The Chief Rabbi calls for a focus on Human Dignity
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis was invited to attend the World Economic Forum 2014 (WEF) which took place between 23-25 January in Davos, Switzerland. The focus of this year’s annual gathering of world leaders from across politics, economics and civil society was on the consequences for society, politics and business of our ever changing and complex world.
The Chief Rabbi contributed to sessions in the Faith and Civil Society track: “Revolutionary Learning: How Knowledge of History can create a Better Future” as well as “Multistakeholder Dialogue on Governance and Peace-Building”. The Chief Rabbi attended sessions with academics, politicians and faith leaders. At a session exploring how we can make Human Dignity integral to our economic activity, the Chief Rabbi echoed Pope Francis’ open letter to WEF to ensure that humanity is served by wealth, and called on us to “build dignity of the person and respect for humanity into the fabric of the way we do business”. “It will pay dividends in the long term” he said.
The Chief Rabbi, together with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, attended Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s address to the World Economic Forum.
The Chief Rabbi said: “Events such as this provide the space and time to meet with others to listen, discuss and contribute on a variety of important global issues. Through such dialogue, we can all benefit through sharing not only our concerns but also our hopes for a better world”
