Dear TBZ community:
עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת שֵׁ֑ן יָ֚ד תַּ֣חַת יָ֔ד רֶ֖גֶל תַּ֥חַת רָֽגֶל
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot
What would our lives look like if our judicial systems followed the literal words of this well-known verse from this week’s parsaha?
The literal meaning of this verse, the pshat, suggests a justice system based on vengeance in which if someone hurts you, you can hurt them back. If this is how we lived our lives, most of us would be walking around missing eyes and limbs.
Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, the Associate Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at AJU asks: “How can the Torah possibly call for in-kind repayment for an injury? ‘You hurt me, I hurt you’ just doesn’t jive with the value we place on human life nor would it be legally defensible. In a pre-biblical society, one could actually retaliate against an attacker. But imagine the endless cycle of fighting and revenge that would continue through the generations.”
Rather than the literal eye for eye, rabbinic interpretation of this verse says that this pasuk ought to be understood in terms of restitution for loss. The words tachat, translated above as “for a” or “under”` in this context is understood as “instead of.” In place of a corresponding eye, compensation is required. In the Mishna, on Bava Kamma (8:1) we learn:
“One who wounds their fellow is liable to compensate them on five counts: for injury, for pain, for healing, for loss of income and for indignity.”
This text as well as most of the Talmudic tractate of Bava Kamma developed comprehensive standards for monetary compensation for damages, pain, expenses, incapacitation, and mental anguish as well as the importance for the perpetrators to pay for the harm they cause.
So why does this one line of Torah seem to equate eye for eye, limb for a limb? Why this seemingly literal wording of equivalence?
Rabbi David Block, Associate Head of School, Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles, teaches that “Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik suggests that the wording of the Torah demonstrates a deep understanding of the experience of the victim. Money cannot ever fully repay the loss that the victim suffers. Our limbs perform physical functions, but they are also infused with limitless spiritual and personal potential. How dearly would it cheapen one’s loss to simply assign it a monetary value, for the Torah to explicitly write that culpability for inflicting that pain is just a number? Theoretically, the only way to truly appreciate the loss one inflicts on another is for the perpetrator to experience the totality of that pain him/herself.”
Our tradition teaches us that truth and accountability are the cornerstone of a just society. Systems are in place so those who do damage will be held accountable for their actions, because without this we would live in a world where everything is allowable, where people can hurt each other constantly, and where the most powerful can crush the weak.
This week our country is witnessing an impeachment trial that seeks truth and accountability.
Impeachment manager Representative Jamie Raskin’s opening statement on the second day of Trump’s second impeachment trial quoted his father and said: “My late father, Marcus Raskin, once wrote, ‘Democracy needs a ground to stand upon. And that ground is the truth.’ America needs the truth about ex-President Trump’s role in inciting the insurrection on January 6th because it threatened our government and it disrupted, it easily could have destroyed the peaceful transfer of power in the United States for the first time in 233 years.” He ended his remarks asking: “Can our country and our democracy ever be the same if we don’t hold accountable the person responsible for inciting the violent attack against our country, our capital, and our democracy, and all of those who serve us so faithfully and honorably?”
Our tradition calls us fervently to act for justice, to seek justice, to seek truth and accountability.
Parshat Mishpatim, has 53 mitzvot in it, many of them relating to a just system of accountability, including: penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft; civil laws pertaining to redress of damages, the granting of loans and the rules governing the conduct of justice by courts of law. It also includes laws warning against mistreatment of foreigners. Clearly our Torah demands from us Justice.
For a society to heal, to move forward, and for each human being to live in this world, justice must be an imperative in our lives. As the prophet Micah calls us:
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
“God has told you, Adam, what is good, And what the Adonai requires of you: Only to do justice, And to love goodness, And to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8)
May we continue walking in the path of justice and goodness and walk humbly and in humbleness with God.
Today is also Rosh Hodesh Adar, the beginning of the month of Adar, a month that we celebrate and lift up joy. We look forward to celebrating Purim together and find moments of joy in the midst of these challenging times. Check out our Purim programming below.
Hodesh Tov!!!
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
