A Year of Jewish Ethics – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

May 8, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #15: Gossip (Lashon Ha-Ra)

How does Torah define gossip? The dictionaries in English describe gossip as talking about people behind their backs, usually in an uncomplimentary way; or spreading rumors about people without knowing whether something is true; or sharing private details about someone without their permission. Gossip seems like a casual kind of talking, though of course the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Gossip, Kedoshim, Lashon Hara, Maimonides, Metzora, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Speech Ethics, Tazria, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

April 7, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #14: Labor Justice, Part 1

The Jewish perspective on the responsibilities of employers reflects the story of our oppression in Egypt, shi’ibud mitzrayim. That oppression began as forced labor, and when the Torah teaches about wage workers, it often uses the same words that it uses to describe slavery. Jewish law recognizes the inherent dynamic between the one who pays… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Equality, Ethics, Exodus, Halacha, Justice, Middot, Power, Torah, Tzedek, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

March 27, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #13: Lost and Found

It is a mitzvah to return a lost object to its owner. That might seem like a fairly obvious thing to do, but what’s not so obvious is why Jewish law considers returning things to be such a major mitzvah. There are eight chapters devoted entirely to lost and found in the Mishneh Torah, the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Exodus, Ki Tetze, Mishpatim, Parashat Hashavua, Soul, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

March 6, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #12: Exodus and Freedom

In my overview of ethics and Exodus, you may have noticed I didn’t talk about one central idea: freedom! Well, the Jewish conception of freedom deserves its very own presentation. In Judaism freedom has many layers. The term for free people is b’nai chorin; a free person might be a bat chorin or a ben… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Beshalach, Ethics, Freedom, Justice, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Power, Torah, Yitro, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

February 20, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #11: Exodus and Ethics

Most of this series is about specific concepts in Jewish ethics, but like the last one I recorded I want to talk here about something foundational, namely the Exodus story and how it generates so much of Jewish ethics. Sometimes when we say “Exodus” we’re talking about the part we focus on during Pesach, the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Abuse, Antisemitism, Ethics, Exodus, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

February 10, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #10: Teshuvah

One of the most fundamental Jewish ethical practices is teshuvah. Teshuvah is the word that’s often translated as “repentance” and is too often just associated in people’s minds with the season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Yamim Nora’im or Days of Awe. The word teshuvah has a broader meaning of “going back” or… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Bereshit, Ethics, Maimonides, Middot, Miketz, Parashat Hashavua, Teshuvah, Vayeshev, Vayiggash, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

January 30, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #9: If Someone Treats You Badly How Good Do You Have to Remain?

All of us want to hold ourselves to a high standard of integrity and honesty and to go the extra mile for people as much as we can. But what happens when we are stuck dealing with another person who is either straight up unethical toward us, or whose actions are only just technically acceptable,… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Middot, Money, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, Vayetze, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

January 2, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #8: War and Peace

The word Shalom is probably the most widely-known Hebrew word, among Jews and also people who aren’t Jewish. Shalom means peace, and because of that Shalom is also the word for greeting someone and saying goodbye. Shalom means not just peace but wellbeing and wholeness, so when we see someone we are expressing our hope… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Calendar, Current Affairs, Ethics, Israel, Jerusalem, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Torah, Vayishlach, War

December 27, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #7: Competition

The story of Yaakov and Esav is basically about an unending competition, which begins even in the womb over who will be born first. Esav wins, earning the birthright which would be relevant for inheritance way later — but Yaakov manages to get it from him in a deal for some lentil stew. The brothers… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Parashat Hashavua, Psychology, Talmud, Toldot, Torah

December 19, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #6: Ownership

In chapter 23 of Bereshit Sarah dies and in order to bury her, Avraham makes his first purchase of land. Burial is such an important mitzvah, and it’s important that a mitzvah becomes the context for the first purchase recorded in the Torah. What does this teach us about a Jewish ethic of ownership? Avraham… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Chayei Sarah, Equality, Ethics, Parashat Hashavua, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

December 12, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #5: The Binding of Yitzchak

It’s impossible to talk about Jewish ethics and the book of Bereshit without addressing the story of the binding of Isaac, Akedat Yitzchak or simply the Akedah (found in Genesis 22:1-19). Avraham hears a call from the Divine to take his son to the top of a mountain and offer him as an offering.… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Calendar, Ethics, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

November 21, 2024

A Year of Jewish Ethics #4: Are You Responsible for Your Group?

What responsibility does an individual have for the faults of a whole group? In the first part of Bereshit, the book of Genesis, there are at least two stories that touch on this question directly. One is the story of the Flood, the Mabul in Hebrew, and the other is the situation in Sodom and… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Current Affairs, Ethics, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Tikkun Olam, Vayera, Young Jewish Adult, Youth