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 Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:59 am
"G-d stands in the assembly of the mighty. He will pronounce judgment in their midst.
How long will you judge corruptly, and favor the persons of the wicked? Defend the poor and the fatherless; protect the needy and the oppressed. Rescue the lowly and the destitute; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
They refuse to take heed; they will not understand. They go about in darkness. The foundations of the Earth are moved.
I had thought you were godlike beings, and all of you noble creatures. But you will perish like any mortal and fall like any earthly prince.
Arise, O G-d, judge the earth. Surely Thou wilt extend Thy dominion over all the nations."
This verse is listed in my siddur as the daily psalm for Tuesday, and it caught my interest. Am I misreading this, or does this psalm essentially command Jews to go out into the world to defend the oppressed, and raise the destitute out of poverty? If I have read it correctly, is this an endorsement of a socialist system (one where the gov't, in this case I'm going with Israel, ensures civil liberties for all, and ensures that the basic needs of life are granted)? Further, would such a system only apply to Jews, or gentiles as well?
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:25 pm
No, no. This psalm is simply telling Jews to do mitzvot and charitable work. (I know, redundancy.) It's not advocating the socialist system. That is a form of government which, although idealized, has never worked in reality. It's very bad for society, actually. Even the kibbutzes are failing because of it.
The main problem with this is that the government decides what your basic needs are. If they decide you don't need electricity, or a car, or a certain amount of food, you don't get it. And your money still goes to them. Really, it's not an advisable form of government.
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:50 am
The Torah isn't advocating a specific style of government, but rather a specific ethical code for the individual to keep. Lift up the downtrodden, help the poor, defend the oppressed, protect the powerless.
You might do that by joining the Socialist Party in your country, and sending your money to your political party, which would then (ideally) use it to spread around a little of the wealth.
You might do it by joining a religious congregation, contributing funds and time to their soup kitchen or their battered spouses shelter.
You might do it by simply paying your taxes and trusting your government's welfare system to help the poor in your country, the foreign aid department to help those in other countries, and the military to defend the powerless at home and abroad.
You might do it by becoming a lawyer and fighting injustice within the legal system.
You may do it by starting a letter-writing or blogging campaign and simply alerting others to situations that you feel merit attention, in the hope that they'll be inspired to do things.
You might join the Peace Corps.
You might join the military, and become someone who (ideally) defends the rights of your countrymen at home and other oppressed nations abroad.
There are a LOT of ways to interpret this scripture. The main ideas are to (1) be aware of injustice, and to (2) do SOMETHING about it.
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