conception of life as the first in 
 which consideration of the moral is the vital 
 centre, and morality alone is regarded as a 
 rational world-purpose. 1 Karl Kostlin,' 
 in speaking of the " tendency of morality/' 
 under which he includes the whole ethical 
 system established by Christianity, says: 
 " Proceeding from the Israelitish religion, 
 the first and only one to give a true idea 
 of the moral law and assign to it the place 
 
 1 See Mikrokosmus, vol. in, p. 147. [Microcosmus: 
 an Essay concerning Man and his Relation to the 
 World. Translated from the German by Elizabeth 
 Hamilton and E. E. Constance Jones, vol. n, p. 268; 
 pp. 466-468.] 
 
 2 Lotze was a philosopher, but Kostlin is a pro- 
 fessor of Protestant theology and of philosophy, a 
 circumstance of peculiar force in favor of his judg- 
 ment of the ethics of Judaism. I follow up my 
 Protestant authority with a Catholic writer, Jacob 
 Joseph von Gorres, who acquired widespread fame 
 by reason of his versatility and broad culture, and 
 particularly his knowledge of the antique world.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 2 5 
 
 of supreme importance, Christianity main- 
 tained," etc. 1 
 
 Gorres considers as the characteristic, 
 distinguishing feature of the Mosaic view, 
 that it " guards the divine against the arro- 
 gance of probing reason, and, chaste and 
 continent as it is, equally forbids its de- 
 filement by sensual imagination run riot. 
 It lets its pure, undimmed ray appear re- 
 fracted in the ethical alone, as an exalted 
 vision, a great threatening and blessing 
 meteor." 
 
 Finally, Bahr says : " The Mosaic reli- 
 gion, from first to last, is ethical, addresses 
 itself exclusively to the will of man, and 
 regards him as a moral being." 
 
 92. Eduard von Hartmann, on the Eduard von Hart- 
 
 mann's criticism 
 
 other hand, rejects every sort of theistic of theistlc morality. 
 
 1 Geschichte der Ethik. Darstellung der philosophischen 
 Moral- Stoats- und Socialtheoricn des Alterthums und 
 der Ncuzeit. Vol. i, Die Ethik -des classischen Alter- 
 Ihums, p. 114. 
 
 2 Mythengeschichte, vol. n, p. 507. 
 
 3 Symbolik des mosaischcn Cultus, vol. i, p. 37.
 
 126 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 morality, and reproaches it with necessarily 
 exerting an immoral influence. The re- 
 proach grows out of a purely formalistic 
 mode of thought. To show the fallacy, I 
 transcribe in full what he says upon the sub- 
 ject : " So long as I believe in a theistic 
 God, who created me and the world, and to 
 whom I stand in the relation of a vessel to 
 the potter, I am as naught compared with 
 him, a potsherd in his hand, and my moral- 
 ity cannot go beyond narrow, blind sub- 
 jection to the omnipotent, sacred will of 
 this transcendental God. In other words, 
 in these circumstances my morality depends 
 upon a command imposed from without, 
 that is, it is perfor.ce heteronomous moral- 
 ity. But genuine morality begins with 
 moral autonomy. However valuable heter- 
 onomous morality may be pedagogically in 
 the training of minors, it becomes the an- 
 tagonist of the only true morality if expli- 
 citly substituted for the latter. Now, as 
 theism may not suffer a moral principle
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 27 
 
 above or beside the Divine Being, theistic 
 morality must necessarily act as an immoral 
 influence with all individuals of sufficient 
 cultivation to have attained the intellectual 
 maturity presupposed by moral autonomy. 
 Certainly the modern man has reached the 
 point at which he consciously holds, that 
 acts which are merely the docile execution 
 of an extraneous will can never lay claim 
 to moral value in the true sense of the word. 
 Moral validity begins with self-determina- 
 tion laying down its own law." 
 
 93- Von Hartmann confounds the an- A refutation, 
 tonomy and heteronomy of the moral man 
 with the autonomy and heteronomy of mo- 
 rality itself. The latter is the vital point. 
 Else the autonomy of morality were a pre- 
 tence or a wholly unjustified exaggeration. 
 Even perfectly autonomous morality cannot 
 be said to create the moral law, to produce it 
 freely, not to say arbitrarily. It finds the law 
 within itself, and submits to it as to an inner, 
 
 1 See Selbstzersetzung des Christenthums, p. 29.
 
 1 28 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 compelling necessity. The moral law is, in 
 short, a categorical imperative, and the cat- 
 egorical has its basis, not in the lawgiver, 
 but in the significance and dignity of the 
 law itself. The true meaning of the auton- 
 omy of the moral law is not that man gives 
 it to himself, but that the moral man, or the 
 morality within him, and it alone, dictates 
 the law. Whoever the lawgiver and what- 
 ever the source of knowledge of the law, 
 only the recognition of its worth and dig- 
 nity determines its morality, its genuinely 
 moral character. 
 The categorical 94. The categorical nature of the moral 
 
 nature of the 
 
 ""^toSftBoS i m P erat ive was a familiar aspect to the Rab- 
 
 and the Talmud. , , , T , . , , 
 
 bmical mind. Its roots run back into the 
 soil of Biblical concepts. To the command 
 concerning the return of lost things, these 
 words are appended : " Thou art not at 
 liberty to withdraw thyself " (oWin 1 ? 'pninK 1 ?, 
 Deut. 22 : 3) words which add nothing to 
 the meaning proper. What, then, are they 
 intended to convey? Nothing but what
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 29 
 
 Kant wished to express by his " categorical 
 imperative " the inner, inevitable necessi- 
 ty whereby the bidding becomes a law. 
 
 95. That the autonomy of the moral 
 law was an idea current among the Rabbis 
 is vouched for by the frequent expression : 
 " These are words of the written law, but if 
 they had not been in writing, they would 
 have had to be written down "; that is, their 
 substance would have been arrived at by 
 man's independent activity, and raised to 
 the status of a law. (Comp. 85.) 
 
 96. The finest distinction of Kant's for- universal equality 
 
 before the law 
 
 mula of the categorical imperative is that it *jj| ^"st'jew/sh 
 carries with it the absolute universality of con^ast with 
 
 the practice 
 
 law: Act so that you may desire that the of other ancient 
 
 nations. 
 
 law of your actions may become the law for 
 all." For all in like case, then, one and 
 the same law shall serve as the standard of 
 action. Similarly, it is the characteristic 
 distinction of the most ancient Jewish legis- 
 lation that one and the same law was laid 
 down for all. Unlike the practice of the
 
 130 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 contemporary nations, the principle of ab- 
 solute equality before the law was pro- 
 claimed among- the Jews. Not alone the 
 nations that were divided into castes pro- 
 vided a code of law for each, but among all 
 civilized peoples different standards pre- 
 vailed for different estates and classes. 
 Judaism, however, ordained equality before 
 the law, alike for the members of the nation, 
 for the native, and this was the crowning 
 distinction for the alien. With solemn ap- 
 peal to the " Congregation ! " it is enjoined 
 that the principle, " one statute for all," 
 shall endure forever in their generations, 
 " one law and one code," alike for the na- 
 tive and the stranger (Num. 15:15 seq.; 
 comp. also Lev. 24:22, and other passages). 
 Autonomy ot 97. Finally, a brief reference to Onke- 
 
 the moral law 
 
 monkeios. los' pregnant expression about the auton- 
 omy of the moral law is in place here. 
 Though philologically untenable, his trans- 
 lation of the verse Genesis 3:22: "See, 
 man is unique, knowing of himself good
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 3 1 
 
 and evil," testifies to the translator's ethical 
 insight. 
 
 98. Thus the Rabbinical attitude proves v on Ha 
 
 reproach invali- 
 
 Von Hartmann's reproach baseless, especi- ^ at ^. b ? rt 1 he 
 
 Rabbinical 
 
 ally as formulated in the sentence : " As a( 
 theism may not suffer a moral principle 
 above or beside the Divine Being," etc. 
 The moral principle is, indeed, not above 
 and not beside the Divine Being; it is in 
 itself. Precisely for that reason it is at the 
 same time in God in God inasmuch as he 
 is the prototype of morality. To repeat : 
 not because the principle is in God is it 
 the moral principle, but because it is the 
 moral principle, in itself and absolutely, 
 therefore it is necessarily in God. 
 
 99. In its content, authoritv, and im- The principle 
 
 of morality is 
 
 portance, the moral principle is independ- ^aretetype 1 " 1 
 ent of every sort of dogmatic concept. Its 1S 
 reason and its aim lie within itself. It is 
 autonomous, and this constitutes its dig- 
 nity. In the Jewish mind sanctity is added 
 to its dignity by the fact that the moral
 
 1 3 2 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 principle, without suffering change or los- 
 ing aught of its peculiarity and independ- 
 ence, finds its archetypal expression in God. 
 To recognize and lay hold of the good, 
 without compulsion, without external com- 
 mand, without hope of profit, without any 
 sort of ulterior motive, solely and alone by 
 reason of man's moral nature that surely 
 is to be autonomous and autonomously 
 moral ! If, now, an autonomously moral 
 man recognizes in God the prototype of 
 morality, and endeavors zealously to emu- 
 late God, is he therefore less moral or. as 
 Von Hartmann maintains, actually im- 
 moral? May not a man imitate a noble 
 pattern? Does he suffer loss of dignity in 
 striving for a sublime ideal? Shall a moral 
 man refrain from learning from the teacher 
 of morality only that he may save the dig- 
 nity of his autonomy? 
 Kant's "nature loo. The true meaning of the autonomy 
 
 acting with a 
 
 the ciod "idTa* 1 ^ mora ^ty appears in Jewish writings, es- 
 pecially those of Rabbinical times, if in
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS \ 3 3 
 
 forms different from Kant's, in forms as un- 
 mistakable. Kant's ethical inquiries were 
 all directed to the end of preserving intact 
 the dignity of the moral. Proceeding from 
 the great thought that " there is nothing 
 anywhere in the world that may, without 
 reservation, be considered good, except a 
 good will," he shows (in laying the founda- 
 tion of the doctrine of ethics) that what 
 constitutes the goodness of a good will is 
 not its fitness to accomplish a given pur- 
 pose, not the satisfaction of some inclina- 
 tion, nothing external, in fact, but solely 
 the character of the will itself. The value 
 of a good will is absolute. " It sparkles 
 like a gem, spontaneously, a thing whose 
 value is wholly intrinsic " (with which 
 comp. Prov. 3:15). A good will is one 
 that submits to the guidance of reason in 
 the fulfilment of duty even when inclina- 
 tion would dictate a different course. The 
 guiding power and creative activity of rea- 
 son, then, are the producers of a good will,
 
 134 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 hence, of all that is truly good. Further- 
 more, Kant investigates " the purpose of 
 nature in appointing reason as the ruler of 
 the will." He concludes that it was not for 
 the sake of happiness, but " for the far 
 worthier purpose " of producing a will 
 good in itself. This notion of nature's act- 
 ing with a purpose is, if not mythical, cer- 
 tainly dogmatical, and it is absolutely im- 
 possible to show that the idea of God's giv- 
 ing reason to man for the guidance of his 
 will is less suitable as a basis of morality 
 than the supposition that nature has so en- 
 dowed him. 
 Explanation ioi. Though Kant as little as the Rab- 
 
 of autonomy. 
 
 bis gave adequate expression to it, the vital 
 power in the whole train of ideas is this: 
 Independently of every external force or 
 alien influence, that is, with complete au- 
 tonomy, the human mind lays down moral 
 laws. Such action comports with its in- 
 most nature, its essence. But this its na- 
 ture has not developed out of itself; the
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 3 5 
 
 mind has not created it. It is the product, 
 not of its own free will, but of an unalter- 
 able necessity. The moral law is autono- 
 mous, because it originates in the nature of 
 the human mind alone. This autonomy 
 and its value in establishing clearly and 
 firmly the basis of morality are not in the 
 least impaired by the fact that the nature 
 of the human mind is not self-created, that 
 it has neither aided nor hindered its being 
 what it is, namely, the fit and appointed 
 instrument to fashion the moral world. 1 
 
 102. The sole consideration of import- 
 ance is, that autonomy implies the absence 
 of every extraneous will in the creation of 
 morality, every external power, every ul- 
 terior motive. The moral is to exist for the 
 sake of its morality, the good to comprise 
 within itself its own self-sufficient reason, 
 its value and its dignity. This exalted 
 purity and this dignity of the moral are in- 
 
 1 Comp. the saying of R. Eleazar Hakapar, Aboth 
 4: 29, end.
 
 1 36 THE E THTCS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 dependent of every sort of theistic notion, 
 because they spring from the very nature 
 of the human mind. On the other hand, 
 it is folly to suppose that the moral is dam- 
 aged by the theistic view of life. Whether 
 the Creator of man, that peculiarly organ- 
 ized, rational being which out of itself, au- 
 tonomously, constructs morality, be called 
 God, or " nature acting with a purpose," 
 or by any other name, in no wise affects the 
 reason of the moral. But the fool who 
 avoids theistic views by supposing himself 
 the creator of his own nature, is the last to 
 whom we may look to fix the basis of the 
 purely moral. 
 Pure "idealism." io^. The autonomy of morality, I said, 
 
 Rejection of J J ' 
 
 mo tiv^in a pTii should protect the dignity of the moral by 
 
 and Ps. 24 as ,. . . , 
 
 by Kant, repudiating every extraneous motive. The 
 ultimate reason like the highest aim of the 
 moral should be in itself. Such safeguard- 
 ing of the immaculate honor of the moral 
 we meet with in the prominent Jewish 
 thinkers of all epochs. The Psalmist, in
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 37 
 
 the fifteenth and in the twenty-fourth 
 Psalm, enumerates the chief precepts of 
 morality in the shape of an answer to a 
 question the question as to what is reach- 
 ed by obeying them : " Lord ! who may 
 sojourn in thy tent? who may dwell on thy 
 holy mount? " or, " Who shall ascend into 
 the mountain of the Lord? and who shall 
 be able to stand in his holy place? " Here 
 we have figures of speech indicating the 
 aim of moral conduct. By no possibility 
 can they be tortured into meaning: what 
 is useful to man? what contents him? what 
 renders him happy? The poetic questions 
 convey the notion which we to-day should 
 briefly designate by the phrase, " the ideal- 
 ism of life." Holiness and the image of 
 the " mountain of the Lord " imply man's 
 elevation above the low places of life, the 
 upward soaring of the soul from the vulgar 
 and commonplace to the nobility and purity 
 of moral views and conduct. Kant, confin- 
 ing himself entirely within the bounds of
 
 1 38 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 legitimate ethical speculation, spoke of 
 " holiness," and spoke of it, moreover, with 
 the meaning and in the spirit of the Rabbis. 
 He regards a will as " holy " that agrees 
 with the moral law naturally, without hav- 
 ing to force aside antagonistic motives 
 whenever it is called into action. Likewise, 
 the promise of the fifteenth Psalm, that 
 he who fulfils all the moral laws enumerated 
 " shall not be moved to eternity," certainly 
 means nothing but moral success: his will 
 shall become constant, unwavering, in 
 Kant's sense, holy. 
 The psalmist's 104. The eleven precepts of the fifteenth 
 
 ideal purely 
 
 from h dogmatic Psalm having been alluded to, it is proper 
 
 admixture. f , i / , 
 
 Likewise that to refer with some degree of emphasis to 
 
 of the Prophets. 
 
 R. simiai re- the following important circumstance : The 
 
 duces "the 613 
 
 TaTe n w dm funda- Psalmist's question is couched in terms be- 
 
 mental and , . . ., . 
 
 purely ethical longing to the specifically religious sphere 
 
 principles. 
 
 of ideas. His mind is full of dwelling on the 
 holy place, sojourning in the tent of God, 
 ascending the mountain of the Lord, as the 
 noblest aim man can strive for. But in the
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 39 
 
 answer, in the definition of what leads or 
 appertains to the divine or the sacred, dog- 
 matic religious precepts are not hinted at. 
 Not a word of Sabbaths and holidays, of 
 sacrifices and prayers, of show-threads and 
 phylacteries; strictly moral principles alone 
 are enumerated. 
 
 That the same mode of thought appears 
 again and again in Prophetic utterances, 
 that in this respect the Psalmist is but the 
 interpreter of the Prophetical spirit, does 
 not need detailed proof. On the other 
 hand, the well-known and oft-cited passage 
 in Makkoth l deserves attention as illustra- 
 tive of the same feature in the Rabbis: 
 "613 laws (commands and prohibitions) 
 are contained in the Mosaic code. David 
 came and reduced them to eleven (those in 
 the fifteenth Psalm; they are quoted in 
 Makkoth, and explained 2 ). Then came 
 
 1 Makkoth 24*. 
 
 2 The explanation may the more fitly be omitted 
 here as it will have to be considered elsewhere.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Isaiah and reduced them to six (Is. 33 : 15) : 
 ' He that walketh in righteousness, and 
 speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the 
 gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands 
 against taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth 
 his ears against hearing of blood, and shut- 
 teth his eyes against looking on evil.' Then 
 came Micah and reduced them to three 
 (Micah 6:8): 'He hath told thee, O man, 
 what is good, and what the Lord doth re- 
 quire of thee : nothing but to do justice, and 
 to love kindness, and to walk humbly with 
 thy God.' Again Isaiah reduced them to 
 two (Is. 56:1): ' Keep ye justice, and do 
 equity.' Finally, Amos (5:4: 'Seek ye 
 for me, and ye shall live ') and Habakkuk 
 (2:4: 'the righteous liveth in his faith') 
 reduced, them to one." What R. Simlai 
 sought and found with David and the Pro- 
 phets is obvious. He desired to know the 
 basis of the whole of the Mosaic legislation, 
 its principle, the real value and the aim of 
 all its laws. His search was rewarded by
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 4 1 
 
 the sentences cited. What they teach was 
 in his eyes equivalent to the sum of all the 
 laws. In the shape in which they formulate 
 the principle tantamount to the whole code, 
 the one that contains its vital kernel, the 
 important thing is that no reference is made 
 to a dogmatic religious ordinance, to any 
 sort of ceremonial law. One and all they 
 exalt commands purely moral to the rank 
 of paramount, all-embracing principles. 
 Not that the Rabbis undervalued the speci- 
 fically religious commands and the cere- 
 monial practices. They never failed to take 
 account of the inner continuity of the whole 
 Mosaic law. As we saw (in 10), they oc- 
 casionally expressed this continuity in the 
 phrase that "all other laws depend on " one, 
 say the Sabbath, or the law of the show- 
 threads or of the phylacteries. Here, how- 
 ever, the main purpose being to put into 
 words the nucleus of all la\vs, their funda- 
 mental principle, specifically religious com- 
 mands were pushed aside, and the ethical
 
 142 
 
 alone was kept in view as the aim of all 
 laws. 
 Tor the sake of 105. The demand constantly recurs in 
 
 Heaven" ; "for 
 
 its own sake." th e Talmudic writings that each of man's 
 acts and hence his whole conduct shall be 
 " in the name or for the honor of Heaven." 1 
 Now, whether Heaven be taken as a figure 
 of speech for God or for the sphere of the 
 sublime above and beyond the earthly, in 
 either case the expression conveys the 
 thought that the motive of morality, so 
 far from being anything external or low, 
 should be nothing outside of man's eleva- 
 tion to higher dignity. If, however, con- 
 necting human morality with Heaven, that 
 is, with God, negates, as Von Hartmann 
 and his sympathizers imply, the autono- 
 mous independence of morality, then I may 
 be permitted to refer to another phrase, oc- 
 curring with equal frequency in Rabbinical 
 literature, which leaves no doubt as to the 
 fundamental idea. Every command, it is 
 
 >, as in Aboth 2: 2 and' 17.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 143 
 
 said, should be fulfilled, " in its own name," 
 rcavh, that is, for its own sake; not with 
 a view to promoting or realizing an extra- 
 neous purpose, solely for the sake of the 
 dignity of the command itself and by reason 
 of its binding force. 1 
 
 106. With regard to the basis of mo- Basis of morality. 
 
 Man's nature 
 
 rality as viewed by Judaism, one point more pJJ**^^ 
 must be stated. The reason of morality is p< 
 furnished by man's nature and by its own. 
 To man is granted liberty to perfect the 
 harmony of these two bases. 
 
 Man's acts go back to his original nature 
 and constitution as their last cause. 
 
 Activity carried on at the behest of an- 
 other, mechanical activity as it were, does 
 not enter into consideration. Such activity 
 belies the name, and, like the natural func- 
 
 'That this is the meaning of nDE??, though it needs 
 no confirmation, appears from the fact that the 
 Rabbis considered practising the good for an ulte- 
 rior purpose pedagogically useful, hence permissible. 
 For instance, devotion to study from ambition de- 
 velops love of study, and then it is prosecuted for 
 its own sake.
 
 144 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 tions of our physical organism, is outside 
 of the sphere of the ethical. 
 
 Real action has its cause in man's voli- 
 tion. If, as we are in the habit of saying, 
 we resign our will, and execute the will of 
 another, then this very act of renunciation 
 is the expression of our own will. A man 
 may waive the exercise of judgment and 
 decision with regard to the acts he per- 
 forms. From esteem or reverence, he may 
 exalt another's authority to the rank of his 
 paramount standard. He may renounce in- 
 vestigation and choice. Yet the effective 
 cause of action is himself, his inmost con- 
 stitution, his modesty, his insufficiency, or 
 lack of energy, his deference to another as 
 the appointing and deciding power. He 
 leaves the reason of his action to an out- 
 sider; none the less he uses his will, and re- 
 mains the cause of his volition. By the ex- 
 ercise of liberty he relinquishes his liberty. 
 
 Even if a man acts under the coercion of 
 brute force or the force of circumstances,
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 45 
 
 his action nevertheless is rooted in his own 
 disposition. To act, for instance, under the 
 constraint of reward or punishment after 
 all means only to act in hope of a beneficent 
 result or in fear of ill success, and hope and 
 fear alike have their basis in the original 
 instinct to seek the pleasant and salutary, 
 to avoid the painful and deleterious. To 
 be sensible of pleasure and pain, to strive 
 for the one, to flee from the other, is man's 
 nature. Man is a natural being, a link in 
 the chain of natural beings. As such he 
 obeys the law of nature; it lies at the bottom 
 of his volition. Yet his action is the issue 
 from his own nature, his own essence. 
 
 107. At the same time man is a natural Man's spiritual 
 
 nature and its 
 
 being of another sort than those composing ^ m - 
 the world around him. He leads a pre- 
 dominantly intellectual life. His mind is 
 occupied with matters affecting more than 
 the senses; other joys allure him, other pain 
 affrights him. Pleasure and pain, gratifica- 
 tions and hardships, he meets in the realm
 
 146 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 of mind as well as in the realm of nature, 
 but they are of other kind and bearing. 
 Here, too, man seeks the beneficent, and 
 avoids the harmful. He still follows the 
 law of nature, but the laws to which he is 
 subjected are those of his own higher intel- 
 lectual nature, and pleasure and pain no 
 longer form either the reason or the aim of 
 his activity. 
 Research io8. The purpose of intellectual activ- 
 
 and art. 
 
 ity, then, goes beyond the gratification of 
 the wants of man's physical organism. 
 Moreover, it is governed by other laws, 
 the recognition and application of which 
 heighten the value of man's life. The sum 
 and substance of all intellectual endeavor 
 is the investigation and knowledge of life, 
 of the real world in which man lives. To 
 comprehend his world, to grasp its peculi- 
 arity and its subjection to law, to under- 
 stand nature and the laws of her endlessly 
 various manifestations, is part of the higher 
 vocation of man. Furthermore, he has to
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 47 
 
 apply and turn to account the forces of na- 
 ture, which involves the transforming and 
 refining of her gifts. To this is superadded 
 the free, plastic use of things, increasing 
 their utility, heightening their beauty, 
 transmuting raw material into artistic forms 
 that reflect man's ideal aspirations. In all 
 this activity, beginning with agriculture of 
 the simplest kind, through the multifarious 
 exercise of mechanical and industrial skill, 
 to the supreme creations of art, man en- 
 counters laws which he must know, whose 
 authority he must recognize, to which he 
 must pay obedience, in order to reach his 
 aim and be true to his calling. 
 
 109. In other words, man must heed the Beauty and 
 
 fitness. 
 
 laws of logic and of the various provinces 
 of human knowledge, must obey the 
 laws of technic, and must execute the 
 laws of plastic, creative activity, if he would 
 realize the purpose of his intellectual part. 
 The briefest characterization of this pur- 
 pose is that the mind of man is directed
 
 148 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 towards ideas ideas which it can and 
 should grasp and realize, the ideas of truth, 
 fitness, and beauty. The impulse towards 
 these ideas is, therefore, part of the inner- 
 most nature of man. He has had, from the 
 first and always, an interest in the idea of 
 truth as opposed to error, in the idea of 
 fitness as opposed to vanity and ineffectual- 
 ness, in the idea of the beautiful as opposed 
 to the rude, the yulgar, and the ugly. In 
 Talmudic writings this ideal shaping of life 
 is summed up in the phrase th\sn ni^^(civil- 
 ization), and is accounted the partial task of 
 man's earthly existence. 
 The notion of no. All these laws of the mind man 
 
 the good the . 
 
 highest notion must know and obey, these ideas he must 
 
 and the final 
 
 purpose. g ras p an d realize, but not for their own 
 sake, not as the final purpose. Like the 
 laws of nature, they have to be pressed into 
 the service of the most sublime law, the 
 supreme idea, the last and true purpose of 
 man's whole being. From out of the bus- 
 tle of life, natural and intellectual, the in-
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 49 
 
 stinct towards the good rises aloft. The 
 notion of the good is the only perfect no- 
 tion, and the law of morality is the highest 
 law. They constitute the ultimate, the true 
 purpose of man; they confer upon him his 
 noblest distinction; they raise him to the 
 dignity of the truly human, a dignity so 
 exalted that he could venture to call it 
 divine and to characterize its ideal as like- 
 ness to God. 
 
 111. But the individual man never The notion of 
 
 morality is 
 
 stands alone. He finds himself always in the notion of 
 
 ' moral society. 
 
 the company of others, his mates. As a 
 moral being he may not and should not 
 isolate himself. He who aims to be self- 
 sufficient, who refers all things to himself 
 alone, is not called man. 1 Whatever moral- 
 ity may demand of man, is demanded in the 
 spirit, in the service, and for the purposes, 
 of human society. The notion of morality 
 is at bottom the notion of moral society. 
 Within the Jewish domain ethics is social 
 
 1 Yebamoth 63*.
 
 feeling of duty 
 the autonomous 
 ce of the 
 ethical. 
 
 150 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ethics. When we arrive at the presentation 
 of social ethics, we shall see in what respect 
 and for what reason this is the fundamental 
 view of Judaism. 
 The impulse H2. As was said above, the reason of 
 
 towards the 
 
 uty morant y lies in the nature of man and in 
 source oTthe the nature of morality. In the nature of 
 man, for he finds in himself, as an undeni- 
 able, inevitable fact, the impulse towards 
 the good. As he cannot fail to distinguish 
 light from darkness, so he draws the dis- 
 tinction between good and bad, and he is 
 as certain of the superiority of the good as 
 of the superiority of light. The peremp- 
 tory voice of duty, the feeling of obligation, 
 forms, for every human being, the personal 
 reason of morality. 1 For, though moral in- 
 junctions reach him from external sources, 
 as the behests of former generations or of 
 present authorities, yet they become law 
 
 1 If this voice is not heeded, if the feeling of obli- 
 gation is offended by an unlawful act, another 
 equally peremptory voice, the voice of conscience, 
 is raised in accusation of man before himself.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 151 
 
 unto him only when he feels their binding 
 force. This, as noted before, is the simple 
 meaning of the Bible verse concerning the 
 Law : " in thy mouth it is, and in thy heart, 
 that thou mayest do it " (Deut. 30: 14). A 
 man who obeys a given set of moral injunc- 
 tions, not from a feeling of duty, but from 
 greed, or fear, or other prudential reason, 
 knows with unerring knowledge that he 
 has not acted as a moral agent. 
 
 The feeling of duty, then, is the autono- 
 mous source of the ethical. The intention, 
 the will, to live up to this duty, is the good. 
 To obey other impulses, to fulfil other pur- 
 poses, falls short of being positively moral. 
 But to act in opposition to law, in contra- 
 diction to duty, is the bad. 
 
 113. The demand made upon man by The ideal demand 
 
 as formulated by 
 
 his spiritual part may be considered, with S^H* 1 ^. 1 : 1 - 
 
 * Stemthal, Rume- 
 
 Kant, an imperative of practical reason; merefy e psy h cho S 
 
 . logic differences. 
 
 or, with Herbart, an involuntary, necessary 
 judgment; or, with Steinthal, a judgment 
 expressed in the form of (ideal) feeling; or,
 
 1 5 2 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 with Riimelin, an original instinct; or it 
 may be called by another of the many 
 names with which this chronologically ar- 
 ranged list might be swelled; the difference 
 between any two is psychological, not 
 ethical. 
 
 An ethical difference appears only when 
 we come to state the basis of these judg- 
 ments, feelings, instincts, etc. An utilita- 
 rian and no less an evolutionary reason l or 
 a trace of eudaemonism nullifies the ethical 
 character of the demand. On the other 
 hand, utility and sensual as well as refined 
 pleasure may yield first place to the demand 
 of the ideal life, no matter in what psycho- 
 logic form the demand asserts itself. 
 The ethical a H4- A complete ethical system cannot, 
 
 new law differing 
 
 from the jaws of o f course, disregard the psychologic con- 
 
 man s physical 
 and inteUectual 
 
 to the ultimate reason, the primary prin- 
 ciple, of morality, one psychologic form 
 
 1 Which can take into account the present state of 
 psychologic knowledge.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS I 5 3 
 
 comports with the dignity of ethics as well 
 as another. 1 
 
 The important point in connection with 
 the basis of morality is, that by the side of 
 the laws of man's natural life and his intel- 
 lectual activity, a new order of laws estab- 
 lishes itself in his soul, different from the 
 others and revealing itself as different. The 
 latter laws do not render void the former. 
 Rather do they press the laws of man's phy- 
 sical and intellectual nature into their ser- 
 vice, in order to create new forms of exist- 
 ence, call forth peculiar manifestations of 
 life, and bring about acts neither known 
 nor demanded by the constitution of his 
 body and mind. 
 
 1 15. Elsewhere we shall enter into a de- The win aiming 
 
 at liberty and 
 
 tailed consideration of the fact that the le g alit y- 
 ethical law involves the freedom of the men- 
 tal force devoted to its execution, that is, 
 the will. In other words, the liberty of 
 him who is to fulfil it is part and parcel of 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 24, p. 294.
 
 154 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the moral law. Here the statement suf- 
 fices that the will aiming at once at liberty 
 and legality may be efficacious even in con- 
 tradiction to natural impulses. If, then, a 
 free will is said to be characteristic of man's 
 nature, the word nature is used in a higher 
 sense. 
 Morality is man's 116. From all this we deduce the fol- 
 
 vocation, his . . 
 
 higher nature, lowing as the essential view of Judaism : 
 
 and the perfec- 
 tion of life. Morality is its own reason and aim; it is 
 
 man's vocation and the vocation of all spir- 
 itual beings. It may not serve any pur- 
 pose outside of itself; it is its own purpose, 
 and to all other purposes that man seeks to 
 realize, it assigns their proper value and 
 due proportion. Man's moral nature is the 
 perfection of life, and the crown of spiritual 
 activity is trie creation of morality. All 
 intellectual efforts, all research and knowl- 
 edge, the subduing of nature, the con- 
 quests of civilization, the production of 
 works of art and imagination ; they all are 
 tributary to the spirit of morality : " All
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 5 5 
 
 the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is 
 never full." For, greatest of all knowledge 
 of ideas is the knowledge of the idea of the 
 good; most valuable of all conquests of 
 nature is the subjection of the material and 
 spiritual nature of man to the law of mo- 
 rality; noblest of all achievements of civili- 
 zation and culture is the moulding of char- 
 acter; sublimest of all aesthetic activity is 
 the development of society upon a moral 
 basis and the founding of moral institutions. 
 
 117. The moral law possesses this dig:- Morality in 
 
 1 progress. The 
 
 nity and absolute independence, this au- SftiMSoi 
 tonomy and peremptory force, not in spite 
 but in consequence of the fact that its cog- 
 nition and execution are subject to develop- 
 ment. Mankind, every nation, every indi- 
 vidual is dowered with unlimited possibili- 
 ties of progress. All that is truly ideal is 
 capable and in need of constant develop- 
 ment. Of the ability to improve we shall 
 have occasion to speak later on. At pres- 
 ent I wish only to point out that when Kant
 
 156 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 characterizes progress in " reverence for 
 the law " as " sacred awe changing into 
 love," he is repeating a notion current in 
 Rabbinical literature. The Rabbis fre- 
 quently refer to the step from the fulfilment 
 of the law " out of fear " (nxnnD) to its fulfil- 
 ment " out of love " (ninxD) expressions 
 equivalent to Kant's. 1 
 These thoughts n8. The thoughts expounded in the 
 
 (106-117) in 
 
 Taimudic al wr?t d last twelve paragraphs (io6-ii;) recur, 
 
 ings. Ethical , < / ,* ,-, , -,-. 
 
 conviction and in a variety of forms, in the ethical htera- 
 
 conduct a pecu- 
 liar element in ture of Judaism, particularly in Talmudic 
 
 the universe, 
 
 genufndy'new^ writings. It is proper to refer to at least 
 
 making for . . 
 
 liberty and a few pertinent passages as evidences of 
 
 progress. 
 
 this highest possible appreciation of moral- 
 ity. Besides, the literary form in which 
 they are couched is interesting. It illus- 
 trates the necessity and advantage of scru- 
 tinizing the peculiar mode of thought and 
 speech of the Rabbis and penetrating to 
 their true meaning. 
 
 That the cycle of moral thoughts does 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 25, p. 294.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 5 7 
 
 not originate in the views and experiences 
 of the material world, that is, cannot be de- 
 rived from the ideas connected with nature, 
 is expressed (see 15) in a commentary up- 
 on the phrase, " there is nothing new under 
 the sun " (Eccles. 1:9): " not under the 
 sun, but above it." That is to say, though 
 new in human experience, no phenomenon 
 can be considered truly new in the econ- 
 omy of nature. Long before our cog- 
 nizance of it, every phenomenon pre-existed 
 as a possibility in the materials of nature, 
 in her laws of creation and motion. But 
 the phenomena of the moral and spiritual 
 life ethical conviction and conduct are 
 arrayed in opposition to the material uni- 
 verse. With their peculiar laws, different 
 from all others, inasmuch as they aim at 
 liberty rather than necessity, they form a 
 completely new element. All that lives and 
 acts under the sun must yield to the law of 
 nature. Knowledge and inventive genius 
 may force her law into the service of chosen
 
 1 5 8 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 purposes, but the law itself can be neither 
 changed nor extended in scope. Beyond 
 and above nature, however, above her sub- 
 limest manifestations, " above the sun," we 
 have the moral order of existence with its 
 laws, whose origin and aim are not implied 
 in the phenomena of nature. 
 
 In a theistic form, the vital germ of this 
 notion of the dignity of the ethical idea 
 conquering all the glory and power of the 
 physical world is met in so early a source 
 as the two Isaiahs : " The sun shall not be 
 unto thee any more for a light by day, and 
 for brightness shall the moon not give light 
 unto thee; but the Lord will be unto thee 
 for a light of everlasting, and thy God as 
 thy glory. Thy sun shall not go down any 
 more, and thy moon shall not be with- 
 drawn; for the Lord will be unto thee for a 
 light of everlasting" (Is. 60:19; comp. 
 30:26). Before the majesty of the ethico- 
 religious conception of God, the brilliancy 
 of the sun and the light of the moon pale;
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS I 59 
 
 for it raises man above changeful, deceptive 
 nature, to the heights of the immutable, 
 real notion of morality. 
 
 119. The operation of the moral spirit 
 is looked upon as continuing and supple- 
 menting the divine work of creation, as in 
 the following: " He who does a moral deed, 
 as, for instance, the judge who pronounces 
 a righteous judgment, thereby associates 
 himself with God in the work of creation." 1 
 The universe with its endless array of life- 
 forms, and under the sway of unchanging, 
 definite laws of necessity, reaches perfec- 
 tion only in the presence of the spirit of 
 morality, with its autonomous laws aiming 
 at freedom of will, because based upon it. 
 The economy of the world is not complete 
 until the moral aspect of things is reckoned 
 with at every point. 
 
 In allegorical language, the founding of 
 the moral world is regarded as the condi- 
 tion of the continued existence of the ma- 
 
 mpn ^v t\niv ncrw. See 15.
 
 160 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 terial world. " God inverted Mount Sinai 
 like a bowl or a basket over the congrega- 
 tion of Israel, and said : If they accept the 
 Law, well and good; if not, they shall find 
 their grave here." Again, God is said to 
 have made a covenant with the powers of 
 nature when the work pf creation was fin- 
 ished. If the children of Israel accepted 
 the Law, these powers were to continue in 
 force; if not, chaos was to be brought back. 
 Obviously, the moral world is here consid- 
 ered the proper object of creation. With 
 it as a component element, the universe has 
 attained the form in which it can execute 
 its purpose. Without the principle of 
 morality, the w r orking of the world-machi- 
 nery is devoid of a well-defined, recognized 
 purpose. Despite the orderly course of 
 events subject to the laws of nature, it lacks 
 the aim of all movement. Without the 
 crowning consummation in the moral 
 
 1 Abodah Zarah 2 b and 3.
 
 order, the universe remains purposeless 
 chaos. 
 
 120. The universal character of the sinai, Israel. 
 
 and humanity. 
 
 ethics of Judaism will be considered in de- 
 tail further on. One point of the discus- 
 sion must, however, be anticipated here. 
 Though the above passage relates to the 
 Sinaitic revelation, it applies not to the peo- 
 ple of Israel and its moral education alone, 
 but equally to the establishment of morality 
 indirectly for the good of the whole of man- 
 kind. To justify this statement I need not 
 resort to the pointed expressions of the 
 later Prophets. In the very narrative of 
 the revelation at Mount Sinai the true 
 meaning of the election of the people of 
 Israel is made plain. In Exodus 19:3, a 
 solemn introduction leads up to the explicit 
 statement in verse 6, " Ye shall be unto 
 me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," 
 closing as emphatically as it opened. A 
 kingdom of priests ! That is the central 
 idea. Israel as a nation shall bear itself
 
 162 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 towards the other nations as the priest to- 
 ward laymen; it shall be teacher and leader. 
 Not for his own sake is the priest invested 
 with dignity and sanctity, but for the sake 
 of his congregation which he is to lead to 
 the living fount of the idea to God. 
 The universality i2i. The metaphorical language of the 
 
 of the law in 
 
 ^language'of Rabbis gives felicitous expression to the 
 same thought, which illumines the Judaism 
 of all times, and endows its prayers with 
 deeper meaning and edifying virtue. God 
 commanded Moses, it says, 1 to write the 
 Law upon the altar, but to write it in each 
 of the seventy languages. 2 That is to say, 
 the Law is to be immortalized in the most 
 sacred place, and in such a way that it may 
 be intelligible to the whole of mankind, 
 since it was given to Israel as the interme- 
 diary of humanity. 
 
 122. Finally, to return to the main ques- 
 
 1 Sotah 36*. 
 
 2 The list of nations in Genesis 10 gave rise to the 
 notion that only seventy languages are current 
 among men.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 63 
 tion, the complete independence, the au- inquiry into the 
 
 "chief good." 
 
 tonomy, of morality, is conveyed clearly by 
 the audacious idea, that as a moral agent, 
 man is his own creator. 1 
 
 From all that has gone before it is ob- 
 vious that in the statement of the ultimate 
 reason of morality there is no room for the 
 utilitarian principle, whether from the point 
 of view of the individual or of the commu- 
 nity. From the oldest times down to the 
 present, the idea of utility obtrudes itself 
 alike in the popular attitude (as expressed 
 in proverbs, etc.) and in the systems of 
 ethics pretending to be scientific. Utility 
 is represented as the purpose of all conduct 
 regulated by moral law, and is therefore 
 considered its true reason. This notion is 
 alien from the spirit of Judaism. There- 
 fore, too, the inquiry into the " chief good," 
 the frequent task of Greek and of modern 
 research, is not Jewish. Rabbinical re- 
 search on the aim of morality asked, not : 
 
 1 Tanchnma Ki Tabo; I'ayikra Rabbah, ch. 35.
 
 1 64 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 What is the " chief good " to be obtained 
 by man? but: Which is the proper path, 
 the good path, in which man shall walk? l 
 The eye of the thinker was fixed upon the 
 rules, not upon the result, of moral action. 2 
 The good things 123. Different in form of expression, 
 
 of life a conse- 
 quence, not the but essentially (even in methodological re- 
 purpose, of moral 
 
 C01 simon ten spects) the same, this attitude prevails in 
 
 Yochai's charac- , , r 1-1 r 
 
 teristic dictum, the search after and in the statement of uni- 
 versal notions comprehending all the phe- 
 nomena of the moral world. We are taught 
 on what the world (that is, the moral world) 
 stands, " on Law, Worship, and Charity," 
 and by what it is sustained, " by Truth, 
 
 1 See Aboth 2: i and 2: 13. 
 
 " Though Micah's brief but comprehensive exhor- 
 tation (6:8), a corner-stone in the edifice of Juda- 
 ism, proclaims " what is good," it surely is not 
 proper to derive an argument from it with regard to 
 the scientific statement of ethics. Yet there can be 
 no doubt that the sentence, in all its simplicity of 
 form, served to divert the attention of later thinkers 
 from the inquiry into the " chief good," and lead it 
 to the absolute value of moral conduct, since moral 
 conduct alone is called " good." 
 
 3 Aboth i : 2.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS \ 6 5 
 
 Justice, and Peace." The Jewish doctrine 
 of ethics is not a doctrine of material pos- 
 sessions. If the good things of life are 
 referred to and the Rabbis, as we shall 
 see further on, know their value they are 
 thought of as advantageous consequences 
 of moral conduct, not as the purpose aimed 
 at, not as the motive. In connection with 
 this, R. Simon ben Yochai's dictum is sig- 
 nificant : " Beauty and strength, riches, 
 honor, and wisdom, venerable age and a 
 numerous progeny, are ornaments to the 
 just and ornaments to the world." Liter- 
 ally, they are nw, beautiful, suitable, be- 
 coming to the just, and as the possessions 
 of the just, as the adjuncts of justice, they 
 adorn the world, that is, the moral sphere. 
 
 124. From this it appears that the chief, Love of the 
 
 morally good 
 
 or to speak more accurately, the only true ^: e ^ c e ^ 
 good is the morally good. Or, from the the ' technic - 
 point of view of man, love of the good, 
 reverence for the law, and, as a consequence 
 
 l Abothi:iS. * Aboth 6:%.
 
 1 66 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 love of the law, are the possessions for 
 which man should strive. All else that is 
 beneficial, agreeable, useful, and expedient, 
 and hence is called " good," is subordinate 
 and unessential. In a word : 
 
 Love of the morally good alone is the ethic 
 of life; all else belongs to tlic tcclmic of life. 
 
 In theistic language, the all-embracing 
 ethic of life is love of God; for God is at 
 once the Good One and the principle of the 
 good. What we can grasp concerning his 
 nature are notions of the good, perfect pro- 
 totypes of the good. In God they are per- 
 sonal attributes, as virtues should in man 
 become permanent attributes, features of 
 character. Again and again, the question, 
 how can God be loved, is answered : by lov- 
 ing the good. Intimately connected with 
 this thought is the discussion of the relation 
 of man's conduct to its consequences on 
 the one side, and to the absolute dignity of 
 morality on the other. 
 
 125. The Biblical code, the Torah,
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 67 
 threatens punishment for the transgression Reward and 
 
 punishment 
 
 of commands, and promises reward for their t u f il ( ]t ctrinc 
 fulfilment. Yet ethical critics go far afield 
 when they deduce therefrom a doctrine of 
 utility as the reason of the moral law. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the Torah 
 is at once a text-book of ethics and a theo- 
 cratic code. 1 We shall treat later of the 
 ethical teachings and their relation to the 
 doctrine of retribution. As for the laws 
 proper, whether they fall under the head of 
 political, civil, or penal, they one and all 
 are laws of the theocratic state, rules of 
 conduct meet for a theocratically governed 
 people. They are meant to regulate the 
 expressions of the national spirit and to 
 convey to the national consciousness the 
 notions by virtue of which individuals, asso- 
 ciations of individuals, families, communi- 
 ties, peoples, society as a whole, join the life 
 
 1 So far as the statement of motives is concerned, 
 there is no division. The ethical and the state laws . 
 are simply divine ordinances on the basis of absolute 
 morality.
 
 1 68 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 spiritual to the life material. They assign 
 boundaries to the sporadic, inconstant im- 
 pulses of man, systematize them, and direct 
 them towards higher aims. To this end 
 the religious feelings are to be cultivated, 
 and the dogmatic notions arising from and 
 corresponding to them are to be preserved 
 and transmitted inviolate to future genera- 
 tions. Though rooted in religious soil, 
 they are treated from the point of view of 
 public law. In this case, law is religion as 
 well, and the religious standard is at the 
 same time the law of the state. 
 Reward and I2 6. Therefore reward is promised and 
 
 punishment . . . . . . . . 
 
 psychologic punishment threatened in connection with 
 
 means to the 
 
 fulfilment of ^i ie ethical and religious as well as the polit- 
 
 the law, not 
 
 , reasons, . j awg ^ow, does it mean any- 
 
 thing to say that reward and punishment, 
 natural consequences of fulfilment and 
 transgression, are the reasons of laws? 
 When the modern state punishes theft, do 
 we call the punishment of the evil-doer the 
 reason of the law? What does the state
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 69 
 
 teach, demand, or decree, the avoidance of 
 punishment or the equitable treatment of 
 one's neighbor and his property? The 
 threat of punishment and the promise of 
 reward are the psychologic means to secure 
 the fulfilment of laws, never the reasons of 
 the laws. The modern state is in the habit 
 of wording its posters thus : " Forbidden 
 Penalty $5.00 " no mention of decency, 
 justice, or other moral consideration. Does 
 it follow that the punishment is the prin- 
 ciple of the law? The state needs and de- 
 mands acts, requires that its citizens do or 
 omit to do, and it employs various means, 
 among theni punishment, to secure action. 
 But the inner reason why the state asks for 
 deeds, the ethical idea, is not adduced. 
 Nowadays, probably to gain the approba- 
 tion of the law-making powers, motives are 
 often added to proposed laws, but in the 
 form promulgated laws never contain their 
 motives. In short, a code is not a text- 
 book.
 
 1 70 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 The modern European state rests, on the 
 whole, upon the highest moral principles 
 hitherto known, but it nowhere formulates 
 them in didactic language, in universal, ab- 
 stract terms. It is a task of peculiar diffi- 
 culty to discover and state these principles 
 and bring them into such prominence that 
 they become part of the public conscious- 
 ness, to be applied practically in improved 
 legislation. In recent times jurists and 
 philosophers have devoted themselves to 
 the task, and among the Jews it was the 
 occupation first of the Prophets, later of 
 many a Rabbi. No matter, then, what one 
 may think as to the purpose and meaning 
 of punishment in the doctrine of retribu- 
 tion, 1 it is certain that punishment cannot 
 be regarded as the reason of the law. 
 nor motives 127- Biblical language sometimes, it 
 
 of action. . 
 
 must be conceded, accommodates itself to 
 the simple thought of the populace, which 
 
 1 The Jewish view will be discussed at length in 
 the section on law.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 7 1 
 
 by nature and by nurture has a leaning to- 
 wards utilitarianism. To urge the practice 
 of the good, a reward is held out; to deter 
 from the bad, punishment is threatened. 
 But so far from constituting reward and 
 punishment the real reasons of the law, the 
 Bible does not even represent them as the 
 real motives dominating the will. " Honor 
 thy father and thy mother that thy days 
 may be prolonged, and that it may go well 
 with thee " (Deut. 5:16; Exod. 20:12), 
 could never be taken to mean : you shall 
 live long, therefore you are to honor father 
 and mother. Rather does it mean : you 
 desire (by nature) to live long; you will 
 attain your ideal by honoring father and 
 mother. Reward is mentioned as a fact of 
 experience, as it were, as a natural conse- 
 quence. It is not thought of as a motive, 
 certainly not as the sole or ultimate 
 motive. 
 
 128. It was reserved for the schools of 
 the Rabbis to give complete expression
 
 1 7 2 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 Reward and to the meaning and purpose of reward 
 
 punishment 
 
 a pedagogic an( i punishment and to repudiate per- 
 
 measure of 
 
 the Rabbis. emptor jiy t ] ie } c | ea that retribution may 
 constitute the reason of a law or a motive 
 of action. 
 
 It cannot be denied that many of the 
 Talmud sages deferred, with too great in- 
 dulgence, to the naive simplicity of the 
 people, who value every action according 
 to -its success. Thus they were led to dwell 
 upon reward and punishment for the fulfil- 
 ment and the violation of commands, and 
 represent God's justice as doling out meas- 
 ure for measure. The pedagogic point of 
 view prevailed. The great mass of the 
 people, with their untutored moral sense, 
 required education and development to rise 
 to the level of pure morality, and even 
 when regarded from the heights of the most 
 rigorous moral doctrine, life yields the ex- 
 perience that there is no true happiness, no 
 well-being, etc.,' without morality. To make 
 it appear, however, that morality is a pre-
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 7 3 
 
 requisite, a necessary condition, of happi- 
 ness, is a concession to man's natural in- 
 stincts. This is the point of view first of 
 all urged upon individuals occupying a 
 lower plane, to bring home to them the 
 value and significance of morality. The 
 good is recommended by its profitable con- 
 sequences, the bad is made abhorrent by 
 the evils arising from it. For the object 
 aimed at is to direct the mind to the results 
 of action, and so produce thought, increase 
 the efficacy of conscience, and implant and 
 cultivate an obedient spirit. The point of 
 departure is the familiar psychologic pre- 
 mise that, no matter from \A hat motive the 
 good may be practised, personal experi- 
 ence with the good will induce recognition 
 of its ideal value, and teach that it is to be 
 esteemed and sought for its own sake. 
 " Doing a thing from an extraneous motive 
 leads to doing it for its own sake." 
 
 See Appendix No. 
 26, p. 296.
 
 1/4 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 The Rabbis repu- I2Q. Pedagogically, then, it may be jus- 
 
 diato all by- 
 
 ^'faHiimintof tifiable to recommend obedience to moral 
 behests on account of the reward gained 
 and the punishment averted. The danger, 
 however, of never getting beyond this con- 
 ception of the nature of morality is not 
 slight, and from the purely ethical point of 
 view the attitude is reprehensible. But 
 beside the references to reward and punish- 
 ment in Rabbinical literature stand numer- 
 ous sayings which repudiate alike the idea 
 that reward is the reason of the law and 
 that it is the motive of its fulfilment, and 
 these sayings were well-known and univer- 
 sally endorsed. The oldest representative 
 of the specifically Rabbinical mode of 
 thought, if not its originator, was Antigo- 
 nos of Socho, the immediate successor to 
 Simon the Just, and he was the author of 
 the sentence : " Be not like unto servants 
 who serve their master with a view to 
 recompense, but be like unto servants who 
 serve their master without the expectation
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS \ ?$ 
 
 of reward, and let the fear of heaven be 
 upon you." 
 
 This decided rejection of every by-pur- 
 pose in the fulfilment of the law is echoed 
 by Rabbi after Rabbi. Take, for instance, 
 the severe condemnation of a low moral 
 ideal by R. Pinchas and R. Simon, 2 or again 
 in Sifre: Let none fulfil the law with the 
 idea of receiving a reward or reaping bene- 
 fit; but " whatever you do, let it be done 
 from love alone." 
 
 130. But unconnected sayings are not Reward of one 
 
 good deed 
 
 final. The important consideration is that ^ hergood 
 the Rabbinical view of life as a whole is in- 
 stinct with the thought that the reward of 
 a good deed is not an external, material, 
 or other sort of natural consequence, but 
 its necessary result another good deed. 
 As evil, unatoned for, unexpiated, or unfor- 
 
 1 Aboth i : 3. 
 
 *|1O'D. Vayikra Kabbah, ch. 36. 
 
 3 nnnKD &6x itwn vh o^w DDK^ no ^>D. Sifre 
 
 Debarim, 41.
 
 1 76 THE E THICS OF JL 'DA ISM 
 
 given, must " beget an endless chain of 
 evils," so the true, felicitous result of a good 
 deed, the only result becoming the dignity 
 of morality, is to generate the good, from 
 various psychologic reasons, in its ori- 
 ginator or in another individual. This dis- 
 cussion on the reward of the good and the 
 punishment of the bad may fitly be summed 
 up in Ben Azai's saying: " One good deed 
 brings another in its train, as one transgres- 
 sion brings another; for the reward of a 
 good deed is a good deed, and the reward 
 of sin is sin." 
 Reward and 131. It is proper to make mention of 
 
 punishment not 
 int S e?ferenc a e Ct but W ^ at tWnkCW of profound ethical insight 
 
 ;ts to b ilw! have held in connection with the above and 
 in opposition to the popular view. In their 
 opinion, the regulation of the moral order 
 by means of reward and punishment is not 
 due to a succession of special acts of inter- 
 ference, in the sphere of human life and 
 activity, by the supreme governing power; 
 
 1 Aboth 4: 2.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS \ 77 
 
 but they conceived it as a general, fixed sys- 
 tem subject to ethical law and therefore 
 comparable to the course of events in the 
 material world. R. Eleazar said : " Since the 
 Holy One, blessed be he, has spoken thus 
 (' See, I set before you this day a blessing 
 and a curse, a blessing if ye obey the com- 
 mandments, and a curse if ye transgress 
 them '), the good and the evil fortunes of 
 men have ceased to issue from the mouth 
 of the Most High. Evil comes of itself 
 upon the evil-doer, and good upon him who 
 doeth the good " a necessary conse- 
 quence of the view that the reward of vir- 
 tue and the punishment of vice are unal- 
 terably appointed, and regularly lie within 
 them. 
 
 132. This leads to the thought, incon- The laws of 
 
 nature not 
 
 trovertible from an ethical point of view affected by 
 
 the moral order 
 
 and based upon experience, that the world ofexistence - 
 of nature is radically distinct from the moral 
 world. In the natural course of events, the 
 
 1 Debar im Kabbah, ch. 4.
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 one does not encroach upon the other. 
 Only through the mediation of a being like 
 man, part intellectual, part moral, and at 
 the same time endowed with natural 
 powers, the two may overlap each* other. 
 To the extent to which he controls the 
 forces of nature and makes them subserve 
 his ends, man, by virtue of his intellect, 
 may of set purpose interfere in the course 
 of natural events with his ethical (moral 
 or immoral) volition. Left to itself, the 
 moral order of existence runs parallel with 
 the law-regulated course of the world. In 
 its sphere the law of nature prevails unham- 
 pered and untouched, as the moral law 
 reigns with undisputed authority in its 
 sphere. 1 " Stolen seed sprouts and grows 
 as healthily as seed honestly acquired, pro- 
 vided natural conditions are equally favor- 
 able. The child born in sin develops in 
 
 1 A chapter will be devoted to the relation of 
 morality to nature. The above aspect of the relation 
 could not be omitted here in stating the foundation 
 of ethics.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 79 
 
 accordance with the laws of nature as well 
 as the child born in lawful wedlock." 
 Events succeed each other in their own 
 fixed way, without regard to man's posi- 
 tively or negatively ethical desire. Error 
 and malice, or intelligence and virtue may, 
 in the one case, abuse the forces of nature, 
 in the other, use them to good advantage, 
 but they cannot change the laws to which 
 the forces of nature are subject. It neces- 
 sarily follows that natural events and their 
 consequences cannot contain the motives 
 of ethical action, certainly not the reason 
 for the moral law. 
 
 133. We have considered two systems Relation of 
 
 Judaism to 
 
 of ethics in relation to Judaism : utilitarian- eudaemonis 
 ism, whose principle is usefulness, and the 
 doctrine based upon reward and punish- 
 ment (whether they are appointed by a 
 Divine Power, or follow as the natural re- 
 sults of man's actions). Higher than either 
 is the system of morals known as eudae- 
 
 l Abodah Zarah $4 b .
 
 ISO THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 monism, the system that sets up man's hap- 
 piness as the goal, and therefore makes it 
 the principle of morality. In view of the 
 historic fact that most ethical systems have 
 had a eudasmonistic character, it is incum- 
 bent upon us to state the relation of Juda- 
 ism to eudsemonism. We may limit our- 
 selves to the consideration of the most es- 
 sential points, which appear equally in all 
 the various forms eudaemonism has as- 
 sumed in literature, the more so as Judaism 
 accepts this principle as little as the others. 
 Explanation of 134- Happiness is the inclusive term for 
 
 eiidaemonism 
 
 and its tasks, the highest state of well-being, content- 
 ment, and enjoyment attainable by man. 
 Therefore, according to eudsemonistic 
 teaching, happiness is the goal of all human 
 effort. However different the inclinations 
 and desires of men, when once they rise 
 above the satisfaction of the lowest needs, 
 they form part of, or are preliminary to, the 
 effort for happiness. This goal is reached 
 by way of morality. Accordingly, ethics
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 8 1 
 
 as a theory of happiness has the following 
 tasks : 
 
 1. It has to explain wherein happiness 
 consists; for the opinions of men diverge 
 greatly on this subject, and it is the prov- 
 ince of science to enlighten them and lead 
 them to an understanding of what is the 
 most perfect and the worthiest state attain- 
 able. 
 
 2. It is to demonstrate that the highest 
 state can be reached only by morality, that 
 is, by moral 'cognition, principles, and con- 
 duct. 
 
 3. Finally and chiefly, it is to state the 
 laws whose execution constitutes morality, 
 and through which happiness is secured. 
 
 135. It is proper to admit that eudae- its essential basis. 
 monistic ethics, like the other systems, 
 grants room within its theory to the purest 
 and noblest commands, and, moreover, its 
 principles have been professed by men of 
 the most exalted character. Again, critical 
 study of the history of ethical doctrines re-
 
 1 82 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 veals that the various systems differ from 
 one another, not so much in their concrete 
 content, that is, in what they command to 
 do or to leave undone, as in the primary 
 principle that is held up as the goal of mo- 
 rality. 
 
 The essential basis of eudaemonism is 
 this: Every being, at every moment, is in 
 a certain state, relatively better or worse, 
 and his efforts are directed towards the 
 better. Our personal experience vividly 
 illustrates this general statement : man is 
 constantly classifying his condition under 
 well-being or discomfort, perfection or 
 want, enjoyment or discontent. Natur- 
 ally, then, the desire for satisfaction (and 
 avoidance of the opposite) is the impulse 
 underlying every motion and manifestation 
 of life, and this impulse accompanies all 
 activity incident to the development of em- 
 powers and constituting the whole of our 
 career. Then the aim of all effort is the 
 state of perfect well-being, of completest
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 83 
 
 satisfaction, to which we give the name hap- 
 piness. Hence the most moral conduct is 
 that which brings about this complete sat- 
 isfaction. But according to the eudae- 
 monistic theory it is the most moral, be- 
 cause it brings about complete satisfaction, 
 and because it thereby responds best to the 
 natural impulse towards action. The satis- 
 faction of man or his happiness, then, is 
 the reason which renders moral the action 
 calculated to effect his happiness. 
 
 136. .On the other hand, we have the opposition 
 
 between 
 
 view advanced, as was shown above, by the eudaemomsm 
 
 and Judaism. 
 
 Jewish spirit and Jewish ethics, that the 
 reason and the goal of morality lie within 
 itself. Not a state to be reached, not a 
 good to be won, not an evil to be warded 
 off, is the impelling force, the binding 
 reason of morality, but itself furnishes the 
 creative impulse, the commanding, supreme 
 authority. True, the most moral conduct 
 often affords the highest satisfaction, but 
 not because it confers happiness is it moral ;
 
 1 84 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 because it is moral, it confers happiness. 
 The simplest argument in favor of the 
 theory opposed to eudsemonism is the fact 
 that the spirit of morality may demand a 
 course of conduct in contradiction, not only 
 to the desire for satisfaction, but even to 
 the more deep-seated instinct of self-preser- 
 vation, for it may become a duty to sacrifice 
 one's own life. The sacrifice of one's own 
 life for ethical reasons can in no wise be said 
 to be a satisfaction, but it may certainly be 
 looked upon as an act of highest morality. 
 Happiness and 137- In consideration of many facts, but 
 
 bliss; this world 
 
 and the next, especially of the above, the eudaemonistic 
 theory steps beyond the boundary of earthly 
 life, and takes refuge in the hereafter, where 
 true, perfect satisfaction, where " bliss " 
 awaits us as the result and object of moral 
 conduct in this life. The position of Juda- 
 ism, particularly as represented by the Rab- 
 bis, with regard to these contradictory prin- 
 ciples is clearly laid down in two of R. 
 Jacob's sayings.
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 85 
 
 " This world," he says, " is the antecham- 
 ber of the world to come. Prepare thyself 
 in the antechamber that thou mayest be ad- 
 mitted into the banqueting hall," 1 that is, 
 lead a moral life on earth in order to be 
 worthy and capable of enjoying the bliss of 
 the hereafter. Thus a connection is admitted 
 between life on earth and a future life (of 
 which earlier stages of Jewish thought took 
 little cognizance). Morality here below 
 corresponds to bliss hereafter. The discus- 
 sion on morality, then, should consider man 
 not as a mortal, but as an immortal being. 
 
 138. The notion of the hereafter and of The idea of 
 
 the hereafter 
 
 the bliss of the future life, though all higher J 
 religions own it, has been but meagrely de- 
 veloped. Later Jewish literature also con- 
 fines itself to a repudiation of all material 
 forms of life and pleasure in the world to 
 come, and makes no attempt to outline a 
 picture of the spiritual state expected, for, 
 in our ethical survey, we may surely leave 
 
 1 Aboth 4: 1 6 seq.
 
 1 86 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 out of account the naive, childish, or mystic 
 and allegoric ideas cherished by the popu- 
 lace. The lack is comprehensible. We 
 have absolutely no experience regarding 
 the nature and the condition of the soul in 
 a future life. Fancy, though re-enforced 
 by dogma, requires living sources of knowl- 
 edge. In this case, it is and always has 
 been limited to idealizing inferences and 
 idealistic suppositions based upon spiritual 
 living in this world. 1 
 A critical point: 139- It is necessary to touch, however 
 
 the philosophy of 
 
 and of soctet* 1 ^S^fy upon an ethically weak point in 
 V bssandof even the purest and loftiest of the accepted 
 
 morality. . r .* e IT 
 
 ideas concerning the bliss of the future life. 
 All the speculations on the life hereafter 
 take into account only the individual, but 
 in the morality of this world society occu- 
 pies the place of chief consideration. As 
 
 1 Even so sober a thinker and logical a psycholo- 
 gist as Herbart indulges in them. See Lehrbuch der 
 Psychologic; Gesammclte Werke, vol v, 246-252, p. 
 171 seq. [A Text-Book in Psychology; trl. by Mar- 
 garet K. Smith, p. 197.]
 
 PRINCIPLE OF JE WISH E THICS 1 87 
 
 was pointed out above, and as we shall see 
 later on more in detail, ethics is, if not 
 wholly, at all events pre-eminently social 
 ethics. The dogma of the hereafter is based 
 solely upon a philosophy of the ego, but 
 true recognition of man's destiny in this 
 world can be reached only on the basis of 
 a social philosophy. The same R. Jacob 
 who regarded this world as the antecham- 
 ber of the next gave strikingly clear and 
 precise expression to the position of Juda- 
 ism in the question concerning the fitness 
 of eudaemonism to serve as the first princi- 
 ple of ethics. He indicates the relative 
 value of happiness in this life and the bliss 
 of the future life, and at the same time the 
 exalted value and supreme dignity attach- 
 ing to moral conduct. The real meaning 
 of his words lies in this, that by the manner 
 of the comparison of temporal happiness 
 with eternal bliss he forces into promi- 
 nence the idea that the value of morality is 
 not comparable with anything else. His
 
 1 88 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 words are : " Better * is one hour of bliss in 
 the world to come than all the life (which 
 includes happiness) of this world; but better 
 is one hour of repentance and good works 
 in this world than all the life of the world 
 
 1 The word used is HS', that is, more beautiful, 
 which shows that the author was familiar with Hel- 
 lenic culture and mode of speech. That the same is 
 true of the author of Ecclesiastes is evident from 
 Eccles. 5: 17, where the association of the good 
 with the beautiful, " the good which is comely," is 
 an unmistakable suggestion of the Greek K 
 
 (the spiritually beautiful). 
 
 2 Aboth 4: 17 seq.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 
 140. Though its first appeal was to the The ethics of 
 
 Judaism 
 
 nation whose language it spoke, yet the nat^nli 1 ' not 
 ethics of Judaism, even in its oldest form, 
 was pre-eminently social. In its essentials, 
 in its fundamental thought defining the 
 reason and aim of morality, it was not na- 
 tional, but universal ethics. In other 
 \vords, moral knowledge was not held to 
 have been created for Israel alone; it was 
 for the world at large. The ideals of cor- 
 rect conduct were proclaimed, not only for 
 the members of the race in the midst of 
 which they were conceived, but for the 
 whole of mankind. That mankind may 
 unite in the effort to grasp and realize these 
 ideals is the burden of the most important 
 prayers, the object of the unstilled longing, 
 of the ever-renewed hope of all noble souls.
 
 190 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 The theory of HI. Among the Jews, more than among 
 
 life u unit. 
 
 other nations, the tendency of thought is 
 towards complete, all-inclusive unity. This 
 aiming at a unified theory embracing all 
 that can occupy the mind of man has been 
 visited with censure, 1 but the Jewish nation 
 need not be disturbed about it. The re- 
 sults of this unified theory of life in refining 
 and deepening the ethical ideal are unde- 
 niably great; it raises the moral spirit to its 
 meridian height, whence it scatters all the 
 shadows that gather beneath. The most 
 
 1 Renan in his earlier writings" (1859). Many, even 
 in Germany, echoed his opinions. He himself rose 
 to a more liberal as well as profounder view. See 
 Steinthal, Zur Charakteristik der scmitischcn Volker 
 in vol. i of the Zeitschrift fur Volker psychologic und 
 Sprachwissenscliaft, pp. 328-345 (evoked by Kenan's 
 Nouvelles considerations sur le caractere general des 
 peuples semitiques et en particulicr sur leur tendance 
 au monotheisme) . On the other hand, comp. Kenan's 
 writings, 1882-83: Le Juda'isme et le Christianismc, and 
 Le Juda'isme comme race et comme religion. Also, /- 
 denthum und Christcnthum und ihre Zukunft, by Dr. 
 Albert Friedrich Berner, Privy Councillor of Jus- 
 tice, professor at the University of Berlin. Leipsic, 
 1891. pp. 8-15.
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 1 9 1 
 
 beneficent effect of the tendency towards 
 unity is visible in the cognition of the one- 
 ness of God, the oneness of the world, and 
 the oneness of humanity. 
 
 142. We are here not concerned with oneness and 
 
 universality of 
 
 the theologic and the inestimable religious the God idea - 
 importance of the cognition of God's one- 
 ness. It suffices to point out the fact that 
 deities, with opposite attributes, ruling at 
 the same time over adjacent spheres and 
 after each other over the same, are not 
 divine. The true God idea becomes possi- 
 ble only with the cognition of absolute uni- 
 ty. When different peoples own different 
 gods, each is necessarily the god of his 
 people, a national god. God acknowledged 
 as One, beside whom there is no other, 
 cannot be national. With the growth of 
 knowledge, with the deepening of the reli- 
 gious idea, national limitations drop away 
 from the concept of God. A spiritual at- 
 tainment can be reached only by many ef- 
 forts, with gradual advances, and after fre-
 
 IQ2 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 quent lapses. So the God idea as conceived 
 by the Jewish race had a long, vicissitudi- 
 nous history of spiritual striving and pas- 
 sionate conflict, until, purged of all earthly 
 dross in the flaming hearts of the Prophets, 
 and liberated from the inherited shackles 
 of thought, it so illumined, with its purity 
 and sublimity, the soul of the Jewish people 
 that Israel was fitted to become a " light of 
 the nations " (Is. 42 : 6). Israel at this* 
 height did not acknowledge a God of its 
 own, but it acknowledged the God of the 
 whole world and of all peoples as its own; 
 and to the other nations it brought not its 
 own, but their own God. It revealed God 
 to them as the One and as the God of all, 
 because it had found him within itself and 
 itself in him. 
 Thence the notion 143- Nature as a whole can likewise be 
 
 of the unity 
 
 of the world, comprehended only in her unity. So long 
 as her various phenomena, her formations, 
 and her forces are conceived as gods, dis- 
 tinct entities, as in the heathen myths,
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 193 
 
 there can be no notion of the world in its 
 totality, of the universe. It may be as- 
 serted as a fact, that out of the notion of 
 God as the One and the creator of all things 
 in nature the notion of one universe grad- 
 ually developed. Without reference to re- 
 ligious concepts, compelled by the logic of 
 the notion of God's oneness, the notion of 
 world-oneness emerges; intellect grows, 
 man's horizon widens, insight becomes 
 keener, barriers fall, divisions cease. Ac- 
 cordingly, monotheists of earliest times 
 Melchizedek in blessing Abraham, Moses in 
 his farewell song, and Isaiah in his great 
 denunciatory address call heaven to wit- 
 ness together with earth, and the Psalm- 
 ists' descriptions of the universe are un- 
 equaled for grandeur and unity. 1 
 
 144. God is the creator, not only of na- unity of mankind 
 
 as an ethical 
 
 ture, but of man, of all men. All are de- J?%3 moi fJ:j! e 
 
 Rabbis. Akiba 
 
 scendants of a single couple created by God. ai 
 
 1 Comp. Alexander v. Humboldt, Kosmos, vol. n, 
 p. 45 seq.
 
 1 94 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 This thought the Rabbis turned to ethical 
 use. The unity of mankind is considered 
 by them from various points of view : it is 
 seen and proclaimed to be an idea fraught 
 with ethical consequences; but at the same 
 time, they recognize clearly that, though 
 stated from the first as a simple fact, it in- 
 volves moral requirements, promises, and 
 hopes, which only the future can and shall 
 fulfil. Akiba designated the injunction, 
 " Love thy neighbor as thyself " (Lev. 
 191.18) as the fundamental principle of the 
 code. Ben Azai maintained that the sen- 
 tence, " This is the book of the generations 
 of man " (Gen. 5:1), contains a more com- 
 prehensive principle. The words, " of 
 man," mean all men in their unity and 
 equality, for, as the same verse continues, 
 all are created " in the likeness of God." 
 145. Keeping pace with the universal 
 
 1 See Sifra Kedoshim, ch. 4; Jerusalem Nedarim 
 9:3. So early an authority as Abraham ibn Baud 
 gives this reason for Ben Azai's opinion. See Ap- 
 pendix No. 27, p. 301.
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 1 95 
 
 theory of life, primary ethical principles de- unity and 
 
 equality. The 
 
 veloped within Judaism, and produced a universally 
 
 J human. 
 
 conception of the history of mankind, at 
 once suggestive and beneficent, that broke 
 through the barriers of nationality. We 
 shall see how, from the unity of mankind, 
 the equality of all nations was deduced, and 
 furthermore, within the ranks of each na- 
 tion, the equality of all its members. One 
 law for all no hereditary privileges for the 
 one or the other estate or family. A doc- 
 trine of ethics with aristocratic leanings 
 could obtain no prevalence. The injunc- 
 tions in Proverbs, the philosophic reflec- 
 tions in Ecclesiastes, the problem of life in 
 Job, are all stated in broadly human terms; 
 the author's race is never mentioned. 
 Again, the Prophet (e. g. Micah. 6:8), when 
 he formulates the requirements of the idea 
 in the name of God, addresses man (mtf); 
 the Psalmist's fundamental doctrines (Ps. 
 15) are of universally human bearing; and, 
 finally, the same liberality and elevation of
 
 196 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 thought characterize the fundamental works 
 of the Rabbinical period. In the Mishnah, 
 for instance, in the Ethics of the Fathers? all 
 admonitions are addressed to " man." 
 The establish- 146. For, the primary principle of Juda- 
 
 ment of the 
 
 moral world i sm as conceived alike by Prophet and 
 
 the calling of <f 
 
 XTer^mTrnber Rabbi, is this : In contrast with the ordi- 
 
 of the nation, . 
 
 from the "Eiders" nary life of man, built up on the basis of 
 
 to the hewers 
 
 drawers > oTw 1 ate 1 r d natural conditions and natural instincts, a 
 new inner world is demanded, a spiritual 
 and moral order of existence, leading neces- 
 sarily to the spiritual union of all. The 
 whole of mankind is called to co-operate in 
 the establishment of the moral order, in 
 the moulding of the world of ideas, and 
 their realization in actual life. 
 
 In the first place, every member of 
 Israel's communion, without distinction or 
 exception owes this duty. In Deuteron- 
 omy (29 : 9 seq.) all are addressed : the cap- 
 tains, the tribes, the elders, and the officers, 
 
 1 Especially the earlier chapters, which are the 
 older ones.
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 1 97 
 
 all the men of Israel, with their little ones, 
 their wives, and the stranger in the camp, 
 even the lowliest in rank and occupation, 
 the very hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water all are to be united with one an- 
 other by the bond of a common calling. 
 They are to be constituted a " people " ( nvh 
 from oor, "to connect," "to unite"; 
 29:12), they together with their descend- 
 ants of later generations (vv. 13 and 14). 
 The members of a generation and their 
 posterity, those present and the absent, the 
 living and those yet unborn, all together 
 work at the same, at a common vocation. 
 Deuteronomy 29 : 29 also points to the fu- 
 ture : " The secret things belong to the 
 Lord our God, but those things which are 
 revealed belong unto us and our children 
 forever." The developments of the idea 
 that are still hidden have no binding force; 
 like all undiscovered truth they lie in the 
 
 1 It is remarkable that D?ir IV does not appear in 
 Mendelssohn's translation.
 
 198 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 bosom of God. But what has been revealed, 
 what has become part of any individual's 
 moral consciousness, and has passed into 
 the state of moral cognition, is binding for 
 all times, and rests as a duty upon mankind, 
 rank and file. 1 
 The "stranger." 147- The stranger is mentioned above, 
 
 His rights rest on 
 
 religious grounds. j n th e passage from Deuteronomy, as a 
 matter of course, along with the other 
 classes of the people. If he has the oppor- 
 tunity to acquire ethical knowledge and 
 experience, he is not only entitled, but 
 called upon to enter into the ethical com- 
 munion. This relation of the stranger to 
 moral law and order is plainly stated in 
 many passages in the code. The following 
 offers no possibility of misconstruction : 
 " O Congregation ! one ordinance shall be 
 for you and also for the stranger that so- 
 journeth with you, an ordinance forever in 
 your generations: as ye are, so shall the 
 stranger be before the Lord. One law and 
 
 1 See Rashi on this passage.
 
 CHA RA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS \ 99 
 
 one manner shall be for you, and for the 
 stranger that sojourneth with you " (Num. 
 15: 15 scq.). In connection with this take 
 Numbers 9:14, and with regard to civil 
 rights, Leviticus 24 : 22, where it is said : 
 " Ye shall have one manner of law as well 
 for the stranger as for. one of your own 
 country." The end of the verse, " for I 
 am the Lord your God," puts the civil stat- 
 ute upon a religious basis. In a word, be- 
 fore God there is no such thing as a 
 " stranger." 
 
 148. The fate Of the Israelltish people Universal char- 
 acter of the 
 
 and the conduct of the surrounding i 
 heathen, especially their idolatry and its im- 
 moral practices, had necessitated laying 
 stress upon national segregation. But the 
 ideal visions of the future conceived by the 
 most exalted of the Prophets were lumi- 
 nous and forcible in conveying the univer- 
 sality of their point of view. Jeremiah 
 who, in telling of his call, describes himself 
 as a Prophet, not unto Israel alone, but
 
 200 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 " unto the nations " (Jer. I : 5), proclaims a 
 new covenant, to be " written in the inward 
 parts and in the hearts," instead of the old 
 one based upon exclusively national events 
 (Jer. 31 : 30-32). He thus derived the ethical 
 task from human nature, from the notion 
 innate in man. With prophetic vision, the 
 second Isaiah foretold that in the future 
 even the specifically religious vocation will 
 be espoused equally by all peoples. " Keep 
 ye judgment, and do justice: for my salva- 
 tion is near to come, and my righteousness 
 to be revealed. Blessed is the man (pug) 
 that doeth this, and the son of man ( DIK p ) 
 that layeth hold on it. Neither let the son 
 of the stranger, that hath joined himself 
 to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord will 
 utterly separate me from his people . . . 
 Also the sons of the stranger . . will I 
 bring to my holy mountain, and make them 
 joyful in my house of prayer . . . for mine 
 house shall be called a house of prayer for 
 all nations" (Is. 56:1-7). "And I will
 
 CHA RA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2O I 
 
 also take of them for priests and for Levites 
 . . . From one new moon to another, and 
 from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh 
 come to worship before (me, saith) the 
 Lord" (Is. 66:21,23). 
 
 As Renan remarks, Israel dreams " of a 
 happy future for mankind, a perfect king- 
 dom, whose head shall be in Jerusalem, 
 whither all nations will stream to pay hom- 
 age to the Eternal. It is obvious that such 
 a religion has gone beyond the bounds of 
 nationality. Doubtless there is at bottom 
 some national pride. What historical work 
 is free from it? But the idea is universal 
 to the last degree." 
 
 149. In Talmudic literature this thought universality of 
 
 the Talmudic 
 
 finds confirmation, and is made still more writings. 
 explicit. The moral world is there repre- 
 sented as essentially a world of the spirit, 
 growing out of human nature and looking 
 to its ennoblement. Therefore the moral 
 requirement is absolutely universal. With 
 reference to the words from Isaiah last
 
 202 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 quoted, it is said that " all Palestine shall 
 be as Jerusalem and all countries as Pales- 
 tine." And the verse, " Let not the son 
 of the stranger say, The Lord will separate 
 me from his people," is brought into con- 
 nection with Job's words, which are 
 ascribed to God, " The stranger did not 
 lodge in the street, I opened my doors to 
 the wanderer." The explanation is added, 
 that " God rejects none of his creatures, he 
 receives all: the gates are always open; 
 whoever will, may enter." 
 universality of the i5- The lesson, that the capacity for 
 
 moral law and of 
 
 its aims. Examples, moral elevation and its highest possible 
 
 1 Pesikta Rabbati, i. Despite their awkward, alle- 
 goric, often childish form, such sentences as the 
 above reveal the elevation and grandeur of Agadic 
 thought. The passage goes on to say, that " on 
 every Sabbath and every new moon the clouds will 
 carry all worshipers to Jerusalem and back again, 
 each to his home." This figure of speech is ob- 
 viously meant to indicate the harmony existing be- 
 tween the peculiar, the nationally distinctive in the 
 civilization of every people, and the moral convic- 
 tions and religious knowledge present in the con- 
 sciousness of all. ~ Shemoth Kabbah, ch. 19.
 
 CHA KA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 203 
 
 goal are absolutely the same in and for the 
 non-Jew as in and for the Jew, is conveyed 
 not only in figurative language, but also 
 in direct, clear statements frequently re- 
 peated. From the recurrence, in the code 
 and in the Prophets, of the sentiment, 
 ' This is the law, the statute, etc., accord- 
 ing to which man shall live " man, not 
 priest, not Levite, not Israelite the infer- 
 ence is drawn that the non-Jew, if he obeys 
 the Law, " is equal to the high priest." 
 Not descent is the determining factor; the 
 impulse towards the ideal alone decides. 
 Any human being can attain to the moral 
 worth and dignity befitting the high priest 
 in Israel. The passages are legion in which 
 the doctrine of the universality of man's 
 moral vocation is laid down. 1 A passage 
 in Sifra 2 deserves special mention, because 
 the reference in it to the universality of the 
 moral law is particularly pointed. Besides 
 
 1 Baba Kamma 38 a ; Sanhedrin 59*. 
 
 2 Sifra Achare Moth, ch. 13.
 
 204 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the above, other Biblical expressions are 
 adduced for the purpose of demonstrating 
 their universal application : " Open ye the 
 gates, that the righteous nation which 
 keepeth the truth may enter in " (Is. 26: 2) 
 not the people of Israel, but the righteous 
 people, any people among whom righteous- 
 ness resides. Again, the words : " This is 
 the gate of the Lord into which the right- 
 eous shall enter " (Ps. 1 18 : 20) not priests, 
 Levites, or Israelites, but the righteous, 
 though they be non-Jews. Finally, " Re- 
 joice in the Lord, O ye righteous " (Ps. 
 33:1) the righteous, alike whether Jews 
 or non-Jews. 
 
 Israel, then, was specially called unto 
 moral purity and elevation, not on account 
 of its blood, not by reason of superior quali- 
 ties, inherited or innate, but because, after 
 having acquired political liberty through 
 the guidance of God and under the 
 leadership of Moses, it was to strive for 
 the inner liberty which manifests itself as
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 205 
 
 obedience to divine law and the ideal re- 
 quirement. 
 
 151. But the purpose of divine legisla- The purpose of 
 
 divine legislation 
 
 tion so the Rabbis teach explicitly and " aliza ^! nly , , 
 
 * through the whole 
 
 of Israel's election is not confined to Israel; of mankind - 
 it is realizable only through the whole of 
 mankind. " God gave Israel the Law that 
 all nations may be rendered happy by it." 
 The discussion of the law of loans is typical 
 of the universality of the Rabbis, of their 
 rejection of all national limitations. The 
 text reads : " If thou lend money to any of 
 my people " (Exod. 22 : 24), and the com- 
 mentary says : Israel asks God : " Who 
 
 are ' my people'? " and God replies: " The 
 
 ^ 
 poor. 
 
 152. The discussions growing out of Rabbinical 
 
 controversy 
 
 the phrase, " Ye are the children of God," concerning 
 
 man's filial . 
 
 clearly demonstrate the fundamental char- ' 
 acter of the doctrine of the universality of 
 the ethical vocation. To be called children 
 of God is the highest patent of nobility. 
 
 1 Tanchuma Dcbarim. ' Shcmoth Rabbah, ch. 31.
 
 206 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 In explaining the Scriptural sentence (Deut. 
 14:1): "Ye are the children of the Lord 
 your God," R. Abba bar Cahana asks the 
 question, "When are you his children?" 
 and answers, " When you are God's, that is, 
 when you belong to God and obey him, and 
 devote yourselves to him." His intention 
 here is not to impose a limitation upon or 
 give a national meaning to the accepted fact 
 of God's universal fatherhood. That this 
 is aside from his purpose is apparent from 
 the intimate connection of the passage with 
 the previous one. The verse, " My son, if 
 thou wilt receive my words" (Prov. 2:1) 
 is explained thus : " When art thou called 
 my son? When thou receivest my teach- 
 ing." It is obvious, then, that the real 
 meaning of the limitation is, that as in the 
 natural relation between child and father, 
 we are truly children of God only through 
 our devotion, only if we give ourselves 
 wholly to God. 
 
 1 Tanchuma Ekeb.
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 2O/ 
 
 This idea comes out still more plainly in 
 a number of parallel passages. R. Jehudah 
 says, for instance : " You are children of 
 God when you conduct yourselves as 
 such." This explanation is entirely free 
 from invidious distinctions; its limitations 
 depend upon moral facts. Yet his oppo- 
 nent, R. Meir, presents an even broader, 
 profounder view, the one held by the major- 
 ity of the Rabbis. He says : " In the one 
 as in the other case, whether they do or do 
 not conduct themselves as such, they are 
 and remain the children of God." The full 
 and true idea of man's filial relation to God 
 is here based upon the unalterable fact that 
 all men are God's creatures and the equally 
 unalterable fact of God's all-embracing and 
 unchanging mercy. 
 
 153. According to Rabbinical teaching, R. Nechumah 
 
 ben Hakanah's 
 
 the path to salvation in this world and to exe s esis - 
 bliss in the next is open to all men. Reli- 
 gious observances, the Temple, the sacri- 
 
 1 Kiddushin 36*.
 
 208 THE ETHICS OP JUDAISM 
 
 ficial service, are not indispensable condi- 
 tions of the attainment of the goal. Moral 
 purity and a loving heart are the only re- 
 quirements. In discussing the latter part 
 of the verse Proverbs 14:34: "the kind- 
 ness of the nations is sin " (nsnn Dnsix 1 ? non), 
 certain of the Rabbis sought to justify an 
 interpretation which accords with the view 
 of St. Augustine, that the virtues of the 
 heathen are but splendid vices (splcndida 
 vitia). R. Nechuniah ben Hakanah found 
 an altogether different and a beautiful ex- 
 planation of the obscure passage, one more- 
 over that received the endorsement of no 
 less an authority than R. Jochanan ben 
 Zakkai. 1 He held that " the love and mer- 
 ciful deeds of the heathen are elements of 
 atonement and expiation, as the sin-offer- 
 ing had previously been for Israel." R. 
 Jochanan himself had tried to assuage 
 Israel's grief over the loss of the altar with 
 
 1 See Appendix (to 50) No. 11, p. 266. 
 ~ Baba Bathra io b .
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 209 
 
 the consolation that only after its destruc- 
 tion complete fulfilment of the divine sen- 
 tence : " Love I desire, and not sacrifice " 
 (Hos. 6:6), was possible. 1 
 
 154. The idealism of the heathen, as we The idealism of 
 
 the heathen 
 
 saw above, is accounted equal to that of the trtZ?o?the Ual 
 high priest. Furthermore, we are taught hl 
 without reservation, "Whoever rejects idol- 
 atry (denies it, turns from it), is called 
 Yehudi." Not birth makes one a Yehudi, 
 but the repudiation of idolatry. And a 
 man's ideal worth being independent of 
 race and creed, the next doctrine follows 
 naturally: The pious of all nations have a 
 share in the world to come. 3 
 
 ISS- According to Rabbinical views, Moses and 
 
 Balaam. 
 
 then, the spiritual and moral heights within 
 man's reach are in no wise affected by de- 
 
 1 Appendix No. 28, p. 301. 
 
 2 Megillah 13*. 
 
 3 Sanhedrin ios a . D^TDPI cannot be translated 
 more aptly than by " the ideally inclined," and 
 " having a share in the world to come " is the stock 
 expression for the bliss of the future life.
 
 2 1 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 scent or religious profession. To the ideal, 
 to spiritual attainments, to ethical convic- 
 tions, an immeasurably loftier place is as- 
 signed than to birth, race, or blood. The 
 highest round of the moral ladder to which 
 man and the Israelite can mount is that 
 occupied by the Prophets. Among the 
 Prophets Moses is regarded as the most 
 exalted. Nevertheless it is said : When we 
 read in the Scriptures (Deut. 34:10) that 
 " no Prophet will arise in Israel like unto 
 Moses," the meaning is: in Israel none 
 will arise, but among other nations there 
 will be one. And what non-Jewish Pro- 
 phet was the peer of Moses? Balaam. 1 
 Proselytes heroes 156. That it was absolutely foreign to 
 
 of the Jews. 
 
 Jewish standards to make man's dignity and 
 worth dependent upon accidental circum- 
 stances, especially upon descent, is evident 
 from the traditions, that many of the spir- 
 itual heroes of the Jews sprang from prose- 
 lyte stock, or themselves were proselytes. 
 
 1 Bemidbar Kabbah, ch. 14.
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 1 1 
 
 The reader of the Scriptures remembers 
 that David, the popular hero, who stood as 
 the type of mundane glory combined with 
 religious elevation, David, the anointed, 
 victorious king and Psalmist, was descend- 
 ed from Ruth the Moabitess. To prove 
 the statement that " God loveth the 
 stranger" (Deut. 10:18), the Rabbis ad- 
 duce that God blessed Ruth, the woman of 
 a strange people, by making her the an- 
 cestress of David whose songs of praise ex- 
 alted the majesty of God among men. The 
 artist called in by Solomon to assist him 
 in the building of the Temple came on 
 his father's side from non-Jewish stock 
 (I Kings 7:14). According to a common 
 tradition, the teachers Shemaiah and Abta- 
 lion, the predecessors of Hillel the Elder, 
 were proselytes. Likewise Onkelos, 1 to 
 
 1 Was the translator of the Targum named On- 
 kelos or Akylas? Did both Onkelos and Akylas 
 make translations? Into Greek or into Aramaic? 
 Not one of these questions has been finally answered 
 by scholars. See M. Friedmann, Onkelos und Akylas,
 
 2 1 2 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 whom tradition attributes the translation 
 of the Pentateuch into Aramaic. The same 
 is said of prominent Talmud teachers, such 
 as R. Akiba, and still more positively of R. 
 Me'ir. If it came about later that Jews, 
 especially those affiliated with the Rabbini- 
 cal academies, entertained objections to 
 proselytes and a violent aversion to prose- 
 lytism, it was due to the complex motives 
 that led to change of faith, and that grew 
 out of historical events as well as psycho- 
 logic facts. 1 As the outcome of the ani- 
 mated discussion of this point we may con- 
 sider the commonly accepted view, that 
 the non-Jew has no need to become a con- 
 vert to Judaism. Either he lives in accord- 
 ance with moral principles, in which case he 
 can dispense with creed, or he is lacking in 
 purity and elevation of moral conviction, 
 which cannot be replaced by creed. This 
 
 Vienna, 1896. The only undisputed point is that 
 both were proselytes. 
 1 See among other passages Ycbamoth 47 b .
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 1 3 
 
 attitude, however, as we saw before (86), 
 never prevented Jewish leaders from recog- 
 nizing the superiority of voluntary accept- 
 ance of the Law over inherited responsi- 
 bility. In any event, the hesitation to sue 
 for converts does not arise from any sort 
 of particularism nor from the presumption 
 that non-Jews are insufficiently endowed to 
 become Jews. 
 
 157. It must none the less be accepted Particularism 
 
 and universalism. 
 
 as an historic fact that Judaism, especially 
 in the province of the specifically religious, 
 has from the first harbored two distinct ten- 
 dencies, which may be briefly characterized 
 as the national-particularistic and the 
 humane-universal. The two tendencies ex- 
 isted simultaneously in open opposition to 
 each other, or succeeded each, other, the 
 tendency favored by circumstances pre- 
 vailing over the less favored. The one 
 considers all details handed down by tradi- 
 tion and incorporated in Judaism as of uni- 
 form importance. From this particular-
 
 2 1 4 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 istic point of view, deviation from foreign 
 standards, rejection of all foreign elements, 
 is of the essence of Judaism, and the Jew is 
 under obligation to separate himself from 
 the alien. Therefore, there has been no 
 lack of laws, of prohibitions in particular, 
 Calculated to render difficult and to restrict 
 intercourse with the non-Jew. 
 
 The other line of thought distinguishes, 
 within Judaism, between a kernel of essen- 
 tials and the husk which is of incidental im- 
 portance only. The kernel of Judaism is 
 at the same time the aim of human develop- 
 ment in general. Completely expressed, it 
 is the ideal at once of the Jew and of the 
 whole of mankind, and the highest promise 
 and tenderest hope held out by Judaism is 
 that all nations may unite in the common 
 effort to approach its realization. The 
 body of moral doctrines together with the 
 fundamental religious thought of the one- 
 ness of God constitutes this kernel of Juda- 
 ism. To implant in mankind and to cher-
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 1 5 
 
 ish pure, earnest knowledge of God is the 
 essential content of Judaism. Therefore, 
 intercourse between Jews and non-Jews 
 should be as ideal, as flawless morally, as 
 gentle, cordial, and loving as possible, for 
 this path leads to the goal at once of hu- 
 manity and of Judaism. 
 
 158. We have nothing to do here with A psychologic- 
 subjective, not an 
 
 the history of the conflict between the two ^ 
 tendencies a conflict which continues to 
 rage to this day, and to-day rages as bit- 
 terly as ever. On the other hand, we are 
 concerned in disengaging from the opposi- 
 tion of ideas the ethical principle of Juda- 
 ism, which manifests itself even in the con- 
 flict, and in establishing that it is held to be 
 essentially the same by the partisans of both 
 sides. Isolated, accidental expressions are 
 unavailing in such inquiries. The final so- 
 lution must be abstracted from a variety 
 of opinions acting upon and influencing 
 one another. Then it will appear that the 
 two tendencies differ not so much ethically
 
 2l6 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 as psychologically. Their opposition is 
 not objective, as though its reason lay in 
 the doctrine itself; it is subjective, due to 
 the agents. The ethical teaching under- 
 goes no change, but characters develop 
 variously. In the theory of the two 
 parties the goal of mankind is the same; 
 they disagree only upon practical means 
 and the attitude of the Jew at a given 
 moment. 
 Israel's particu- 159- The particularism of the earliest 
 
 larism tended 
 
 towards the period. Israel's conscious purpose to sepa- 
 
 realization of * 
 
 ""Ideal, rate itself from the other nations, needs no 
 discussion. The fact and its reason and 
 justness are alike patent. All nations were 
 particularistic. In their relation to one an- 
 other, they realized only the difference ex- 
 isting among them, if, indeed, they heeded 
 one another at all. They certainly did not 
 regard one another as equals. It was part 
 of Jewish particularism that the soul of the 
 people was filled with the universal ideal, 
 with the promise, the hope, the requirement
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 2\? 
 
 that mankind be a unit in its highest goal. 1 
 Ethically this was the point of sharpest 
 contrast between Jews and their neighbors, 
 the radical, distinctive quality which con- 
 stituted their superiority over the others. 
 To cultivate this quality, to make it effec- 
 tive, Israel had to segregate itself. In a 
 word, Israel had to be particularistic in 
 order to formulate and hold up the uni- 
 versal ideal. 
 
 160. Later representatives of particu- Later and 
 
 contemporaneous 
 
 larism and those of to-day are not conscious ^con^do^iy" 
 
 e .1 i 1 , , , strives for the 
 
 of this deep-seated reason, yet it continues same aim. 
 in force. Men of limited understanding do 
 not look beyond the immediate result of 
 daily practices and traditional usages. They 
 
 1 " Neither the literature of Oriental nor that of 
 classical nations," says August Wiinsche, " can show 
 a parallel to this result of world-evolution. The great 
 Plato did, indeed, outline an ideal state in his 
 Republic, but it lacks the Old Testament idea of 
 universality. In Plato's universal state, Greeks are 
 arrayed against non-Greeks in constant warfare; war 
 is one of the necessary evils." (Die Freude in den 
 Schriften des alien Bundes, p. 26.)
 
 218 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 do not discern the real value of their own 
 loyalty and law-abiding nature. Their 
 faith is better than they know; their achieve- 
 ment in its effect upon the future nobler 
 and more important than their present con- 
 viction. For even the advocate of the uni- 
 versal ideal admits, that the inexorableness 
 of the Law, the rigor of tradition, was the 
 protecting shell that preserved intact the 
 delicate kernel of essential ideas. To this 
 day every peculiar development of thought 
 or form of conduct (customs, ceremonies, 
 usages) has its definite value, though from 
 the higher point of view it may no longer 
 be considered an absolute duty, a binding 
 law, or the condition of salvation. Noth- 
 ing more than symbolic meaning is ascribed 
 to it. 
 
 contrasts and 161. Again, the straightest particular- 
 points of agree- 
 ment in the two Jsts do not COlltradict the WOrds Of the. Pro- 
 tendencies. 
 
 phets. The two tendencies are agreed as 
 to the ethical goal, the moral ideas of the 
 future, only the one is more, the other less,
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 1 9 
 
 conscious of the final aim. The particular- 
 ists are realists, thinking of the present 
 alone; the exponents of the universal ideal 
 at the same time consider the future. The 
 former reckon with human nature, with the 
 average computed according to psycholo- 
 gic probabilities, and fear- loss of individu- 
 ality and energy; the latter concern them- 
 selves with the ethical task, and stake their 
 hope on the power of the idea. Certain it 
 is that the leading ideas of both rest on an 
 ethical basis, that both therefore are justi- 
 fied. It was admitted above (57) that jus- 
 tice and mercy, tradition and reason, etc., 
 are 'contrasts, both terms of which ori- 
 ginate equally in ideal impulses, equally 
 make for ideal aims. To discover for a 
 given time and for given circumstances the 
 proper measure of justification and appli- 
 cation of the one or the other motive is, 
 in fact, the task of all historical movement 
 and conduct, in whose accomplishment, as 
 a rule, the genius of an epoch or of an indi- 
 vidual reveals itself.
 
 220 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Additional points 162. There are Still Other points of COH- 
 
 of contrast. 
 
 trast involved in the opposition between the 
 two tendencies. They take different ground 
 on such questions as whether the obliga- 
 tion to obey the Mosaic law rests upon 
 Israel alone or upon all men acquainted 
 with it. This leads to the larger question 
 whether the reason for the fulfilment of the 
 Law lies in its content, or in the purely 
 external obligation imposed by the author- 
 ity of the lawgiver, that is, in the fact of 
 revelation. Furthermore, what ranks 
 higher, traditional obligation or free sub- 
 jection to the Law; its fulfilment because it 
 is commanded, or by reason of voluntary 
 assent? 1 
 
 1 A point that will be discussed later on. This is 
 not the place, and in the present state of science and 
 of Judaism it is not necessary, to dwell at length 
 upon Mendelssohn's view as expressed in his " Jeru- 
 salem," in many other respects a work of merit, and 
 show that it is narrowly rationalistic. It harmon- 
 izes neither with Talmudic tradition in its broadest 
 features, nor with a lofty, liberal conception of the 
 law, least of all with historical knowledge. (Comp. 
 86 and 156.)
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 22 1 
 163. Over and beyond all this opposi- The universal 
 
 principle in 
 
 tion we reach what concerns us most close- particularistic 
 
 passages. The 
 
 ly, the thought, belonging to all parties in Noach 
 Judaism, that the same ethical obligation, 
 the same promise of equality, the same ideal 
 hope exists for all men alike. The univer- 
 sal principle asserts its full force even where 
 the phrase has a particularistic coloring. 
 For instance, it is said : " The Jews have 
 three characteristic qualities : they are mer- 
 ciful, chaste, and charitable," ' but the sen- 
 tence is added : " Every human being that 
 possesses these three qualities is worthy of 
 being united with (that is, counted among) 
 the Jewish people." Even the decidedly 
 particularistic doctrine of the seven com- 
 mands said to have been binding upon the 
 sons of Noah, that is, upon mankind be- 
 fore 3 the Mosaic revelation, comprises the 
 
 J The first, jDm, expresses the feeling; 1DH 
 the act. 
 
 2 Yebamoth 79*. 
 
 3 This gives no clue to the solution of the question, 
 whether the obligation of non-Jews is confined to
 
 222 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 fundamentals of all moral conduct. Begin- 
 ning with " law " as the basis, they proceed 
 to avoidance of idolatry and blasphemy 
 (? DK>n n:m). Chastity is demanded, and 
 regard for the person and property of one's 
 neighbor. Savagery and bestiality are con- 
 demned, 1 and mild treatment of animals is 
 prescribed. It is explicitly stated : " In 
 moral questions the Jew and the non-Jew 
 stand under the same law." 
 
 But it is characteristic that in these sup- 
 posed Noachian laws no mention is made 
 of altruistic virtues, of charity and love, 
 which are considered of the essence of the 
 Jewish code. Similarly, the well-known 
 four virtues of the Greeks, courage, wis- 
 
 the fulfilment of these seven commands after the 
 revelation of the Mosaic law. The use of the more 
 specific nj ^2 (" sons of Noah "), instead of the 
 customary D?irn niDIK (" nations of the world "), 
 would seem to indicate a difference dependent upon 
 time. The meaning of fiD"Q is dubious. 
 
 1 In the expression Tin }O "QN, " a limb from the 
 living animal." 
 
 2 Sifra Achare Moth, ch. 13.
 
 CHA RA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 223 
 
 dom, caution or moderation, and justice, 
 neither include nor imply anything akin to 
 benevolence or brotherly love. 
 
 164. Man's ethical relation towards his The ethical 
 
 principle should 
 
 fellow, when it comes to be actualized in S2S 
 
 i j i 1 . , f experience. 
 
 deeds, depends upon or expresses itself in 
 the sympathy he expends upon persons or 
 events. Experience shows that sympathy 
 decreases with the distance of its object. 
 A psychologic law of diminishing sympathy 
 may absolutely be assumed. The further 
 removed a person or an event is from us in 
 space? in time, or in any other respect, as, 
 for instance, descent, occupation, aims, 
 fortune, and history, the less active is our 
 sympathy. A conflagration affects us va- 
 riously, according as it took place in the 
 street next to ours, in a neighboring town, 
 in an adjacent country, on another conti- 
 nent, and according as it took place yester- 
 day, or a year ago, or a thousand years ago. 
 At the same time it must be remembered 
 that this law of psychologic experience can
 
 224 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 be overborne by ideal, often imponderable 
 elements. A distinguished personage, an 
 historical event, may make a profound im- 
 pression upon us, even though distant from 
 us in time and space. It is not necessary 
 here to expatiate upon this thought and 
 apply it to the ethical code. When we 
 come to the exposition of the social doc- 
 trine of Jewish ethics, we shall see how the 
 general ethical requirement accommodates 
 itself to the particular, accidental fact; ' how 
 the laws of ideality harmonize with those 
 of the actual world; how conflicts aiuUcolli- 
 sions may be avoided. 
 
 Our present concern is to establish, that 
 the ethical principle may not be made to 
 depend upon practice, upon mere experi- 
 ence, upon knowledge of its past exempli- 
 
 1 That a man is born at a given place, into a given 
 family, belongs to them, to his city, his state, his 
 generation, etc., and thus seems to have had a dis- 
 tinct and limited sphere of duties assigned to him, 
 or happens to have been put into relation with a 
 particular set of persons. (Comp. Aben Ezra on 
 Lev. 25:35, concerning the word
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 22$ 
 
 fications; that the ethical principle, the fun- 
 damental moral doctrine, must predominate 
 and lay down the law; and, lastly, that it has 
 always occupied this supreme place in the 
 ethics of Judaism. 
 
 165. The elevation of a system of ethics, The elevation 
 
 of a system of 
 
 we gather from all the foregoing, depends ^thetph^ 1 
 
 , ., fj1 i 1-1 its application. 
 
 upon the magnitude of the sphere to which Footnote: Praye 
 
 for wreckage. 
 
 it applies. The more extended the circle of 
 those who are subject to the ethical require- 
 ment, and therefore are called upon to form 
 one moral communion, the nobler, the more 
 pregnant the ethical content of the system. 
 Hence the obliteration of all national or 
 territorial division lines, the introduction of 
 the notion of one all-embracing human 
 family, is the characteristic mark of a sys- 
 tem of ethics that corresponds to the true 
 and perfect idea of such a system. 
 
 Whether this distinctive mark is present ; 
 whether, in other words, national barriers 
 have actually been wiped out, and the no- 
 tion of the brotherhood of men with all it
 
 226 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 implies is an integral part of a given moral 
 doctrine, cannot be gauged by abstract 
 theses, nor even by the number of those 
 sharing in ethical obligation and dignity. 
 Whether we deal with the relation of the 
 individual to his neighbor, of one people or 
 state to other peoples or states, of the 
 native to the alien, of majorities to minori- 
 ties, in any of these cases, the dignity and 
 perfection of a system of ethics depend upon 
 the concrete duties laid upon its adherents 
 in their intercourse with outsiders. The 
 question is not, what are the duties im- 
 posed upon the outsider, but what do we 
 demand of ourselves in relation to him, 
 what rights are ceded to him, what part is 
 he permitted to enjoy in the prosperity and 
 take in the activity of a community. By 
 the side of an abstract doctrine of " broth- 
 erly love," there may be, not only facts * 
 
 1 Let me adduce a single fact of the sort. In this 
 very century, all the nations professing the " religion 
 of love " continued to maintain their property-right
 
 CHA RA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 227 
 
 which prove nothing in this case but also 
 statutes, legal provisions carrying with 
 them the utter helplessness of the stranger 
 before the law. 
 
 166. In the Rabbinical world there was sociological 
 
 elaboration of 
 
 no basis in fact upon which to build up the Sto^eby the 
 
 . 1-11 1 fii ^1 1 Rabbis appears 
 
 sociological development of the ethical only in general 
 
 maxims. Solomon 
 
 principle, that is, its full expression through and Hiram. 
 provisions of public law. The Rabbis, 
 therefore, could not go beyond general 
 maxims, but these they urged constantly 
 with special emphasis. The ancient world 
 in general knew almost nothing of a union 
 of nations for the ethical purposes of civili- 
 zation. Voluntary alliances, chiefly offen- 
 sive and defensive and of ephemeral impor- 
 tance, contemplated only immediate politi- 
 
 in wreckage, and a prayer was offered up in the 
 churches on Sunday for a " blessed strand," that is, 
 for the misfortune of fellow-men! We shall speak 
 elsewhere more in detail of the difference frequently 
 existing between the doctrine of morals accepted by 
 a people (taught in the schools, from the pulpits, and 
 on lecture platforms) and the laws and ordinances 
 on its statute books.
 
 228 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 cal ends, which lack the ethical impress 
 both as to purpose and as to means; and 
 when war has once welded the conquered 
 with the victors, the will of the people stands 
 aside, and the supreme power of the state 
 imposes the same yoke upon all. 
 
 The amicable relation between Solomon 
 and Hiram is one of the few exceptions his- 
 tory has preserved for us. The natural 
 products and the artistic talents under the 
 control of the Phoenician were put at the 
 disposal of the Israelitish king. 
 Ethical convic- 167. Ethical convictions could be real- 
 
 tions illustrated 
 
 to the relation j^ed, then, only in relations growing up at 
 
 of the native to * 
 
 t note 1 TThe Fnflu- home, that is, of natives to aliens settled in 
 
 ence of a nation's 
 
 peculiar fortunes their country. All that the sources report 
 
 upon its spiritual 
 
 development. gQes tQ S J 1QW ^^ fa fafe rCSpCCt the ethics 
 
 of Judaism occupies, not merely a promi- 
 nent, but absolutely the most honorable 
 place in ancient times. The fiercest light 
 from the ethical theory falls upon the as- 
 sumption that the Jews were the masters of 
 the land, hence constituted the majority of
 
 CHA RA CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 29 
 
 the inhabitants, among whom dwelt settlers 
 of alien race. When the Prophet Ezekiel 
 described the future Jewish state as it took 
 form in his fancy, he set up an ever-memor- 
 able because unique principle. The whole 
 land, the property of the community (or, as 
 it were, a fief held of God), was to be divided 
 among the tribes, and within the tribes 
 among the families. An elevated moral 
 standard and a clear notion of public law 
 are reflected in the following instruction : 
 " This land (previously defined by its boun- 
 daries) you shall divide among you accord- 
 ing to the tribes of Israel. And it shall be 
 thus : you shall divide it by lot for an inheri- 
 tance among you and among the strangers 
 that sojourn among you that have begot 
 children among you; and they shall be with 
 you as those born among the children of 
 Israel; with you they shall divide by lot for 
 an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of 
 Israel. And it shall be : in what tribe the 
 stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him
 
 230 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 his inheritance, saith the Lord God " (Ezek. 
 47 : 2I-23). 1 Bellinger says justly : z " The 
 Jewish codes were more favorable to 
 strangers than those of any other people," 
 and he cites among other passages Deuter- 
 onomy 10:19 and Leviticus 19:33 scq.: 
 " The stranger that dwelleth with you shall 
 be unto you as one born among you, and 
 thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were 
 strangers in the land of Egypt." The former 
 passage is preceded by the sentence : " God 
 loveth the stranger." We have already 
 spoken of the equality of all, including the 
 stranger, before the law. This feature can- 
 not be emphasized with too much force, 
 because it is a characteristic product of the 
 Jewish mind, belonging to it alone. Like 
 the " love for the stranger " it is frequently 
 repeated in the code (Lev. 24:22; Num. 
 
 1 Even the revolutionary law of the Gracchi did 
 not propose to acknowledge the claim of every 
 Roman citizen upon the territory of the state. 
 
 2 See Dollinger, Heidenthum und Judenthum, Vor- 
 halle zur Geschichte des Christenthums, p. 788.
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 2 3 1 
 
 15:16, and elsewhere). Whenever the law 
 makes provision for the poor, it includes 
 the stranger. 1 
 
 168. After the destruction of the second 
 Temple the relation between Jews and 
 
 1 The peculiarity of the circumstances which Ezek- 
 iel had to imagine in connection with the restoration 
 of the Jewish state and the division of territory was 
 probably not without influence upon the ethical view 
 to which he rose. In general, it is true that the pe- 
 culiarity of the Jewish people's fortunes is reflected 
 in the peculiarity of its spiritual development. And 
 certainly Israel's fortunes were peculiar! Misery 
 stalking in the wake of defeat and in conflicts 
 with such giants as Rome and Babylonia, defeat 
 was inevitable despite headlong courage and self- 
 sacrifice that Israel-Judah experienced in common 
 with many nations. But that a people should re- 
 turn from exile and succeed in establishing its na- 
 tionality anew is an event without parallel. Israel's 
 experience was unique from the first when it de- 
 parted from Egypt (see 26). Again and again races 
 have been subjugated, reduced to slavery or villen- 
 age; but does history know of another horde of 
 slaves that recovered itself, regained freedom, re- 
 established its own civilization, its own government? 
 It is eminently proper, therefore, that in the Pro- 
 phetic as well as the Rabbinic cycle of ideas the 
 Exodus from Egypt should occupy a prominent 
 place. Its importance had been recognized still 
 earlier, in the code, the Torah. The most exalted
 
 232 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 jews as settlers others was reversed. Jews became settlers 
 
 among other 
 
 fthtaS oifn'a- m states formed by other nations, usually 
 
 tions. The i r f-r>\ 
 
 israeiitish synod, conglomerates of various races. 1 his case 
 
 The German 
 
 israeiitish union W as provided for by the Prophet Jeremiah 
 
 of Congregations. J J 
 
 sanhJd!-1n Fre The m an admonition covering all the ethical 
 
 German Kabbini- , . . . . _, 
 
 cai Association, obligations of a citizen i Seek, ye the wel- 
 fare of the city whither I have caused you 
 to be carried away " (Jer. 29: 7) an admo- 
 
 moral statutes concerning the treatment of strangers 
 are connected with the Exodus, and are, from a psy- 
 chologic point of view, impressively inculcated by 
 means of the reminder: " Ye know the heart of the 
 stranger" (Exod. 23:9). It is remarkable how 
 even the law of Sabbath rest, at first sight uncon- 
 nected with the story of Israel's slavery and redemp- 
 tion, is brought into relation with and illuminated 
 by it. The fourth commandment in the second ver- 
 sion of the Ten Commandments, in Deuteronomy, 
 disregards the dogmatic reason attached to the first 
 (" for in six days the Lord made," etc. Exod. 20: 
 n). It emphasizes the ethical motive, that the man- 
 servant and the maid-servant should be granted a 
 day of rest, and employs the memory of the Egyp- 
 tian experience to urge consideration for subordi- 
 natq. This method, characteristic of the Bible and 
 still more of the Rabbis, of establishing a connection 
 between the most important moral laws and the his- 
 tory of Israel in Egypt, at the same time illustrates 
 how nations should draw instruction from their 
 fortunes. (Comp. among other passages, Deut. 24:
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 233 
 
 nition repeated and heeded by Jews in all 
 times. Here follow some endorsements 
 from our own time : The first Israelitish 
 Synod at Leipsic, in 1869,' discussed and 
 unanimously passed the following as its 
 first resolution : " The Jewish Synod recog- 
 nizes Judaism to be in accord with the prin- 
 ciples of modern society and of the modern 
 
 14-15, and the whole chapter.) One more circum- 
 stance requires mention. The fortunes of the Jew- 
 ish race were for the most part necessary results of 
 its numerical weakness. Only the Prophets, heroes 
 of the spirit, saw clearly that Israel's peculiar task 
 grew out of this very fewness of numbers. The 
 great mass of the people continually labored under 
 the delusion that they might be "like other nations." 
 That is why Israel's political history came to naught, 
 though the achievements of the Prophets to this day 
 constitute one of the higher spiritual forces potent 
 in the inner life of the civilized nations. It does 
 not lie within our scope to pursue this idea, aiming 
 at a philosophy of history. The reader is referred 
 to my work: Der Prophet Jeremias, pp. 47, 51, 8r. 
 The contrast between the two sets of influences may 
 be briefly pointed out: Worldly dominion or spirit- 
 ual supremacy; expansion of power or growing 
 moral force: material harvests and successes or the 
 radiating of ideal influences and impulses. 
 
 1 See Proceedings of the Synod, published in Ber- 
 lin, 1869, p. 67.
 
 234 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 state founded upon law, as these principles 
 were proclaimed by Mosaism, and devel- 
 oped in the teaching of the Prophets that 
 is, in accord with the principles of the one- 
 ness of mankind, of the equality of all be- 
 fore the law, of the equality of all in respect 
 to duties and privileges in the state, and of 
 the liberty of the individual in matters of 
 religious conviction and creed." 
 
 In 1885, the German Israelitish Union 
 of Congregations published " Principles of 
 Jewish Ethics." They had been discussed 
 by a large assembly of scholars and laymen, 
 at their request had been revised by me, and 
 had then been endorsed and adopted by 
 about 350 Rabbis and teachers of religion 
 of all shades of opinion and 270 Jewish 
 jurists of Germany and Austria. Para- 
 graph 14 reads: "Judaism commands that 
 its adherents shall love the state, and wil- 
 lingly sacrifice property and life for its 
 honor, welfare, and liberty." 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 29, p. 302.
 
 CHA RA C TER OP" JE WISH E THICS 235 
 
 The same thought was solemnly ex- 
 pressed by the Sanhedrin convoked by Na- 
 poleon I in France. 1 
 
 Recently (July 6, 1897), the German 
 Rabbinical Association, whose members be- 
 long to various religious parties, made a 
 public declaration, which contains the fol- 
 lowing : " Judaism imposes upon its ad- 
 herents the duty of serving the state to 
 which they belong with devotion, and pro- 
 moting its national interests with all their 
 heart and might." 
 
 169. Talmudic Judaism lacked almost The principles 
 
 underlying the 
 
 entirely the opportunity to develop its gen- J^^^. 
 
 eral ethical principles to the point of appli- ofnon-je^s. 
 cability to the details and multiplex prob- 
 lems of practical life. The Jewish state had 
 been annihilated, and the notion which the 
 Rabbis were able to conceive of a great 
 empire, especially of the Roman empire, 
 paralyzed them by the technical perfection 
 
 1 See Appendix No. 30, p. 306. 
 
 2 See Allgemcine Zeitung des Judenthums. Berlin, 
 July 26, 1897.
 
 236 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 of its organization. 1 From the ethical 
 point of view, basing their judgment on 
 their own experience, they considered it 
 the embodiment of arbitrariness and lust of 
 power, not to say lust of oppression and 
 persecution. Besides, it was all the Rabbis 
 could do to preserve and cultivate tradi- 
 tion, to foster the feeling of solidarity 
 among their scattered people. Indeed, 
 even theoretic questions relating to the or- 
 ganization of a great united community on 
 the basis of their own ideals were not to 
 be thought of. On the other hand, they 
 had and used the opportunity to form au- 
 tonomous communities. Primarily these 
 communities were organized with reference 
 to religious needs and religious communion. 
 Yet the moral principles underlying them 
 testify to a humanity of such largeness and 
 nobility that the communities of the civil- 
 ized European states of to-day but infre- 
 quently attain to it. 
 
 rhhn, Sabbath n a .
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 
 
 Here we meet with the law requiring that 
 moral duties be discharged with equal 
 scrupulousness towards outsiders as to- 
 wards brethreii-in-faith. As usual, the gen- 
 eral regulation is made plain by means of 
 typical cases. It is said : " The poor of 
 the stranger are to be supported with (or) 
 the poor of Israel; the sick of the stranger 
 are to be visited 1 like the sick of Israel; the 
 dead of the stranger are to be buried with 
 the dead of Israel; (and the mourners of 
 the stranger are to be comforted like the 
 mourners of Israel), on account of the ways 
 of peace." 
 
 This prescription is based upon the Bib- 
 lical law of equal love and care for the 
 stranger with the Israelite. But the Rabbis 
 bettered it, inasmuch as they address the 
 demand not only to the individual but to 
 the community as such. In the parallel 
 
 1 That is, " nursed." " Visiting the sick " is the 
 technical expression for tending them. 
 
 2 Gittin 6i a . See 174. Comp. Maimonides Hil- 
 khoth Mclakhim, ch. 10, Hal. 12.
 
 238 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 passage in the Jerusalem Talmud appears 
 a still more important element. There it is 
 proclaimed that the ethical communion be- 
 tween Jews and non-Jews shall be expressed 
 in the internal organization of the commu- 
 nity. This idea reaches its maturity in an- 
 other prescription, providing that strangers 
 shall be called upon with Israelites to ad- 
 minister the affairs of the community. 1 
 stress laid by the 170. The devotion of the Rabbis to the 
 
 Rabbis upon 
 
 gentle treatment text of the Biblical code and the acumen 
 
 of the stranger. 
 
 with which they entered into its explanation 
 are matters of common knowledge. Every 
 germ of a thought dropping from the Bible 
 into their minds sprouted and bore fruit. 
 This appears strikingly in the treatment of 
 the relation of Israelites to the stranger. 
 It did not escape the observation of the 
 Rabbinical student of the Law that in enu- 
 merating those to whom tender considera- 
 tion is to be shown, the Scriptures put the 
 
 1 See Jerusalem Gittin 5 : 9. Comp. also Toscfta 
 Gittin, ch. 5.
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 239 
 
 stranger even before the orphan and the 
 widow; he follows immediately after the 
 indigent Levite, consecrated to the service 
 of God, and (in every case but one) pre- 
 cedes the Israelite in need of protection and 
 charity. 
 
 " In thirty-six passages," it says, " the 
 Scriptures have forbidden the vexation of 
 the stranger even with injurious words." 
 The stress laid in Jewish literature upon the 
 humane treatment of the stranger com- 
 pared with the Greek view of the stranger 
 as " Barbaros " indicates the height scaled 
 by Talmudic morality. Resh Lakish said: 
 " To wrest the judgment of the stranger is 
 equivalent to wresting the judgment of 
 God," that is, is equivalent to attacking the 
 moral order of the universe itself/ 
 
 171. The Rabbis did, indeed, lay down The stranger 
 
 favored, and his 
 
 a difference between the legal status of the ri f ht . s P^ upon a 
 
 religious basis. 
 
 stranger and that of the Israelite, but only 
 with the purpose of throwing more jealous 
 
 1 Baba Mezia 59 b . * Chagigah 5 a .
 
 240 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 safeguards about the rights of the stranger. 
 The simple, ethical motive of equality was 
 re-enforced by another ethical motive, the 
 honor of Israel, and by a religious motive, 
 the honor of God. " Robbery of non-Jews 
 is worse than robbery of Jews; the former 
 involves desecration of the Divine Name," 
 and what the correlatives, "desecration of 
 the Divine Name " and " sanctification of 
 the Divine Name " meant to the Rabbinical 
 world will appear later. 
 
 The stranger's 172. Any violation of the rights of the 
 participation in 
 
 enjoyments, stranger, then, was strongly deprecated. 
 The Israelite was commanded to grant him 
 encouragement, support, and all the ser- 
 vices of love craved by human need. But 
 the communion between Jew and non-Jew 
 extended beyond this. The Israelite was 
 bidden to give the stranger part in what- 
 ever enjoyment life afforded him. Joys are 
 
 1 Tosefta Baba Kamma, ch. 10. 7f3 is the tech- 
 nical expression for every sort of open injury, fraud, 
 etc., in opposition to " secret " theft.
 
 CHAR A CTER OF JE WISH E THICS 24 1 
 
 promised and pleasures recommended, but 
 " with the stranger thou must share them." 
 " Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing 
 which the Lord thy God hath given unto 
 thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the 
 Levite, and the stranger that is among 
 you " (Deut. 26:11). 
 
 Si 7^. Again, the provisions of the law "The stranger in 
 
 the market-place." 
 
 and the admonition to show friendship ap- 
 plied not only to the alien settled in Israel's 
 midst, but also to the chance stranger. 
 The technical designation for the latter was 
 " the stranger in the market-place " the 
 market-place that attracts all alike, and 
 therefore is the meeting-place of utter 
 strangers to one another. Abayi was in 
 the habit of saying : " Man should be in- 
 ventive in ways of fearing God, should be 
 gentle of speech, should control his wrath, 
 and promote peaceable intercourse with his 
 brethren, with his friends, with all men, 
 even with the stranger in the market-place, 
 that he may be loved above and below r (by
 
 of the ways of 
 pe; 
 
 242 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 God and by men), and be acceptable to all 
 creatures." This commendation of ami- 
 cable and peaceable relations is followed 
 immediately by a reference to R. Jochanan 
 ben Zakkai's civility, which comprehended 
 even the " stranger in the market-place." 
 Ethical legisia- 174- In dealing with the directions 
 
 tion "on account 
 
 ^of enjoining the equality of the stranger's 
 with the Israelite's claim upon our charity, 
 we met with the motive, " on account of 
 the ways of peace" (169). The sadness 
 of later times obscured the moral beauty 
 of the thought conveyed by this phrase. 
 To the middle ages it appeared a restriction 
 placed upon moral value, a concession to 
 prudence, as though the injunctions to 
 which it is attached had been given, not 
 for their own sake, not for the sake of 
 morality, but for some external reason of 
 expediency. It seemed to touch the prac- 
 tical rather than the ethical side of con- 
 
 1 Berakhoth i; a .
 
 CHARACTER OF JEWISH ETHICS 243 
 
 duct. 1 In point of fact, however, the level- 
 ing of the " paths of peace " (ni 1 ?^ on) as 
 a motive even for actions tending to de- 
 molish national barriers and promote the 
 universality of the moral communion, is one 
 of the highest aims of moral conduct. That 
 this conception covers the true meaning of 
 " ways of peace " appears from the passage : 
 " The whole Torah exists only for the sake 
 of the ways of peace." Obviously the idea 
 here is the exalted one, that all ethical legis- 
 lation converges in the blessed hope of es- 
 tablishing peace among men, and this prin- 
 ciple of fundamental importance is enun- 
 ciated, not in some recondite Midrash 
 
 1 Especially in expressions that -fairly amount to 
 maxims, the upward striving development of the 
 ethical thinker must reveal itself. It alone guaran- 
 tees the full understanding of a living thought 
 bequeathed by generation to generation. Of the 
 words of the Bible and Talmud, suggestive as they 
 are, it is true that ^3B>ofe nhvth D n n miN (Prov. 
 15:24). For the wise, the paths of vital thought go 
 always upward. 
 
 ^a minn ^>D.
 
 244 
 
 attributed to an- obscure disciple, but in the 
 Talmud itself, where it forms the nucleus 
 of the discussion on the " ways of peace " 
 between Abayi and R. Joseph. 1 
 
 1 Sec Gittin 59 b .
 
 APPENDIX 
 i. 
 
 To 6. It cannot be denied that this method 
 (or rather lack of method) of free Bible inter- 
 pretation induced a neglect of strictly scien- 
 tific exegesis. The connection of single sen- 
 tences with the whole passage not to speak 
 of the book in which they occur was disre- 
 garded as completely as the peculiar spirit or 
 style of the author, and no account was taken 
 of the historical circumstances in which the 
 expressions originated and to which they refer. 
 It is a fact that the art of interpreting Biblical 
 language according to its natural sense dis- 
 appeared along with the desire and even the 
 ability so to interpret it. (Comp., for instance, 
 Aben Ezra, Introduction to his Bible Com- 
 mentary, and Graetz, Geschichtc der Juden, 
 vol. xi, pp. 13, 41 [vol. v, pp. 300, 328] ).' 
 
 1 References to the History of the Jews by Graetz 
 will be made first to the German original, then, in 
 brackets, to the translation published by the Jewish 
 Publication Society of America (Philadelphia, 1891- 
 1898).
 
 248 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 This is the defect of the intellectual work of 
 the older Jewish school, in sharp contrast 
 with the scientific modern Bible Com- 
 mentaries. The advantage of the method ap- 
 pears in the text. 
 
 2. 
 
 To 11. Comp. Sotah io b with its emphatic 
 " Rather throw yourself into a fiery furnace 
 than put your fellow-man to the blush." The 
 large number of Rabbis on whose authority 
 the sentence is cited proves the importance 
 attributed to it. See also part u, end of 
 ch. vi, note on the development of the Law 
 by the Talmud. 
 
 In the passage in Sanhcdrin (n a ) referred 
 to, the Talmud represents God as answering 
 Joshua's question about the offender with ex- 
 quisite naivete: " Do you take me for an in- 
 former? Find out the state of the case your- 
 self " (by drawing lots. See Josh. 7). 
 
 3- 
 
 To 12. A criticism of Hirsch B. Fassel's 
 book does not lie within the scope of my work. 
 However, so far as I know, it is the only sys- 
 tematic presentation of the ethics of Judaism
 
 APPENDIX 249 
 
 published in recent centuries. All other books 
 attempting the same combine ethical and re- 
 ligious doctrines inextricably. I am, there- 
 fore, tempted to show that Fassel's essay, in 
 that it is not a specifically Jewish system of 
 ethics, fails in the most important particular. 
 
 Its very title 1 proves that first principles 
 were not properly conceived, and that the 
 book cannot give a complete scientific system. 
 Beyond a doubt Fassel was master of the sub- 
 ject-matter, and the ethical precepts he ex- 
 pounded were convictions and rules of con- 
 duct with him. Yet he never attained to a 
 clear perception of the relations of his sub- 
 ject. The determination to follow Krug's 
 strain of thought was itself an obstruction. 
 All honor to Krug's Ethics! But it is unde- 
 niable that it differs fundamentally from the 
 ethics of Judaism. Krug had nothing in com- 
 mon with the mental disposition of the Tal- 
 mudic heroes. By this I do not mean that 
 the Rabbis were not acquainted with Krug's 
 categories and turns of expression these are 
 convertible and transferable.. But they knew 
 
 pTV, die mosaisch-rabbinische Tugend- und 
 Rechislehre, bearbeitet nach der philosophischen Tugend- 
 uiid Rechtslehre des seeligen Krug und erldutert mil 
 Angabc der Quellen von H. B. F.
 
 250 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 nothing of his subject-matter, of his questions 
 and answers, his problems and solutions. On 
 the other hand, Krug probably had no concep- 
 tion of the peculiarity of Jewish ethics, the 
 specific character of its principles, its theory 
 of life and the world. Certainly he had no 
 reason to take them into consideration in 
 formulating his own system. 
 
 Fassel marshals a great number of moral 
 principles, but his exposition of them is slight, 
 his effort to derive or establish them still 
 slighter. A rich treasure of Talmudic sayings 
 and teachings the most valuable part of the 
 work is quoted in exemplification of his bald 
 fundamentals. These sayings and teachings 
 are utterly unconnected. They are piled up 
 without regard to order. Their subordination 
 to the general statements constructed after 
 Krug's has almost no effect in revealing the 
 true, inner connection of the sentiments. The 
 philosophic light derived from Krug burns but 
 dimly. 
 
 Thus it came about that even so learned a 
 man as Fassel put at the head of his work the 
 inapt equation between ttDtJ>ni p"l and the 
 doctrine of virtue and law. The concept or 
 the word P1 has a varied and, even aside 
 from its supposed connection with the Sad-
 
 APPENDIX 251 
 
 ducee party-name, an interesting history, par- 
 ticularly significant in its derivatives. In this 
 history it suffices to call particular attention to 
 the following: On the one side, leaving its 
 original province entirely, the idea is narrowed 
 down to npiv , which means " charitable 
 deed," " benevolence," or only the " charity 
 strong-box." On the other side, it enlarges 
 its scope to pHV, the ideal of manhood, the 
 exponent of all that is good. Even in- the 
 phrase B32>D1 npis, occurring in Prov. 21:3 
 and Ps. 33 : 5, R. Eleazar (Sukkah 49 b ) takes 
 the word np" to mean " alms." 
 
 Again, piv, which occurs in the Bible only 
 four times in combination with BSfc^DI (Ps. 
 89:15; 97:2; Prov. 1:3; 2:9) always means 
 " justice " as a principle, and t3SC?D implies 
 both the statute and its execution. Even the 
 two together do not constitute the whole of 
 the moral idea nor, indeed, its highest require- 
 ment. They may be looked upon as the most 
 important, the indispensable condition of 
 moral association (see part n, 283), as the 
 beginning and the premise of nobler forms of 
 fellowship, because their opposites set up the 
 most effectual barriers between man and man. 
 Law, therefore, may be called the foundation 
 of moral society, but it is not the whole struc-
 
 252 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ture, certainly not its crowning glory. Or, 
 to tise another figure of speech, the vineyard 
 must be cleared of stumps and stones and 
 fenced in to insure conditions favorable to 
 growth, but to produce wine more is neces- 
 sary. Vines must be planted and nursed be- 
 fore the field can be called a vineyard. The 
 Psalmist (89:15) gives the essential meaning of 
 ESEfCl pli in the exalted expression: "Justice 
 and judgment are the prop of thy throne," 
 but what of the rest of the verse : " Mercy 
 and truth precede thy presence?" 
 
 It would not be difficult to put the kernel 
 of Jewish ethics into words that are terser 
 and more striking. They should denote 
 either the most comprehensive, or the high- 
 est, or the most distinctive concept of the 
 ethics of Judaism. These three attributes are 
 found united only in the words Vnft D^np, 
 "You shall become holy." Hence the idea 
 of " holiness " may be regarded as the sign- 
 manual of the ethics of Judaism. From the 
 accurate definition of this principle all ethical 
 maxims can be deduced naturally and surely, 
 in logical order. It is an absolutely universal 
 and a pre-eminently formal principle. 
 
 By using as a fundamental principle such 
 concepts as " law and justice," which desig-
 
 APPENDIX 253 
 
 nate manifestations of the ethical idea, that is, 
 actual conditions, methodological purposes 
 are thwarted rather than furthered. The ap- 
 plication of the ethical idea to other concrete 
 conditions is made difficult, if not impossible. 
 A fundamental principle of this character is 
 not sufficiently elastic to embrace the different 
 spheres of existence, the various modes of 
 life, the emotional relations, in which the eth- 
 ical idea is to be made real. It is true that in 
 establishing a principle of logical sequence 
 and orderly derivation of such perfection as 
 to afford a basis for an elaborate (applied) 
 system of ethics, we cannot dispense with a 
 knowledge of the actual relations of persons 
 and things gained from external sources, that 
 is, from experience. Every system of ethics 
 is based upon the presupposition of a natural 
 world in which moral ideas are to take effect. 
 But the attempt to discover in the funda- 
 mental principle, not alone the guiding rule, 
 but the concrete subject-matter of ethics as 
 well, is successful only by way of logical sub- 
 terfuges, in other words, is only seemingly 
 successful. 
 
 For Maimonides and Aristotle, see Appen- 
 dix No. 14, p. 273.
 
 254 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 4- 
 
 To 14. Griinebaum in his book, Die Sittcn- 
 lehrc dcs Jiidcnthums andcrcn Bekcnntnisscn 
 gegcniibcr (Strassburg, 1878), expressed this 
 idea (p. 200), and confirmed it by excellent 
 illustrations. " It is absolutely necessary to 
 understand the language of the old teachers, 
 disengage the kernel from the shell, and know 
 how to distinguish between form and essential 
 
 meaning." 
 
 5- 
 
 To 15. Granted that the passage as it oc- 
 curs in the Talmud (Sotah 35*) and in the 
 quoted Midrash describes a miracle. That 
 merely removes the true explanation one step 
 further back. For, what is the spiritual source 
 of a legendary miracle? The very belief in 
 the power of the ideal conveyefl by the quoted 
 passage, by the whole context, indeed, in 
 which it is found, beginning with " God bears 
 the world, etc." 
 
 If the prolific author of the legend, R. 
 Berechiah, was not conscious of its true im- 
 port, that would only go to show that the ex- 
 pression "he prophesies and knows not what" 
 (x:n no irr fc6l KTJ) was applicable to him.
 
 APPENDIX 255 
 
 In fact, it is not necessary for any one indi- 
 vidual to be conscious of the thought, to think 
 it abstractly. The spirit of the people which 
 produces the legend unconsciously cherishes 
 the idea as a creative cause. 
 
 With regard to the commentary upon the 
 verse from Ecclesiastes, it should be said that 
 there are many variants, some based upon 
 pin 11 j'K (v. 3), some upon enn fN (v. 9); 
 now using nhtfcb, now DTip. In the con- 
 text the last may have referred originally to 
 precedence in time or to superior excellence. 
 The fundamental thought remains the same: 
 in the moral world and only in it is found 
 what is lacking in the natural world. 
 
 6. 
 
 To 15 (end). Comp. also Sabbath io a and 
 the fine passage in Maimonides, Hilkhoth 
 Sanhcdrin, ch. 23, Hal. 9, which clearly 
 illustrates the intimate connection between 
 law and religion so characteristic of Jewish 
 ethics. (Comp. also part n, 284 and Ap- 
 pendix thereto.) 
 
 7- 
 
 To 30. A monograph on ni2K rTDT would 
 be highly desirable. The meaning of the term
 
 256 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 should be defined, its historical development 
 traced) and a critical appreciation of its various 
 ethical aspects thus made possible. As a mat- 
 ter of course, such an essay should enter into 
 a psychologic consideration of the stimulating 
 and the relaxing influence exerted by the idea. 
 
 8. 
 
 To 38. See Schiller's Brief e iibcr die asthc- 
 tischc Erzichung dcs Mcnschcn. However, it 
 should be pointed out that under various 
 guises aesthetic motives enter into symbolic 
 religious practices and customs as prominent 
 factors, more assertive and influential, in fact, 
 than the whole of religious art. It would be 
 an interesting piece of psychologic work to 
 determine their place. The festivals with their 
 attendant ceremonies are full of aesthetic mo- 
 tives, and the Rabbis softened and refined the 
 punctilious rigor of the law by investing its ob- 
 servance with forms of beauty; "the beauti- 
 fying of duty" (,m'D TITTI) is a standing re- 
 commendation. 
 
 9- 
 
 To 48*. The footnote on Bcrakhoth 17* 
 requires additional explanation. I have taken
 
 APPENDIX 257 
 
 in the traditional sense of " to boast," 
 the Arukh, for instance, by a change of liquids 
 considering it the same as i ?lJnr6. Others 
 derive it from YI3, " fence," and define it " to 
 separate, or seclude oneself." The meaning 
 of the sentence in Bcrakhoth would then be: 
 As a wordly occupation does not preclude the 
 partial pursuit of science, so study does not 
 preclude practical activity. 
 
 Hermeneutically, this interpretation is not 
 admissible. .The context refers to the Am 
 ha-Arez, and the intention is to emphasize the 
 equal value of different occupations, the prac- 
 tical and the learned. Besides, the parallel 
 passages in Chullin 7 a , Yoma 78 a , and Nedarim 
 8i a unmistakably sanction the sense of 
 " boasting." 
 
 If, as K"Bnn (R. Samuel Edles) maintains, 
 the question turns, not upon the genuine 
 pxn Dr (" ignoramus "), but upon the "io^> 
 '121 irta" 1 'D2 Bl?n DV ^>3n (" one who learns 
 each day as much as he can "), then the second 
 meaning of -njnr6 has been vindicated by an 
 ingenious sophism, but the nobler intent and 
 whole value of the dictum are destroyed. It 
 was not worth while for the Rabbis to formu- 
 late the maxim. And why the sonorous in- 
 troduction : '121 nnn *3X ? Casuistrv is ruinous
 
 258 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 to all ethical thought. Comp. Appendix 
 Nos. 22, 23, and 26. 
 
 The whole passage on nmj 1 ? "iniD n'T (" an 
 ignoramus may be slit up ") or JiD inp? 
 (" torn into pieces like a fish ") can be nothing 
 more than a jest (see Pesachim 49 b ). Every 
 doubt must vanish before the gradation from 
 3"nvi I^SN (" even if it be the Day of 
 Atonement ") and niBa nvn 1 ? ^nB> (" even if it 
 fall upon the Sabbath ") to the question put 
 by the disciples: why not ItDnity 1 ? (" slaughter 
 them")? culminating in the answer jll?0 nT 
 "G1 H211 (" because slaughtering requires a 
 blessing "). Only mediaeval misery burdening 
 the soul could fail to recognize the intention 
 to jest. The complete change of meaning 
 produced by Alfasi's addition ( "iriK p iTnt5>3 
 'Dn mm, "because he ran after a betrothed 
 maiden," and therefore incurred his fate only 
 fpn D1H3ID, " on account of pursuit ") surely 
 is an apologetic device invented by himself 
 or one of his predecessors.. The matter is as 
 clear as daylight, yet here are a few proofs: 
 i. Why should both R. Eleazar and R. Sam- 
 uel ben Nachmani, quoting R. Jochanan, have 
 failed to mention the chief circumstance in so 
 important a matter as murder?- 2. The whole 
 series of sentences to which the above belongs
 
 APPENDIX 259 
 
 relates to the character and treatment of the 
 pxn Di? in general. Is it conceivable that 
 the most important of them should involve a 
 special condition? 3. If jna Wip^> T11ID were 
 spn DWDO, why limit it to the pxn Dr ? Would 
 not the same law be applicable to the TD^n 
 DDH ("disciple of the wise")? To allege 
 K!T3E> yb (that " it does not occur with a disciple 
 of the wise ") is simply sophistry. What a 
 monstrous style for a lawgiver, to omit men- 
 tion of the chief condition leading to a threat- 
 ened result, and cite an unessential fact fav- 
 oring the condition! 
 
 If more convincing proof were needed that 
 these are but "jesting words" (smnnm Nnb'-D), 
 it can be found upon the same page in the ut- 
 terance of no less a personage than Rabbi 
 himself: 
 
 nonin mm nsr 'w nm ~i^n ^>i3&6 TIDK psn nr 
 .spm nDnm^i "piDS 1 ? -IIDN niirupDiiMrK^zncjirn 1 ] 
 " An ignoramus may not eat the flesh of cattle, 
 for the Scriptures say: This is the law of cat- 
 tle and fowl, and whoever does not devote 
 himself to the Law is forbidden to eat the 
 flesh of cattle and fowl." 
 
 Could any one seriously think that R. 
 Jehudah ha-Nasi legally forbade an ignor- 
 amus, pxn Dr, to eat meat? And gentle R.
 
 260 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Akiba, who accuses himself (ibid.}, would he 
 have touched a hair of the head of a D3H TD^n 
 in his pxn Dl? days? Here, too, the progres- 
 sion from the dog to the ass is proof positive 
 of intended pleasantry. The clinching argu- 
 ment is furnished by R. Chiya (ibid.}. If his 
 words are not a wretched joke, they are pure 
 nonsense. Again, can it be supposed that 
 R. Eleazar ben Azariah meant to prescribe a 
 penal procedure by his severe though none 
 too harsh expression: He who slanders or 
 gives ear to slander, and he who bears false 
 witness, deserve to be cast to the dogs? Yet, 
 even in our day, H3 imp 1 ? iniD, naturally with 
 its casuistic limitation to the t)*Tn, has been 
 considered a provision of the criminal law. 
 See TiD'pnn B> hv naw TIK by Ben Zion f"D, 
 Warsaw 5656, 1896. Note, p. 25. It is an 
 untenable position. 
 
 This little work is a suggestive warning 
 against the dissipation of ample knowledge 
 and great acumen by futile apologetics, 
 brought about by loss of ability to see simple 
 things simply, especially to discriminate be- 
 tween jest and seriousness. All the expres- 
 sions in which pTTiOl p^WD occurs are lightly 
 thrown out; their subject is not a real con- 
 cern of serious bearing. Instead of Ben 
 Zion's fifty reasons, only this one is needed
 
 APPENDIX 26l 
 
 to justify the Talmudic expression pimo in 
 Abodah Zarah 26* and elsewhere. All the 
 learning, ingenuity, and folly of his cardboard- 
 house of fifty arguments against the false in- 
 terpretation of the Talmud, collapse under the 
 objection that fourteen centuries suffered the 
 false interpretation without taking umbrage 
 at the sentence. R. Meir's saying that 
 "words spoken in a dream pTTiD &6l p^tfD &6," 
 neither help nor harm, in a word, are mean- 
 ingless, proves that the phrase is merely an 
 equivalent for pT tfh) ^W> &6, that they are 
 a generality to which no concrete meaning 
 should be attached. Occasionally the Tal- 
 mud indulges in blunt sarcasm. A Halachic 
 opinion, reported by Eleazar in the name of 
 Rab, displeases Samuel. He says: Give 
 Eleazar barley to eat. See Kethuboth 77 a . 
 
 Mr. I. I. Kalian sent me, incidentally to his 
 kind proof-reading of this work, the accept- 
 able information that R. Hai Gaon explained 
 the passage in Pesachim 49** as 'Kin nn, 
 " jesting hyperbole." See Responses of the 
 Geonim, ed. Harkavy, Berlin, 1887, p. 197. 
 
 10. 
 
 To 49. Would any importance be attached 
 to the wrathful utterances of a French franc-
 
 262 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 tiretir of 1870 or of a German patriot of 1813, 
 who had recently suffered from the rigors of 
 war in person and property? 
 
 The collection, of war-songs sung by the 
 Germans in 'JQ-'JI contains one verse which 
 occurs in the collection of i8i3-'i5, in other 
 words, which kept itself alive during fifty-five 
 years of peace. It runs thus : 
 
 Schlag ihn todt, 
 
 Patriot, 
 
 Mit der Kriicke 
 
 Ins Genicke. 
 
 Again, one of the French songs of revenge 
 anticipates France's supremacy. At the end 
 it says: 
 
 " Meantime, until we reach the glorious end, hatred 
 and murder." 
 
 And a little further up: 
 
 " No shield henceforth but hate, hate equal to the 
 enemy's! " 
 
 Even Victor Hugo produces words of sav- 
 age passion as the sorry fruit of sad events : 
 
 " Poison the wells, the sleeping murder, 
 
 Kill them with axes, pitchforks, and scythes." 
 
 Ben Yochai had suffered, not only in per- 
 son, but through the persecution and oppres-
 
 APPENDIX 263 
 
 sion of what was dearer to him than life, than 
 his people persecution imperiling the teach- 
 ing of the Law, oppression clipping its prac- 
 tice. 
 
 This subject is treated excellently by 
 Michael Sachs (Bcitragc zur Sprach- und 
 Altcrthumsforschung, vol. n, p. 150): "As 
 the criterion for defining the attitude of the 
 Germans towards the Romanic nations would 
 not be deduced from the Teutomaniac expres- 
 sions of rabid Germans against southern for- 
 eigners (die " Wclschen "), so the religious 
 teachings of Judaism may not be judged by 
 Agadistic interpretations of Biblical passages 
 originating in the period of the second severe 
 persecution." And this thought gathers force 
 from the fact that " grief over rights denied, 
 over unmerited shame, and unheard of oppres- 
 sion was satisfied to vent itself in these sym- 
 bolic interpretations and amplifications of the 
 prophecies " (p. 148). " History does not 
 record many instances in which witty exegesis 
 and immovable faith were opposed as sole 
 bulwarks against might in full panoply, and 
 there is no parallel to the triumphant assertion 
 of an idea in face of crushing hatred backed by 
 extraordinary resources " (p. 145).
 
 264 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 A hue and cry has been raised against the 
 expression: " You are called men, but the 
 other nations are not called men " (Baba 
 Mesia H4 b and Ycbamoth 6i a ) seemingly a 
 harsh sentiment,. Its author is the aforemen- 
 tioned Simon ben Yochai. The objection to 
 it falls to the ground as soon as we recognize 
 that " not called men " is a favorite phrase to 
 denote that the life of such a one is unworthy 
 a human being. In Yebamoth 63* it says, for 
 instance: "Who has no wife is no man, for 
 ' male and female he created them. . . . and 
 called them Adam ' (man, Gen. 5:2); only the 
 two together constitute man." The phrase is 
 applicable outside of the moral sphere, to the 
 amenities and the practical side of life. Hence 
 the expression: " Who owns no real estate, is 
 no man " (ibid.). Finally, if we note the con- 
 text in both passages, all harshness vanishes. 
 The discussion is upon the ritual question, 
 whether the grave of a non-Jew pollutes. 
 R. Simon says with regard to Numbers 19: 14, 
 " When a man dieth in a tent, etc.," that man 
 here means Israelite, for the laws of clean and 
 unclean, being ritual laws, apply only to 
 Israelites, losing their validity, even for Israel- 
 ites, beyond the borders of Palestine. 
 
 Assuming, however, that the expression in
 
 'APPENDIX 265 
 
 Yebamoth is not limited to Israelites, do not 
 all European languages call a cruel or vengeful 
 man inhuman, a monster? Is that not another 
 way of saying: he does not deserve to be called 
 man? Now let us consider the Roman perse- 
 cutions and outrages. For instance, to cele- 
 brate his brother Domitian's birthday, Titus 
 had twenty-five hundred youths, Jewish cap- 
 tives, slaughtered. In Vespasian's honor the 
 hideous act was repeated by Titus Titus, the 
 " delight of mankind "! To slaughter human 
 beings, defenseless, innocent captives, and to 
 slaughter them in celebration of birthday anni- 
 versaries! (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, vn, 
 2, i; 3, i; 5, i. Graetz, Gcschichte der Judcn, 
 vol. in, p. 544 [vol. n, p. 312]). Is it going 
 too far to deny the honorable appellation of 
 man to the perpetrator of such cruelty? The 
 history of the humanity that stands the test 
 of war, especially of victorious war, had not 
 yet begun. 
 
 ii. 
 
 To 50. Thus, if we meet the views of two 
 opposing parties, as, for instance, those of the 
 Zealots and those of R. Jochanan ben Zakkai, 
 we pay to the one set the tribute of compre- 
 hension, to the other the tribute of acquies- 
 cence.
 
 266 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Vehement anger in the thick of the fight 
 calls for no censure, but admiring praise is 
 due him who rises above temporary ills to 
 eternal truths. R. Jochanan, says Graetz 
 (Gcschichte der Juden, vol. iv, p. 23 scq. [vol. n, 
 p. 331, in part]), "appears to have acted as 
 a shield from a political point of view for the 
 young communities that he had created. His 
 kindly and gentle disposition, in which he 
 resembled his teacher Hillel, he displayed 
 even to the heathen. It is related of him that 
 he always greeted them in a friendly manner 
 (Bcrakhoth i/ 8 -). Such friendliness offers a 
 striking contrast to the hatred felt by the 
 Zealots toward the heathen, which increased 
 after the destruction of the Temple. The 
 verse Proverbs 14:34, ' the kindness of the na- 
 tions is sin,' was taken literally by the people 
 of that time, and was applied to the heathen 
 world with evident resentment and not to its 
 credit. They said bluntly: ' The heathen may 
 do ever so much good, yet it is accounted to 
 them as sin, for they do it only to mock us.' ' 
 
 1 The same phrase was used in the French chauvi- 
 nistic journals of this very decade, whenever a pub- 
 lic disaster, such as the assassination of President 
 Carnot, the Bazar fire of 1897, etc., elicited words 
 and acts of kindly sympathy from Emperor Wil- 
 liam II of Germany.
 
 APPENDIX 267 
 
 Jochanan alone explained this verse in a sense 
 expressive of true humanity : ' As. the sin- 
 offering atones for Israel, so mercy and kind- 
 ness atone for the heathen nations ' (Baba 
 Bathra io b )," in explanation of which it should 
 be said that the word n&ttan is the technical 
 expression alike for " sin-offering " and for 
 " sin." 
 
 To gauge the value which, in the eyes of the 
 Rabbinical world, accrued to this view from 
 the circumstance that it had originated with 
 R. Jochanan ben Zakkai, we must keep in 
 mind the prominent position he occupied at 
 a crucial moment in Israel's history. It lies 
 beyond the scope of this work to give an his- 
 torical account. It can be found at length in 
 the History by Graetz. His closing words de- 
 serve a place here (Gcschichte der Juden, vol. 
 iv, p. 27 seq. [vol. n, p. 333, in part]): "It 
 cannot be repeated too often that the solid- 
 arity of the Jewish people in the dispersion is 
 due to R. Jochanan ben Zakkai's efforts. He 
 succeeded in re-establishing the bond, par- 
 tially ruptured by war, which united the most 
 distant communities into one self-conscious, 
 homogeneous congregation. In his person 
 the transition took place from the tumult and 
 complexity of political life to the quiet of a no
 
 268 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 less active communal and spiritual life. He 
 joined in himself the qualities of the Prophet 
 Jeremiah and of Zerubbabel, the Prince of the 
 Return. Like Jeremiah, he sat mourning 
 upon the ruins of Jerusalem ; like Zerubbabel, 
 he called new conditions into being, like him, 
 he stood upon the dividing line between two 
 epochs, heritor of the one, creator of the 
 other. Both laid the corner-stone of a new 
 Judaism, which the generation following them 
 reared to the full height of its completion." 
 
 12. 
 
 To 55. It is proper to mention at least that 
 the two tendencies are, as it were, personified 
 in two of R. Jochanan ben Zakkai's most 
 famous disciples.. Severe, unbending, inex- 
 orably firm, R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanos teaches 
 not a word and lets none pass unchallenged 
 that he has not heard from his teacher. R. 
 Joshua ben Chananiah, on the other hand, 
 mild, conciliatory, circumspect, considerate, 
 who heeds the demands of the present and of 
 the future upon his people laboring under their 
 burden and panting for knowledge and spir- 
 itual uplifting, requires a reason for every 
 law. Choice between the two is made without
 
 APPENDIX 269 
 
 hesitation. Joshua represents Judaism in the 
 spirit of his master. Nor is it an accidental cir- 
 cumstance that R. Eliezer, despite his great 
 qualities, recognized and appreciated as such 
 (by none more than by Joshua, his confirmed 
 opponent), and despite his unbounded honesty 
 and self-effacing staunchness, should have 
 been under the ban during the latter years of 
 his life. The interdict, by the way, had beeri 
 pronounced against him, in the interest of pub- 
 lic welfare, by R. Gamaliel, his own brother- 
 in-law. 
 
 It was Eliezer's principle that had to be in- 
 terdicted. Real tragedy hero that he was, he 
 defended it to the last. The nobility of his 
 character appears from his opposition to the 
 newly compiled ritual, the same now in use. 
 His foremost objection to it arose, it is true, 
 from the fact that it was not traditional. But 
 this was fortified by the opinion that prayer 
 ought to be the outpouring of the heart 
 offered spontaneously, not in fixed, prescribed 
 forms. 1 
 
 1 We are not concerned with prayer, yet it is not 
 out of place to comment upon Eliezer's opinion. 
 Attractive though it be at first sight, it applies only 
 to prayer offered up in the privacy of one's cham- 
 ber. Public divine service, the regulation of which 
 was under discussion, cannot dispense with an ac-
 
 2/0 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 The respect enjoyed by persons or parties 
 does not confer authority. Only opinions 
 based upon research and reason may lay claim 
 to validity. Joshua held firmly to this prin- 
 ciple, as is attested by later legends clustering 
 about his discussions with his opponents. 
 They adduced signs and wonders in confirma- 
 tion of their views, and finally a voice from 
 heaven decided in their favor. Joshua insisted 
 that man alone has the deciding voice in hu- 
 man affairs, and that his decision must accord 
 with reason (Baba Mcsia 59 b ). Joshua sup- 
 ported his position by citing Deuteronomy 
 30:12: " This commandment is not in heaven, 
 etc." He might have referred to the same 
 thought expressed in the oldest law (Deut. 
 13:4), where signs and wonders are rejected 
 as a method of distinguishing the true from 
 the false prophet. The prophet's teaching is 
 the sole consideration. 
 
 cepted form. Nor does prayer lose aught of its 
 power of elevating and edifying by reason of being 
 cast in a fixed form. It is a psychologic fact that 
 the real content of prayer, its thought and its feel- 
 ing, always and in all circumstances, is modi- 
 fied by the personality of the worshiper. It de- 
 pends less upon the words spoken than upon ha- 
 bitual impressionability and the emotion of the 
 moment.
 
 APPENDIX 271 
 
 Graetz may be looked upon almost as a 
 partisan exponent of conservative Judaism. 
 Therefore his words concerning the sterility 
 of traditionalism carry all the more weight. 
 In characterizing R. Chanina ben Chama he 
 says: " Among the Amoraim R. Chanina was 
 like R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanos among the Tan- 
 naim receptive throughout, never creative. 
 If their point of view had prevailed, the Ha- 
 lachah would have had to remain always un- 
 changed, in the form as originally given. Its 
 fruitful application, its development, and am- 
 plification were not their concern " (Graetz, 
 Geschichtc dcr Judcn, vol. iv, p. 283 [vol. n, 
 p. 491, in part]). 
 
 13- 
 
 To 55. There is pathos in the story of 
 Akabiah ben Mahalel, one of the great tradi- 
 tionalists (Eduyoth 5:6 and 7). He, standing 
 alone, opposed the opinion of all the sages, 
 because he would yield obedience only to the 
 tradition he had received. He was called 
 upon to retract, and was offered the highest 
 imaginable reward, appointment to the presi- 
 dency of the Sanhedrin. High-principled as 
 he was, he refused, saying: " Better be called 
 a fool all the days of my life than become a
 
 2/2 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 sinner in the sight of God for one hour." It is 
 no less touching that on his death-bed he ad- 
 vised his son not to cling to his father's tradi- 
 tion, but to follow the majority. The inade- 
 quacy of his theory is plainly evident in the 
 reason for his counsel. When his son wanted 
 to know why he had not retracted, he an- 
 swered: " I heard my opinion from many, my 
 
 opponents heard theirs from many 
 
 You heard both opinions, mine from a single 
 person, theirs from many. Follow the ma- 
 jority." Only -the narrowness of the tradi- 
 tional principle could suffer a literal counting 
 of those from whom a tradition was received, 
 and so establish a difference between the case 
 of the father and that of the son. As though 
 the "'many " accepted by the father as trans- 
 mitters were not many for the son! 
 
 Surely, that he had not himself heard these 
 " many," but had gathered their opinion from 
 the mouth of his father alone, could not have 
 affected the opinion of the son seriously. 
 Could he mistrust the tradition, because his 
 father was a single individual? 
 
 An erroneous translation of a Talmudic 
 sentence by FasseL must be mentioned as a 
 warning example. In citing (p. 88) the above 
 Mishnah from Eduyoth, he represents the
 
 APPENDIX 273 
 
 father as answering the son's question, why he 
 had not retracted at the bidding of the ma- 
 jority, as follows : " Because I consider my 
 opinion the truth, but you, etc." This is not 
 a translation, not even a free or arbitrary 
 translation; it is the insertion of an entirely 
 foreign thought, one that obviously destroys 
 the unity of the Mishnah, The point in ques- 
 tion is not what is considered the truth, but 
 the reason why a certain opinion is considered 
 true, and this reason is discovered in the oppo- 
 sition between an individual and a multitude. 
 
 14. 
 
 To 61. Overzealous exegetes should not 
 be permitted to cast doubt upon this fact. 
 Truth requires the admission that there is a 
 minimum of system in the Talmud, especially 
 in the Gemara, and the logical derivation of 
 details from general principles is imperfect. 
 This remains a correct characterization even 
 after philologic criticism has removed late in- 
 sertions, and leaves only the text of our 
 Mishnah of R. Jehudah or the hypothetical 
 Mishnah of R. Akiba. Moreover, this mode 
 of thinking endured so stubbornly that in point 
 of system even Maimonides' Mishneh Torah
 
 274 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 appears mediocre and inadequate, though its 
 author was disciplined by Greek philosophy, 
 and the advance in logical order which it 
 registers is great. Slight attention is given to 
 logical deduction; only the most subordinate 
 detail is connected with the broadest of prin- 
 ciples, and the intermediate links marking a 
 genuine derivation are absent. 
 
 For the lack of logical consecutiveness in 
 Maimonides' original philosophic treatise, the 
 " Eight Chapters " (Introduction to the Mish- 
 nah Aboth), a monograph on the foundations 
 of ethics, Aristotle must in part be held re- 
 sponsible. To have followed Aristotle here 
 was not a happy idea. His Ethics, admirable 
 as it is in other respects, is especially deficient 
 in logical derivation of its contents,. Even 
 Schleiermacher ridiculed the Aristotelian 
 " swarm of virtues " in his Grundlinicn einer 
 Kritik dcr bishcrigen Sittenlehre (a curious 
 though excellent book, by the way). Per- 
 haps the very strangeness of Aristotelian ethics 
 attracted Maimonides. 
 
 Yet it is astonishing that Maimonides 
 should have failed to note the infinite diver- 
 gence between the Aristotelian and the Jew- 
 ish moral doctrine so completely as to inter- 
 mingle the two. Thus it came about that he
 
 APPENDIX 275 
 
 could speak of the Aristotelian virtues of " the 
 mean " in the same breath, as it were, with the 
 divine pattern of true, real ethics, the inner, 
 profound reason for ethical conduct. In the 
 first five paragraphs of the first chapter of 
 HUkhoth Deoth, these virtues of " the mean " 
 are treated of, and the closing admonition 
 reads: "And we should walk in these paths 
 of ' the mean ' ; they are the good and proper 
 paths, whereof it is said: 'Thou shalt walk 
 in his paths.' ' : The sixth paragraph follows 
 at once with : " So this command was en- 
 joined: 'As he (God) is called gracious, be 
 thou gracious; as he is merciful, be thou mer- 
 ciful ; as he is holy, be thou holy.' In this way 
 the Prophets invested God with all attributes, 
 calling him long-suffering, full of kindness, 
 just, perfect, omnipotent, etc., to point out 
 that they are the good and proper paths, and 
 that men are in duty bound to walk in them 
 and to resemble him as far as they can." 
 
 What, we ask, has the cycle of Aristotelian 
 virtues gracefully disporting themselves upon 
 the path of the golden mean virtues that, for 
 the most part, are no positive virtues, only 
 the mean between two vices ; virtues regulating 
 the decorous behavior of the educated, well-to- 
 do Athenian ; virtues utterly removed from the
 
 276 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 serious moral obligation which is of the es- 
 sence of the Jewish spirit; virtues the lack of 
 which indicates naught of abysmal guilt, the 
 possession of which, naught of the heavenly 
 heights of moral purity before God what 
 have these comely, amiable virtues to do with 
 the unutterably sublime idea of divine mo- 
 rality? If this collocation of ideas is not blas- 
 phemy and of blasphemy Maimonides cer- 
 tainly was never guilty then it shows absence 
 of critical thought; it is thoughtlessness begot 
 of the currency of Aristotelian concepts and 
 the veneration for them. 
 
 The master, Aristotle himself, was more 
 prudent. His " God " has none of the virtues 
 that are to lead and adorn men. Justice, free- 
 dom, goodness, are notions belonging to this 
 world a world with which God has absolutely 
 no connection. He does not even know the 
 world, for knowledge of evil would defile, de- 
 grade him. The twelfth book of Aristotle's 
 Metaphysics and the eighth of his Physics 
 make it clear beyond a doubt that his " God " 
 is not a motive force; that he knows naught 
 beside himself,. " God " thinks, but he thinks 
 only himself, and in this self-examination he 
 finds beatitude. Yet it is not so much Aris- 
 totle's metaphysical view of God as his view of
 
 APPENDIX 277 
 
 the world that separates God from the world, 
 particularly the sublunar world. Aristotle 
 considers nothing in the world worthy to be 
 the .object of God's thought. The funda- 
 mental difference lies not in his theology, but 
 in his ethics. 
 
 In fact only an ethical principle of super- 
 lative force, rigor, and elevation may be 
 coupled with the divine pattern of morality 
 (comp. part n, 214). It is perhaps most 
 characteristic of the Ethics of Aristotle that 
 politics, and politics alone, was regarded at 
 once as its point of departure and as its aim. 
 Ethics was not an edifice standing alone; it 
 was merely a little annex to the palace of poli- 
 tics. (See Nicomachcan Ethics, passim, but 
 especially i, i and end.) 
 
 Here we have the whole opposition between 
 the two Systems: For Aristotle the politics of 
 the tiny Greek state was the be-all and end-all 
 of ethical consciousness. The Prophet's and 
 the Psalmist's ideas culminated in the 
 thought of God as the archetype of morality, 
 inasmuch as he prescribes a moral aim for 
 the world, and leads the world to its realiza- 
 tion. For instance, God's justice appears in 
 '131 pi3 "?nn D1BB, " With righteousness shall 
 he judge the world, and the people with
 
 278 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 equity" (Ps. 98:9). Mark ^r\> which com- 
 prehends the whole earth and all nations ! 
 
 The ethical idea of God is most beautifully 
 expressed in a little Psalm (67), whose -uni- 
 versal tendency is palpable: 
 
 (2). " God be merciful unto us, and bless 
 us; may he cause his face to shine upon us," 
 that the rays of his light may fall upon us. 
 
 (3). " That thy way may be known upon 
 earth, thy salvation among all nations. 
 
 (4). " Let the people praise thee, O God; 
 let all the people praise thee. 
 
 (5). " The nations are glad and sing for joy, 
 that thou judgest the people righteously and 
 governest the nations upon earth." 
 
 (6) like (4). 
 
 th\y>, at the end of this exquisite Psalm, 
 does not mean " vegetation," but (figuratively) 
 "product." That all nations praise God for 
 his moral government of the world, is the 
 highest " product " of the whole of life on 
 earth (v. 7). " God bless us," and if he blesses 
 us, " all the ends of the earth will fear him " 
 (v. 8), then the uplifting consciousness of 
 the divine government or moral order of the 
 world will spread to the uttermost limits. 
 
 A literal interpretation of v. 7 is not in keep- 
 ing with what goes before. How could the
 
 APPENDIX 279 
 
 poet descend so abruptly from the heights of 
 world-ideas to cornfields and vineyards? And 
 how tame the prospect, that if or because God 
 gives food to the people, all ends of the earth 
 will adore him! To remove any lingering 
 doubt concerning the figurative meaning of 
 rfe, see "D1 nosn pKO DDK, " Truth springs 
 out of the earth, and righteousness looks down 
 from heaven" (Ps. 85:12). The moral mean- 
 ing of nOK (taken as truth or as loyalty) is in- 
 contestable, therefore TOn must be used in a 
 figurative sense. And are not n and TO! 
 correlative terms? 
 
 15- 
 
 To 64. In general it is a risk to follow 
 later commentators blindly. Often they were 
 tainted by the faults of a decadent civilization, 
 and panting under the burden of the times, 
 were unable to rise to the exalted sentiment 
 of older sayings. The examples cited below 
 show the necessity of throwing off all bias 
 in order to comprehend the original idea in its 
 purity and elevation. 
 
 i. The noble sentence: "When a member 
 of a brotherhood dies, the whole brotherhood 
 should mourn for him " (Sabbath io6 a ), is
 
 280 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 stripped of its ethical meaning by Rashi, al- 
 though R. Chiya bar Abba's quotation from 
 R. Jochanan makes its true import apparent 
 (ibid. io5 b ). 
 
 2. The thought tested and approved by ex- 
 perience, that " the influence of virtuous men 
 (called, as everywhere, D'pHV ) is greater after 
 death than during life," is connected with a 
 miracle tale, and robbed of the exalted lesson 
 it conveys (Chullin 7 b ). 
 
 3. Again, the application depreciates the 
 beautiful saying: "Great is work (a trade), it 
 honors the workman " (Ncdarim 49 b ). 
 
 4. Reverence for Rashi and the profound 
 gratitude Talmud readers owe him should not 
 stand in the way of giving the truth its due. 
 Quoting Rab, R. Jehudah explained, that in 
 the words of the Psalmist (105:15, cited in the 
 text, in 70), " Touch not mine anointed," 
 " the anointed are the schoolchildren " (Sab- 
 bath H9 b ), for they are called to bring redemp- 
 tion to future generations. Rashi seems to 
 have considered the flight too bold. He ex- 
 plains the words by the custom of " rubbing 
 oil on the heads of children," and so spoils the 
 ethical admonition they convey and their 
 poetic beauty. 
 
 5. The following is even worse: The moral
 
 APPENDIX 28l 
 
 teachings of Psalm 15 are expounded in the 
 Talmud. The words, " That lendeth not out 
 his money for interest," are supplemented 
 simply by: " not even to the stranger." 
 
 The Bible, then, influenced by considera- 
 tions of political and economical expediency, 
 makes a difference between loans to a native 
 and those to strangers. But the Talmud, ris- 
 ing to the plane of the purely ethical, the uni- 
 versally humane, abolished the difference. 
 Rashi adds to the words, " not even to the 
 stranger," the explanation, " that he may not 
 be tempted to take interest from the Israelite." 
 This shows that after all he objects only to the 
 interest forbidden by the Bible, and cannot 
 maintain the high standard of the progressive 
 Talmud. Comp., however, Baba Mczia 71*. 
 It is noteworthy that R. Amram Gaon de- 
 mands that scholars at least shall take no in- 
 terest whatsoever (the technical expression is 
 " not a mote of interest " !) from non-Jews 
 (Responses pnv ni5> 4O a ). 
 
 16. 
 
 To 64. Instead of vrn^rb we should prob- 
 ably read wwfor, the D being a dittography 
 of the last letter of the preceding word 
 (I. I. Kahan).
 
 282 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 In any event the root rbv is the reason of 
 the derived interpretation. 
 
 17- 
 
 To 65. In many cases, it is true, the defi- 
 nite occasion, consequently the restricted 
 meaning, has been asserted only by the his- 
 torians. Such assertions should be accepted 
 with great caution. For instance, an ingeni- 
 ous, fertile historian like Graetz may invent 
 the " historical " situation from a given say- 
 ing supposed to be an allusion to it, or, again, 
 may connect an actual occurrence with some 
 saying upon whose origin tradition is silent 
 Often " probabilities " are the only counters, 
 and even so the result shows discrepancies. 
 Take, for example, the boldness of Graetz in 
 converting the oration in Isaiah 37:22-27 
 scq., which the Prophet represents as the word 
 of God to Hezekiah, into a letter supposed to 
 have been written by Hezekiah to Senna- 
 cherib! It is inexplicable how the address in 
 the second person to Sennacherib can be con- 
 sidered a justification for this opinion, in view 
 of numerous examples of such addresses in 
 the Prophetical writings (comp. only Jer. 
 51:13; 22:20). Besides, the highly poetic
 
 APPENDIX 283 
 
 form of the verses is suited to a prophetic 
 oration, but hardly to a letter dictated to a 
 secretary of state and destined for the king of 
 a foreign country. If it had been a letter of 
 friendship, it might have passed. A state 
 document of such menacing import not even 
 the Orient would be likely to couch in ex- 
 travagant language. 
 
 18. 
 
 To 65. Such brief, incisive, and widely cur- 
 rent sayings deserve particular attention in an 
 historical treatise on ethics. They possess 
 qualities in common with the oldest lapidary 
 legislation (comp. pS mmb and Deut. 27:3). 
 Theoretic research and speculation alike go 
 back to them for the varied application and 
 the acute analysis of a given ethical doctrine, 
 and the unsophisticated layman is no less 
 quick to discover, in everyday events, the op- 
 portunity to apply such general maxims, 
 though he may not be able to apprehend, cer- 
 tainly not to state, the logical chain of ideas 
 which legitimates the practical application. 
 
 Among the sentences which have occa- 
 sionally a restricted, but usually a general 
 meaning, the following (quoted in part IT, 
 214) may be reckoned: " the commandments
 
 284 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 are not given for enjoyment " (i&6 
 unj nun*?). For Halachic purposes (see Rosh 
 ha-Shanah 28 a ; Erubin 31*) the expression is 
 restricted to its legal sense: the use of an object 
 in the execution of a ceremonial law (a Shofar, 
 for instance, in blowing) is not considered en- 
 joyment. There is no doubt, however, that 
 originally and in much earlier times the ex- 
 pression had a wider meaning. In fact, only 
 through the latter does its specialized appli- 
 cation become intelligible and rational. Why 
 should the employment of an object in the 
 fulfilment of a command 'not be considered 
 profitable employment? And if the point in 
 question were only nwn "VlDW nrvn , " a per- 
 mitting or forbidding of pleasure," why should 
 the impressive phrase i:nj S^> have been 
 chosen? But the Rabbinical mind was 
 solicitous about keeping the ethical principle 
 free from any admixture of the idea of utility. 
 The saying is therefore directed against the 
 eudsemonist, still more against the hedonist 
 view of life. The doctrine of Epicurus must 
 have had wide vogue in Palestine, else its 
 author could not have been represented as the 
 antitype of the law-abiding Jew (see Aboth 
 2:19). 
 
 The pleasure derived from the fulfilment,
 
 APPENDIX 285 
 
 especially from the glad fulfilment, of com- 
 mands had probably become an Epicurean 
 subterfuge, which the ethical spirit of the 
 Rabbis desired to render unavailing, so that 
 men might fulfil duty for its own sake. Here, 
 as in so many cases, the Kantian conception 
 of duty and its contrariety to inclination sug- 
 gests itself (comp. part n, 207, and see 
 Steinthal, Allgcmcinc Ethik, pp. 42-54). 
 
 Certain passages of Holy Writ undergo a 
 like change of meaning. For instance,' the 
 phrase ^JWDI 'no D"p3 Drvm has been torn 
 from the context, in which it signifies: " Then 
 shall you be free of your obligations towards 
 God and towards Israel." Since days imme- 
 morial, whether used by the people as a pro- 
 verbial admonition or in learned ethical writ- 
 ings, it has assumed the meaning: " Man must 
 seek, not only to be guiltless before his God 
 and his fellow-men, but also to appear guilt- 
 less." 
 
 Scrupulous accuracy in the citation of 
 sources would require the derivation of this 
 sentence, which undoubtedly is a Jewish 
 ethical doctrine, not from the Bible, but from 
 the authors who have used it, and given it 
 currency, in the new meaning. The latter 
 occurs in so early a source as the Talmud (see 

 
 286 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Pesachim 13*; Yoma 38*; Jerusalem Shekalim 
 3:2; and elsewhere). 
 
 Another instance is afforded by the words 
 of the Psalmist (quoted in 38),^n^K^nDW^, 
 " they go from strength to strength " (Ps. 
 84:8). They are applied with great frequency, 
 but always in the later, broad meaning. For 
 their peculiarly suggestive use with this con- 
 notation, in an important Talmud passage, see 
 Appendix No. 40 in part n. 
 
 19. 
 
 To 73. Sifrc Debarim, 240, is an old 
 source reflecting the popular feeling. 
 
 To the Biblical passage: " Because she 
 hath wrought a disgraceful deed in Israel " 
 (Deut. 22:21), the remark is added: " She has 
 defiled, not only herself, but all the maidens 
 in Israel " Luther is singularly mild here. 
 He translates rbl) by Thorhcit (" folly "). Pos- 
 sibly this word has lost in weight of condem- 
 nation what Schimpf has gained. The latter 
 has sunk from mere sport to disgrace. 
 
 Briefer in expression, yet more comprehen- 
 sive in meaning than the commentary of Sifrc, 
 is the parallel passage in the Jerusalem Tal- 
 mud : " This one defiled all Israel " (Kcthu- 
 both 4:4).
 
 APPENDIX 287 
 
 20. 
 
 To 76. The depth of Maimonides' ethical 
 speculation is brilliantly illustrated in his 
 eighth chapter. Aristotelian though he was, 
 he emphasizes the coherence of all morality, 
 the dependence of details upon the fundamen- 
 tal principle. He goes so far as to ascribe 
 prophetical spirit to him who derives single 
 moral requirements from the essence of the 
 idea of the good, and so puts him upon the 
 highest round of the ladder of ethical percep- 
 tion. It is, of course, not necessary to be con- 
 scious of all the middle' terms between the 
 loftiest ethical concept and the practical ques- 
 tion under consideration (comp. 61 and Ap- 
 pendix to latter; also my work Lebcn der Seek, 
 vol. in, p. 41). Ethical conviction effects the 
 junction between the highest principle and the 
 problems of real life as they successively pre- 
 sent themselves. 
 
 The expression nNTl Dili; or rmvori notD 
 (see Dcbarim Kabbah, ch. 4) has at times been 
 used in a narrow sense. The spirit of the Rab- 
 binical world and of Judaism invested it with 
 the meaning in the text, and in this meaning 
 it became a household word.
 
 288 THE E THICS OF JUDA ISM 
 
 21. 
 
 To 84. Kayserling, Das Moralgcsctz des 
 Judcnthums, etc., translates R. Jochanan's say- 
 ing thus: " Ethico-religious knowledge and 
 at bottom such knowledge is the whole of 
 wisdom has stability only in him who con- 
 siders his knowledge naught as compared 
 with the sum of what is worth knowing." In 
 other words, R. Jochanan is represented as 
 urging modesty and humility. By neglecting 
 the expression IDVI? D^D, Kayserling has 
 substituted a trite sentiment for a profound 
 thought. Besides, if it were a matter of im- 
 portance, it might be demonstrated that R. 
 Jochanan hardly considered " his knowledge 
 naught as compared with the sum of what is 
 worth knowing." 
 
 22. 
 
 To 87, To establish the meaning of the last 
 quoted passage and justify the importance 
 I attach to it, I desire to set up a general rule 
 of interpretation (in compliance, by the way, 
 with R. Jehudah's admonition in the same 
 section of Sifrc, that general principles should 
 be laid down, and deductions drawn from 
 them) :
 
 APPENDIX 289 
 
 If an expression is quoted on a definite 
 occasion, this does not prove that it was 
 coined for the occasion. The particular ap- 
 plication -cannot rob it of its general meaning. 
 
 This applies with peculiar force to the case 
 in which the reporter associates a quotation 
 with a thought of his choice, whereby the sen- 
 tence quoted is made to assume a definite 
 meaning. In these circumstances we are in- 
 deed obliged to consider the quotation in its 
 context, but we are no less under obligation 
 to detach it and examine it independently of 
 the connection in which it appears. 
 
 It may happen again and again that a re- 
 porter, especially if, as in our case, he is the 
 compiler, may merely have been reminded of 
 the quotation. Yet he cites it as proof. 
 Mnemonic suggestions (srDJDDtf) were com- 
 monly used as proof, though considered of an 
 inferior kind. The compiler may have been 
 aware of the higher meaning, but along with 
 it he knew another meaning, less important 
 than the first, but not absolutely contradictory 
 to it. He adduces the second, because it suits 
 the context. 
 
 Our passage in Sifre furnishes an admirable 
 illustration. The compiler desires to recom- 
 mend rcpctitio as the mater stitdiontm. Prob-
 
 290 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 ably to effect a connection with the Bible pas- 
 sage, he says: " Investigate (e>Bfc?BD) the pre- 
 cepts, examine them, that you may not forget 
 them." We will not stop to argue with him 
 for confounding investigation, the purpose of 
 not forgetting, with repetition, the means of 
 not forgetting. He continues: "Thus said 
 R. Jacob too: ' Let us investigate the laws 
 again and again lest rust gather upon them.' " 
 To rust may, indeed, be a figurative expres- 
 sion for the psychologic phenomenon of for- 
 getting. But a simpler remedy would be 
 repetition, which certainly did not suffer for 
 lack of terms to express it, still less for lack of 
 recommendation. One hundred and one 
 repetitions are distinctly said to be preferable 
 to a hundred repetitions. But B>BtJ>B means 
 examining, investigating, and the reading 
 t]E?Bt5>D (according to X'f in Friedmann in 
 loc. a/.), to rub, to polish, would make no dif- 
 ference. Not to rust, in the sense of keeping 
 bright and polished, is an excellent figure of 
 speech for the thought that the law should 
 remain clear and true, and become more and 
 more so. This interpretation is decidedly 
 favored by the explanation of the Bible word 
 coming immediately after R. Jacob's sen- 
 tence: "131 D'amDl. It says: D'B>BB>B1 Dp3
 
 APPENDIX 291 
 
 DBQ may mean to make fat or to 
 spice, but it certainly is not a figure of speech 
 for repetition or memory. It indicates im- 
 provement or refinement of some sort. 
 
 23- 
 
 To 89. The passage cited in the text is in 
 somewhat similar case with that discussed in 
 Appendix No. 22. In Baba Mczia 58", the 
 Rabbis ( vn is the expression used) lay down 
 the general dictum nXT1 11 now l 1 ? 1 ? "iiDDn in ^D 
 pn^KD (" of every matter left to the heart the 
 Scriptures say, ' but thou shalt fear thy 
 God ' "). This they apply to the particular 
 case, "men may not deceive one another even 
 by words." Rashi's traditional explanation 
 of this sentence, or rather, of the words, 11DD 
 3^6, does not win assent when the other in- 
 stances, that is, the other passages to which 
 the injunction "pn^KD J1NT1 is added, are taken 
 into consideration. There are four such, 
 namely, Lev. 19:14 and 32; 25:36 and 43. 
 
 When deception is practised by words, it 
 may, indeed, be said that God and the agent 
 alone know the import of the words; hence 
 the recommendation to fear God. But no 
 such statement can be predicated of the com-
 
 292 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 mands, to " honor the face of the old "; not to 
 " rule over thy servant with rigor " ; not to 
 " take usury and increase of thy poor 
 brother; " and not to " curse the deaf, nor put 
 a stumbling-block before the blind." 
 
 But these passages have a common char- 
 acteristic which justifies the description "HDD 
 3^> (" left to the heart "). They all deal with 
 an indefinable something that cannot be meas- 
 ured, or weighed, or determined by rule.. The 
 delicate perception, the fine tact, of a sensitive 
 nature (see Mishnah Baba Mcsia 58 b ) is in- 
 volved in the manner alike of showing rever- 
 ence to old age; treating subordinates; guard- 
 ing the defenseless and unsuspicious against 
 every sort of mortification, and refraining both 
 from the exaction of usury and from taking 
 advantage of a debtor's impoverishment. If 
 the general statement quoted in the text was 
 actually applied with Rashi's understanding of 
 it, it was in this case restricted to a narrower, 
 less valuable meaning, which, however, does 
 not prevent its use, as the other passages 
 prove, in its true, wide, and higher meaning. 
 
 In Sifra (on the cited passages), the expres- 
 sion is likewise taken in the narrower sense, 
 but it is made plausible only by adducing, 
 under each general ordinance, a particular
 
 APPENDIX 293 
 
 case, into which the ignorance of the second 
 party enters as a factor. 
 
 To restrict it to particular cases is to divest 
 of force and value the general ethical appeal 
 conveyed by the Torah through the expres- 
 sion nxvi attached to these commands. It 
 is an illustration of the viciousness of the 
 popular casuistic method. If nKTI referred 
 to 2^h "HDD only in its traditional meaning, 
 that is, divine privity in an act known to the 
 perpetrator alone among men, then R. Simon 
 ben Yochai's inference therefrom (loc.cit.}, that 
 poo nxmn cnzn nwix "pna (" fraud in words 
 is greater than fraud in money transactions "), 
 were baseless; according to our interpretation 
 it is completely justified. 
 
 One more reflection: The things designated 
 as skb TiDO are of paramount importance, be- 
 cause though at first only the best of mankind 
 discern and act up to them, later the noble 
 example of the few, being imitated, makes 
 them common property, and the standard of 
 morality in general is raised. (Comp. part n, 
 Appendix No. 41, end, the quotation from 
 Ihering, noting particularly the opposition be- 
 tween heart and hand.)
 
 294 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 24. 
 
 To 114. Kant attached such great import- 
 ance to the psychologic aspect even in defin- 
 ing the ethical principle that to this day his 
 method is invested with the appearance of 
 necessity. In order to disclaim eudaemonism 
 and empiricism, Kant had to repudiate also 
 the ideas of the English school of moral philos- 
 ophers relative to a (sixth) " moral sense," 
 " sympathy," etc,. Like the objective motive, 
 so he preserved the subjective organ, of 
 morality free from all that cannot be ac- 
 counted pure, ethical volition. 
 
 25- 
 
 To 117. Rabbinical literature contains sev- 
 eral passages describing a scale of ethical 
 views and conduct, each stage being consid- 
 ered the cause of its successor. The Mishnic 
 passage (Sotah, ch. 9, at the end) by R. 
 Pinchas ben Yair is best known. The various 
 readings in the two Talmuds and the Mid- 
 rashim, enumerated by Bacher (Agada der 
 Tannaitcn, vol. n, p. 496, note 5), prove that 
 from the first the consecutiveness of the series 
 was not understood. I am convinced that 
 the true meaning of most of these notions
 
 APPENDIX 295 
 
 and of their causal, evolutionary connection, 
 as the author thought it out, often with philo- 
 sophic grasp, have escaped us, for we have not 
 the slightest intimation of the underlying 
 psychologic view. In fact, it will hardly do to 
 assume that the author under discussion, 
 known from other sources to be an extremist 
 and inclined to mysticism, possessed a clear, 
 settled, systematic understanding of psycho- 
 logic relations. 
 
 Bacher's attempt to interpret the series is 
 attractive. S. R. Hirsch (Choreb, 112), who 
 accepts the peculiar reading at the beginning 
 used by *)"n (Alfasi), brings out a number of 
 ingenious points, but many details as well as 
 his theory as a whole rest upon an arbitrary 
 basis. For example, the CJHlpn Pin stage he 
 describes as " enthusiasm because you under- 
 stand life and its purpose from so high a 
 plane, because you grasp every detail, and 
 illumined by God recognize the good and the 
 salutary." (See 64, p. 88.) 
 
 In any event, such passages deal with stages 
 in the development only of a single, individual 
 mind, that is, with subjective progress. Is 
 similar progress asserted of the public spirit, 
 of the human mind in the aggregate, objec- 
 tively considered? This is the question at
 
 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 the heart of all historical science. To work 
 out the answer in terms of Judaism would be 
 a most grateful task, and at the same time 
 one most difficult of successful performance. 
 
 It were an easier task and, inasmuch as its 
 performance leads to the other, of more im- 
 mediate importance, to deduce from the 
 sources whether and how the Rabbinical view 
 assumes such development to have taken place 
 in the general attitude. 
 
 The popular rule which considers the earlier 
 authorities uniformly superior to the later, 
 would seem to indicate a negative answer. 
 But Talmudic expressions concerning the at- 
 titude of the Prophets to the Torah and of the 
 Rabbis to both; the hyperbolic legends on 
 the relation of Akiba ben Joseph to Moses; 
 and especially the paramount practice which 
 makes a Rabbinical ordinance supersede a 
 Biblical law, give abundant occasion to 
 search for more exact notions entertained by 
 the Rabbinic mind upon the progress of Ju- 
 daism objectively considered. 
 
 26. 
 
 To 128. A classical controversy attaches 
 to the expression quoted. On the one side is
 
 APPENDIX 297 
 
 the oft-repeated view, that any act tending 
 towards a good purpose is valuable even if its 
 motive is not pure. Personal experience of 
 the good must necessarily have the pedagogic 
 result of making the good habitual and the 
 ethical result of leading to recognition and 
 love of the good as such. This view ob- 
 tained wide currency in the familiar form: 
 
 On the other side is the sterner view that 
 the good should be practised for its own sake 
 only. Raba sums it up in Bcrakhoth 17*: 
 " As for him who does the good for reasons 
 other than the good itself, it were better he 
 had never been born." 
 
 Doubtless we have a real difference of opin- 
 ion here. The one permits, even demands, 
 that though pure motives are lacking, good 
 deeds shall be done, in the expectation that 
 others will follow with consciously good mo- 
 tives. The other considers a good deed done 
 from an impure motive (such as, ostentatious 
 charity, study for fame, etc.) a depreciation 
 of the good. As obviously there is no differ- 
 ence of opinion regarding the ultimate aim 
 of. all morality, namely, to do the good for its 
 own sake, the above disharmony can easily 
 be resolved. Raba could not have failed to
 
 298 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 observe that the practice of noble deeds, even 
 when not prompted by the purest of motives, 
 often has the favorable result of ennobling 
 the doer through personal spiritual contact 
 with the good, and leading him up to the 
 heights of true, full, that is, conscious mo- 
 rality. But the general form of his state- 
 ment, whose universality one is tempted to 
 make complete by the addition of " always " 
 (" as for him who always does the good," etc.), 
 expresses the idea that if a man displays in- 
 capacity or disinclination to purify himself 
 by spiritual experiences and to be good con- 
 sciously, then were it better he had never been 
 born. Despite occasional good deeds, such 
 an one cannot fulfil the purpose for which he 
 was brought into existence, namely, to love 
 and do the good for its own sake,. The 
 essential harmony of the two views as well 
 as the exalted character of Rabbinical ethics 
 are strikingly demonstrated by the circum- 
 stance that neither party deduces the value of 
 good deeds performed in the absence of pure 
 motives from their practical effect, which may 
 follow regardless of motives, but from the 
 pedagogic effect, that the performance of good 
 deeds must, with psychologic necessity, bring 
 about perfectly moral deeds and motives.
 
 APPENDIX 299 
 
 There is no room for any sort of argument 
 from practical utility, which would so readily 
 suggest itself to modern ethics. The question 
 is purely one of personal, ethical value. 
 
 I consider it my scientific duty not to leave 
 the subject of this controversy without re- 
 pudiating the casuistic method of harmonizing 
 the difference between the two views, em- 
 ployed by our great interpreters, Rashi as well 
 as Tosafoth. Casuistry does not serve to dis- 
 engage the truth from the contradictory say- 
 ings of the Talmudic heroes. It is not for 
 me to pass judgment concerning the applica- 
 tion of the casuistic method to the Halachah, 
 Certain it is, however, that in the domain of 
 ethics, which is chiefly Agadistic, it produces 
 confusion worse confounded. Thus, it is 
 held that Raba's view does not contradict 
 R. Jehudah's (Pcsachim 5o b ), that " man at all 
 times should fulfil the law and its commands, 
 even if it be not done for their own sake. 
 Thereby he will learn to execute them from 
 the purest of motives." For, it is further 
 held, Raba's dictum applies only to the special, 
 favorite case of a man's devoting himself to 
 study for some extraneous purpose in the 
 supposed instance not an innocent by-end, but 
 unholy ambition to outstrip fellow-students.
 
 300 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 This is a complete emasculation of Raba's 
 idea. In its universality it stands for an ele- 
 vated ethical principle; in its casuistic restric- 
 tion to a single case it is a truism unworthy 
 of repetition. If all the Talmudic authorities 
 in the world maintained that Raba had had in 
 mind only the absurd special case, I should 
 not believe it. And if the impossible came to 
 pass, and Raba himself confirmed their opin- 
 ion, despite all deference due him, I should 
 have to say: Great master, then your lan- 
 guage was not worthy of a sage and teacher 
 of morality; for the fine-spun condition said 
 to be the main consideration, you did not refer 
 to with a single word, but the general idea, 
 which you are supposed not to have enter- 
 tained, is expressed without equivocation. 
 Of what avail were clearly worded sentences, 
 if their meaning were not to be gathered from 
 the words used, but, in view of another au- 
 thor's dictum, had to be restricted to some 
 quibble? It is, to say the least, thoroughly 
 arbitrary to suppose that Raba's general say- 
 ing refers only to " study," as the commenta- 
 tors assume.. 
 
 (By the way, Tosafoth must have had vari- 
 ous readings for the proper names; in some 
 editions R. Lakish and R. Jehudah are sub-
 
 APPENDIX 301 
 
 stituted for each other in Bcrakhoth 17% and 
 Rab and Raba, in Pcsachim 5o b .) 
 
 Concerning the position of the Chinnukh in 
 this controversy, see part n, Appendix No. 37. 
 
 27. 
 
 To 144. The reader will permit me to 
 refer also to Nachmanides' view (see ch. 37), 
 which asserts that the difference between 
 Akiba and Ben Azai is that the latter 
 considers love of children (nn^in), the 
 former, love of self, to be the greater love. It 
 is characteristic, then, that each holds the love 
 which he considers the greater to be the love 
 enjoined by the Scriptures.- 
 
 28. 
 
 To 153. R- Eleazar's opinion, that the 
 Temple service was an element in religious 
 life calculated to separate from instead of 
 uniting with God, merits attention. He said: 
 " On the day when the Temple was destroyed, 
 an iron wall between God and the congrega- 
 tion of Israel fell " (Bcrakhoth 32 b ). That R. 
 Eleazar had in mind particularly the sacri- 
 ficial service is evident from his expression 
 quoted in the same passage: " Prayer exceeds 
 all sacrifices."
 
 302 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 29. 
 
 To 168. The "Principles" follow in full: 
 
 1. Judaism teaches the unity of the human 
 race. We all have one Father, one God has 
 created us. 
 
 2. Judaism commands: "Love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself," and declares this command of 
 all-embracing love to be the fundamental 
 principle of the Jewish religion. 
 
 It therefore forbids every sort of animosity, 
 envy, malevolence, or unkindness towards 
 any one of whatsoever race, nationality, or 
 religion. It demands justice and righteous- 
 ness, and forbids injustice, improbity, fraud, 
 taking unfair advantage of the need, the heed- 
 lessness, and the inexperience of a fellow- 
 man, as well as usury and the usurious em- 
 ployment of the powers of a fellow-man. 
 
 3. Judaism demands consideration for the 
 life, health, powers, and possessions of one's 
 neighbor. 
 
 It therefore forbids injuring a fellow-man 
 by force, or cunning, or in any other in- 
 iquitous manner depriving him of his prop- 
 erty, or leaving him helplessly exposed to 
 unlawful attacks. 
 
 4. Judaism commands holding a fellow- 
 man's honor as sacred as one's own.
 
 APPENDIX 303 
 
 It therefore forbids degrading him by evil 
 reports, vexing him with ridicule, or morti- 
 fying him. 
 
 5. Judaism commands respect for the 
 religious conviction of others. 
 
 It therefore forbids aspersion or disrespect- 
 ful treatment of the religious customs and 
 symbols of other religions. 
 
 6. Judaism commands the practice of 
 charity towards all, clothing the naked, feed- 
 ing the hungry, nursing the sick, comforting 
 those that mourn. 
 
 It therefore forbids limiting our care to 
 ourselves and our families, and withholding 
 sympathy when our neighbors suffer. 
 
 7. Judaism commands respect for labor; 
 each in his place shall take part, by means of 
 physical or mental labor, in the work of the 
 community, and strive for the blessings of 
 life by busy, creative activity. 
 
 It therefore demands the cultivation, de- 
 velopment, and active employment of all our 
 powers and capabilities. 
 
 On the other hand, it forbids inactive en- 
 joyment of life and idleness confident of sup- 
 port by others. 
 
 8. Judaism commands absolute truthful- 
 ness: our yea shall be yea, our nay, nay.
 
 304 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 It therefore forbids distortion of truth, de- 
 ceit, hypocrisy, double dealing, and dissimula- 
 tion. 
 
 9. Judaism commands walking humbly with 
 God and in modesty among men. 
 
 It therefore forbids self-conceit, arrogance, 
 pride, presumptuousness, boasting, and dis- 
 paragement of the merits of others. 
 
 10. Judaism demands peaceableness, placa- 
 bility, mildness, benevolence. It therefore 
 commands the return of good for evil, to 
 suffer rather than inflict injury. 
 
 It therefore forbids taking revenge, nurs- 
 ing hatred, bearing a grudge, abandoning 
 even an adversary in his helplessness. 
 
 11. Judaism commands chastity and sanc- 
 tity of marriage. 
 
 It therefore forbids dissoluteness, license, 
 and relaxation of family ties. 
 
 12. Judaism commands the conscientious 
 observance of the laws of the state, respect for 
 and obedience to the government. 
 
 It therefore forbids rebellion against gov- 
 ernmental ordinances and evasion of the law. 
 
 13. Judaism commands the promotion of 
 the welfare of one's fellow-men, the service of 
 individuals and communities in accordance 
 with one's ability.
 
 APPENDIX 305 
 
 It therefore forbids slothful indifference to 
 the common weal and selfish exclusion from 
 the societies instituted for charitable purposes 
 and for the betterment of mankind. 
 
 14. Judaism commands that its adherents 
 shall love the state, and willingly sacrifice 
 property and life for its honor, welfare, and 
 liberty. 
 
 15. Judaism commands sanctification of 
 the name of God through acts, and it bids us 
 exert ourselves to hasten the time in which 
 men shall be united in the love of God and 
 the 'love of one another. 
 
 In obedience to the fine injunction in Aboth 
 (6:6, end), I add the names of the members 
 of the commission charged with the com- 
 pilation of the " Principles." They are as 
 follows: Dr. David Cassel; Dr. Frankl, 
 Rabbi; Herr Herrmann, Director; Herr Herz, 
 Privy Councillor; Dr. Holzman; Dr. Kirsch- 
 stein, Director; Dr. Kristeller, Privy Coun- 
 cillor; Professor M. Lazarus, Ph. D, ; Herr 
 Ludwig Loewe, Deputy to the Reichsrath; 
 Herr Makower, Councillor of Justice; Dr. 
 Maybaum, Rabbi; Herr Meyer, Councillor of 
 Justice; Professor H. Steinthal, Ph.D.; Dr.
 
 306 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 Strassmann, President of the Common Coun- 
 cil; and* Dr. Ungerleider, Rabbi. The first 
 draft, somewhat more theologic in coloring 
 than the above, was made by Dr. Kirschstein; 
 the second, by Herr Makower, was charac- 
 terized by the severity and conciseness of a 
 legal document. On the basis of the debate 
 on these two, I compiled the above, which 
 was accepted by the commission. 
 
 30, 
 
 To 168. Decisions Doctrinales du Grand 
 Sanhedrin qui s'est tenu a Paris an mois 
 d'Adar premier, Tan de la Creation 5567 
 (Fevrier 1807) 
 
 sous les Auspices de 
 Napoleon-le-Grand 
 
 avec la traduction litterale du texte Franqais 
 en Hebreu : 1 
 
 1 Les Decisions doctrinales ne faisaient que con- 
 firmer et rendre doctrinalement obligatoires pour 
 tous les Israelites de 1'Etnpire Frangais les resolu- 
 tions arretees et votees ante"rieurement par 1'As- 
 semblee des Notables convoyee egalement par ordre 
 de 1'Empereur en 1806.
 
 APPENDIX 37 
 
 ART. VI. 
 
 RAPPORTS CIVILS ET POLITIQUES 
 
 Le Grand Sanhedrin, penetre de 1'utilite 
 qui doit resulter pour les Israelites d'une 
 declaration authentique qui fixe et determine 
 leurs obligations, comme membres de 1'Etat 
 auquel ils appartiennent, et voulant que nul 
 n'ignore quels sont a cet egard les principes 
 que les Docteurs de la Loi et les Notables 
 d'Israel professent et prescrivent a leurs 
 coreligionnaires, dans les pays ou ils sont 
 point exclus de tous les avantages de la 
 societe civile, specialement en France et dans 
 le royaume d'ltalie, 
 
 Declare qu'il est de devoir religieux pour 
 tout Israelite ne et eleve dans un Etat, ou qui 
 en devient citoyen par residence, ou autre- 
 ment, conformement aux lois qui en deter- 
 minent les conditions, de regarder le dit Etat 
 comme sa patrie; 
 
 Que ces devoirs, qui derivent de la nature 
 des choses, qui sont conformes a la destina- 
 tion des hommes en societe, s'accordent, par 
 cela meme, avec la parole de Dieu; 
 
 Daniel dit a Darius, " qu'il n'a ete sauve 
 de la fureur des lions, que pour avoir ete
 
 308 THE ETHICS OF JUDAISM 
 
 egalement fidele a son Dieu et a son roi " 
 (chap, vi, v. 23). 
 
 Jeremie recommande a tous les Hebreux de 
 regarder Babylon comme leur patrie: " Con- 
 courez de tout votre pouvoir, dit-il, a son 
 bonheur " (Jer. chap. v). On lit dans le 
 meme livre le serment qui fit preter Gue- 
 dalya'aux Israelites: " Ne craignez point, leur 
 dit-il, de servir les Chaldeens, demeurez dans 
 le pays; soyez fideles an roi de Babylon, et 
 vous vivrez heureusement " (chap. XL, v. 9). 
 
 " Grains Dieu et ton Souverain," a dit Salo- 
 mon (Prov. chap, xxiv, v. 21); 
 
 Qu'ainsi tout prescrit a 1'Israelite d'avoir 
 pour son prince et ses lois le respect, 1'attache- 
 ment et la fidelite dont tous les sujets lui 
 doivent le tribut; que tout 1'oblige a ne point 
 isoler son interet de 1'interet public; ni sa 
 destinee, non plus qne celle de sa famille, de 
 la destinee de la grande famille de 1'Etat; qu'il 
 doit s'affliger de ses revers, s'applaudir de ses 
 triomphes, et concourir par toutes ses facultes 
 au bonheur de ses concitoyens; 
 
 En consequence, le Grand Sanhedrin statue 
 que tout Israelite ne et eleve en France et 
 dans le royaume d'ltalie, et traite par les lois 
 des deux Etats comme citoyen, est oblige 
 religieusement de les regarder comme sa
 
 APPENDIX 309 
 
 Patrie, de les servir, de les defendre, et d'obeir 
 aux lois et de se conformer, dans toutes ses 
 transactions, aux dispositions du Code civil; 
 
 Declare en outre, le Grand Sanhedrin, que 
 tout Israelite appele au service militaire est 
 dispense par la loi, pendant la duree de ce 
 service, de toutes les. observances religieuses 
 qui ne peuvent se concilier avec lui.
 
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 UNDER THE EAGLE'S WING. By SABA MILLER. 
 229 pp. 75 cents. 
 
 " It is a story of the days of Maimonides. . . . The author 
 is to be commended for her book, that abounds in stirring 
 incidents and is written with considerable ability." Jewish 
 Messenger.
 
 THEY THAT WALK IN DARKNESS. Ghetto Trage- 
 dies. By I. ZANGWILL. 48G pp. $1.50. Sold to 
 Members only. 
 
 " While the tragic issue of each of these remarkable stories 
 is inevitable, they are illumined by flashes of fancy, satire, 
 irony, and humor. No reader who is not blinded by preju- 
 dice will rise from the perusal of this engrossing volume 
 without an enhanced sense of compassion for, and admira- 
 tion of, the singular race of whose traits and temperament 
 Mr. Zangwill is perhaps the most gifted interpreter." Spec- 
 tator, London. 
 
 LOST PRINCE ALMON. By Louis PENDLETON. Il- 
 lustrated. 218 pp. 75 cents. 
 
 "It is a charmingly written story of the little Prince 
 Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, whom the Prince Jehoiada had 
 rescued from the clutches of Athaliah. . . . Our Sunday- 
 school literature is so extremely poor that we hail this 
 volume with particular delight, and we predict that it will 
 soon be one of the most popular gift books for Jewish 
 children." Jewish Voice. 
 
 DREAMERS OF THE GHETTO. By I. ZANGWILL. 
 
 537pp. $1.50. Sold to Members only. 
 
 " With marvelous industry, and with no small amount of 
 erudition, he has packed together into the scenes dealing 
 with Uriel Acosta, Sabbatai Zevi, Spinoza, the Baal Shem, 
 Maimon, Heine, Lassalle and Beaconsfleld, just those inci- 
 dents and sayings of their careers which bring out most 
 clearly their Jewish aspects." JOSEPH JACOBS, Bookman. 
 
 IN THE PALE. Stories and Legends of the Russian 
 Jews. By HENRY ILIOWIZI. 367 pp. $1.25. 
 " Henry Iliowizi ... is a master of both humor and 
 pathos, as is shown in hia book of stories and legends en- 
 titled ' In the Pale.' " Sunday-School Times. 
 
 CHILDREN OF THE GHETTO. By I. ZANGWILL. 
 
 2 vols. 451 pp., 325 pp. $2.50. 
 
 " Nowhere else have been given us more realistic pictures 
 of the shabbiness, the unwholesomeness, the close-packed 
 human misery, the squalor, the vulgarity, the sharp strug- 
 gle in the mean competition of life, in the East End of Lon- 
 don. . . . [But] there is a world of poetry, of dreams, of
 
 imagination, of high calling, of intellectual subtlety even, 
 in which sordid London, not Jewish, has no part nor lot." 
 CHARGES DUDLEY WARNER, Harper's Magazine. 
 
 HABBI AND PRIEST.- By MILTON GOLDSMITH. 314 
 pp. $1.00. 
 
 " The author has attempted to depict faithfully the customs 
 and practices of the Russian people and government in con- 
 nection with the Jewish population of that country. The 
 book is a strong and well-written story." Public Opinion. 
 
 THINK AND THANK. By S. W. COOPER. Illus- 
 trated. 120 pp. 60 cents. 
 
 " Sir Moses Monteflore is the hero of this story. . . . ' Think 
 and Thank ' will please boys, and it will be found popular in 
 Sunday-school libraries." New York Herald. 
 
 VOEGELE'S MARRIAGE AND OTHER TALES. 
 By Louis SCHNABEL. 83 pp. Paper. 25 cents. 
 (Special Series No. 2.) 
 
 " ' The False Turn ' is a charming little sketch, and the 
 humor of it very delicate and amusing. ' Voegele's Marriage ' 
 I find also very artistic and interesting." EMMA LAZARUS. 
 
 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK for 5GGO (1899- 
 1900). Edited by CYRUS ABLER. 290pp. 75 cents. 
 "This is the first general year book of the Jewish insti- 
 tutions of America. It contains a directory of national 
 organizations, a directory of local organizations arranged 
 alphabetically by States and towns, a list of Jewish period- 
 icals published in this country, and statistics of Jewish 
 population." Review of Reviews (American). 
 
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