The Scope of Jewish Ethics in Health and Economics

Introduction: The Reach of Jewish Ethical Responsibility

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

Collective Duty to Provide Healthcare

Dorff and Mackler discuss how the Jewish tradition acknowledges a collective duty to care for one another — a duty that pertains only to what is reasonably within human power (321). However, as the authors suggest, this naturally raises the question of how much medical care people have a duty to provide to one another. This is a particularly thorny issue in America, where medical care is complex and it can appear that the only thing truly guaranteed to citizens is emergency care, if even that. Since caring for one another in order to enable wellness falls within the scope of Jewish ethics, it provokes the question: to what extent is care reasonable?

"According to Jewish law, we have the clear 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 Leviticus 19:16, which asserts that "one shall not stand idly by the blood of your fellow" (321). Ultimately, Dorff and Mackler concisely establish the parameters of Jewish ethics when it comes to health and wellness: people must receive healthcare within a decent minimum that enables them to continue living and to 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 alone; 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 — is echoed by other scholars. Novak suggests that just as it is society's duty to protect citizens from others who might harm them, the delivery of healthcare services, which safeguard citizens from harm and heal legitimate injury, 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 notes that society and government are the entities that fund and empower a wide range of scientific research, largely because such research is expected to keep people healthy. He uses these points to build a strong case for the socialization of healthcare in America. If keeping one another healthy is the duty of all, then no one should be growing wealthy from this endeavor — as in Canada, which Novak uses as a point of comparison several times. In Canada, a physician's salary ensures a comfortable lifestyle but will never generate the kind of wealth possible in America. This connects in part to the idea that working in healthcare is a calling, much like serving as a judge. If keeping people healthy and enabling recovery from disease is a collective responsibility, then physicians should be compensated fairly — but not in a way that invites greed and other less reputable aspects of human nature. Obvious complications arise when physicians, who ultimately perform a public duty, are enabled to grow wealthy off the sick. One can therefore conclude that the scope of Jewish ethics addresses the collective duty of society to care for one another within reason, providing healthcare in a manner that does not invite corruption.

Limits of Communal Healthcare Obligation

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 only for the health needs of all of society, but for their essential basic needs as well. This is a burden felt by both the individual and society. Yet society and the greater community cannot be expected to care for everyone in every situation. Zohar raises situations where coercion is involved, or where collective or public funds are already depleted or must be reserved for other purposes (264). One must bear in mind that healthcare, in its most essential sense, exists to prevent death. Human mortality, however, is inevitable. The collective must provide help with a degree of wisdom, ensuring that money and resources are not wasted in attempting to prolong the inevitable or to undermine nature or the will of God. Zohar suggests that the collective should sometimes hesitate, or even refuse, expensive life-saving treatments, because such endeavors can 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 short, we cannot save everyone, and this suggests that a degree of balance must exist between a sense of responsibility and an honest connection to reality — a connection that can be strengthened through nuanced and responsible long-term healthcare policies (Zohar, 265).

Jewish Ethics and the Treatment of the Poor

Within the scope of Jewish ethics, there is also a pressing economic question: what is society's responsibility toward the poor, and what is the overall duty we owe them? "The overarching Jewish attitude toward the poor is best summed up by a single word of the biblical text: achikha (your brother). With this word, the Torah insists on the dignity of the poor as it commands us to resist any temptation to view the poor as somehow different from ourselves" (Jacobs, 12). Refusing to foster a sense of separation between the average individual and members of the poor is good for both the individual and for society. When we see ourselves as separate from others and from their suffering, we are not positioned to relieve it or to make the world a better place. Separatism more readily leads to judgment and criticism rather than to offering a hand to help others improve their lives.

Helping the poor and ensuring that all people have their basic needs met is also how members of the middle class and above can reach their own highest potential. "The insistence that human beings are creations in the divine image implies that any insult to an individual, by extension, is an affront to God. In reminding us that the poor person is our sibling, the Torah emphasizes that, like us, this person is a manifestation of the divine image and should be treated as such" (Jacobs, 12). Thus, within the scope of Jewish ethics, the just and kind treatment of the poor is essential for underscoring the unity of all humankind.

Conclusion: Unity, Responsibility, and the Human Community

In conclusion, the scope of Jewish ethics addresses the responsibility of the individual and collective to society and the greater community of humanity. Jewish ethics stresses the unity and the inherent lack of separation among all of us: we are all connected to the divine force that created us. As a result of this connection, we bear a greater responsibility to care about one another's welfare and to be invested in seeing one another thrive. In many ways, this Jewish theological perspective stands in tension with much of American culture, which is highly individualistic.

As this paper has demonstrated, when it comes to health, the collective has a duty to provide for the basic health needs of the individual, preventing death and disease within reason. Furthermore, Jewish ethics must have an influence over economic policy and perspective — including the class system. There must be a firm code of conduct governing economic behavior at the corporate level, one that cannot be negotiated away. Individuals must also recognize that the poor deserve help and dignity. Above all else, the scope of Jewish ethics reminds us of the dangers of separatist mentalities and affirms the fundamental unity of the human experience.

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.