Love Your Neighbor and Yourself : A Jewish Approach to Modern Personal Ethics

by Dorff, Elliot N.

• ISBN13: 9780827608252
• ISBN10: 082760825X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-15
• Publisher: Jewish Pubn Society

Summary

A leading ethicist suggests ways to take the moral high road in one's personal life. In this topically relevant book on modern ethical issues, Dorff focuses on personal ethics, Judaism's distinctive way of understanding human nature, our role in life, and what we should strive to be, both as individuals and as members of a community. Dorff addresses specific moral issues that affect our personal lives: privacy, particularly at work as it is affected by the Internet and other modern technologies; sex in and outside of marriage; family matters, such as adoption, surrogate motherhood, stepfamilies, divorce, parenting, and family violence; homosexuality; justice, mercy, and forgiveness; and charitable acts and social action.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xvii
Judaism and Ethics	1	(32)
Ethics Versus Morals	1	(2)
The Variety of Ethical Theories	3	(12)
Consequentialism	6	(2)
Deontology	8	(3)
Virtue or Character Ethics	11	(4)
Jewish Ethics	15	(4)
Jewish Morals	19	(12)
The Human Being	20	(6)
The Family	26	(2)
Education	28	(1)
The Community	29	(2)
Social Action and the Messianic Future	31	(1)
Not in the Heavens	31	(2)
Privacy	33	(40)
The Internet and Privacy	33	(2)
The Values and Concepts Motivating a Concern for Privacy	35	(3)
Contrasting American and Jewish Interests in Privacy	38	(2)
Intrusion	40	(10)
The Jewish Principles Governing Intrusion	41	(2)
Work: Spying on Employees	43	(2)
Videotaping and Photographing	45	(1)
Overriding Privacy in the Name of National Security	46	(2)
Privacy and Diversity Versus Safety	48	(2)
Disclosure	50	(16)
The Jewish Principles Governing Disclosure	50	(1)
American Legislation Banning Disclosure	50	(2)
Exceptions to the Ban against Disclosure	52	(14)
Proposals for Protecting against Intrusion and Disclosure	66	(7)
Confidentiality as a Value	68	(2)
Duty to Prevent Temptation	70	(1)
Considered Restraint	70	(1)
Sanctions	71	(1)
Education and Personal Responsibility	71	(2)
``This Is My Beloved, This Is My Friend'': Sex and the Family	73	(54)
Sexual Relations: Fundamental Concepts and Values	74	(8)
Two Fundamental Concepts	74	(2)
Six Fundamental Values	76	(6)
Sex within Marriage	82	(29)
Marital Companionship	82	(13)
Parenthood	95	(16)
Nonmarital Sex	111	(9)
A Special Note for Teenagers	118	(2)
Masturbation	120	(1)
Homosexuality	120	(6)
Making Sex Meaningful, Joyful, and Holy	126	(1)
Parents and Children	127	(28)
Filial Duties: The Perspective of Jewish Classical Sources	127	(12)
The Two Basic Duties: Honor and Respect	127	(8)
Fulfilling Parents' Physical Needs	135	(1)
Personal Presence	136	(1)
Two Exceptions to Personal Care of Parents	137	(2)
Caring for Elderly Parents in Today's World	139	(4)
Parental Duties: Applying Jewish Classical Sources to Contemporary Circumstances	143	(12)
Teaching Torah and Teaching a Trade	143	(7)
``Marrying Him Off to a Wife''	150	(5)
Family Violence	155	(52)
Types of Abuse and Their Jewish Legal Status	155	(2)
The Importance of the Conservative Legal Method to Abuse Issues	155	(2)
Acknowledging Family Violence within Our Community	157	(22)
Beating Wives or Husbands	159	(7)
Beating Children	166	(5)
Beating Parents	171	(2)
Sexual Abuse	173	(3)
Verbal Abuse	176	(3)
Witnesses to the Act or Results of Abuse	179	(11)
Defaming Another Human Being	180	(3)
Shaming Another	183	(2)
Informing Civil Authorities: The Issue of Mesirah	185	(2)
Defaming God	187	(1)
The Scope of Parental Prerogatives	188	(2)
The Abused Party: Making One's Way Out of an Abusive Situation	190	(2)
The Abuser	192	(8)
Investigating an Allegation of Abuse	192	(4)
Making Amends	196	(4)
The Role of Rabbis, Educators, and Lay Leaders	200	(4)
Reconnecting with God's Image within Us	204	(3)
The Elements of Forgiveness	207	(24)
God's Role in Forgiveness: The Guidance of the Prayer Book	207	(2)
Obstacles to Asking for Forgiveness	209	(1)
Obstacles to Forgiving	210	(1)
Factors Promoting Forgiveness	211	(1)
Pardon, Forgive, and Reconcile	212	(3)
The Process of Return (Teshuvah): Becoming Worthy of Forgiveness	215	(16)
Return: Its Problems and Promise	220	(8)
The Promise of Forgiveness	228	(3)
Hope and Destiny	231	(21)
God	232	(2)
Individuals and Community	234	(6)
Providing Physical Support	234	(1)
Providing Emotional and Social Support	235	(5)
Individual Destiny	240	(9)
The Journey to Death and the Hereafter	240	(4)
Life after Death	244	(5)
Communal Destiny	249	(3)
Notes	252	(59)
Appendix The Interaction of Judaism with Morality: Defining, Motivating, and Educating a Moral Person and Society	311	(34)
Religious Factors Motivating Immorality	311	(5)
God's Power and Goodness	312	(1)
The Fearsome Nature of Religious Topics	313	(1)
Rituals Versus Ethics	314	(1)
The Social Pressure of Religious Communities	314	(1)
The Conservative Nature of Religions	315	(1)
Judaism's Contributions to Morality: Definition of Moral Norms, Moral Motivation, and Moral Education	316	(7)
Stories	317	(1)
History	317	(1)
Family and Community	317	(2)
Leaders and Other Moral Models	319	(1)
General Values, Maxims, and Theories	320	(1)
Theology	321	(1)
Prayer	322	(1)
Study	323	(14)
Content	325	(1)
Judgment	326	(3)
Motivation	329	(4)
The Moral Values Attached to Study Itself	333	(4)
Law	337	(8)
Defining and Enforcing Minimal Standards	338	(1)
Actualizing Moral Ideals	339	(1)
Weighing Conflicting Moral Values and Setting Moral Priorities	339	(1)
Giving Moral Norms a Sense of the Immediate and the Real	340	(1)
Providing a Balance of Continuity and Flexibility	340	(1)
Serving as an Educational Tool for Morality	341	(1)
Making Amends and Repairing Moral Damage	342	(1)
Preserving the Integrity of Moral Intentions	343	(2)
Notes to Appendix	345	(2)
Bibliography of Cited Modern Sources	347	(14)
Index	361