The basic approach taken by religious legal systems, and in particular of Jewish law to the issues dealt with in the realm of human rights place God, rather than man, at the center. As a result, man is perceived first and foremost as having obligations and not rights. It is true that in contemporary legal theory, obligations are accompanied by parallel rights (thus, for example, the prohibition "you shall not kill" as applying to one individual consequently results in the right of another individual to life; the obligation "you shall not steal" implies the right of the other to property; the obligation to return what has been lost [see *Lost Property] implies the property rights of the one who has sustained a loss; and so forth). Nevertheless, the point of departure being from obligations rather than from rights creates a completely different legal system than that existing in modern constitutional law, and the point of balance between rights and obligations changes accordingly (M. Elon, ibid.; Rabbi Yitzhak Breuer, Ẓiyyunei Derekh (Jerusalem 1982), 57–86; M. Silberg, Kakh Darko shel Talmud (Jerusalem 1982), 66; R.M. Cover, "A Jewish Jurisprudence," in: Journal of Law and Religion, 5 (1987) 65; H.H. Cohn, Zekhuyot ha-Adam ba-Mikra u-va-Talmud (Tel Aviv, 1988); idem, Ha-Mishpat (Jerusalem 1992), 512–13; M. Vigoda, "Bein Zekhuyot Ḥevratiyyot le-Ḥovot Ḥevratiyyot ba-Mishpat ha-Ivri," in: Zekhuyot Kalkaliot ve-Tarbutiyyot be-Yisrael (2005), 233–96).
An expression of Jewish law's basic approach to man's obligations can already be found in the first book of the Bible, in which Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden and commanded "to tend it and to keep it." Man is first and foremost "commanded," obligated, given duties rather than rights. Under this basic approach of Jewish law, as noted earlier, human rights are often formulated by way of negation, that is, by proscribing infringement of the various rights. Thus, for example, the Torah says "you shall not go around as a talebearer among your people" (Lev. 19:17) as an expression of the right to a good name; "you shall not rule over him with rigor" (Lev. 25:43) as an expression of man's dignity; "you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge" (Deut. 24:10) as an expression of his liberty and right to privacy (see *Imprisonment for Debt), and so on, with "you shall" implicit in "you shall not."
The Various Rights
THE RIGHT TO LIFE
The right to life is a value of prime importance, set down at the beginning of the various bills of rights. As the fundamental approach of Jewish law speaks, not only of man's rights, but first and foremost of his obligations, it imposes upon the human being an obligation to guard his/her own body, its most important expression being the commandment "Therefore take good heed to yourselves" (Deut. 4:15). Apart from exceptional cases (e.g., the prohibitions of bloodshed, idolatry and adultery), when cardinal values enter into the balance, the obligation to preserve life outweighs all other duties. A person is therefore commanded to desecrate the Sabbath in order to save a life, "for nothing stands in the way of saving life." The Sages expounded the verse "He shall live in them" (Lev. 18:5) – "and not die in them," (Yoma 85b) as meaning that the Torah's commandments have been given to live by and not to die by. According to some of the Sages, even with respect to those transgressions about which it was said that a person must allow himself to be killed rather than commit the transgression, this law only applies in public, in the presence of ten or more people. In private, however, a person must commit the transgression rather than allow himself to be killed. A special problem exists when a balance must be struck between two rights of the same type (see EA 84/2 Naiman v. Chairman, Central Elections Committee, PD 39(2) 225, per Justice Elon, and see *Euthanasia in *Medicine and Law). The definition of the State of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state" finds expression in various ways related to human dignity and freedom. Thus, for example, with the exception of certain crimes of exceptional severity (e.g., crimes against humanity and the Jewish people, and the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators Punishment Law) the Israeli legislator abolished the death penalty that had been administered during the mandatory period. Similarly, corporal punishment was abolished by the Punishment of Whipping (Abolition) Law 5710 – 1950 (see *Values of a Jewish and Democratic State; *Human Dignity and Freedom; *Punishment).
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