The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN on December 10, 1948, is one of the foundational documents of the human rights movement.
At T’ruah, we think of it as a modern prophetic text, a vision of the redeemed world where all people’s rights will be protected. Communities who celebrate Human Rights Shabbat have found creative ways to incorporated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into services.
Check out these different ways to explore the text:
- Read the UDHR, with Introduction by Rabbi Gilah Langner
- Discussion questions for a text study on the UDHR
- Temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury, MA, reads the UDHR as the haftarah—the weekly selection from the biblical prophets—for Human Rights Shabbat. See their abridged text for public reading
- Cantor Nancy Abramson set the abridged text to haftarah trope, so it can be chanted in the same melody as a traditional haftarah. See the annotated text.
