feits his
share in the world to come."(1572)

10. But the Jewish conception of justice is broader than mere abstention
from hurting our fellow-men. Justice is a positive conception.
Righteousness (_Zedakah_) includes also charity and philanthropy. It
asserts the claim of the poor upon the rich, of the helpless upon him who
possesses the means to help. "He who prevents the poor from reaping the
corners of the field or the gleanings of the harvest, or in any way
withholds that which has been assigned them by the law of Moses, is a
robber," says the Mishnah, "for it is written: 'Remove not the old
landmark, and enter not into the field of the fatherless.' "(1573) Jewish
ethics holds that charity is not a gift of condescending love, but a duty.
It is incumbent upon the fortunate to rescue the unfortunate, since all
that we possess is only lent to us by God, the Owner of the world, with
the charge that we provide for the needy who are under His special
protection. Those who refuse to give the poor their share abuse the divine
trust. "If thou lendest money to My people, to the poor with thee,"(1574)
says Scripture, and the rabbis comment on this to the effect that "the
poor are called God's people; do not forget that the turn of fortune which
made you rich and them poor may turn, and that you may then be in
need."(1575) Nor is it sufficient merely to give to him who is poor; we
are bidden to uphold him when his powers fail.(1576)

This is the very principle of ethics of the Mosaic law, the principle for
which the great prophets fought with all the vigor and vehemence of the
divine spirit--social justice. The cry: "Woe unto them that join house to
house, that lay field to field, till there be no room,"(1577) the
condemnation of those "that swallow the needy and destroy the poor of the
land,"(1578) the curse hurled at him who withholdeth corn,(1579) laid the
foundations of a higher justice, which is not satisfied with mitigating
the misery of the unfortunate by acts of charity, but insists on a
readjustment of the social conditions which create poverty. This spirit
created the poor laws of the Mosaic Code, which were partially adopted by
both Christians and Mohammedans. It dictated the Mosaic institutions of
the seventh year of release and the Jubilee year for the restoration of
fields and houses, to prevent the tyranny of wealth from becoming a
permanent source of oppression. While these were scarcely ever put into
practice,