Defending the Human Spirit: Jewish Law's Vision for a Moral Society

For over three thousand years, Jewish law has been defending the human spirit from abuse by the powerful. This book's wide-ranging approach looks at Jewish law's proud record on a number of major human rights issues, from political tyranny to oppression of women to crime and poverty, demonstrating unique Torah insights for Western law and the modern world. Written by the new chief rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Ph.D., Defending the Human Spirit discusses Jewish law's vision for a moral society in the context of real cases and not merely as abstract principles. Western law systems, specifically those of England, the United States and South Africa, are compared and contrasted with the Jewish legal system, showing that Divine and Divinely based Jewish law- Halachah- has always been ahead of its time in the arena of human rights- with Western law systems only just catching up in modern times. Readers will see how Jewish law weaves together the minuiae of detailed laws and the broader principles on which they are based to form a magnificent tapestry, through whcich society is transformed. Lawyers, law students, and all interested readers will discover the uniqueness of Judaism's approach to both law and ethics- how they are blended together to form the best possible system within which the human race can fully develop into the image of God.