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This Shabbat has been designated a Human Rights Shabbat for this Synagogue in association with René Cassin the organisation named after the human being who co-drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, in the aftermath of the Holocaust. This Shabbat follows one of the most important festivals of our Jewish calendar, Shavuot, the time of Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah or as can also be adduced from this phrase, the gift of Torah. What is that gift? For some it is the means to a lifetime of study, for others a basis for culture, the source text for a multitude of songs, plays and books. For others still and in particular for us as liberal Jews, it is the gift of a moral code, a means to consider our lives in relationship with humanity, the animal world and our environment, and through those relationships, our understanding of the Divine.
It is a gift that is recognised by all serious and balanced thinkers, be they secular or steeped in the realm of science. It was Albert Einstein who once said, “The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the desire for personal independence – these are the features of the Jewish tradition which makes me thank my lucky stars that I belong to it.”
At times, the gift of a moral code that leads to, in Einstein’s words, “an almost fanatical love of justice,” sometimes puts us at some odds with our baser instincts. This week I found myself wondering the nature of justice that could see me as a taxpayer, having to indefinitely pay for the safe, if stifling protection for two Pakistani students. A special immigration court ruled that Abid Naseer was an al-Qaida operative who remained a serious threat, while his friend Ahmed Faraz Khan had been radicalised before coming to the UK and was willing to participate in terrorist activity. Despite being said to pose a serious threat to national security, they could not be deported because of the risk they would be tortured or killed in their own country. Mr Justice Mitting, chair of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), said that in Pakistan "there is a long and well-documented history of disappearances, illegal detention and of the torture and ill-treatment of those detained, usually to produce information, a confession or compliance".
There are so many questions that this raises. Britain's counter-terrorism strategy has been thrown into turmoil with this ruling - partially a result of police and MI5 failings - as has counter-terrorism legislation. Since in law the two men cannot be jailed without trial, it appears certain they will be subjected to control orders that will cost you and me. Equally, the law meant that neither man was allowed to see the evidence upon which the court reached its decision, and nor was their solicitor. This is also a condemnation of previous UK Government policy which encouraged Islamabad to detain and interrogate British citizens, using questions drawn up by British intelligence officers and police – a practice lawyers condemned as complicity in torture.
These are just a few of the myriad of issues that are raised by this case. How might we understand this on this Human Rights Shabbat as Liberal Jews?
We have found that our approach to Israel is increasingly complex, we are finding voices that can support the idealism of Israel’s Declaration of Independence and applaud the fact that Israel contains more Human Rights groups than any other country in the world, aiming to uphold these ideals. We do not need to support Israel right or wrong. Rather we can do so as it strives to be a country based on the “Prophetic ideals of liberty and justice.”
So too in this country, can we seek a world of international co-operation based on shared values, not just shared intelligence, some of which is gleaned by practices that we know are inhumane. We will not create the world that we would desire Sam, our children and grandchildren to grow up in, based on suspicion, rather by one of true justice. Should we lower our values or by our example provide a basis for others to seek, if they are religious, in their sacred texts, the universal language of the rights of humanity and the individual.
Sam, you have studied with me and your parents the position of the nazir, the nazirite, the person set aside for God as a holy person. In relation to material things, you have taken account of the sayings of our sages, our wise people who have thought long and hard on this issue. You have found an understanding for yourself that a life of moderation in the material world is a way to a balanced life – not living life as a hermit and not have as a sole inspiration the collection of material wealth. Rather, living in this world and enjoying its bounty and in acknowledging the rights of all humanity to this wish, there is a path to holiness.
Yet, I pray for you Sam and for all of us, that where principles of human rights, where the upholding of our moral code is concerned, there is no moderation of our values. This is the gift of the giving of Torah. It is not an easy path to follow in life, it is one full of anxiety for deducing right and truth, it is a burden for us to carry. But it is a path of holiness, a path worthy of being a light to nations. Now truly that would be a gift from the Divine.
Prayer for Human Rights Shabbat
Eternal God, help us to recognise Your image
In the face of every human being,
And to accept fully in our hearts
The responsibility we bear for others.
Teach us to walk in all Your ways:
As You provide food enough for all
Let us ensure that all have food to eat.
As You provide materials to clothe the naked,
Let us ensure that all have clothing and shelter.
Help us to protect the freedoms
Which give human beings dignity:
The freedom to love and be loved;
The freedom to work and to rest;
The freedom to think and to speak
The freedom to believe and to pray.
Teach us to be Your hands
To raise up those who have fallen
And to break the chains of oppression.
Grant us the wisdom to heal wounds
And the courage to shape a better future
For us, and for all Your children.
AMEN
Rabbi Janet Burden
Rabbi Janet Darley
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