calls to her
votaries on the highways, in order that the stream of knowledge may
overflow for many. For both the culture of the intellect and the ennobling
of the soul it is necessary that man should step out of the narrow limits
of self and come into touch with a larger world. Only in devotion to his
fellows is man made to realize his own godlike nature. In the same measure
as he honors God's image in others, in foe as well as in friend, in the
most lowly servant as well in the most noble master, man increases his own
dignity. This is the fundamental thought of morality as expressed in Job,
especially in the beautiful thirty-first chapter, and as embodied in
Abraham,(1015) and later reflected in various Talmudic sayings about the
dignity of man.(1016) Everywhere man's relation to society becomes a test
of his own worth. The idea of interdependence and reciprocal duty among
all members of the human family forms the outstanding characteristic of
Jewish ethics. For it is far more concerned in the welfare of society than
in that of the individual, and demands that those endowed with fortune
should care for the unfortunate, the strong for the weak, and those
blessed with vision for the blind. As God Himself is Father to the
fatherless, Judge of the widows, and Protector of the oppressed, so should
man be. "Works of benevolence form the beginning and the end of the
Torah," points out R. Simlai.(1017)

7. It is in the life of the nation that the individual first realizes that
he is only a part of a greater whole. The nation to which he belongs is
the mother who nourishes him with her spirit, teaches him to speak and to
think, and equips him with all the means to take part in the achievements
and tasks of humanity. In fact, the State, which guarantees to all its
citizens safety, order and opportunity under the law, and which arranges
the relations of the various groups and classes of society that they may
advance one another and thus promote the welfare and progress of all, is
human society in miniature. Here the citizen first learns obedience to the
law which is binding upon all alike, then respect and reverence for the
authority embodied in the guardians of the law who administer justice
"which is God's," and hence also loyalty and devotion to the whole,
together with reciprocal obligation and helpfulness among the separate
members and classes of society. The words of Jeremiah to his exiled
brethren, "Seek ye the peace of th