Countless contracts have been undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 as well as government orders to contain it. Flights have been canceled, concerts have been called off, and dorms have been closed, just to name a few. Do these all count as breaches of contract—or are the parties excused due to the extraordinary circumstances? And how should the losses be allocated between the parties? The law provides one set of answers to these questions; ethics offers another. With a focus on American law (developed over the past two centuries) and Jewish ethics (developed over millennia), this paper shows that the two systems are in accord with some respects and differ in others: Both law and Jewish ethics would excuse a party who cannot complete his contract due to a force beyond his control, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet Jewish ethics would require that the excused party still be paid, while American law would not.

2020 年的 COVID-19 大流行以及政府遏制它的命令破坏了无数合同。航班被取消，音乐会被取消，宿舍被关闭，仅举几例。这些都算作违约吗？还是当事人因特殊情况而免责？以及各方之间的损失应该如何分配？法律为这些问题提供了一套答案；道德提供了另一个。本文重点关注美国法律（在过去两个世纪发展）和犹太伦理（发展了数千年），表明这两种制度在某些方面是一致的，但在其他方面是不同的：法律和犹太伦理都可以原谅一方由于无法控制的力量（例如 COVID-19 大流行）而无法完成合同。