In all the debates, and the excesses of these debates, on the notion of Judaism, the theme that is discussed is always that of human rights. Judaism means the vision of priorities to be considered, so as not to lose track of what makes us, or what makes us sacred as humans. What qualifies our identity in this universe, are what we judge to be our errors, our weaknesses, and our forces to transform us. Judaism only talks about that. It is an identity and it is this that makes us similar to others (Theillard de Chardin). It is not a particularism. Judaism is not focused on the idea of establishing a different nation. This idea of Judaism seen by anti-Semites is that of Haman, the wicked character of the Book of Esther. Judaism is the spirituality of Ghettos, exiles, refugees. This cannot be ethnic. As a guide to survival in misery and oppression, this spirituality can designate its own priests and teachers, but cannot afford to make it a class of its own. The Cohanim or the teachers have no innate superiority, they only have additional obligations compared to the rest of the community. Judaism says Justice is obvious, not a political choice. To treat the other “with humanity” means the total abolition of the death penalty, for Judaism, more than 2000 years ago! The idea of origin is cultural. In Judaism, there is neither ethnicity nor race. (Yeshayahou Leibovich).
Jewish culture sees in the role of the mother a continuity, and so any child born to a Jewish woman is a Jew. De facto he is also in the cultural continuity of his family. This is encouraged so that consciousness and memory are established with respect for woman, who is often the most neglected and brutalized in the history of human imperfection. Whether this mother is a Chinese or Bolivian woman who has adopted Judaism is irrelevant. His children will read the story of the coming out of Egypt like other Jewish children, and are now part of Abraham’s lineage, bound by the same promise. Those who do not understand this do not understand Judaism or Abraham. Judaism is resistance against the forces of mass stupefaction. It was born, and has grown for millennia, in the position of a recipient of social wounds, cultural cuts, repetitive persecution, and anti-Semitic obsessions. This made humanism the urgent priority of Judaism. A priority that proves to be constantly significant for all human beings, historically and ontologically.
Judaism means human right.
