Eye for an Eye: Justice?

Emor

Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23

Précis: This parasha is divided into four sections. First, it reviews procedures for the Priests to use to remain ritually pure. Second, it outlines the festival and holiday calendar. Third, it explains the use of the olive oil and bread on display on the altar. Finally, there is a brief narrative about a blasphemer who is condemned to death.

Leviticus 24:19-20 “And if a man maims his neighbor, do as he has done to him: breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has maimed a man, so shall it be for him.”

Verse 20 is one of three places in the Bible where the phrase “eye for an eye” (“ayin tachat ayin”) appears (see also Exodus 21:23-25 and Deuteronomy 19:21). There is of course an obvious logical problem with the proposition. How can one obey the literal dictates of this commandment when the evil doer is already blind or toothless? Then there is the simple barbarity of the demand, as well as the fact that physical retribution is a kind of revenge we are repeatedly warned to avoid. The barbarity of striking out eyes or teeth or taking a life was just as palpable for the sages 2000 years ago as it is to our “modern” sensibilities.

There has been universal concurrence from the rabbis since Mishnaic times forward that this text cannot and never was taken literally. Through parsing of the texts, the Sages announced that this system was a call for a detailed system of monetary damages administered by the courts for wrongs done by one human being to another. The rabbis called their system of justice “midah k’neged midah” or “measure for measure.” They based this concept on their belief of how God administers justice on a more cosmic scale. Pharaoh, Amalek, and Haman are often cited as examples of individuals who were punished according to the magnitude of their crimes, and Joseph, Moses, and others are cited as receiving reward because of the mitzvot they performed.

Our experience in the “real world” suggests that all too often, the evil prosper while the righteous suffer. How can we come to terms with the Holocaust or with the results of natural disasters and continue to believe that God administers true justice? This is perhaps the ultimate dilemma which tests our faith. Some resolve it by saying that the balance is made in the world to come; others retreat behind the concept that God works in mysterious ways.

Nevertheless, the concept of a system of justice administered by human judges, with human plaintiffs and defendants, was guided by the principle of “measure for measure.” It was and remains an attempt to create a social mechanism which, despite its flaws, seeks justice for all. This system is one which we should be striving for in our private lives, congregations, and in our communities.