ABSTRACT
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948, it embraced the wisdom of different traditions, faith-based and secular. As the struggle for human rights and for the reduction of inequality continues worldwide, religion turns out to be a crucial, if ever ambivalent factor. Faith communities can serve as agents for exclusion or embrace. Religious practices displaying violence and hatred, or non-violence and love, have proven to be potent forces of change and religious frameworks can transform hearts and minds for good or bad. Pauline Kollontai's spotlight sheds light on the role of Judaism in democracy and minority rights in Israel.
