Reflecting on Judaism

Religion has been defined as a system of Faith & Worship.  Judaism is believed to be a revealed religion.

Ethics/Morality (these words are interchangeable) is the attempt to arrive at a view of the nature of human values, of how we ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct, by force of reason alone and not by revelation.  In order to arrive at a view, it sets goals and assesses actions by the extent to which they further these goals, e.g. if happiness is a goal then the action which produces most happiness to all effected is the right one.

Revelation too, through the written and oral law, directs people to an understanding of the nature of human values, of how they ought to live and of what constitutes right conduct; such teachings and examples are scattered amongst various verses and sources.  Examples of such moral teachings are:-

You shall do right and good (beyond the call of duty)

Love your neighbour

Correct behaviour between man and man

Discipline or training of character under the law

Piety beyond the law

The need to be respectful, earn a living; engage in learning and culture, etc., etc.

It can be seen that whilst both the secular person who wishes to behave ethically and the religious person who wishes to behave in accordance with the revealed code may do similar good deeds in order to achieve similar good and worthwhile objectives, their motivation is quite different.  Indeed, there is some debate as to whether the religious person is behaving ethically in the strict sense of the word.  Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with ideas such as Right, Good and Duty and these concepts were discussed in ancient Greece by Plato and Aristotle in the 3rd & 4th Century BCE.

The role of philosophers is to accurately try to define and promote these concepts based upon logic and reason.  A religious person on the other hand, follows his code of conduct because he believes that it is proper behaviour and reaction to the varying challenges and circumstances which arise during the course of life.  The word “ethics