(DEUTERONOMY 16:20)

THE TORAH EXHORTS WITH EXTRAORDINARY PASSION: “JUSTICE, JUSTICE you shall pursue.” The repetition of the word “justice” in this verse in Deuteronomy is interpreted by some as implying that means as well as ends must be just. Justice also is regarded as binding on God as well as human beings. When Abraham believes God is acting inappropriately, he confronts Him with a stark challenge: “Will the Judge of all the earth not act with justice?” (Genesis 18:25; see Sodom and Gomorrah).

For the prophets, justice is what matters most to God. “Let justice well up as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream” declares Amos in what is the most oft-quoted verse from his book (5:24).

The Torah’s emphasis on justice has deeply affected subsequent Jewish legislation. For example, the English word “charity” comes from the Latin caritas, meaning “from the heart” and implying a voluntary act. The word for charity in Hebrew is tzedaka, which is simply the feminine form of the Hebrew word for justice, tzedek.

In Jewish law, one who does not give charity is not just uncharitable, but unjust as well. Thus, Jewish courts had no compunctions about compelling people of means to give tzedaka. Jews have frequently been accused of supporting revenge in the name of justice. In December 1989, while visiting Jerusalem, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu told his Israeli hosts that the time had come for Jews to forgive the Nazis for the murder of six million Jews. Tutu advocated that forgiveness be extended as well to elderly Nazi war criminals who were living in freedom. Almost all Jews found Tutu’s advice offensive. For one thing, Jewish tradition would consider it immoral for Jews to forgive murderers for acts committed against people other than themselves. Also, it would be unjust for murderers of men, women, and children to go on living unpunished. That Tutu believed that mass murderers should be left unpunished and unmolested struck most Jews as quintessentially unjust—and hence, un-Jewish."

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, "Jewish Literacy"