RSS
An Eye for an Eye?
A page of Talmud. Photo: Chajm Guski/Wikimedia
JNS.org – I once heard a story about two Jews back in Russia who got into a terrible argument. Their blood pressure was rising fast. One fellow got so incensed that he shouted, “I am so angry at what you’ve done to me that I… uh… I uh… I know: I won’t go to your funeral!”
Whereupon the other guy very calmly replied: “I don’t take revenge. I will go to your funeral.”
While other cultures sanction and may even encourage revenge, in Judaism revenge is explicitly forbidden (Leviticus 19:18).
Some Muslim countries still practice amputation as a punishment for stealing. It seems anathema to the modern mind. Yet in this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, we find that famous line: “An eye for an eye … a hand for a hand … a wound for a wound.”
Why?
The Talmud in Bava Kama explains that never in Jewish history was “an eye for an eye” understood literally. It was understood as the value of an eye for an eye; a monetary compensation, rather than an act of pure vengeance with no positive purpose. The Talmud offers several logical proofs as to why this is so.
Besides, taking out the culprit’s eye will not bring back the victim’s eye. It does nothing for him. But financial compensation can help. It brings some relief to the victim and an element of atonement for the perpetrator.
In Judaism, there is no such thing as punishment that is purely punitive. A generation of teachers punished their ill-behaved students by making them stand in the corner, wear a dunce cap or write 500 times, “I will not throw spitballs at the teacher.” What rehabilitative effect did that have? Probably, it only made the students angrier and they behaved worse than they had before.
The concept of imprisonment does not exist in Judaism. We find it only in a handful of circumstances in which the penalty for the crime was not yet known and the guilty party was temporarily put in a holding cell.
In the Torah, besides monetary compensation, there are mainly two types of punishment: Lashes, which would no doubt serve as a very serious deterrent to repeating the crime, and capital punishment for extreme crimes like murder. Though rarely enforced, the death penalty was on the statute books. There are times when a person’s sin is so grave that their only atonement can be giving up their own life. But prison as a punishment didn’t feature at all.
How successful is our prison system today? In the U.S., they have been calling prisons “correctional centers” for many years now. But the number of rehabilitated prisoners whose way of life has been “corrected” is, sadly, very low. Most of those released become repeat offenders and end up right back where they came from.
The very same verse in Leviticus that forbids revenge also prohibits even bearing a grudge. But while Jews are not meant to practice revenge, Jewish law would hand down penalties that required the offender to atone for his offense. This was not punitive, but spiritually rehabilitative. Someone guilty of manslaughter, for example, would be exiled to a city of refuge. He did it accidentally, it wasn’t premeditated murder, but by going into exile the wrongdoer would atone for taking another’s life, albeit inadvertently.
“Sweet revenge” is sanctioned all too often in society today. On radio talk shows people are invited to share their stories of how they retaliated against someone who wronged them. We are even subjected to the shocking and shameful phenomenon of “revenge porn” and many people consider it appropriate or, worse still, funny.
I remember that while I was growing up in my parents’ home in Brooklyn, I once overheard them discussing how to react to someone who had wronged them quite badly. In the end, they decided not to respond in kind, as they were not prepared to stoop to the level of the person who hurt them.
Indeed, it is the mark of a true mensch to do the right thing, even when others around you are not. As the legendary Hillel taught in Pirkei Avot, “Where there are no men, strive to be a man.” A “real man,” a true mensch, always does the right thing, whether it is popular or not.
Or, as a witty gentleman once put it, “Be nice to your enemies. It’ll drive them crazy!”
I think of Israel today. The IDF is not on any revenge mission in Gaza. It is conducting a campaign to prevent future massacres by unrepentant terrorists who promise to do it again and again unless they are stopped. This is not revenge. This is saving innocent lives. God bless them.
The post An Eye for an Eye? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Military Evaluating Options to Prevent Nuclear-Armed Iran, General Says
Military personnel stand guard at a nuclear facility in the Zardanjan area of Isfahan, Iran, April 19, 2024, in this screengrab taken from video. Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The top US general overseeing American forces in the Middle East said on Tuesday there were a range of options when asked if the military was prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear–armed Iran.
“I have provided the secretary of defense and the president with a wide range of options,” US Army General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told a congressional hearing.
Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions.
“I take that as a yes?” the Alabama Republican asked, after Kurilla responded.
“Yes,” Kurilla said.
Iran said on Monday it would soon hand a counterproposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a US offer that Tehran deems unacceptable, while US President Donald Trump said talks would continue.
The post US Military Evaluating Options to Prevent Nuclear-Armed Iran, General Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US Issues Sanctions Against Charities Supporting Hamas, PFLP
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, Jan. 20, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday targeting individuals and sham charities that it said were prominent financial supporters of the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The individuals and groups targeted were funding Hamas‘s military wing under the pretense of doing humanitarian work, in Gaza and internationally, the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury said it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas, which still holds hostages it seized in the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The entities sanctioned included the Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society, the Turkey-based Filistin Vakfi, the El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, which is based in Algeria, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation and the Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro, based in Italy, the department said in a statement.
The five individuals targeted on Tuesday were leaders associated with the groups, it said.
“Today’s action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations,” Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said in the statement.
Hamas and PFLP have a long history of abusing non-profit organizations and charities, the Treasury said.
The post US Issues Sanctions Against Charities Supporting Hamas, PFLP first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Greta Thunberg Deported From Israel, Claims She Was ‘Kidnapped’ in International Waters
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who departed Israel by plane on Tuesday after being detained aboard the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht “Madleen” after Israeli forces boarded the vessel as it attempted to reach the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade, talks to journalists as she arrives at a terminal at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Roissy-en-France near Paris, France, June 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza.
Israeli forces seized their small ship, which was seeking to break a longstanding naval blockade of Gaza, and the 12-strong crew were brought to Israel.
Four of the group, including Thunberg, agreed to immediate deportation, while the eight others contested the repatriation order. They have been detained near Tel Aviv airport awaiting a court hearing on their legal status.
Amongst those who have refused to leave are Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament. The Jewish community in France lambasted Hassan last year for arguing that French-Palestinians must be able to join the “Palestinian armed resistance” if their French-Israeli counterparts are allowed to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“We were 12 peaceful volunteers sailing on a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid on international waters. We did not break laws. We did nothing wrong,” Thunberg told reporters after she flew into Paris, accusing Israel of kidnapping her.
“I was very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought against our own will into Israel,” she said.
“[There] is a continued violation of international law and war crimes that Israel is systematically committing against Palestinians by not letting aid come to starving people,” the 22-year-old Swede added.
Israel has imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza, saying the shutdown is needed to prevent arms from reaching Hamas terrorists. It lets in limited supplies of food that are mainly distributed by a private group it backs.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the Gaza-bound sea mission as a pro-Hamas publicity stunt.
“Greta and her friends brought in a tiny amount of aid on their celebrity yacht. It did not help the people of Gaza. This was nothing but a ridiculous gimmick,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters on Tuesday.
Saar said the small quantity of supplies aboard the UK-registered yacht would be transferred to Gaza through “real humanitarian channels.”
Thunberg defended the aid effort, organized by a pro-Palestinian group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, saying a larger boat that could carry a bigger cargo was disabled last month in the Mediterranean by drones allegedly operated by Israel.
She also laughed off criticism from US President Donald Trump, who had described her as an angry person, saying: “I think the world needs a lot more young angry women to be honest, especially with everything going on right now.”
She added that it was unclear where she would be heading next, telling reporters it could be Sweden.
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007. It tightened its grip significantly after Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The post Greta Thunberg Deported From Israel, Claims She Was ‘Kidnapped’ in International Waters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login