“Dr. Hall: Are you claiming the Torah promotes state based liberalism? Please back that up with sources as well. I am aware that there is Ma’aser Ani, but that was to be given on an individual basis by individuals, not by the state. “
Yes. In tractate Shekalim, communal authorities are given the responsibility of levying taxes on the community for education, public works, and support of the poor. Rabbi Moshe Tendler has proven that that support includes universal health care.
And there are many other examples where the Torah provides for something other than a laissez-faire state. The King can take your property without your consent. (That is frowned upon, as the example of Naboth’s vinyard shows, but the halachah is that the King does have that power.) Beit din can declare your property ownerless and give it to someone else — without any compensation to you. If people are traversing your property to get from point A to point B, you can’t stop them. If you live in Jerusalem, and someone knocks on your door during one of the pilgrimage festivals, that person sleeps in your home whether you like it or not. There is no permanent sale of land in Eretz Yisrael outside of cities. During the shimittah year, if people want to pick fruit from your orchard, you can’t stop them. Ditto if they want to collect leket, peah, or shich’chah. Overcharging your customers is asur, as is undercharging. Trying to take away someone else’s business is also asur; the Torah values the protection of existing businesses over the supposed virtues of competition.
This is NOT socialism; there remains a limited right to private property. But that right is not a fundamental one; it is an indirect right that stems from the fact that the Torah forbids me from taking something that isn’t mine. But as I pointed out, the Torah does not forbid a King or a Beit Din from taking your property! The founding fathers of the United States would have been horrified. The ideal Torah state would be better described as a welfare wtate with an intrusive government. There is a reason why the gemara in Yevamot singles out leket, peah, shich’chah and maaser oni as the commandments that must be taught to prospective converts. (I would have thought it would be Shabat, kashrut, and taharat hamishpachah.) Non-Jews do understand the “right” to property. But we Jews understand that in truth everything belongs to our creator who has essentially lent it to us. Nothing is really ours. And if we are called to share it with others, well….
I’ve been appalled at the number of frum-looking Jews who have adopted an approach to public policy that is more Ayn Rand than Moshe Rabbeinu. As these examples show, the Torah doesn’t emulate Trotsky — but it certainly is far from Rand’s hedonistic self-centered ideal.