Jewish Ethics

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The Scope of Jewish Ethics



When one thinks of the ethics of any religion, behavior of the individual often comes to mind initially. However, the behavior of the micro informs the macro, as the creators of the code of Jewish ethics are well aware. This paper will examine the scope of Jewish ethics as they pertain to the economic and health spheres, two arenas where there needs to be strong connections to ethical codes. The scope of Jewish ethics pertains to all arenas and subjects where the safety, wellness, happiness and potential of the individual and collective are concerned.



Dorff and Mackler discuss that the Jewish tradition acknowledges that there is a collective duty to care for one another; this duty only pertains to what is reasonably within human power (321). However, as the authors suggest, this naturally brings up the notion as to how much medical care do people then have a duty to provide to one another. This is a particularly thorny issue in America, since medical care is so complex, and it can appear at times that they only thing really guaranteed its citizens is emergency medical care, if that. Since caring for one another to enable one another’s wellness is within the scope of Jewish ethics, it provokes the question—to what extent is reasonable?



“According to Jewish law, we have the dear duty to try to heal, and this duty devolves upon both the physician and the society. The Rabbis were aware of this line of reasoning, but they counteracted it by pointing out that God Himself authorizes us to heal” (Dorff & Mackler, 321). The authors then cite a wealth of resources within the Bible that explicitly state the individual’s duty to heal others, such as Leviathan 19:16 asserting that “one shall not stand idly by the blood your fellow” (321). Ultimately Dorff and Mackler are able to concisely assert the parameters of Jewish ethics when it comes to health and wellness: people have to receive health care within a decent minimum that enables them to go on living, and meet other essential needs including a particular level of preventative care (335). More importantly, this responsibility is not placed on any one person, entity or collective, but rather, “The responsibility to assure this provision is shared among individuals and families, physicians and other health care providers, and the community” (335).



This viewpoint, that the responsibility to keep one another well, actively and preventatively, is shared by other scholars. Novak suggests that just as it is society’s duty to protect citizens from other citizens who might harm them, the delivery of health care services, which safeguard citizens from harm and heals legitimate harm is also society’s unique responsibility (357). As Novak eloquently states, “In injustice, citizens are harmed by criminals; in the lack of universal health care, citizens are harmed by disease” (357). Novak also mentions that society and the government are the entities which empower and bankroll a wealth of scientific research, largely because the notion is that it will help keep people healthy, one way or another. Novak uses all of these points to make a strong case for the socialization of health care in America.

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If keeping one another healthy is the duty of all of us, then no one should be getting wealthy off of this endeavor—like in Canada. Novak uses Canada as a point of comparison several times in his work. In Canada, the ultimate salary of a doctor will ensure them a comfortable lifestyle, but it will never make them wealthy the way it will in America. This in part connects to the fact that working in healthcare is a calling, almost like being a judge, Novak suggests. If keeping people healthy and enabling them to heal from disease is part of the collective responsibility, then physicians should be compensated in a way that is fair, but not in a way that enables other less reputable characteristics of the human condition to emerge, such as greed. There are obvious complications that can emerge when physicians, who are ultimately those who perform a public duty, are enabled to become wealthy off the sick. Hence, one can conclude that the scope of Jewish ethics addresses the collective duty of society to care for one another within reason, providing healthcare within reason, and in a manner that does not court corruption.



However, as Zohar points out, there are limitations on this collective duty. Zohar acknowledges how the Jewish tradition repeatedly stresses that the collective must provide not just for the health needs of all of society, but for their essential basic needs. This is a burden felt by the individual and by society. However, society and the greater community can’t be expected to take care of everyone in every situation. Zohar brings up situations where coercion is involved, or when collective or public funds are already depleted or need to be reserved for something else (264). One needs to bear in mind that healthcare in its most ultimate sense, is there to prevent the occurrence of death. However, human mortality is inevitable and eventual. The collective needs to provide their help with a certain amount of wisdom and ensure that money and resources aren’t wasted when it comes to attempting to prolong the inevitable, or to undermine nature or the hand of God. Zohar suggests that sometimes the collective should hesitate or downright refuse expensive life-saving treatments, because such endeavors fall outside the scope of Jewish responsibility. As Novak summarizes, “Societal commitment to protect the vulnerable is tempered by the reality of finite communal resources” (Zohar, 265). In a word, we can’t save everyone and this suggests that there needs to be a degree of balance between a sense of responsibility and our connection to reality. Our connection to reality can be buttressed by the idea that we need to have nuanced and responsible healthcare policies that consider the long term (Zohar, 265).



Within the scope of Jewish ethics, there is indeed an economic question, such as the question of what is society’s responsibility towards the poor and what is the overall duty towards the poor? “The overarching Jewish attitude toward the poor is best….....

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Works Cited

Breger, M. J. (Ed.). (2003). Meir Tamari, Ethics of the Free Market, Public policy and social issues: Jewish sources and perspectives. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Dorff, Elliot N., and Aaron L. Mackler. "Responsibilities for the provision of health care." Life and death responsibilities in Jewish biomedical ethics (2000): 479- 505.

Jacobs, Jill. There shall be no needy: Pursuing social justice through Jewish law & tradition. Jewish Lights Publishing, 2010.

Levine, Aaron. "The Global Recession of 2007–2009: The Moral Factor and Jewish Law." The Oxford Handbook of Judaism and Economics.

Novak, David. Tradition in the public square: a David Novak reader. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008.
Zohar, Noam J. "A Jewish perspective on access to healthcare." Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 7.3 (1998): 260-265
 

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