Judge Dennis Davis
Social Justice in the Jewish Tradition
Summary
Judge Dennis Davis addresses the concept of social justice in the Jewish tradition, contextualized by recent events such as Passover and South Africa’s Freedom Day. He emphasizes the journey from freedom to the giving of the law at Sinai, highlighting the integral role of law in ensuring meaningful freedom. The idea of repairing the world, often associated with social justice, is explored through quotations from the Talmud, emphasizing the dignity of every human being.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
When us the rabbis said we only give charity to non-Jews to keep the peace and goodwill, but in general our first duties help Jews only. If you’re going to read in a literal way certain parts of the tradition, yes, that is true. And it is true that to some extent for a considerable period of time, which is why the Talmud and the early sources did not embrace a broader idea was because we were community all on our own, but as we expanded into a more cosmopolitan world, that whole philosophy changed.
In my case, all I can say is that I have been in contact with all sorts of civil rights and human rights groups in Israel and obviously, as a human rights lawyer, I don’t like what’s going on at all. Unfortunately, for most of my time, I’m almost 100% committed to trying to deal with human rights violations in South Africa. For some time I’ve been wanting to write about some of these issues because of the sad parallels. I think we need to be courageous about these issues.
Yes, I do. We failed in South Africa to deal with that extent that we are. Rabbi Weiler, the first Reform congression, did. Rabbi Weiler’s son is Joseph Weiler, one of the most distinguished international lawyers in the world today. Rabbi MC Weiler was an extremely courageous man and thanks to his efforts, he got kicked out of the country.