ABSTRACT
Judaism combines an affirmative stance towards the understanding of work, property and competition embraced by today’s conservatives with an endorsement of the stance towards regulating markets and limiting extremes of wealth and poverty more characteristic of liberals and social democrats. This unique blend is embedded in a theological anthropology that interprets this-worldly economic behaviour as imitatio dei, with human work and innovation understood as analogies to God the Creator. However, it is a mistake to read today’s conceptions of social justice into the Torah and Talmud, or to straightforwardly apply ancient Jewish law to contemporary economic circumstances, as the tradition’s understanding of economic relations has theological underpinnings alien to today’s secular philosophy. Nonetheless, Jewish authorities developed a social theory that rejected hyper-individualism and posited a dense network of mutual responsibilities. Although the Jewish tradition is far from egalitarian in economic matters, this essay outlines the ways in which it is deeply concerned about extremes of wealth and poverty.
