Meir Tamari - Economic Systems

Economic Systems

Tamari does not claim that Judaism dictates a specific type of economic regime; he writes: "Judaism does not propose any specific economic theory or system; rather, it proposes a moral-religious framework within which the theory or system must operate". However, in other writings he makes clear that Judaism does place certain limits on economic systems.

Journalist Yechezkel Lang cites him as follows: “There exists a distinctly Jewish framework in which economic activity may take place”, he says. “The divorce of Judaism from sphere of activity produces a distortion in true Jewish living and has led to uncritical acceptance of various theories that bear no relationship to the economic behavior developed by the Jew”.

Tamari says, for example, that we find champions of capitalism using the Jew as a role model for private enterprise. The problem with these arguments is that they separate Jewish economic practices from Jewish sources. These sources impose important restraints on the free market model, restraints that derive from the peculiarly Jewish concepts of mutual responsibility while capitalism is based on egotism and selfishness.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who viewed socialism as a modern expression of the Mosaic code and the moral.

According to Tamari, despite Judaism’s insistence on economic justice, charity, and mutual assistance, it also recognizes the legitimacy of private property, the profit motive and the market mechanism. In other words, neither socialism nor total laissez-faire capitalism could be consistent with Jewish values.