Háberman Zoltán
צדקה and
Jewish social ethics
Abstract
The aim of the research presented in the thesis is to interpret the
concept of
צדקה
as Jewish social ethics. Judaism is determined by its social ethics,
which, in turn, is the set of principles of
צדקה.
The main objective of the research is to analyse the diverse aspects of
Jewish social ethics.
Thus, it is our conviction that the ethical principles of Judaism were
present at the dawn of the development of Western civilization and had
their influence on it, an influence perceivable in the present as well.
The dissertation, first of all, attempts to put the rather archaic
terminology of
צדקה
in a scientific context. Therefore, in our research, we have identified
the social-ethical, sociological and historical approaches by means of
which we can interpret
צדקה
as a systemic expression of Judaism. Consequently, the dissertation, in
the first place, aims to demonstrate what
צדקה
means as social ethics.
We have examined Jewish community life through characteristic precedents
of medieval
קהילות
texts from the Carpathian basin containing social-ethical aspects. In
the course of the research process, we have tried to verify the
principle of love in Judaism. For the social-ethical principles have
always impregnated Jewish history, i.e. the Jewish “societas” of all
times. This is what is reflected by the
תקנות
ethical aspects of the regulations of the Jewish community of medieval
Pressburg/Pozsony, so far unpublished in Hungarian. Jewish communities
always responded with ethical solutions to the persecutions, the
miserable circumstances, or the crises of the Middle Ages.
Hopefully, as a result of our research, the previously known texts of
Jewish science of religion will also appear in a new light. It is a fact
that in one of the 11th century records of the Jewish community of the
Carpathian basin, there is written evidence of the existence of a
צדקה
fund in the Esztergom community. To our knowledge, this document
demonstrates for the first time that the first institutionalized social
assistance redistribution system in the Carpathian basin was created in
a Jewish community. At the same time, the thesis also aspires to shed
light on the fact that despite the dispersion, the continuous physical
persecutions, the attempts at liquidation, or the pogroms, the
קהילה
could only survive due to the existing and pulsating social-ethical
principles. We consider that with this, the dissertation introduces a
relatively neglected aspect in the social science discourse of Judaism.
We have chosen the concept of Judaism and social ethics of the Hungarian
Neology at the turn of the 20th century as our objects of study. The
plausibility of the questions raised in the dissertation are manifest in
the activities of the Pest Israelite Community around the turn of the
20th century (fin du siécle). The PIC was the richest and most
significant organized Jewish community worldwide, both as far as number
of members and material aspects are concerned.
Part of this work is a discourse analysis of interpretations of social
ethics by contemporary North American Orthodox and Liberal branches of
Judaism. Applying an expressly human geographic approach and focusing
fundamentally on the local communities of the United States, we have
performed a discourse analysis of the communities in question from a
social-ethical perspective.
In this research, we represent the concept that Judaism is a religion
aimed at bettering humanity, i.e. the world. In our opinion, this
fundamental principle of faith is a substantial principle of Judaism.
The purpose of this book, in the end, is to demonstrate this basic
ethical principle of Judaism with the help of the science of religion.
We consider that monotheism and the unequivocal and consistent principle
of making the world a better place constitute the non-branch-specific
and eternal differentia specifica of Judaism.
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