Areligion 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 Bible and
the Talmud, which in turn influenced the whole body of Western
political thought. Relations between man and man, man and woman,
employer and employee, slave and master are all spelled out.
Section 4 presents essays analyzing man's freedom of conscience,
and his God-given rights to dissent and protest. Section 5 deals
with aspects of personal liberty, including the right of privacy.
Section 6, entitled "The Earth is the Lord's," deals with the
Jewish view of man's transient tenancy on God's earth, his
obligations not to destroy anything that lives or grows, and to
share the earth's bounty with the poor, the widowed, and the
orphaned. Section 7 delivers an analysis of the "end of days"
vision of Micah and man's continuing need to strive for peace and
not for war. The volume concludes with three new essays, dealing
with contemporary issues: "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"; and "Religious Freedom
and Religious Coercion in the State of Israel."
This enlarged edition is accessibly written for a general and
scholarly audience and will be of particular interest to political
scientists, historians, and constitutional scholars.
General
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