By Ori Edgar
As I am sure many can relate, there are a few lines in the Torah that I find hard to square up. There are moments of violence which seem out of proportion as well as patriarchal values that are out of step with our modern sensibilities. In this week’s parsha, it is the line “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The injury inflicted on a human being shall be inflicted in return,” (Leviticus 24:20). You might not see a problem with this and that is more than fine, but I do not think that I am the only one with a problem. The Rabbis do not take this verse literally. Instead, they use it as justification for monetary reparations in cases of harm. Don’t get me wrong, I like this reasoning. It’s practical and deeply attuned with the particularities of the text. But I read it and feel a question unasked and unresolved.
That question is: why? Why more violence? What will be accomplished? These are, at least in my eyes, vital questions and ones that take seriously the ethical goals of the Torah. I will not answer them. I could placate them with some platitude about justice. I can tell myself that Tikkun Olam can only happen in a world where we take seriously the harm that people do. But I do not find these answers satisfying. Instead of looking for the ‘right’ answers, I want to think about whether or not I should ask these questions.
I already said that they are ‘vital’ questions, but what does that mean? To me, they are vital because they speak to the ethical heart of Judaism. Judaism is a religion of questions, of asking why at every moment because certainty is reserved for HaShem. Now, I will venture to say something that might be a little controversial. This ethical heart can sometimes clash with the violent tendencies of the Torah. This can seem a little contradictory as I do believe this ethical heart is rooted in the Torah. In last week’s parsha we are told: “You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity,” (Leviticus 19:35). This signals the encompassing nature of Jewish ethics. It is not just about loving your neighbor, but about the practical realities of treating them with honesty and respect down to the minutia. So, when we turn back to the “eye for an eye” verse, we do so through a lens of ethics that lives in the world. We do always have to account for the Torah being the word of HaShem, however. Our questions are limited by that belief, but I do not think that stops our questioning.
On the contrary, I think that we have these questions because we take these words as divine. If we do that, we must seriously account for what they mean and how they fit into our lives. If we do not question them we can fall into a real pitfall. We become an idle, blind follower with no sense of ethics. For us to believe in these words as divine, sometimes that means we are
made uncomfortable by them. That is not an idolatrous or heretical notion, but rather a serious accounting for the weight of these ideas. I truly do not think that it is wrong to feel uncomfortable or ask questions about the words of Torah. Instead, it shows that these words have a gravity and sanctity in our lives.
Ori Edgar is a graduating senior in Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the University at Buffalo and has lead Junior Congregation at Temple Beth Tzedek for the last two years.
