Corporate responsibility as “enlightened self-interest”
By Rabbi David Rosen KSG CBE
March 24, 2023
Commercial enterprise is seen in the Torah (the five books of Moses which Judaism sees traditionally as Divine Scripture) as not just legitimate activity (“six days shall you work”, Exodus 20:8) but also as the essential means for caring for the weaker segments of society and enabling society as a whole to flourish. (See in particular, Leviticus 19 and 23; and Deuteronomy 24.)
In the other hand, commercial abuse is seen as having the widest negative ramifications:
“You shall not have in your house a measure (of one weight) and a measure (of another weight) – a large one and a small one. A complete and honest stone (weight) shall you have; a complete and honest measure shall you have, in order that your days be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you; for whoever does such deeds of such evil, is an abomination for God (Deuteronomy 25: 13–15)
This Biblical promise for long life is associated with the principles of just, fair, and righteous business ethics; for a society has no longevity, if there is no social ethical contract on which all commercial dealings are based. Corporate responsibility to function in a righteous manner is in fact a matter of enlightened self-interest as it guarantees the establishment and the continuity (prolongation) of a healthy society.
But based on the verse in the Torah “You shall do what is right and good in the eyes of God” (Deuteronomy 6:18), Judaism teaches that it is not good enough to rely upon legal requirements. We are obliged to do our best to go beyond the letter of the law (see TB Bava Metzia 83a) and to ensure that we conduct our commercial dealings in a manner that also serves the wellbeing and flourishing of others, of society as a whole.
The Council for Inclusive Capitalism seeks precisely to do this and thus embodies the most noble values and aspirations of our common Biblical Heritage, and for this I congratulate you and thank you profoundly for all your work.
May this meeting embody the words of the psalmist “May the loveliness of the Lord our God be upon us and establish (i.e. grant success to) the work of our hands; indeed may the work of our hands be established” (Psalm 90:17)
