search the databaseBrowse By Category |
human rightsSource SheetA look at key principles that motivate Jewish activism on human rights
Text
right to left
You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger, the orphan; you shall not take a widow's garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Adonai your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment. [JPS translation. Edited for gender neutrality] לֹא תַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר יָתוֹם וְלֹא תַחֲבֹל בֶּגֶד אַלְמָנָה: וְזָכַרְתָּ כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּמִצְרַיִם וַיִּפְדְּךָ ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה:
left to right
During the last 32 years of my rabbinic practice, I have come to understand more deeply the profound interconnectedness of all human rights struggles and the primary place of women within these struggles. We who seek liberation from the oppressive structures that deny us the same economic, educational, and spiritual opportunities as the privileged among us need each other. We need coalitions of broad diversity. We need the entire range of creativity and wisdom gained through the struggle for human rights throughout the world. We are not separate one from another.
left to right
By dint of our heritage, our faith, the intuitive and all but instinctive reaction of the Jew against injustice or the violation of human dignity, we are committed to the battle for human freedom — whether it is or is not good for the survival of the Jewish people. 
|