rabbis call _zekuth aboth_, "the merit of the
fathers," and which we may term "hereditary virtue." The election of
Israel, in spite of its own lack of merit, is declared in Deuteronomy and
elsewhere to be due to the merit of the fathers, with whom God concluded
His covenant in love.(1292) The promise is often repeated that God will
ever remember His covenant with the fathers and not let the people perish,
even though their sins were great; therefore the rabbis assumed that the
patriarchs had accumulated a store of merit by their virtues which would
redound before God to the benefit of their descendants, supplementing
their own weaknesses.(1293) This merit or righteousness of the fathers
formed a prominent part of the hope and prayer, nay, of the whole
theological system of the Jewish people. They regarded the patriarchs and
all the great leaders of the past as patterns of loyalty and love for God,
so that, according to the Midrash, Israel might say in the words of the
Shulamite: "Black am I" considering my own merit, "but comely" when
considering the merit of the fathers.(1294) Whether this store of merit
would ever be exhausted is a matter of controversy among the rabbis. Some
referred to God's own words that He will ever remember His covenant with
the fathers; others pointed to the verse in Deutero-Isaiah: "For the
mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not
depart from thee, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed," which
they interpreted symbolically to mean: when the merit of the patriarchs
and matriarchs of Israel is exhausted, God's mercy and compassion for
Israel will be there never to depart.(1295) Translated into our own mode
of thinking, this merit of the fathers claimed for Israel signifies the
unique treasure of a spiritual inheritance which belongs to the Jew. This
inheritance of thousands of years provides such rare examples and such
high inspiration that it incites to the highest virtue, the firmest
loyalty, and the greatest love for truth and justice. Judaism, knowing no
such thing as original sin, points with pride instead to hereditary
virtue, deriving an inexhaustible source of blessing from its historical
continuity of four thousand years.

Chapter LVI. The Stranger and the Proselyte

1. Among all the laws of the Mosaic Code, that which has no parallel in
any other ancient code is the one enjoining justice, kindness and love
toward the stranger. The Book