(49) There shall be one law for both the citizen and the stranger who dwells among you.
(14) You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but you shall fear thy God: I am the LORD.
(28) No animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day with its young.
(יט) כִּ֣י תִקְצֹר֩ קְצִֽירְךָ֨ בְשָׂדֶ֜ךָ וְשָֽׁכַחְתָּ֧ עֹ֣מֶר בַּשָּׂדֶ֗ה לֹ֤א תָשׁוּב֙ לְקַחְתּ֔וֹ לַגֵּ֛ר לַיָּת֥וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֑ה לְמַ֤עַן יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכֹ֖ל מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדֶֽיךָ׃ (כ) כִּ֤י תַחְבֹּט֙ זֵֽיתְךָ֔ לֹ֥א תְפָאֵ֖ר אַחֲרֶ֑יךָ לַגֵּ֛ר לַיָּת֥וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה יִהְיֶֽה׃ (ס) (כא) כִּ֤י תִבְצֹר֙ כַּרְמְךָ֔ לֹ֥א תְעוֹלֵ֖ל אַחֲרֶ֑יךָ לַגֵּ֛ר לַיָּת֥וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה יִהְיֶֽה׃
(19) When you reap the harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (20) When you beat your olive-tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. (21) When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
(7) If there be among you a needy man, one of your brethren, within any of your gates, in your land which the LORD gave you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your needy brother; (8) but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants.
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, "Can Social Justice Save the American Jewish Soul?", Judaism, Justice and American Life, P. 4-5
If the Exodus created an ethic/tribal consciousness among Jews, it was Sinai that invested in them an understanding of their mission in the world. Jewish existence was to be based on bringing tzedek and mishpat, righteousness and justice, to all God's children. The covenant forged at Sinai committed the Jewish people to a life of ethics and values. It was the spiritual/moral genesis of the Jewish people, and it was powerfully connected to the Jewish people's understanding of what God wants of them. The Torah's teachings about acting with compassion (chesed), protecting the stranger in one's midst (ahavat ger), and pursuing peace (shalom) and truth (emet) shaped the Jewish notion of how one should live in the world. Sinai consciousness is at the root of the Jewish understanding that to live true to the covenant that God established with the Jewish people at Sinai is to live a life of social responsibility.
- What is your current relationship to social responsibility? Can you identify a time recently -- in the past week, in the past month-- when you acted in accordance to the mitzvot presented above?
- How would your life, and the lives of those in your community, be different if you acted with greater social consciousness?
- What is holding you back from bringing more tzedek and mishpat- righteousness and justice- to your community?
- What small action can you do to demonstrate greater social responsibility? How can these actions advance social justice?
(כב) וְאֶ֨ת־זָכָ֔ר לֹ֥א תִשְׁכַּ֖ב מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י אִשָּׁ֑ה תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה הִֽוא׃
(22) You shall not lie with a man, as you lie with a woman; it is abomination.
If we argue the mitzvot encourage a life of compassion and social responsibility, how are we to interpret this commandment?