Here’s another ethical issue and Jewish source response:

Case

Sol Goldstein was a very famous Holocaust survivor who lived in Chicago.  He was the one who organized the 1978 protest against a Nazi march in Skokie.  He also made a large pledge to the Jewish United Fund; when he died $666,000 was still unpaid.  Now that his children have inherited his estate, they have refused to pay the remainder of the pledge.

The children argue that their father’s commitments are not theirs – charitable contributions are matters of the heart.  The children agree to give this amount to charity – but not the charity their father chose. The UJF has brought suit, claiming that a charitable pledge is to be regarded as a legally binding contract.

Answer

[a] A husband and wife had an agreement that if she died first, 20,000 dinars would go to their children and 10,000 dinars would go to him.  On her deathbed she changed her mind. She still wanted 20,000 dinars to go to the children and grandchildren, but now she wanted 10,000 to go to the synagogue.  The husband went to the rabbi and asked if she had the right to change the original agreement.

[b] Rabbi Betzalel wrote: “The heirs do not take title while the person making the promise is still alive.  The case is indisputable; a will may be changed. The synagogue is entitled to the 10,000 dinars.”

By rabbinic law the heirs of Sol Gordon must make good on his pledges.

[c] In a Chicago court it was also found that the heirs of Sol Gordon must make good on their father’s pledge because of the expectation created by the pledge.  People were hired, rents were paid, programs were begun based on an expectation of three years of funding.

Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge”, pgs. 89-90

Used with permission from Joel Grishaver