The Jewish Ethicist

Wisconsin Bookwatch, July, 2005

The Jewish Ethicist

Asher Meir

KTAV Publishing House

930 Newark Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07306

0881258091 $18.95 www.ktav.com

Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, economist and ethicist, presents The Jewish Ethicist: Everyday Ethics For Business And Life, a practical guide to morality and ethics in an increasingly complex modern world. Presented largely in a question-and-answer format, The Jewish Ethicist offers frank advice to such conundrums as "Is it ethical to buy from low-wage suppliers?", "Can I be frank in a letter of reference?", and "Are Commercial Dating and Matchmaking Services Ethical?" Rabbi Meir addresses each question in depth, discussing varying circumstances under which the given situation could take place, and explaining the rationale behind judgments of modern day morality and ethics. The Jewish Ethicist scrupulously avoids oversimplification of diverse complex dilemmas ("principles do not exist in a vaccuum", Meir comments), while at the same time presenting Meir's wisdom in direct terms. Though The Jewish Ethicist scrutinizes modern morality from a distinctly Jewish perspective, its discussion and justifications reach well beyond scriptural law into the matter-of-fact realm of practical morality--actions can and are characterized as unethical not just because a holy text says so, but because they promote unhappiness, self-aggrandizement at the expense of others, or worse. Highly recommended for readers of all faiths.