Pursuit of the Ethical Life (11): The Jewish People and Tzedaka U-mishpat (1): In Tanakh and Chazal

 

Until now, in our attempt to demonstrate the eternal relevance of berit Avot’s ethical vision, we have examined isolated phenomena that seem better explained by the values of tzedaka u-mishpat than by any specific laws of berit Sinai. Kofin al middat Sedom, the Rambam’s emphasis upon charity, arbitration, and the king’s employment of moral intuition all have textual and conceptual links to the complementary values of tzedaka and mishpat, and, in turn, validate tzedaka u-mishpat as active, potent forces within the Jewish experience, independent of the ethical demands and regulations of Jewish law.

 

Upon this backdrop, we now seek to explore the manifestations of tzedaka u-mishpat within Torah She-bikhtav and Torah She-be’al Peh more fully. If, in the last shiur, we saw how both demanding and empowering mishpat and tzedaka are for Jewish kings, in this shiur we turn our attention to the masses. In the eyes of our prophets and our Sages, tzedaka u-mishpat not only define the Davidic mission but also must pervade the fabric of collective public and private Jewish life. Though not the object of any Torah commandment, pursuit of tzedaka u-mishpat carries the potential to hasten the redemption; conversely, its abandonment, as with the House of David, can lead to destruction.[1]

 

 

Aspiration towards tzedaka u-mishpat and expectation for them are persistent themes throughout Tanakh regarding the commoner and the king alike. Specifically, Tanakh often speaks of “performing” (assiyyat) tzedaka u-mishpat, which is reminiscent of “to perform (la-asot) tzedaka u-mishpat” in Bereishit 18:19.[2] In Sefer Yechezkel, “performing mishpat u-tzdaka” is synonymous with all-around righteousness (18:5, 19, 21, 27 and 33:14, 19). Yirmeyahu, in addition to exhorting kings to perform mishpat u-tzdaka, anticipates a time when the Jews “will swear by the life of God with truth, with mishpat, and with tzedaka” (4:2).[3] Sefer Tehillim praises those “who protect mishpat, who perform tzedaka consistently” (106:3).

 

Amos both chastises the nation for its lack of tzedaka u-mishpat and pushes for their prioritization, as does his disciple, Yeshayahu (see Rambam’s introduction to Mishneh Torah). In the negative, Amos laments those “who turn mishpat into wormwood and cast tzedaka to the earth” (5:7); the people have “turned mishpat into poison and the fruit of tzedaka into wormwood” (6:12). Prof. Moshe Weinfeld (126n) notes that Yeshayahu echoes this metaphor of mishpat and tzedaka as plants that have gone bad. God bemoans the corruption that has befallen His “vineyard,” the Jewish people: “He hoped for mishpat, but behold, mispach (a blemish); for tzedaka, but behold, tze’aka (cries)” (Yeshayahu 5:7). God further decries the people who disingenuously “seek Me daily and knowledge of My ways desire, like a nation that performed tzedaka and did not abandon mishpat of its God” (Yeshayahu 58:2).[4]

 

In the positive, Amos pleads with the people to hold back their ritual worship and let mishpat u-tzdaka abound instead:

 

 

This contrast is echoed in Chazon Yeshayahu, which we examined in Shiur #32 and which culminates with a prediction:

 

 

The Jewish people can survive without sacrifice, but they are crippled without tzedaka u-mishpat.[5] On the flipside, their rehabilitation will ultimately come through returning to their ethical roots.

 

 

What is striking about this Biblical survey is that tzedaka u-mishpat form such a central thread throughout the texts but rarely appear in the form of a command. Rather, they seem to be taken for granted as core elements of our national identity and mission, as if they transcend, or even predate, the particular rules of halakhic Judaism.

 

Of course, this is entirely fitting for tzedaka u-mishpat’s essential character as values of berit Avot. Berit Avot is all about vision and expectations, rather than rules and commandments, and tzedaka u-mishpat, for the most part, stay true to this form throughout the rest of Tanakh. When the prophets invoke tzedaka u-mishpat, they are not holding the people accountable for violating duties, but for disowning their national heritage.

 

Only once in Tanakh, to my knowledge, does God directly command the Jewish people to uphold tzedaka u-mishpat, parallel to the charges to the leadership in Yirmeyahu (22:3) and Yechezkel (45:9):

 

 

Yeshayahu’s command to the people, together with Yirmeyahu’s and Yechezkel’s messages to the monarchy, validate tzedaka u-mishpat as duties and not mere ideas. At the same time, these verses are the exceptions to the rule. More typically, Tanakh relates to tzedaka u-mishpat as presumed traits: present in Avraham, David, Shlomo, and other kings, and lacking in Yehoyakim and, too often, the nation as a whole. If the people are to find redemption, Yeshayahu is telling them, they need not to cross off tzedaka u-mishpat from their checklists, but to rediscover and embody the spirit and ethos of Parashat Vayera.

 

 

Yeshayahu’s direct charge is underscored by Chazal. Coupling it to a verse from Tehillim, they portray the Jewish people as heeding its call, seeking God’s support, and asking for the reciprocity that God promises.

 

In Shemot Rabba, the Jewish people seek to answer Yeshayahu’s directive, but oppression stands in their way. Like King David in Tehillim, they appeal to God for help:

 

 

R. Shmuel Yaffe Ashkenazi explains that according to this Midrashic interpretation of Yeshayahu 56:1, God’s “salvation” is not a reward for tzedaka u-mishpat, but a means to their achievement (Yefei To’ar).[8] Tzedaka u-mishpat and redemption, then, are mutually supportive: tzedaka u-mishpat lead to salvation, but salvation allows for the unhampered pursuit of tzedaka u-mishpat.

 

Midrash Tehillim, too, links the verses in Yeshayahu and in Tehillim, but regarding their plain meanings. Both King David and the Jews seek God’s reciprocity for their respective performances of tzedaka u-mishpat:

 

 

 

Here, the Midrash specifically ties Yeshayahu’s charge to berit Avot. In claiming their fulfillment of Yeshayahu’s exhortation, the Jewish people note how in doing so, they follow in the footsteps of Avraham.

 

Chazal emphasize the redemptive power of mishpat u-tzdaka by further highlighting the prophecies of Yeshayahu. Speaking in God’s voice, the Midrash says:

 

 

Tanna De-vei Eliyahu Rabba (11) expands this redemptive power to the Davidic dynasty and even to God Himself!

 

 

The passage ends by addressing the Davidic monarchy directly:

 

 

The key to the restoration of the Davidic monarchy, Tanna De-vei Eliyahu explains, is hiding in plain sight, in Sefer Yirmeyahu! If only the people and the leadership would together heed the calling of Parashat Vayera and its echoes in the mouths of the prophets, “My salvation will arrive imminently, and My generosity will be revealed.”[12]

 

 

The next shiur will continue this survey of tzedaka u-mishpat within Torah She-be’al Peh.

 

 

 

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