JOI Session | Dec. 18, 2009

In this session, we continued exploring the meaning and evolution of justice in the Jewish tradition. Rabbi Stephanie Kolin led us in a stimulating discussion, beginning by asking us to reflect on lessons derived from our last session together: What is the meaning of justice in the Hebrew Bible? Our answers: one that returns the world to its natural order, that mandates action, that looks out for the vulnerable, that points toward equity, that goes beyond the letter of the law. From then, we staked a comparison, moving onto the early rabbinic period (roughly 0-600 C.E.), examining texts from the Babylonian Talmud and a range of commentaries thereupon. Here our focus was the notion that true justice (or, theologically, true service of Gd) requires going beyond the letter of the law.