ABSTRACT
Biblical Hebrew has no word for "equality". Equality before the law, according to Judaism, was divinely ordained. Judaism derives human likeness from the fact that God had created only one man from whom all humanity is descended. Judaism is less receptive to the idea of a natural hierarchy but accepts the legitimacy of functional inequalities. The Rabbis' role in classical Judaism was determined primarily by a long-felt need to prevent the surrogates of God from exploiting their position for personal aggrandizement. The Law assured equality of status to all non-Jews who embraced the creed and practice of Judaism. A considerable amount of self-government prevailed in the medieval Jewish communities and by the twelfth century their form of government was democratic. The democratic experience of Jews in their own self-governing communities from the Middle Ages virtually up to World War II in Eastern and Central Europe predetermined their total acceptance of universal suffrage in the State of Israel.
