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Conference on Human Rights and Duties in a Jewish and Democratic State
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Event Date(s):
11/16/2010
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Date Published:
10/27/2010
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Last Updated:
9/1/2011
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Category:
Events, Research and Programs
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On Wednesday, November 17, 2010, IDI hosted a full-day conference on "Human Rights and Duties in a Jewish and Democratic State." This conference was the inaugural event of IDI's Human Rights and Judaism Project, headed by IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern and Senior Fellow Prof. Shahar Lifshitz.
The conference explored the conceptual and philosophical differences between rights and duties, and examined the various approaches to these two concepts in the world of thought and the world of action. The discussion moved between Jewish culture, which emphasizes duties, and liberal culture, which centers around rights, and explored the following questions: Is it necessary to choose between the Judaic tradition of duties and the liberal doctrine of rights? What is the potential for cross-fertilization between these two approaches in a Jewish and democratic state?
 Full video coverage (Hebrew) of this conference can be found at the bottom of this page.
 Click here for a summary of the proceedings of this conference
FULL PROGRAM
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9:00 am – 9:15 am |
Registration |
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9:15 am – 9:30 am |
Opening Remarks: Dr. Arye Carmon, President, The Israel Democracy Institute |
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9:30 am – 11:00 am |
SESSION 1: RIGHTS AND DUTIES: WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?
Chair: Justice (Ret.) Dalia Dorner
Speakers:
- Prof. Daniel Statman, Department of Philosophy, University of Haifa
"Reflections on Rights and Duties"
- Prof. Asher Maoz, Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
"Duties vs. Rights–Jewish Values vs. Liberal Values"
- Prof. Shahar Lifshitz, Senior Fellow, The Israel Democracy Institute; Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University
"On the Dialogue between Liberal Thought and the Doctrine of Duties "
Discussion
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11:00 am – 11:15 am |
Break |
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11:15 am – 12:45 pm |
SESSION 2: DUTIES VS. RIGHTS IN CLASSICAL JEWISH THOUGHT
Chair: Ms. Hila Ben-Eliahu, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Speakers:
- Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, Head of Yeshivat Har Etzion
"The Status of the 'Devar Reshut' in Halakha"
- Prof. Fania Oz-Salzberger, Faculty of Law and School of History, University of Haifa
"The Principles of the Doctrine of Rights and Its Presence in the Bible and in Jewish Thought"
- Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, Head of Yeshivat Petach Tikva
"The Absence of Duties Discourse from Religious Discourse: Surrogacy as a Case Study"
Discussion |
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12:45 pm – 1:45 pm |
Break |
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1:45 pm – 3:15 pm |
SESSION 3: RIGHTS IN CONTEMPORARY JEWISH THOUGHT
Chair: Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University
Speakers:
- Dr. Amichai Radzyner, Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University
"Does the Concept of Rights Exist in Judaism? The Case of Property Law"
- Rabbi Dr. Einat Ramon, Dean of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
"Repressive Aspects of Rights Discourse: A Comparative Study between the Writings of A. D. Gordon and the Philosophy of the American Sociologist Christopher Lasch"
- Prof. Gerald Blidstein, Department of Jewish Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University
"Rights in Duties and Duties in Rights"
Discussion |
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3:30 pm – 5:00 pm |
SESSION 4: RESPONSIBILITIES DISCOURSE AS AN ISRAELI CHALLENGE
Chair: Prof. Anita Shapira, Senior Fellow, Israel Democracy Institute; Department of History, Tel Aviv University
Speakers:
- Justice (Ret.) Prof. Izhak Englard
"The Tension between Personal Autonomy, Communal Autonomy, and the Public Good, against the Backdrop of Concepts from the Jewish Tradition"
- Professor Hanoch Dagan, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
"Hebraic Jurisprudence as a Normative Program"
- Ms. Tomer Shadmi, Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
"Duties as a Complement to Rights in Israeli Law"
Discussion
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5:00 pm – 5:15 pm |
Break |
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5:15 pm – 6:45 pm |
SESSION 5: RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN A JEWISH AND DEMOCRATIC STATE
Chair: Prof. Daphne Barak-Erez, Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University
Speakers:
- Prof. Avi Sagi, Director of the Hermeneutic Studies Program, Bar-Ilan University; Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute
"On the Limitations of Rights and Duties Discourse"
- Prof. Menachem Mautner, Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
"The Crisis of Republicanism in Israel"
- Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern, Vice President of Research, The Israel Democracy Institute; Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University
"Rights and Duties in Practice"
Discussion |
Full video coverage of the conference (Hebrew)
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