![freedom liberty and the pursuit of happiness freedom liberty and the pursuit of happiness](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b3/87/b8/b387b8dcc9569643e0d7b0c07269736a--pursuit-of-happiness-liberty.jpg)
Likewise, the Torah doesn’t say, “Ladies, these are your rights! Don’t let anyone take advantage of you.” Instead, the Torah obligates the husband to take care of his wife in ten ways, including (a) to provide her with sustenance (b) to supply her clothing and lodging (c) to fulfill her need for intimacy (d) to provide the ketubah (i.e., the sum fixed for the wife by law) and (e) to procure medical attention and care if she is ill.
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And to be sure, tremendous social improvements have come from rights advocates.īut even if the American Revolution was based on the Hebrew Bible, there is still no verse in Torah that says, “And the L‑rd said to Moses, ‘Every human being is endowed with the right to life and liberty.’” On the other hand, G‑d does say, “Thou shalt not murder” 4-your neighbor has the right to live. From women to workers to minorities, each group vocalizes its expectations of people who are not in that group. They fought for their freedom, and once independence was won, the fledgling and idealistic American government was committed to protecting that freedom.Īnd so America became a country of rights, not only our rights to freedom and democracy, but the right of every individual or group to defend its entitlements. The American colonists felt that their entrepreneurial and political rights were being violated-a smack in the face of modern, enlightened principles-and they weren’t going to stand for it. If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.” 3 It’s not surprising that John Adams, the second president of the United States, wrote: “I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. In the writings of European Enlightened thinkers such as John Locke, the Hebrew Bible is cited more than all other writings combined. The principles of the Enlightenment-liberty, equality and individualism-were based upon Judaic principles. If orphans or widows cry out to G‑d because they are being mistreated, G‑d considers it a personal offense. Standing by passively when someone else is being hurt is a crime. In Jewish law, the rich man and the pauper are to be treated equally before the judge. In fact, the leaders are often held to even higher standards than the laypeople- Moses is criticized for the smallest infraction, and kings are reproved harshly by the prophets when they act out of line. But it certainly talks about the sanctity of human life, describing the first man and woman as being “created in the image of G‑d.” 2 In Torah, all people are Are human rights a divine endowment?held accountable for their failures, king and common man alike. No, the Torah doesn’t talk about human rights. The Founding Fathers were unabashed in their assertion that it was G‑d who endowed all men with “certain inalienable rights.” 1 But are human rights a divine endowment? Is there a biblical verse that promises mankind the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men . . . We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.