“The Jewish tradition carries very powerful democratic genes.” – Fania Oz-Salzberger
As many here are probably aware, the
state of Yisrael is currently undergoing some turbulent times. Part of the
public debate that has been raging surrounds the question of whether Yisrael,
the National Home of the Jewish People, should give up its Jewish essence to
maintain its democratic core.
We hear repeated calls to make the
state “Jewish and Democratic.”
And that, dear readers, is precisely
what Yisrael is and has been since its inception.
I doubt that there is anyone who would
ever not associate Yisrael with Jews. Surprisingly enough, the Jewish substance
of the state was decreed by gentiles, not Jews. Lord Balfour, for instance, was one. In his
famous Declaration of November 2, 1917, called for the establishment of a
“National Home for the Jewish People” in Eretz Yisrael which, in those days
was, also known as “Palestine.”
Then came the San Remo Accord where The
Supreme Council of the Allied Powers, which acted as an International Court of
Law echoed his call, in article 22 of the “Covenant of the League of Nations”
of April 25th , 1920. That resolution has been anchored in
International Law.
The final stamp of approval for what
was to become a Jewish state was U.N. Resolution 181 of November 29th,
1947. It called for the partition of Eretz Yisrael into an Arab state A N
D a Jewish state. Yisrael is the
name of Jewish state. It has been a Jewish state and will continue to remain
that way, de Jure (by law/right) and de Facto (in effect).
The language of Yisrael’s Declaration
of Independence which, I trust, was carefully crafted, reinforces, and
repeatedly mentions that what lies at the heart of the nascent state is its
Jewish essence. Already in its first paragraph, the Declaration mentions the
“eternal Book of Books,” our Tanach, our code of ethics that teaches us the
values of justice, equality, and freedom which we shared with the world.
These values were constantly preached
by our prophets. They are the guidelines that have dictated the objectives of
the newly established State, as mentioned in the Declaration “…it will foster
the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants, it will
be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.”
What are those values? What was the
ultimate message of the “Book of Books” and the “Prophets of Israel?”
The decree to equality, do justice and
ensure freedom runs like a golden thread throughout the Tanach, the “Book of
Books.”
The concepts of justice and equality
are stressed already in the Book of Bresheet (Genesis 18:18-19) where
G-d proclaims “…. Since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and
all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I have signaled
him out that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of
the Lord by doing tzedakah and mishpat (justice and law) …..”
“Justice, justice you shall pursue,”
commands us the Book of D’varim (Deuteronomy 17:20).
It is one of the cardinal obligations of Judaism. In the Torah portion of Shoftim
(judges), we are commanded to “Appoint judges and officials for” our “tribes….
and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly,”
we are told (Deuteronomy 16:18). “The Hebrew Bible,” claims Rabbi Dr. Bradley
Shavit Artson, “possesses a passion for justice for the poor, the weak and the
despised…. We betray a broad heritage of the Torah,” he continues, “when we
fail to recognize justice and righteousness as primary religious categories of
Judaism.”
The Tanach focuses on the weak and oppressed
by referring recurrently to the “orphan, widow and foreigner” for a reason. A
human society is measured by its attitudes towards the powerless. The care and
the compassion that the “Book of Books,” the Torah and then the prophets
display towards the under privileged of society is probably one of the reasons
it has been translated into every possible language. The constant appeal to the
advantaged members of society to feed the hungry and the disadvantaged is an
appeal to one’s conscience and is justified as either a religious obligation
(“I am G-d” Psalm 46:10), a historical rationale (“For you were strangers in
Egypt” Deuteronomy 10:19), as carrying an eventual reward (“your days may be
prolonged” Deuteronomy 5:16)or, sometimes, a social one (“So they may rest as
you” Deuteronomy 5:14).
All these prove that
Judaism and the principles of Democracy go hand in hand.
The word “democratic” is not mentioned
in Yisrael’s Declaration of Independence. However, the social and “democratic
gene” which manifests itself in the values of the “Book of Books” as its basis,
the moral values of liberty, justice, and freedom, the pillars of any
democracy, which the Declaration espouses were the guiding principles for the founders
of the State.
One of the goals of the newly established state, as the Declaration states is to “Ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex: It will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” The Declaration further appeals to “the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institution.”
The mere fact that such noble social and economic principles coupled with the ongoing quest for justice and the continuous deliberations over the best form of government which are sewn all over the Tanach, the "eternal Book of Books" formed the basis for Yisrael's Declaration of Independence, points to the undeniable fact that democracy is part of the DNA of the Jewish State.
Saltzberg further asserts that in modern Yisrael today, "anyone pretending that Judaism and democracy are incompatible traditions and that Yisraeli "society must decide between the two is showing a certain measure of historical ignorance. Not only," she claims, "are Jewish and democratic elements of its statehood compatible, but they have been influencing one another for well over 2,000 years."
