Description
Book SynopsisAreligion or a culture like Judaism, at least three thousand years old, cannot be expected to be all of one piece, homogeneous, self-contained, consistent, a neatly constructed system of ideas. If Judaism were that, it would have died centuries ago and would be a subject of interest only to the historian and archaeologist. Judaism has been a living force precisely because it is a teeming, thundering, and clamoring phenomenon, full of contrary tendencies and inconsistencies. Although there are no words or phrases in Hebrew Scriptures for human rights, conscience, or due process of law, the ideals and values which these concepts represent were inherent in the earliest Jewish texts.This volume begins with four essays on the concept of man''s being born free and equal, in the image of God. The underpinning of this concept in Jewish law is explored in Section 2, entitled The Rule of Law. Section 3, The Democratic Ideal, traces the foundations of democracy in the Jewish teachings in the Bibl
Table of ContentsI: Born Free and Equal; Editor's Note; Man’s Dignity in God’s World; Judaism and Equality; A Common Humanity under One God; Many Are Called and Many Are Chosen; II: The Rule of Law; Editor’s Note; The Bible and the Rule of Law; Kingship under the Judgment of God; The Rule of a Higher Law; III: The Democratic Ideal; Editor’s Note; Judaism and the Democratic Ideal; Foundations of Democracy in the Scriptures and Talmud; Democratic Aspirations in Talmudic Judaism; IV: Freedom of Conscience; Editor’s Note; Conscience and Civil Disobedience in the Jewish Tradition; Freedom of Religion-Absolute and Inalienable; The Right of Dissent and Intellectual Liberty; V: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; Editor’s Note; The Good Life; The Right of Privacy; There Shall Be No Poor; VI: The Earth Is the Lord’s; Editor’s Note; Man as Temporary Tenant; Do Not Destroy!; Ecology and the Jewish Tradition; VII: Pursuit of Peace; Editor's Note; The Vision of Micah; VIII: Human Rights in an Israeli Context; Religious Freedom and Religious Coercion in the State of Israel; In God’s Image: The Religious Imperative of Equality Under Law; The Values of a Jewish and Democratic State: The Task of Reaching a Synthesis
