Till we calm down, till the sun returns to shine our faces
Now every wind brings me to a new place
Difficult to know what is more
The beyond for You
Till You return to look at me as once
The wind has passed, lay Your day on my shoulders
Hold my hand
Tell
Exactly like the Moon
I have no light of my own
From Your great rays, I shall learn to shine
And if I have to shine, I have no light of my own
From Your great rays, I shall learn to shine
In Your good light pouring over me
Here another day is over,
And at the angle of the eye are waiting
Sparks of war that certainly burn only tomorrow
And till then I am in between
This Week Torah Portion - Mishpatim 5782 - Human Rights and Responsibilities
One of the greatest legal activists of the 20th Century was a French Jew
named René Cassin - in Hebrew Shmuel Katzin.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 81 in 1968 to recognize his work for human rights. Amongst his many roles and achievements is his role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948 on behalf of the United Nations.
He wrote a fascinating insight in his memoirs, which tells the nature of Jewish Civil Law. He revealed that when he was writing the Universal Declaration, he argued with his legal colleagues that the declaration should be called the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities instead of Human Rights.
The reason it should be called human responsibilities, he maintained, is because, as a Jew, it was clear to him that the declaration was based on the Ten Commandments and many aspects of Jewish tradition. While he couldn’t convince his colleagues of the name, it was clear to him that Jewish tradition placed a premium on the ethic of personal responsibility.