“The demand for justice runs through the entirety of Jewish tradition.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an address to the Annual Meeting of the American Jewish Committee, May, 1995
(ה) בְּנ֥וּ בָתִּ֖ים וְשֵׁ֑בוּ וְנִטְע֣וּ גַנּ֔וֹת וְאִכְל֖וּ אֶת־פִּרְיָֽן׃ (ו) קְח֣וּ נָשִׁ֗ים וְהוֹלִידוּ֮ בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנוֹת֒ וּקְח֨וּ לִבְנֵיכֶ֜ם נָשִׁ֗ים וְאֶת־בְּנֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ תְּנ֣וּ לַֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְתֵלַ֖דְנָה בָּנִ֣ים וּבָנ֑וֹת וּרְבוּ־שָׁ֖ם וְאַל־תִּמְעָֽטוּ׃ (ז) וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־ה' כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃ (פ)
(5) Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit. (6) Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, do not decrease. (7) And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.
רַבִּי חֲנִינָא סְגַן הַכֹּהֲנִים אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתְפַּלֵּל בִּשְׁלוֹמָהּ שֶׁל מַלְכוּת, שֶׁאִלְמָלֵא מוֹרָאָהּ, אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ חַיִּים בְּלָעוֹ.
Rabbi Haninah, the vice-high priest said: pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every man would swallow his neighbor alive.
(ב) איש את רעהו חיים בלעו. זה הענין ר"ל שיש לאדם להתפלל על שלום כל העולם ולהצטער על צער של אחרים. וכן דרכן של צדיקים כמו שאמר דוד ע"ה (תהלים ל"ה י"ג) ׳ואני בחלותם לבושי שק עניתי בצום נפשי׳ - שאין לאדם לעשות תחנוניו ובקשתו לצרכיו לבד אך להתפלל על כל בני אדם שיעמדו בשלום ובשלומה של מלכות יש שלום לעולם:
"Man would swallow his fellow alive" - This is the matter: it means to say that a person should pray for the welfare of the entire world, and to be pained for the pain of others. So is the ways of the righteous, as David (of blessed memory) said: "As they were ill, my clothing was sackcloth, I suffered through a fast." (Psalms 35:13) - A person should not only make personal supplications and requests, but should pray for all people that they remain in peace. And through the peace (and stability) of the government, there will be peace throughout the world.
(ד) הרדיפה וההגבלה בדרך החיים אינן בעצם תנאי הגלות, ונהפוך הוא, חוב מוטל עלינו לפי היכולת, להאחז במדינה אשר תקבל אותנו לגור בה; להשתדל להוציא לפועל את מטרת המדינה ותועלתה, ובדרשנו את טובת עצמנו, עלינו לדרוש גם את שלומה וטובתה.
(4) To be pushed back and limited upon the path of life is, therefore, not an essential condition of the exile, but, on the contrary, it is our duty to join ourselves as closely as possible to the state which receives us into its midst, to promote its welfare and not to consider our well-being as in any way separate from that of the state to which we belong.
(ב) לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעות - אם הם דנים שלא כדין לפי דעתך ואף על פי שלא יאמינו לך כי אם למרובים.
(2) לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעות, if, in your opinion, the majority are about to commit an error in judgment, do not remain silent because they are the majority, but state your view. This applies even if you know beforehand that they will not accept your viewpoint but that of the majority.
Abraham Joshua Heschel: Heavenly Torah
Adherents of plain meaning, who look for a clear bottom line in everything including matters of faith, upon seeing the mighty struggles of opposing views, will ask in agitation: How can Torah be learned in this way? If there are two mutually exclusive ways of interpreting a single statement, and each carries its own truth, do we not have dualism?
But the pillar of their faith need not fail. Is it possible to have a living Torah without the struggle of opposites, without disputes, without the many permutations of ideas?
God created ideas, Janus-like, in complements; what is sought is one, but the paths to it are two. Two modes of thought, vision and reason appear to us as separate and distinct, vying and competing with each other. But in truth, they are but two stakes of the same tent that support each other, with each unable to stand firm but for the presence of the other. Both share the same crown. One who stands outside sees an infringement of domains; one who stands within sees a blending of domains.