 The responsum analyzed the principle of "kevod habriyot" and held that the rule only permits overriding rabbinic injunctions out of honor or respect for someone else, but not out of one's own honor.Rabbi Roth argued that the idea that a person's own honor (as distinct from giving honor to someone else) could justify overriding a rabbinic injunction was not only inconsistent with a fair reading of the history of the concept, but theologically unjustifiable.The responsum argued that the principle behind "kevod habriyot" is the idea that a person can honor God by honoring others, and that this principle does not apply in cases where one's own honor, as distinct from others' honor, is at stake.