Jewish Values and Social Security

Social Security embodies biblical principles of intergenerational responsibility and support. Jewish tradition recognizes the vulnerability and abandonment that may come with old age. "Cast me not away in time of old age, forsake me not when my strength is spent" laments the psalmist in Psalm 70. The Bible responds to the fear of old age by urging people to respect and care for their elders. As it says in the book of Leviticus "You shall rise up before the gray-haired and defer to the one who is elder" (Leviticus 19:32). Again and again, we are commanded to take care of those who are most vulnerable in our society, typified by the widow, the orphan and the stranger.