The special years, shemitta and yovel, have been cited within the great debate between communism/ socialism vs. capitalism by Jewish proponents of socialism in the last 150 years. (We will use the terms socialism and communism interchangeably.) For example, Aron Libermann, 1845-1880, wrote "Socialism is not alien to us. The community is our existence; the revolution – our tradition; the commune – the basis of our legislation as quite clearly indicated by the ordinances forbidding the sale of land, by those on the Jubilee and sabbatical years, on equal rights, fraternity, etc." (Quoted in Frankel, 1981, p. 33.) Similarly, Nachman Syrkin, 1868-1924, stated, (quoted in Frankel, p. 306) "The Jewish people is a socialist people not because it lives in want but because the revolution was declared on Mount Sinai… It was this people that thousands of years ago said that 'there shall be no poor amongst you' and made social laws such as the Jubilee, the sabbatical year and all the laws of gleaning in order that justice rules in the world."
North (1951) notes that a scholar named Lurje from the former Soviet Union, also argued that the Torah supports communism, and one "proof" was that the return of the land in the yovel year was to ensure that people could not have large land holdings (latifunds) and that all people would have some property. Lurje argued (and North agreed) that these two results accord with communist ideals, as opposed to the capitalist system, which can lead to large disparities of income. However, one could argue that the breakup of large land holdings accords with the capitalist idea of not allowing monopolies, and the fact that everybody gets a new start accords with the idea of economic mobility, that everybody should have the opportunity to elevate themselves out of poverty, which capitalism agrees wholeheartedly with.
Does the Torah really support communism/ socialism? It would seem that the answer is no. The two most basic conditions for socialism, a state apparatus to direct the production and distribution of goods in the economy and a prohibition of private property, are completely absent from the Torah. It is true that land becomes quasi-public property during the shemitta and yovel years since all people can enter the land to harvest the land, Vayikra 25:6, but still this only occurs once every seven years. The law of yovel prohibiting one from selling one's land also reduces the owner's control of his or her land but no other person gains from this loss of power. Instead, the land always remains the private possession of the family that initially received the land when Yehoshua parceled out the land. As Robert North (1951, p. 330) writes, "What renders Vayikra 25:23 instantly untenable as a Communist manifesto is that the land is precisely said to be inalienable private property… The biblical formulation is everyone shall have property."
The existence of private property is supported by the fact that Devarim 5:18 prohibits one from coveting another person's land, and that Devarim 19:14 records an additional prohibition of stealing land. Finally, we see that many laws in the Torah are predicated on the existence of a market economy. For example, Devarim 14:22-27 records that if a person lives far from the chosen city, he can sell his ma`aser sheni, and then take the money to the chosen city and buy whatever food he desires.
Yet, if the Torah is not in accord with communism/ socialism, this does not imply an acceptance of capitalism. There are several prohibitions in the Torah which limit a person's freedom to use his property in an unfettered manner. For example, one cannot work one's land during the shemitta and yovel years, Vayikra 25:4,11, and one cannot permanently sell land, Vayikra 25:15,16. Also one must leave over some of the land to the poor to harvest, Vayikra 19:8, one cannot charge interest when one lends money, Shemot, 22:24, and loans are annulled in the seventh year, Devarim 15:2,3.
These restrictions have led Yehudah Levi (1993) to argue that "the Torah adopts the capitalist apparatus, but negates in principle the capitalist ideal of encouraging competition… In other words, the economic system of the Torah is based on a capitalist apparatus and a socialist ideology."
I doubt that the Torah rejects the competitive ideal since there are no restrictions in the Torah against competition. In fact, I think that Bereshit 6:5, 8:21 support the capitalist understanding of human nature that man is selfish, which means that the Torah accepts the competitive nature of mankind, see our discussion on Bereshit 8:21, "Is man evil?" http://www.lobashamayim.blogspot.co.il/2010/10/bereshit-821-noah-is-man-evil.html (Note the idea of Adam Smith's invisible hand is that the market system channels man's competitive nature to productive means, while the communist system is predicated on people acting selflessly.)
In 1913, a German, Werner Sombart, argued that Jews and Judaism were behind the rise of capitalism in Europe. As Sombart eventually joined the Nazi party, it appears that this book was intended to denigrate Jews and Judaism, but still we can review his discussion of Judaism. (On the question of Sombart's anti-Semitism see Paul R. Mendes-Flohr, 1976, and Milton Friedman, 1984. With regard to the contribution of Jews to the rise of capitalism, see Johnson, 1987, pp. 281-287.)
Sombart argues that there are several connections between Judaism and capitalism as for instance both depend on the "rationalization of life," but his most interesting point is with regard to the idea of rewards and punishment in Judaism. Sombart writes, (1913, p. 216) "Look through Jewish literature, more especially through the Holy Writ and the Talmud, and you will find, it is true, a few passages wherein poverty is lauded as something higher and nobler than riches. But on the other hand you will come across hundreds of passages in which riches are called the blessing of G-d, and only their misuse or their dangers warned against." He provides two examples from the Torah, Devarim 7:13-15 and Devarim 15:16, but one could add the blessings in Vayikra 26:4,5, that G-d will bless a person materially if he upholds the covenant.
From this brief review, we see that the Torah accepts a market economy, private property, and the competitive nature of mankind. In addition, wealth is viewed positively, but there are restrictions on private property, which are usually intended to mitigate poverty in society. The answer to the question of whether the Torah accepts capitalism depends on how one defines capitalism and how limiting are the restrictions on the economy. I would view the restrictions on property as being akin to progressive income taxes, which as long as they are not overwhelming would not disqualify a modern market based economy from being considered capitalist.
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