What is the difference between Laws and Ethics?

In the opening words of this week’s Bible reading, it writes “These are the judgments that you shall place before them”. The great Bible Commentator Rashi shares the following Insights — He says the placement of these Laws are just after the preceding passage that deals with the Alter — in other words, the Temple service and the worship of God. I.e., There is a direct correlation between Justice and recognizing that there is a higher power that we are accountable to. Another insight that we glean is that the Laws are placed before them. I.e., we are empowered to learn and practice these Laws.

This week’s reading deals with many laws of social interaction. When one looks at the Laws, there is most definitely an element of truth, fairness, justice, and damages.

In essence, on the one hand, we are obliged to follow the Laws. On the other hand, we have Ethics, be it Moral Ethics or Businesses Ethics. What is the difference?

So, I decided to do some googling.

Ethics provides us with guides on what is the right thing to do in all aspects of life, while the law generally provides more specific rules so that societies and their institutions can be maintained. Ethics engages our thinking and also our feelings, including those of disgust and guilt.

Business law determines the minimum standards of behavior expected of companies and sole proprietorships. Business ethics go beyond simple legality. They describe the way a business should behave — how a business does what it is legally obligated to do.

So, Ethics is a higher calling, and I want to highlight Jewish Business Ethics which the Late Rabbi, Dr. Meir Tamari who recently passed away was a promoter in articulating the principles of Jewish Business Ethics.

Rabbi, Dr. Tamari was born Leopold Fagov in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1927, and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a degree in economics in 1948. Tamari was an active member of the Zionist Bnei Akiva youth group, and in 1950, he joined other members of this group in moving to Israel. In 1960, He became an economist at the Bank of Israel, attaining the status of Chief Economist of the Bank of Israel.

Subsequently, He served as a senior lecturer in economics at Bar Ilan University. Bar Ilan defines itself as a religious Jewish university, but Rabbi, Dr. Tamari was disturbed by the seeming disconnect between the Jewish and academic identities of the school and its students. He wrote: “Although the university is an Orthodox Jewish institution, I found myself teaching a course in corporate finance in exactly the same way I would have done in any other university in the world, with the content completely divorced from a Jewish value system.”

He began to introduce more Jewish sources and content into his economics courses, in order to emphasize that Jewish tradition adopts a particular ethical approach to economic issues and problems.

Ultimately, He “created a special course that would attempt to present to the students this value system and its practical application to economics”. This was the first, or among the first, accredited business ethics course offered in an Israeli institution of higher learning. These courses helped Tamari to lay the foundations of his unique approach to Jewish business ethics. He also began an intensive lecture schedule to lay audiences worldwide on the topic of Jewish Business Ethics.

In 1987, He published With All Your Possessions: Jewish Ethics and Economic Life. The book, based on the Bar Ilan University course, is still in print after 20 years. This was followed by The Challenge of Wealth: A Jewish Perspective on Earning and Spending Money (1995), Al Chet: Sins in the Marketplace (1996), and Jewish Values in our Open Society: A Weekly Torah Commentary (2000) And series on the Haftorah,

In 1992, He founded the Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, on the campus of the Jerusalem College of Technology. He continues to serve as the honorary head of the center. Today, the center is known as the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Tamari

In my copy of his book, I have an original handwritten signed Quote from Rabbi Dr. Tamari which reads as follows:

“The urge for material goods is probably the most powerful yetzer (drive) that a man has; it’s the only one perhaps that is never satisfied, never gets weaker, and always difficult to control.”

So, with this brief into Jewish business ethics and Rabbi, Dr. Mair Tamari z’l, let us focus on the first Topic of this weeks reading-

While the Bible allows slavery, there are many laws to protect the slaves and treat them well, who have the right to freedom. their debts canceled, every seven years. This practice protects Jewish slaves from being held as indentured servants for extended periods of time and emphasizes the dignity of all, no matter social status.

Judaism's relationship with Slavery is complicated. The practice is Slavery is strongly discouraged, and the Torah stipulates that all Jewish slaves must be set free,

In the Haftarah for Parshat Mishpatim, Jeremiah berates the people of Judah for keeping Jewish slaves against God’s wishes and predicts that Jerusalem will be conquered because of the people’s disrespect for God.

There are many discussions on why the Bible allowed this. Generally, People became slaves when they could not pay their debts, and slavery was a societal safety net. The problem arises when people and slaves are exploited.

And here we can look at our original question is what is the difference between laws and ethics?

Ethics imply doing the correct action and going beyond the law to set a higher standard.

So, are the laws of the Torah ethical? What we learn from these laws that we can apply to employment laws. Indeed, there are today many social impact examples of modern employment practice — contribution to health and pension funds, severance pay.

I am trying to tie in themes of where the roots of ESG — Environment, Social, and Governance can be found in the Bible. For more of my writings on ESG / Israeli Impact see my blog page for further insights — https://innovation-esg.medium.com

So, when looking at the Book With all your possessions — Jewish ethics and Economic life by Rabbi Dr. Meir Tamari z’l , He writes that many of the social employment laws can be sourced in the Torah — For example in Chapter 6 and especially on pages 145, 146

“In Jewish law, if an employee is not able to perform a job contracted for, he can be fired irrespective of the reason. If he is fired, he must be treated in an honorable fashion as derived from this week’s reading when a slave is freed.

He further asks — How do we reconcile this with the following:

And though shall do what is righteous and good. Deut 5.18

The implied understanding is an Ethical issue i.e., is an act of kindness rather than a legal obligation. He Further highlights that element of kindness is distinct from contractual obligation.”

And this is where the principles of Ethics and ESG comes into play.

Indeed, the question of who is obligated to provide for the social costs of Medical and Retirement is a big debate and a key differentiator between Capitalism and Socialism. While we all responsible for supporting ourselves, many of these social needs of funded/ paid through Employment, and the State hopefully providing an Umbrella by State Pensions and Medical Services.

From a Jewish perspective, there is an element that is customary that the Community has a moral obligation, and that is why have organizations like the Chevra Kadisha — which is loosely translated as Holy Friends who raised money to support those less fortunate members of the Community and the Strong tradition of giving and charity in our DNA.

There is much more to learn, share and practice here, and I hope this little introduction can spark a higher awareness of Jewish Business Ethics in our daily life.