Jewish Human Dignity, Equality and Tzedekah

Being made in God’s image does not mean that human bodies look like God. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains that God is not physical. He connects the passage instead with humanity’s equal worth and freedom to make moral choices.

Sacks contrasts this teaching with ancient societies in which kings or pharaohs were described as being in the image of a god. Genesis extends that status to everyone. Its significance is therefore not simply that powerful people should behave kindly towards those beneath them: people who lack power possess dignity in their own right.

Sacks argues that all people are equal in their ultimate worth, “regardless of colour, culture or creed”. On this interpretation, racial prejudice contradicts the dignity shared by humanity. A person’s ethnicity or religion cannot make them less worthy of respect. Discrimination turns such unfair judgements into unequal treatment, so challenging it is a practical consequence of recognising human dignity.

Equality does not mean everyone is identical

People differ in their talents, circumstances and responsibilities. Equal dignity means that these differences do not create superior and inferior kinds of human being. A wealthy person and a person experiencing poverty have the same fundamental worth, even though their material circumstances are unequal.

This distinction connects the creation teaching with social justice. If poverty or discrimination causes people to be treated as though they matter less, recognising their dignity gives a reason to challenge that treatment. Respect should extend beyond people who belong to one’s own community.

The teaching also creates a standard against which behaviour can be judged. Declaring that everyone has equal worth is not the same as achieving equality in practice: the important question is whether people’s treatment of others reflects that belief.

Shared dignity, different approaches to equality

Jewish traditions share the creation teaching but do not always draw identical conclusions about how equality should operate. Gender roles provide one example.

In Orthodox Judaism, equal worth is generally understood as compatible with different religious responsibilities for men and women. Traditional synagogue worship is led by men, and men and women sit separately. Supporters understand these arrangements as reflecting religious duties and tradition, rather than women having less dignity before God.

Reform and Liberal Judaism extend equality to equal participation in religious leadership: women can become rabbis, participate in practices traditionally reserved for men, and sit alongside men in worship. These approaches understand shared dignity as supporting equal access to religious roles.

The difference is therefore not simply that one tradition values human dignity and another rejects it. It concerns whether equal worth requires the same roles. There is also diversity within Jewish movements, so these broad patterns do not describe every individual’s views.

Freedom brings responsibility towards others

Sacks also interprets being made in God’s image as giving human beings moral freedom. People can choose whether to act justly and compassionately, but they can also misuse that freedom and harm others.

For him, dignity therefore brings responsibility as well as worth. Recognising God’s image in another person should affect how that person is treated. Justice and compassion are ways of honouring human dignity; violence and degrading treatment dishonour it.

This provides a connected argument: humanity is made in God’s image; every person therefore has fundamental worth; and people should use their freedom to respect and protect that worth in others.

Tzedekah makes justice a practical duty

Tzedekah, also spelt tzedakah, is often translated as charity, but its root, tzedek, means justice. It involves giving and supporting people in need because doing so is right, not merely because a donor happens to feel generous. The Movement for Reform Judaism explains it as an obligation to pursue justice, including helping people become independent.

The Torah gives concrete ways to fulfil this responsibility. Leviticus 23:22 instructs landowners not to harvest the corners of their fields completely or collect all the remaining grain, but to leave some “to the poor, and to the stranger”. People who lack land or resources are therefore provided for, including those outside the landowner’s own community.

Deuteronomy 15:7–8 similarly teaches people not to shut their hand against someone in need, but to “open your hand” and lend enough to meet what they lack. These teachings connect wealth with responsibility: possessing resources creates a duty to assist others.

The medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides described different levels of tzedekah. Anonymous giving is highly valued because it can protect recipients from embarrassment. The highest level helps someone become self-supporting, for example through a loan or finding them employment. This tackles the cause of dependence while respecting the person’s dignity. Giving is therefore about both meeting needs and how the recipient is treated.

Mitzvah Day: supporting refugees and challenging prejudice

Mitzvah Day is a Jewish-led social action initiative involving volunteers of different faiths and none. Its projects show how commitments to justice and human dignity can lead to practical cooperation.

On Mitzvah Day in 2015, Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue organised collections and talks under the message “Refugees are Welcome”. Working with the Council of Christians and Jews, it acted as a hub for refugee donations. It also launched a partnership with the Islamic Centre in High Wycombe. Rabbi Aaron Goldstein transported donations there with Jewish and Muslim volunteers.

This example connects equality with action in two ways. Donations support people facing hardship, treating refugees’ needs as important rather than dismissing them as outsiders. Cooperation between Jewish and Muslim volunteers also creates opportunities to challenge stereotypes through working together. Such projects aim to promote mutual respect; they do not mean prejudice has been eliminated.

FEAST!: dignity through working and eating together

Another example is Moishe House London’s FEAST!, described in Mitzvah Day’s 2015 report. Young Jewish adults worked with residents of Conway House, a homeless shelter in Kilburn, using surplus food donated by a local Sainsbury’s. They cooked together and then shared the meal. The project ran fortnightly throughout the year, developing from an earlier Mitzvah Day bake-athon.

The programme addressed food needs, but its importance went beyond providing a meal. Residents participated in preparing the food and sharing a social experience, rather than being treated only as passive recipients. This demonstrates how practical assistance can respect dignity and reduce social isolation.

Together, these examples show the connection between belief and practice: people possess equal worth, so poverty or outsider status should not make them less deserving of care. Tzedekah expresses that responsibility through support which meets needs and treats people respectfully.

• Rabbi Sacks: God’s image is not physical resemblance; everyone has equal ultimate worth, regardless of colour, culture or creed.
• Moral freedom brings responsibility to act justly and compassionately.
• Orthodox Judaism: equal worth can coexist with different religious roles.
• Reform and Liberal Judaism: equal participation includes women becoming rabbis.

Tzedekah

• An obligation of justice, not merely optional generosity.
• Leviticus 23:22: leave harvest produce for the poor and stranger.
• Deuteronomy 15:7–8: open your hand to people in need.
• Maimonides: protect recipients’ dignity; helping someone become self-supporting is the highest level.

Practices to remember

• Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, 2015: refugee collections and talks; partnership with High Wycombe’s Islamic Centre; Jewish and Muslim volunteers transported donations.
• Moishe House London’s FEAST!: fortnightly cooking and shared meals with Conway House residents, using donated surplus food.
• Link actions to meeting needs, respecting dignity and challenging prejudice.

Essential distinctions

• Equal dignity ≠ identical abilities, circumstances or roles.
• Believing in equality ≠ achieving equality in practice.