What the Death Penalty Teaches Us about a Society
Abraham Joshua Heschel once said that: a society is measured by the way it treats its elderly. In watching the news this week I came to the conclusion that we can learn a great deal about a society by the way they administer the death penalty. The world had a terrible example of this in the past few days. ISIS put a Jordanian pilot to death in such a grossly barbaric way that the world cannot pretend there is anything civilized or redeeming in this new Caliphate. Then, yesterday we heard the news that Kayla Mueller, an American aide worker, was put to death despite the pleading of her parents; despite the fact she was not an armed combatant, nor that her sole purpose for being in Syria was to help the innocent.
We can measure a society by the way it values human life—in the manner in which it administers the death penalty.
This week we read Parshat Mishpatim. It contains one of our people’s most ancient law codes. We learn that if one knowingly takes a life they must forfeit their own. Such is the holiness of every person created in the image of God. Even if the perpetrator claims sanctuary they must be removed from the very alter itself so that justice may be done. However, if the murder was unintentional then the Torah makes provisions to have a person live in a city of refuge where they would be safe from the vengeance of the family members of the slain person. While the Torah allows for capital punishment it also takes care to ensure that great care be exercised to ensure that the State not abuse such power. The Rabbis themselves adopted this attitude. It is recorded in the Mishnah: Makkot 1:10 that “A Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seven years is called a murderous one.” This attitude regarding the sanctity of life has been carried on by the modern State of Israel, which does not allow for Capital Punishment. In fact, the only recorded case of a person put to death was that of Adolph Eichmann whose Crime against the Jewish People could be punished no other way.
The distinctiveness of our tradition can be seen in the last few sentences of this section on capital crimes. It is a familiar phrase: the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. It is of interest to us that the Code of Hammurabi, one in existence since during the time of Abraham, contains almost the exact same wording. The difference is that in Mishpatim these laws were administered to everyone equally and, in the Code of Hammurabi, based upon ones class in society. Furthermore, in our tradition it is understood from the start that the Torah was not advocating the simple meaning of the text, but rather monetary compensation. For our people the punishment must always fit the crime.
To use the death penalty as an opportunity to publicize one’s cause, as ISIS does, is an affront to the very God they purport to worship and honor. Now that the world has had the opportunity to peer into the dark soul of these people, we can only pray that they will be dealt with in a way that is commensurate with their crimes.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel
