An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.

(Shemot 21:24)

 

An eye for an eye - Plain Meaning and Drash

An eye - Rav Saadya said, we cannot interpret this passage literally. For if a person struck his fellow's eye, causing him to lose a third of his eyesight, how can he possibly be smitten in an identical degree, neither more nor less? Perhaps he will lose all his sight. Even more difficult would be cases of burns, open wounds, and bruises; if they are in a critical place he may die, and this would be unacceptable to reason.

Ben Zuta said to him: Is it not written elsewhere, As he has rendered a defect in another human [ba'adam], thus is to be rendered in him (Vayikra 24:20)?!

The Gaon replied to him: The Torah places [the letter] bet instead of the word al - "on"; the meaning is "so shall he be punished". [Saadya's argument is that whereas al would imply punishment 'on' the person's body, the letter bet implies 'so'].

Ben Zuta answered: "As he has done, thus is to be done to him" (Ibid., ibid.)

The Gaon replied: Samson said - As they did to me, so I did to them. (Judges 15:11), and Samson did not take their women and give them to others, he extracted remuneration.

Ben Zuta replied: And if the attacker was poor, [if punishment is monetary] what would his punishment be?

The Gaon answered: If a blind man blinds the eye of one who has sight, what can be done to him? A poor man may, in time, become wealthy and pay, but the blind man will never be able to pay.

The general rule is: We cannot interpret the Torah perfectly without recourse to the Sages. For when we received Torah from our ancestors, we also received the Oral Law, and there is no difference between them. If so, the meaning of eye for eye is that he is deserving of losing an eye for an eye, should he not pay compensation.

(Ibn Ezra on Shemot [the extended version], 21:24)

 

An eye for an eye - It is known in the tradition of our Rabbis that this means monetary compensation (Mekhilta ad loc, Bava Kama 84a). Such usage [of the term tahat - "for an" - to indicate] monetary compensation is found in the verse: And one who slays an animal shall pay for it [the value of] a life for [tahat] the life (Vayikra 24:18)... If we explain the verses according to the literal interpretation of Scripture, there is no escape from this question, unless they will say that if someone maims his neighbor so that he deprives him permanently of some bodily member, such as an eye, hand, or foot, or causes a burn which leaves a permanent mark, then we are to do likewise to the assailant's body, this being the case of the verse which says, as he has caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him (Vayikra 24;19), and in that case there is no monetary compensation paid for loss of time and cost of healing. But if he hits him with a stone or with his fist on his clothes, and he is laid up in bed but then is completely healed without any crippling effect remaining upon his body, in that case He said, only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed (Shemot 21:19).

(RaMBaN ad loc)

 

 

For You Knew the Stranger's Soul

Elimelekh Horowitz

As R. Eliezer HaGadol (ben Horkanus) states in Bava Metziya 59b, the Torah instructs us in thirty-three different places about treatment of the stranger, more than any other commandment in the Torah. Sometimes these appear as positive commandments, such as, And you shall love the stranger (Devarim 10:19), and sometimes, as in our parasha, as negative commandments: And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him (Shemot 22:20) and you shall not oppress a stranger (23:9). In both cases the stated rationale is, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt.

This rationale clearly shows that the plain meaning of Scripture does not refer only to a stranger - a ger - who has taken upon himself the yoke of the commandments, but rather, as Rashi has it, it refers to any person "who was not born in that country but rather came from another country to live there." Perhaps Rashi recalled his own hardships as a stranger living in Worms in Germany. R. Avraham ben HaRaMBaM states that the plain sense of Scripture is here talking about "a stranger... in connection with his dwelling." Likewise, the verse is rendered in the King James translation as, Thou shalt not oppress a stranger.

As Nehama Leibowitz points out (Iyunim Hadashim BeSefer Shemot, pg. 280), our parasha stresses the connection between the prohibition against oppressing the stranger and the People Israel's memory of its hardships in Egypt not only by repeating the explicit rationale of for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt, but also "by the stylistic device of repeating a word we have already come across in the place to which memory should be directed." The verb lahatz - oppressed - first appears in the Torah in God's message to Moses as he stood before the burning bush: And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression that the Egyptians are oppressing them (Shemot 3:9), and is not found again until our parasha, where it is twice used to warn us against the improper treatment of strangers: And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him and you shall not oppress a stranger. According to Nehama, the verb is reintroduced in order to suggest to us "that when you read the Torah's prohibition against oppressing the stranger you will remember the oppression you yourselves suffered in Egypt." Perhaps it should be added that, like Rashi, Nehama Leibowitz also was exiled to Germany for the sake of her studies, allowing her to gain personal acquaintance with the emigrant's plight.

She also mentions a passage from Sefer HaHinukh, which was written by a Sephardic scholar. Although Sefer HaHinukh defines the stranger [ger] for purposes of the commandment as "anyone from the other nations who has joined us, leaving his religion and entering ours" he adds a more general message that "one should learn from this precious commandment" (of loving the stranger), which is: "To have compassion for a person who is in a city outside the land of his birth and the place of his ancestors' family, and we should not neglect him when we find him alone."

This message bears special relevance for the Israeli populace, since many of us are emigrants or the descendants of emigrants from lands where Jews suffered even more than did our ancestors in Egypt. However, the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have yet to internalize this message; they often treat foreign workers and the children of foreign workers with appalling inflexibility. Lately we have heard (Haaretz, 10 Shevat, 5769) of the case of an eleven year old boy who was born in Tel Aviv to Filipino parents and was named "Rabbi Eliezer" after the Maccabean hero. "Rabbi Eliezer" and his parents were ordered to leave the country because his mother had entered it thirteen years earlier under a false identity - she had been too young to leave her country legally. "Little Rabbi Eliezer" is monolingual - he only speaks Hebrew, and he is only acquainted with only one country - Israel.

This is certainly the appropriate time to cite the dictum of Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol - the Big Rabbi Eliezer - which states that the Torah instructs us thirty-six times regarding the treatment of strangers. In this connection, the Sages said (in Sifri on the verse, Pursue justice): "Pursue the court of law which judges well, [that is,] the court of R. Yohanan ben Zakai, and after the court of R. Eliezer."

Prof. Elimelekh Horowitz is an historian and lives in Jerusalem  

 

 

And should a man strike his manservant or his maidservant with a rod, and [that one] die under his hand, he shall surely be avenged.

(Shemot 21:20)

 

his manservant, etc.: This refers to a Canaanite slave, see Rashi and Ibn Ezra. It is known that the master had power over his slaves to kill them, but the Torah took that power away from him, and if [the slave] dies under his hand in such a way that it makes us think he killed him on purpose, the master shall be killed. But if [the slave] survives for a day or two in a way that suggests he only meant to cause him to suffer but not to kill him, that law is not applied. And thus wrote RaMBaM in Hilkhot Rotzeyah 2:14: "It seems to me that one who strikes his slave with a knife and sword, or rock and fist, and so on, and they predicted he [the slave] would die and he did, is not considered to be covered by the law of [the slave who survives] a day or two; even if he only dies a year later he [the master] will be killed because of him. That is why it states with a rod, that the Torah only gave him permission to strike him with a rod, stick, or whip, and so on, but not with a murderous blow. he shall surely be avenged - Executed by a sword, see Rashi and Ibn Ezra. According to the Romans the master had the power to kill his slaves by any strange means [he wished] and for any reason, and that continued until the time of the emperors Hadrian and Anthony, who had pity upon them and prohibited their killing. And here it is worth mentioning our Rabbis' words from the Mekhilta (Mishpatim 7) (quoted by Rashi and the Yalkut): "But he [the one who kills his slave] was included in He who strikes a man and he dies (above, verse 12)! This verse came to exclude him [the owner of the slave] from the general rule [concerning murder], to be judged with the law of a day or two days." Here it is clear that also according to the Tanna'im Canaanite slaves are included under the law of He who strikes a man and he dies, and an Israelite who kills them is subject to the death penalty. Nevertheless this requires further study, because the continuation of the Mekhilta seems to imply that according to the first Tanna, the statement "But he [the one who kills his slave] was included in He who strikes a man and he dies" refers to a Hebrew servant.

(ShaDaL Shemot 21:20)

 

The Holy One, Blessed be He, Saves All from Those Stronger Than Them

The correct interpretation appears to me to be that He is saying: "Do not wrong a stranger or oppress him, thinking as you might that none can deliver him out of your hand; for you know that you were strangers in the land of Egypt and I saw the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed (Shemot 3:9) you, and I avenged your cause on them, because I behold the tears of such who are oppressed and have no comforter, and on the side of their oppressors there is power (Kohelet 4:1) and I deliver each one from him that is too strong for him (Psalms 35:10). Likewise you shall not afflict the widow and the fatherless child for I will hear their cry, for all these people do not rely upon themselves but trust in Me." And in another verse He added this reason: for you know the soul of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Shemot 23:9). That is to say, you know that every stranger feels depressed, and is always sighing and crying, and his eyes are always directed towards God, therefore He will have mercy upon him even as He showed mercy to you, just as it is written, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage (Shemot 2:23), meaning that He had mercy upon them not because of their merits, but only on account of the bondage.

(RaMBaN Shemot 22:20, Chavel translation)

 

And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him: Lack of Protest can also be Counted as Oppression

After it said do not oppress in the plural, it said if you indeed oppress him [in the singular], for anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. This is the punishment: if someone is oppressed and the other does not come to his aid, the punishment is inflicted on them all. That is why afterwards [it is written] My wrath will be kindled, and I will slay you [plural] with the sword - all of you.

(Ibn Ezra Shemot 22:20)

 

This notion, i.e., that non-action is also a kind of action, that everyone who is capable of protesting but does not protest is judged as a collaborator, is found frequently in Scripture, Mishnah, and the aggadah. The author of the Ha'Amek Davar, who agrees here with Ibn Ezra, makes the paradoxical comment that the prophet makes a claim of this kind against the Holy One blessed be He. If He sees injustice and remains silent, even He is - so to speak - a collaborator with the wrongdoers. And Rabbi Abraham wrote that anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. He is correct; this is fully supported by a verse from Isaiah (64:11): Concerning these will You restrain Yourself; will You remain silent and afflict us so very greatly? This means: In that You are silent You impose affliction.(Ha'Amek Davar Shemot 22:22). By restraining and remaining silent - You become - so to speak - one of our oppressors.

(Prof. Nehama Leibowitz z"l, Iyyunim le'Sefer Shemot, pg. 285)

 

You Shall Be Holy Men To Me

[This may also be translated as] You shall be human holy-ones to me. Sanctify your human activities - that is the principal holiness required of human beings. The Master of the universe already has enough angels in heaven.

(Attributed to Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk in Ma'ayanah Shel Torah)

 

And you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce. But in the seventh [year].

(Shemot 23:9-11)

 

The Sabbath-year is the greatest act, on the part of the whole nation, of recognition that God is the sole, one and real Owner and Master of their country, inasmuch as in that year they lay it in homage at His feet, and refrain from exercising their rights of ownership on their lands. But by this, they acknowledge themselves as "aliens" and "dwellers only by the tolerance of the Owner" in their own land. This feeling does away with the arrogance, which, priding itself on standing on its own soil, tends to become unsympathetic and harsh in dealing with the poor and landless ones. Moreover, it engenders that frame of mind which lovingly includes the stranger, the poor, and also the animals, as creatures of God, who have the right to live in a land which belongs to God, which all are to share in common.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch Shemot 23:11, based on Levi translation)

 

Some Commandments are to be Observed when Opportunities Present Themselves, while Others Require that we Pursue Opportunities to Observe Them

Hillel says: Be of Aaron's disciples: love peace, pursue peace, love [your fellow] creatures, and draw them near to Torah. "Love peace" is understandable, as we have said, but what of "pursue peace"? It is as we have learned, seek peace and pursue it (Psalms 34:15). And how is it different? All other commandments only apply to a person when an opportunity presents itself, as is written when you come across your enemy's ox (Shemot 23:4), when you build a new house (Devarim 22:8). But peace must always [be pursued]: seek peace and pursue it.

(Massekhet Kallah Rabati, 3:5)

 

The Half-Shekel as a Metaphor for the Chasm Between the Infinite and that which is Demanded of Man

Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: Moses heard three things from the Almighty, was frightened, and recoiled. When God said And they shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell therein, Moses said: Master of the Universe, Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain you! He replied: "Moses, it is not as you imagine, but twenty boards at the north, twenty at the south, eight at the west, and eight at the east, and I will compress My Presence and I will dwell among you." And it is written, I will appoint-meeting with you there and I will speak with you.

And when He said: Command the Children of Israel and say to them: Of my near-offering, my food ...Moses said: "Master of the Universe, were I to gather all the animals of the world and all the cattle, they would not suffice for a single offering, and all the trees in the world would not supply a single fire, as is written: Lebanon is not fuel enough, nor its beasts enough for sacrifice!" He replied: "Moses, it is not as you imagine, but rather: You are to sacrifice one lamb in the morning, and not two together, because I neither eat nor drink [Literally, "there are neither food nor drink before me"]. Why? If indeed there were food before me, when you spent forty days and forty nights with, and food you did not eat, and if there were food before, you would have eaten. But a pleasing odor [means]: be punctilious in offering a pleasing odor." And when He said, they are to give, each man, a ransom for his life, Moses wondered and asked, "Who can give full ransom for his life? For it is written, The price of life is too high, and so one ceases to be, forever, A brother cannot redeem a man, or pay his ransom to God." He replied to him: "It is not as you imagine, but rather this shall you give, as this shall you give." Rav Huna said in the name of Rav, "Shaddai - we cannot attain to Him, He is great in power... (Job 37:23) The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not inconvenience Israel. When Moses heard this, he proclaimed: Happy the people who have it so. (Psalms 144:15) and Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help (Ibid. 146:5)."

(Tanhuma, Ki Tissa, 10)

 

 

 

 

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