Masechet Z'chuyot Ha'Adam: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Jewish Sources

Rabbis for Human Rights is creating a series of texts for teaching about Judaism and Human Rights. In conjuction with International Human Rights Day (December 10), our Assistant Director of Education, Rachel Kahn-Troster -- who incidentally is celebrating the birth of a baby girl -- has created Masechet Zechuyot Ha'Adam/The Human Rights Tractate, a study text matching elements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Jewish sources.

There are a variety of ways you can use this new text. You might want to create a human rights beit midrash where congregants or students have the opporunity to study the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, react to it, and then see the Jewish material which correlates with these texts. It should be kept in mind, that in many cases, the Jewish sources -- especially the biblical ones -- were the inspiration for the adoption of these provisions. Importantly, the preamble to the Universal Declaration mentions the events of WW II as forming the backdrop for the adoption of the Declaration. Indeed, Jewish historic experience is an important source of the Jewish commitment to human rights.

You may also want to use this resource in confirmation and adult education classes and as inspirational texts for divrei torah or