It is becoming quite evident that the American people have lost confidence in their leaders and institutions. There is quite a bit of evidence that autocratic leaders are not effective in enhancing organizational performance. Thriving organizations are led by compassionate leaders with superior...

Talmudic stories are a method used by the ancient sages to teach us about ethics and morality. This paper examines the life of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon b. Yochai. The most important and famous work of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), the Zohar, is attributed to Rabbi Shimon (with some...

We live in a time when the importance of corporate social responsibility and ethics is apparent. Sadly, it is obvious that most leaders are more interested in making money than doing the right thing. The “Woman of Valor” described in Proverbs shows us what it takes to be successful:...

The authors demonstrate how the Book of Psalms with its 150 inspiring and rousing hymns can be used to teach timeless and critical values to people. These values include persistence, faith, honesty, assistance to the underprivileged, concern for others, importance of community, compassion,...

Most of us will agree that the legal profession gets little respect in the United States. There are scores of websites dedicated to lawyer jokes and almost all the humor is negative. Indeed, the humor is not only negative but is often is filled with hate and anger towards attorneys. In many of...

This paper examines anti-Semitic humor, which, like most bigoted humor, is not very witty and often relies on ridiculous stereotypes. This is not unexpected from people whose family tree does not fork. Those who tell bigoted jokes should, at the very least, attempt to ensure that their humor is...

Jewish humor is generally considered to be self-deprecating rather than mocking. This paper studies one Jewish humor trope in which disparagement is used – that of the pious fool. The Talmud presents the chasid shoteh (pious fool) as one who could destroy the world; his piety is a danger to...

The Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 C.E. and a large part of the Jewish population was either killed, sent into exile, or sold into slavery. The sages of the Talmud and Midrash attempted to answer the question as to why Jerusalem and the Temple were...

The question as to whether ethics should be rule-driven or value-driven has been addressed by several professional organizations. There is a belief by some organizations that overemphasizing rules can actually result in unethical behavior. People will do everything to game the rules and not be...

The ancient sages of the Talmud used stories as a method to teach people how to behave ethically. Stories, more so than cases, have the ability to rouse emotions and teach important ethical lessons. This paper examines Talmudic stories to determine which behaviors result in Divine punishment and...