(1.) בקור חולים Visiting the sick. [42] The object of the visit ought
to be to cheer up the sufferer by pleasant conversation, to assist him
by good advice, to render him any service that is wanted, to inspire
him with hope, and to strengthen his faith in God by the comforting
words of Scripture and by prayer.
(2.) הלוית המת “Accompanying the dead” to his last resting-place, and
doing everything that our love and regard for the departed requires.
Almost every Jewish community includes an association whose members
undertake to perform personally, as far as possible, these acts of
love. Such a society is generally called חברת גמלות חסדים
“Association for practising loving-kindness towards our fellow-men,” or
חברא קדישא “Holy Association;” that is, an association for a holy
object.
(3.) נחום אבלים Comforting the mourners, who find relief in the
conviction that their fellow-men have sympathy with them.
(4.) הבאת שלום בין אדם לחברו “Peace-making.”—War, whether carried on
between nations, or between parties, or between one individual and
another, is equally detestable; and all those who by their exertion and
intercession contribute to a diminution of warfare are engaged in
praiseworthy work. The principal prayers in our Liturgy conclude with a
petition for peace, and we look forward for the state of uninterrupted
peace, the Messianic time, as the most perfect condition of mankind.
Forbearance, a kind word, a judicious counsel, frequently averts the
great evil of strife and enmity.—Peace, harmony, and friendship are
best promoted by—
(5.) Judging favourably the deeds and words of our fellow-men. It is
not an easy task to correctly estimate the motives which guide our
neighbour in his actions, and in doing so we err frequently; but it is
better to err by over-estimating them; since this produces far less
harm than going astray in the other direction and speaking ill of
others without any justifiable cause. Conduct like this leads to peace
and happiness within and without. “Speaking peace to all his seed” is
the climax of the virtues praised in Mordecai, the Jew (Esther x. 3).
Charity (tsedakah) in its narrower sense, as a duty towards the poor,
includes—
(1.) Alms-giving to the poor for the purpose of alleviating temporary
suffering.
(2.) Providing for the comfort of the aged and sick, widows and
orphans.
(3.) Assisting the stranger. The Law lays special stress on this branch
of charity, and reminds us that we all have once been strangers in the
land of Egypt. Even in the various countries of which we have become
citizens, our forefathers, three or four generations back, were
strangers; and, besides, we are told by the Almighty, “Ye are strangers
and sojourners with me:” (Lev. xxv. 23). This kind of charity is known
by the name הכנסת אורחים
(4.) Support given to the poor towards obtaining a livelihood, by
procuring occupation for them, teaching them a trade and giving them a
start in it.
(5.) Providing for the religious and secular education of the children
of the poor.
(6.) Raising their intellectual, social, and moral condition by
personal intercourse with them, and by kind words of advice, comfort,
and encouragement.
(7.) Helping those who have gone astray and have fallen into vice or
crime to return to the path of virtue, industry, and righteousness.
There are generally associations formed for the various branches of
gemilluth-chesed, the number of which grows, especially in large towns,
with the increase of misery. It is our duty to support such
institutions, as combined action is in most cases more practical and
productive of good result. But the existence of public institutions,
and our support given to them, by no means exempt us from assisting
individually those who apply to us for help. We must be judicious in
our charitable acts, lest we nurse poverty and promote imposture. But,
on the other hand, we must not be over cautious, and must not unduly
suspect every applicant for assistance as guilty of idleness or other
vices, lest by refusal or hesitation to help we become guilty of
neglect, when by prompt action we might save from utter ruin a person
or a whole family well worthy of our sympathy. In this regard we are
warned by King Solomon: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy
neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou
hast it by thee” (Prov. iii. 27, 28).
(b.) Special Duties towards our Fellow-men.
1. Children towards their Parents.—“Honour thy father and thy mother”
is one of the Ten Words which God spoke to the Israelites on Mount
Sinai. The child honours his parents by considering them as his
superiors, as endowed with authority over him, and entitled by
experience to be his guides and instructors; by listening respectfully
when they speak to him, and by speaking with reverence when he speaks
of or to them.
The love of parents towards their child should find an echo in the
heart of the latter.
The child’s love of his parents finds expression in willing, cheerful
obedience; in the endeavour to do everything that pleases them, in the
sacrifice made for the purpose of giving them pleasure, in the
assistance given them when, through age, sickness, or misfortune, they
are in need of aid.
The parents’ duty towards the child is to do everything that true love
demands, for his physical, moral, and intellectual well-being.
With regard to the child’s duty towards his parents the following
verses from Proverbs may be noticed:—
“The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his
mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young
eagles shall eat it” (xxx. 17).
“Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no
transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer” (xxviii.
24).
“Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out
in obscure darkness” (xx. 20).
“He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son
that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach” (xix. 26).
“The glory of children are their fathers” (xvii. 6).
2. All other special duties towards our fellow-men may be divided into
(i.) Duties towards our equals; (ii.) Duties towards our superiors and
towards our inferiors.
(I.) DUTIES TOWARDS OUR EQUALS.
(1.) A bond of friendship frequently exists between equals.
Friends have certain duties to fulfil towards each other. It is
expected that friends should have faith in their mutual friendship. “As
in water face answereth to face, so in the heart man answereth to man”
(Prov. xxvii. 19). As the water reflects the face of him who looks into
it, so the heart of man reflects the friendship and faithfulness of him
who has penetrated into it. Our estimation of our friend’s feeling
toward us is the measure of the genuineness and value of our own
friendship towards him.
Disinterestedness is an essential condition of genuine friendship.
Every service we render to our friend must be prompted by the desire to
be of use to him. and not to advance our own interest. If any other
motive enters our mind, if we speculate on his gratitude, and think
that our kindness must eventually be returned with interest, we have no
knowledge or feeling of friendship. Thus our Sages declare, “Friendship
dictated by a selfish motive comes to an end together with the
speculation; but friendship which is not based on any selfish motive
comes never to an end. An instance of the first kind is the friendship
between Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam. xiii.); of the second kind, the
friendship between David and Jonathan (1 Sam. xviii.)” (Aboth v. 16).
Friends bound to each other by genuine and sincere love find great
pleasure in the fulfilment of the duties involved in friendship. They
do not hesitate to bring sacrifices for each other’s well-being; they
evince heartfelt sympathy for each other in good and evil fortune.
All the duties of charity—gemilluth chesed—which we owe to our
fellow-men in general, apply with increased force when our fellow-man
is also our friend. One of these duties demands our special attention,
because it is frequently neglected through human weakness: truthfulness
and openness. Flattery, objectionable as it is in every case, is most
detestable between friends. We must encourage our friends by kind
words, and acknowledge their merits, but we must not spoil them by
undue flattery. If, on the other hand, we discover errors or vices in
our friend, it is our duty to communicate to him openly our opinion,
and to do all that is in our power to bring him back to the path of
righteousness and truth. “Thou shalt surely rebuke thy friend, and not
suffer sin upon him” (Lev. xix. 17).
Friendship is mostly formed without premeditation, and without any aim;
we are friends, we do not know how and why; some similarity in our
character, in our talents, in our views, in our successes and failures,
or in our fortunes and misfortunes, draws us together, and we become
friends before we are aware of the fact. But as far as we have control
over our feelings we ought to be careful not to plunge into friendship
without knowing something of the character and the tendencies of those
with whom we are to associate ourselves in such close relationship. In
Proverbs we are told, “Make no friendships with an angry man, and with
a furious man thou shalt not go” (xxii. 24). Ben-sira (vi. 6) exhorts
us, “If thou wouldst get a friend, prove him first, and be not hasty to
credit him.” Our Sages say, “It is easy to make an enemy; it is
difficult to make a friend” (Yalkut on Deut. vi. 16).
The acquisition of a true friend is by no means an easy task. But it is
a task that cannot be dispensed with. Persons who enjoy a life spent in
loneliness uncheered by friendship are exceptions to the rule; such a
life is miserable, and the climax of all the evils complained of by
Heman the Ezrahite (Ps. lxxxviii. 19) is: “Lover and friend hast thou
put far from me, and darkness is mine acquaintance.” Job in his great
sufferings longs for “the love which is shown to the unhappy by his
friend” (Job vi. 14).
Friendship being one of our most valuable possessions, it must be well
guarded and cultivated, lest it be lost or weakened. “Thine own friend
and thy father’s friend, forsake not” (Prov. xxvii. 10). “Let thy foot
be seldom in thy friend’s house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate
thee” (ibid. xxv. 17).
True friendship can be extended only to a few; but those who are not
our friends need not be our enemies. They are all our fellow-men, and
our conduct towards them is to be guided by the principle, “Love thy
fellow-man as thyself.” We are distinctly commanded, “Thou shalt not
hate thy brother in thine heart” (Lev. xix. 18), “brother” having here
the same meaning as fellow-man. Enmity, like friendship, comes
frequently unawares; we dislike or even hate a person without knowing
why. But it is our duty, as soon as such an ill-feeling has stolen into
our heart, to search for its origin; and this being done, we shall
generally feel ashamed of having allowed our heart to be invaded by
such an unworthy intruder. We must keep away from evil-doers, and not
associate with wicked people; but this is a very different thing from
hating our neighbour. The pious wish, “May sinners cease to exist, and
the wicked be no more” (Ps. civ. 35), is explained in the Talmud in the
words of Beruria, daughter of Rabbi Meir, as follows: “May sins cease
to exist, and the wicked will be no more.” We often conceive just
indignation at the misdeeds of our neighbours, and cannot well separate
the doer from the deed. But we ought in such cases of indignation to
examine ourselves, whether the source of our indignation is pure, or
has its root in selfishness. Such an analysis of our motives would soon
purify our heart of all ill-feeling.
In our conduct towards those whom we consider our enemies, or who
consider us their enemies, we must show forbearance and a desire to
offer or to seek forgiveness, according as we are the doers or the
sufferers of wrong. Self-love and self-esteem, if not kept within due
limits, easily produce feelings of revenge. Without entirely
suppressing human nature, we are bound to control our feelings, and to
let love of our fellow-men in all conditions occupy the first place in
our heart. We are taught by our Sages, “He who is forbearing, receives
also pardon for his sins” (Babyl. Talm. Yoma 23a); “Be of the
persecuted, and not of the persecutors” (ibid. Baba Kama 93a); “To
those who being offended do not offend, being insulted do not insult,
the verse applies: ‘And they who love him shall be as the sun when he
goeth forth in his might’” (Judges v. 31; Babyl. Talm. Shabbath 88b).
(2.) Man and wife are united by the holy bond of marriage. They owe to
each other love, faithfulness, confidence, and untiring endeavour to
make each other happy. The neglect of these duties turns a happy home
into an abode of misery and wretchedness. [43] The last of the
prophets, Malachi, rebuking such neglect, says: “The Lord hath been
witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast
dealt treacherously, yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy
covenant.”
(3.) As citizens of a State we must take our proper share in all work
for the welfare of the State. When the State is in danger we must
evince patriotism, and must not withdraw ourselves from those duties
which, under such circumstances, devolve upon every citizen. All our
means, our physical and intellectual faculties, must be at the disposal
of the country in which we live as citizens. Thus Jeremiah exhorts his
brethren in Babylonia: “Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant
gardens, and eat the fruit of them; ... and seek the peace of the city
whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto
the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace” (Jer.
xxix. 5, 7). Similarly we are taught, “Pray for the welfare of the
government” (Aboth iii. 2). [44]
An important dictum of Samuel, a Rabbi famous for his decisions in
questions of civil law, is accepted in the Talmud as law: “The law of
the State is binding upon us,” דינא דמלכותא דינא (Babyl. Talm. Baba
Kamma 113a). It is, according to the teaching of the Talmud, incumbent
upon us, as citizens of the State, to obey the laws of the country.
There is no difference between Jews and their fellow-citizens with
regard to the duty of loyalty. It is only in case of an attempt to
force us aside from our religion that we are not only justified in
resisting and disobeying laws framed with this intention, but we are
commanded to do so. But in the absence of such intention, we must
fulfil all those duties which devolve upon all citizens alike—such as
military service in countries that have general conscription—although
such obedience may carry with it a breach of some of the laws of our
religion. On the contrary, evasion and desertion of all national
obligations is a serious offence against our holy Law.
(4.) As members of the same religious community, we must unite in
working for the well-being of the whole body. “Do not separate thyself
from the congregation” (Aboth ii. 4) is a principle taught by the great
Hillel. A Jew who violates this principle, and keeps aloof from his
brethren, unwilling to take his share of the communal burdens, is
guilty of a serious dereliction of duty, and is set forth in the Talmud
as an example of most disgraceful conduct. “When your brethren are in
trouble, do not say, ‘I have my home, my food and drink; I am safe.’ If
you ever were to think so, the words of the prophet would apply to you:
‘Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die’.” “He
who does not join the community in times of danger and trouble will
never enjoy the Divine blessing” (Babyl. Talm. Taanith, p. 11a); “He
who separates from the ways of the community has no portion of the
world to come,” הפורש מדרכי צבור אין לו חלק לעולם הבא (Maim.,
Mishneh-torah, Hilchoth Teshubah iii. 6).
(5.) As to members of another community, we have to show due regard for
their religious convictions, and not to wound their feelings in respect
of anything they hold sacred. Respect for the religious feelings of our
fellow-men will increase their regard for our own religion, and evoke
in them the same consideration for our religious feelings. All our
duties towards our fellow-men are equally binding upon us whether in
relation to members of ether faiths or of our own.
(6.) Employers and employed, sellers and buyers, must act towards each
other with the strictest honesty. In cases of dispute a friendly
explanation or discussion is more likely to promote the interest of
both parties than mutual animosity. Each party must bear in mind that
prosperity depends on the co-operation of the other party, and not on
its ruin.
Note.—We meet in the Talmud and works based on the Talmud with dicta
which seem at first sight to exclude Gentiles (עכו״ם, נכרי or
גוי) from our duty of love towards our fellow-men. This, however, was
never intended. Sayings of this kind originated in days of warfare
between the oppressor and the oppressed, and were an outburst of
feelings of pain and anger, caused by an enemy who was not restrained
from tyranny and cruelty by any sense of justice and humanity. But this
state of affairs has ceased, and such sayings have since entirely lost
their force and meaning, and are practically forgotten. Some of these
passages have been removed from the Talmudical works by hostile
censors; but having led, and being still likely to lead, to errors or
misunderstanding, less on the part of Jews than of non-Jewish readers,
they ought to be eliminated in future editions of any of these works by
Jewish censors, especially as the notices on the first page of the
books, that the terms גוי, עכו״ם or נכרי do not apply to our
non-Jewish neighbours at the present day, appear to have proved
ineffectual against calumny and persecution.
(II.) DUTIES TO OUR SUPERIORS AND INFERIORS.
Although we are all equally children of one God, and before the Most
High all our petty differences disappear, His infinite wisdom willed it
that there should be a certain degree of inequality among His
creatures; that some men should be wise, others simple; some talented,
others less skilful; some strong, others weak; some high, others low;
some imperious, others submissive; some rulers, others subjects; some
fit to guide, and others only fit to be guided. This inequality is the
source of certain special duties between man and man. “Be submissive to
your superior, agreeable to your inferior, and cheerful to every one”
(Aboth iii. 12).
(1.) The teacher who patiently strives to benefit his pupils by his
instruction and counsel has a just claim on their respect. It is in the
interest of the pupils themselves to regard their teacher as a friend,
to have confidence in him, and faith in his superiority. It is
themselves they benefit most if they lighten the labours of their
teacher by due attention and obedience, and themselves they injure
most, if by want of proper respect they render his task difficult and
disagreeable.
On the other hand, it is the duty of the teacher to try to win the
respect and the affection of the pupils by conscientiousness in his
work, by patience and forbearance, by kindness and justice, by genuine
interest in the progress and welfare of those entrusted to his care,
and, above all, by a pure, good, and noble life.—The pupils owe much to
their teachers, but the latter also owe something to their disciples.
“Much have I learnt from my teachers, more from my fellow-students,
most from my pupils,” is a well-known Talmudical saying (Babyl. Talm.
Taanith 7a). Of the priest, who in ancient time used to be the
principal teacher, the prophet Malachi says: “The priest’s lips shall
keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth; for he is the
messenger of the Lord of hosts” (Mal. ii. 7). Rabbi Jochanan, in
commenting on these words, said, “If the teacher is like the messenger
of the Lord, i.e., leads a pure life in the service of the Lord, then
people shall seek instruction at his mouth; if not, they cannot be
instructed by him in the Law” (Yalkut ad locum).—“Let the honour of thy
disciple be as dear to thee as thy own, and the honour of thy colleague
as dear as the fear of thy teacher, and the fear of thy teacher as dear
as the fear of Heaven” (Aboth iv. 15).—“He who has been taught
something by his neighbour, whether it be a chapter, a law, a verse, a
phrase, or a letter, owes him respect. Thus David, who only learnt two
things from Ahitophel, called him ‘teacher, chief, and friend’” (ibid.
vi. 3).
Reverence is shown by a pupil to his teacher, not only by outward signs
of respect, but also by refraining from opposing him, his teaching, or
his decisions (Maimonides I. Hilchoth Talmud torah v. 1). A pupil who
altogether relinquishes the teaching of his master is to the latter a
source of intense grief.—Among the outward signs of regard for the
teacher we find the ancient custom or rule to pay a visit to the
teacher on the three festivals: Passover, Feast of Weeks, and
Tabernacles (ibid. v. 7).
(2.) Master and Servant.—The relation between master and servant is
legally regulated by the same rules as that between employer and
employed. Strict honesty in the fulfilment of the duties undertaken by
either party is the basis of a good understanding between master and
servant. The former must not exact from the latter more than was agreed
upon, and the latter must not fail to perform all that he has
undertaken to do. The relation between master and servant can be made
more pleasant on both sides, if they are sensible enough to recognise
their mutual obligations. On the part of the master, it is necessary
that he should consider his servant as a human being like himself, who
has a right to expect due reward for faithful service. A treatment of
the servant from this point of view inspires him with a feeling of
regard and attachment for his master, which finds expression in good
and honest service. The servant will feel comfortable in his work, and
be convinced that to be a servant is no degradation.—“Thou shalt not
defraud an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy
brethren or of thy strangers that are in the land within thy gates”
(Deut. xxiv. 14).
(3.) Rich and Poor.—“The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the
maker of them all” (Prov. xxii. 2). Those who are fortunate enough to
possess more than is wanted for the necessities of life, are expected
to spend part of the surplus in relieving those who possess less than
they require for their maintenance. Sympathy towards the poor and needy
is the duty of the rich; gratitude towards the generous and benevolent
is the duty of the poor. But the rich must by no means make their gifts
dependent on the signs of gratitude on the part of the poor; they must
even avoid eliciting expressions of thanks, as these lead too often to
flattery, hypocrisy, and servility. The rich find ample reward for
their benevolence in the joyous feeling that Providence has chosen them
as the means of diminishing the sufferings, the troubles, and the cares
of some of their fellow-men.
(4.) The following have a just claim on our respect:—
Learned Men (תלמידי חכמים), who, even if not directly our teachers,
in many ways benefit us by their learning. “It is a great sin to
despise or to hate the wise: Jerusalem has chiefly been destroyed as a
punishment for the contempt shown for the learned; as it is said (2
Chron. xxxvi. 16), ‘They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people till there was no remedy’” (Maimonides, l. c. vi.
11). “He who despises talmide-chachamim,” says Rab, “has no remedy for
his disease” (Babyl. Talm. Shabbath, 119b), and belongs to those who
forfeit their portion in the world to come (אין להם חלק לעולם הבא,
ibid., Sanhedrin 90).
The Aged.—“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the
face of the old man, and fear thy God” (Lev. xix. 32). The Bible
illustrates, in the history of Rehoboam (1 Kings xii.), the evil
consequences of the contempt shown by this king to the words of the old
men.—“With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days understanding”
(Job xii. 12). “The building of the young is destruction; the
destruction of the old is building” (B. T. Megillah 31b). [45]
Great men who have accomplished great works in the interest of mankind,
and have thus merited the gratitude of all.
The great men of our nation, their works and the institutions founded
by them at various periods of our history. “Do not despise thy mother,
though she hath become old” (Prov. xxiii. 22). The feeling of piety and
reverence towards our Sages and Teachers of former generations, and
towards institutions of ancient times that have come down to us, is an
essential element in our inner religion (חובות הלבבות).
The magistrates, judges, and statesmen, who devote their time, their
talents, and their energy to promoting the well-being of the State.
The Head of the State.—“Fear the Lord, O my son, and the king, and do
not mix with rioters” (Prov. xxiv. 21).
(C.) KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. i. 28 and
ix. 2, &c.; comp. Ps. viii. 7, &c.). Thus spake the Creator to the
first man. He gave him a right to make use of the animals for his
benefit; and man makes the animals work for him; they serve him as
food, provide him with clothing and other necessary or useful things.
In return for all these services the animals ought to be treated with
kindness and consideration. It is a necessity to force certain beasts
to work for us, and to kill certain animals for various purposes. But
in doing so we must not cause more pain than is absolutely necessary.
It is a disgraceful act to give pain to animals merely for sport, and
to enjoy their agony. Bullfights and similar spectacles are barbarous,
and tend to corrupt and brutalise the heart of man. The more we abstain
from cruelty to animals, the more noble and loving is our conduct
likely to be to one another. “A righteous man regardeth the feelings of
his beast, but the heart of the wicked is cruel” (Prov. xii. 10).
The following are instances of kindness to animals enjoined in the
Pentateuch:—
“Ye shall not kill an animal and its young on one day” (Lev. xxii. 28).
“If a bird’s nest happen to be before thee on the way upon the earth or
upon a tree, with young ones or eggs, thou shalt not take the mother
with the young. Let the mother go away; then thou mayest take the young
ones, in order that it may be well with thee, and thy days be long”
(Deut. xxii. 6, 7).
“Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn” (ibid.
xxv. 4).
In the Talmud we have the following saying in the name of Rab:—“We must
not begin our meal before having given food to our cattle; for it is
said, ‘And I will give you grass in thy field for thy cattle,’ and
after that ‘thou shalt eat and be full’” (Deut. xi. 15; Babyl. Talm.
40a).