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Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Authors: Valery Vorobyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the
Kingdom of Morocco, Professor, Doctor of Law, Distinguished Scientist of the RF;
Roman Iliev, independent analyst
TODAY, when the number of countries that pay particular atten-
tion in their legislation to human rights and freedoms and their en-
forcement practice has considerably increased, it has become clear
that the mechanism of constitutional and legal protection of indi-
vidual rights and freedoms has come to the fore. These challenges
add tension to the fairly strained correlation between the need to
protect the human rights and to ensure security.
The present concept of human and civil rights cannot be fully un-
derstood unless we acquire a clear idea of the sources of this def-
inition and take into account that human rights and freedoms
belong to all individuals while the rights and freedoms of citizens
belong only to the citizens of each particular state.
It is commonly believed that the concept of human rights was formulated within the Jewish re-
ligious tradition and that Judaism is one of its richest and clearest sources. The present definition
of human rights rests, to a great extent, on the principles formulated in Judaism.
In full accordance with the canons of Judaism, man is a semblance of God and personification
of the Universe; as such he possesses unrivaled dignity and greatness. All mankind descended
from Adam, its common ancestor. This means that an insult of any man is an insult of God.
In Judaism, man is protected against unjust court decisions and arbitrariness. The desire to es-
tablish social fairness should lead to a clearly organized judicial system; justice comes before re-
ligious rules.
In the part related to women, the Jewish law is based on the first three chapters of Genesis and
on the idea of the different roles of men and women stipulated by their different physiologies
despite which men and women were equal before the law.
Historically, Judaism played an important role in the development of the concept of human
rights, while today the religious circles in contemporary Israel are the most determined opponents
of human rights legislation. In fact, the most controversial characteristics of public life in Israel
from the point of view of human rights are the product of pressure exerted by religious forces.
There are no civilian marriages between the Jews, no public transport on Saturdays (in line with
the Judaic tradition), there is a problem of burying non-Jews in common cemeteries and other
stumbling blocks unknown in contemporary liberal and democratic states in which religion as a
rule is separated from the state.
Human Rights in Judaism and the Jewish Legal Tradition