before cynicism prevailed

evanstonjew comments to mentalblog.com: Obama, Jews and social justice:

"WADR I feel that of course the quest for justice is part of our tradition. Read Hosea and Amos and study choshen mishpat. And of course decency and mentsclichkeit is part of our tradition, though the words do not appear in our literature. And decency and mentschlichkeit in our time requires men to support feminism in most if not all their aspirations. And social justice means practical politics to help those less fortunate in the Jewish community, America and the world. If you want to remember what might have been before Stalinism and before cynicism prevailed and all gave up hope here is an example."

Traditional Judaism knows as much about the prophets as they do about the communist manifesto, so references to Hosea and Amos are academic in the worse sense, i.e. do not disprove the original argument. The reference to choshen mishpat is also dubious. The last time Jews practiced and enforced this law was in time of the Beis Din of the Four Lands and we all know that it was a corrupt and shameful institution. So there. But why refer to the arcane cultural quotes when everyone knows or had an unfortunate opportunity to experience the injustice firsthand. Indeed there is no justice in the Jewish community, social or any other kind.