Essay on Judaism and Universal Human Rights

Your assignment is as follows:

Compose a well-developed essay examining conflicts over the ideas of human rights and human responsibilities within Judaism today.

In order to do this you first must understand that Judaism, as with most world religions, has a secular and a more fundamentalist side. The fundamentalist side of Judaism is referred to as ultra-orthodox. (See page 82 in your book.) As with other fundamentalist religious mindsets, ultra-orthodoxy draws upon a pre-modern theological world view.

Secular Judaism is discussed on page 121 in your book. Historically, secular Jews have played a tremendous role in human rights movements including the American Civil Rights Movement and the American Labor Movement.

Once you understand the question of secularism vs. ultra-orthodoxy you want to understand the role of the Holocaust and the history of anti-Semitism in bringing human rights to the forefront of Jewish thought. (The Holocaust is covered in your book, starting on page 128.) Awareness of the Holocaust brings with it an awareness of the need for all people to respect universal human rights.

The Holocaust brought Zionism into popular awareness as people of good conscience in civil society saw the necessity for a Jewish sovereign nation to allow the Jews to defend themselves against widespread anti-Semitism. For our purposes here, Zionism is defined as follows:

Zionism is the belief that there must be a Jewish sovereign nation in the Biblical Land of Israel.

As with all aspects of religion, Zionism can be interpreted as either religious or secular. Secular Zionism simply maintains that there needs to be a Jewish state in order that the Jewish people can defend themselves against ongoing hostility and historic anti-Semitism. On the religious side, religious Zionism assumes that God somehow favors Israel above all other nations. This concept is based on a pre-modern world view that equates the modern Jewish state with the ancient nation of Israel. For religious Zionists, ancient Israel and modern Israel are the same entity in the eyes of God.

The distinction between religious and secular Zionism is critical to an accurate understanding of current Jewish views on human rights and human responsibilities because religious Zionists to not tend to emphasize the human rights of the Palestinian population in Israel. Look, for example, at the humanitarian crisis within Gaza City. For ultra-orthodox, religious-Zionist Jews, Palestinian (Muslim) Arabs may be removed by force and by violence from the Holy Land. According to this world view, the Land (Eretz Israel) belongs to the Jews because God gave it to the Jews. This point of view requires both a literal and a pre-modern interpretation of scripture. This sort of thinking inclines away from universal declarations of human rights and leans more toward a concept of human responsibility. It is the responsibility of Palestinians to not resist Zionist incursions and to move peacefully away from their land. The results of these ways of thinking, especially when combined with Jihadist Islamic thought, (Hamas and Hezbollah) incline toward repeated acts of terrible violence.

To review, secular Judaism tends to view human rights and human responsibilities differently from ultra-orthodox, fundamentalist Judaism. Both views are deeply conditioned in response to the events of the Holocaust. The secular group inclines toward activism in the areas of peace, justice, and human rights. These folks have a long history of leadership in both the American Civil Rights Movement and in the American Labor Movement, as well as promoting an international agenda for human rights. The fundamentalist/ultraorthodox tend to be more aggressively defensive of Jewish interests, especially in regard to the Land of Israel. Their view will incline more toward fighting for security within the Land of Israel with less interest in possible violations of the rights of Palestinians. This fits into an emphasis on human responsibilities above human rights.