Consideration for the Poor and the Weak (and Women) in Jewish Law

Even in ancient times, Jewish law provided protection to the poor, to the weak... and to women. It also encouraged Jews to enjoy the pleasures of life.

Hospitality was encouraged, the rights of the poor were stressed, while the mandate to love - or at least respect - one's neighbor was obligatory. Jews taught the pleasures of marriage and family, recognizing the need to rejoice in the body as well as to elevate the mind - for had not the Babylonian rabbi Abba Areca decreed that "a man will have a demerit in his record on Judgment Day for everything he beheld with his eyes and declined to enjoy."

It was possible for women to be financially secure and active when other cultures diminished the roles. Marriage laws were enacted to protect women who had few civil and personal rights. In the event of a husband's death, her brother-in-law  was expected to marry the childless widow in order to carry on the family name. If he refused, the halitzah ceremony was enacted, a public humiliation at a time when an heir was of fundimental importance. The widow spits on the ground and removes the unwilling gentleman's shoe while reciting "so shall be done to the man who will not build his brother's house."  Unappetising, yes, but then Henry VIII of England married six times, cutting of the heads of two of his wives, in order to secure a male heir. Such are our foibles and fears.