› Forums › Jews and Judaism › Corporal Works of Mercy and Jewish tradition on Isaiah 58:6-7

Viewing 1 reply thread
  • Author
    Posts
    • Anonymous
        Post count: 1

        It is set in the middle of verses where God is saying, through the prophet, that fasting with lack of love is not what He wants, and it gives a list of ways to help one’s neighbor. The direction I am trying to pursue is whether this passage has ever been identified for Mitzvah/Mitzvot like the Catholic tradition has done for Matthew 25:34-44, which is very similar, talking about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, etc. I have been researching the Catholic list for Corporal Works of Mercy and want to find out if the above passage has a similar theological tradition of being identified and then turned into a cultural tradition and recommended to those who wish to please God? For example, Catholic children learn the Corporal Works of Mercy (and the parallel Spiritual Works of Mercy) in grade school, and often have to do service projects related to such lesson materials.

      • lizann
        Participant
          Post count: 1

          I’m not a theologian, but I do know that the Jewish people are famous for giving aid to the sick and supplying help when needed to other nations in, for instance, earthquake rescues, medical needs and so on. We even gave medical assistance to the residents of Gaza before Oct. 7 2023, despite huge logistical problems and existential threats from Hamas. So it seems in practice that we have always considered these works of mercy as mitzvot, regardless of any legal definition. It is just something that Jews do because we are Jews! And now as Catholics, we are doubly obligated. Please forgive me if this is a somewhat naive reply, as I know there are many on this site with greater knowledge than I.

      Viewing 1 reply thread
      • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.