New on the site: Michi-bot. An intelligent assistant based on the writings of Rabbi Michael Avraham.

The difference between rights and obligations

שו”תCategory: generalThe difference between rights and obligations
asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
Recently, disability organizations filed a petition with the High Court of Justice to equalize the disability pension to the minimum wage.
In their petition, the disability organizations claimed that the State of Israel violates the Basic Law “Human Dignity and Liberty” because it discriminates against the disabled in Israel and causes them to live below the poverty line. “It is impossible to live with such a pension with dignity, it is impossible to live with such a pension in contempt, it is impossible to live with such a pension at all,” the disability organizations wrote in the petition.
I think there is a common fallacy here where people don’t distinguish between rights and duties. Sometimes you have had the opportunity to talk in classes about this fallacy. What do you think about this whole story of the disabled (maybe this could be an interesting idea for a post that emphasizes the difference on the subject).


Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago
For some reason, I think I already mentioned this in one of the posts. There is indeed a mistake here. The disabled, single parents, and no one else have any rights to receive any income from the state. No one owes them anything. At most, the state has a moral obligation to support them. Just as the poor have no right to receive charity, the giver has an obligation to give it to them. One of the contraindications is that the recipient cannot sue the giver if he does not give it to him.

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button