Jewish business ethics
Jul. 19th, 2012 08:56 pmI went to a lunchtime class on Jewish Business Ethics. We started by discussing whether business ethics are separate from religious/spiritual/personal ethics. Conclusion: no. That matches my gut response.
Then we examined various bits of the Talmud. I went to the class because I want to see how Judaism works, but I have my doubts about extracting ethics from 2000 year old sheepskins. I was suspending judgment until we got to Talmud Bavli, Tractate Bava Mezia 60a, Mishnah:
My immediate gut reaction was, I'm done. Anyone who groups the sale of human beings with the sale of utensils (for God's sake!) and is worried about deceptive sales practices rather than the catastrophic wrong being done to the human beings, is not someone I look up to as a source of ethical behavior.
The teacher said, "Well, they're a product of their time." Which is fine. People of their time could look up to them for ethics, but times have changed. Why should we ignore that bit, and then struggle to translate other bits from farming advice to intellectual property rights issues?
Commentary welcome. (I'm looking hopefully at you,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
batdina.)
This was a sample class for a year-long program I was considering. I was still on the fence until I realized they changed the venue to be across town up a hill on a dangerous road for biking. No way am I doing that every week to learn about something I probably don't agree with!
Then we examined various bits of the Talmud. I went to the class because I want to see how Judaism works, but I have my doubts about extracting ethics from 2000 year old sheepskins. I was suspending judgment until we got to Talmud Bavli, Tractate Bava Mezia 60a, Mishnah:
[Some important Rabbi says:] One may not touch up the appearance of human beings (i.e. slaves to be sold), animals, or utensils.
My immediate gut reaction was, I'm done. Anyone who groups the sale of human beings with the sale of utensils (for God's sake!) and is worried about deceptive sales practices rather than the catastrophic wrong being done to the human beings, is not someone I look up to as a source of ethical behavior.
The teacher said, "Well, they're a product of their time." Which is fine. People of their time could look up to them for ethics, but times have changed. Why should we ignore that bit, and then struggle to translate other bits from farming advice to intellectual property rights issues?
Commentary welcome. (I'm looking hopefully at you,
batdina.)This was a sample class for a year-long program I was considering. I was still on the fence until I realized they changed the venue to be across town up a hill on a dangerous road for biking. No way am I doing that every week to learn about something I probably don't agree with!
