Transcription
The sages actually prevented us from going to extremes. People complain the rabbis were too extreme. Too demanding, too many rules, too many details. No, it actually prevented us from going to the extreme. Without the oral Torah, we could, in a bad mood, come to conclusions that would make us look like ISIS. Or Hamas. On the other hand, there are verses that would make us look like Unitarians. Trust your own instincts. Do what you think is right. Be the best you. Which is dangerously liberal in its lack of definition. So, we could go to either extreme were it not for the oral law.
An eye for an eye. I can imagine some people would take that literally. If you damage somebody's eye, your eye should be damaged. That's barbaric. And that's not what it meant. But how would we know without the oral law? So, when God said to Moses, "Write this down. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." Uh, I mean financial re- uh restitution. Pay for the damage of an eye. Don't kill someone for blinding another person. Just make him pay for the eye or the tooth or the damage or the doctor bills or the pain or the shame. For all of that, you should pay. An eye for an eye means if you if you if you injure someone, you don't get the death penalty.
How would we know this? I mean, if you're really careful, you can tell from the context. The text is saying what you have to pay for whatever kind of things, and then it says an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. So, if you're really careful, you can you you can uh read it into the into the script. But then again, you can, if you're in a really bad mood, you can read it the other way. So, it would depend on whose eye we're talking about. If it's a total stranger, no, it doesn't mean take out his eye. Don't be crazy. But if it happens to someone I happen to like, yeah, kill him. Take his eye out. Do whatever you want.
So, the sages showed how every commandment is an act of kindness. If it doesn't look kind, you're >> [clears throat] >> you're not understanding it, you're not doing it right.
One final example. I think we've talked about this. There is a short chapter in the in the in the Torah that is known as the rebellious son. And it says as follows, if a mother and father have a son who does not listen to them and he eats too much and drinks too much. You take him to court and you have him stoned to death. Simple. Quick solution. Sounds quite barbaric, doesn't it?
So when people challenge the the rabbis, the rabbis get very defensive. Uh, yeah, yeah, it does sound a little. Oh, but but that was just in those days. See, that's that's the uh the convenient uh justification of. No, of course it doesn't. No, not these days. In those days, that's what people did. We're talking about the Torah that is eternal. It is the word of God addressed to every person for all time. You can't get away with that.
There was a reform rabbi who was talking to his teenage congregants and he said, "The difference between Reform Judaism and Orthodox Judaism is we don't stone women to death for committing adultery." And all the teenagers said, "Uh-huh?" Orthodox Jews don't stone women. >> [laughter] >> He said, "But it's in the Torah. So, even if they don't do it, they believe it." And all the kids said, "What? And we don't believe in the Torah? What are you What are you saying?" He got himself into big trouble with the kids that day.
So, even if we don't kill kids who eat too much >> [laughter] >> That's really what it sounds like, right? You eat too much. I can't afford you. You only kill you. Uh, even if we don't actually do it, we believe in the Torah that says to do it. How do you justify that? So, the truth is, Torah doesn't have to be justified. There are sins for which the Torah says you deserve to die. So, maybe this is one of them. Sure, it kept kids in line. See, but the rabbis said this um this this law was never actually applied. And no kid was ever stoned to death. Why not? Cuz you're not noticing the kindness in this commandment. Not kindness to the parents. >> [laughter] >> Kindness to the child. What it says is not, "If you hate your kid and he eats too much, kill him." That's not what it says. It says, "Take him to court." You want to talk about what used to happen in the olden days? If parents felt that a child deserved to die, they would simply take him out in the backyard and kill him. The Torah says, "No, you can't do that." If you think a child deserves to die, you have to give him due process. You have to bring him to court in front of the judges, and they have to examine the circumstances. And And the result is no kid was ever killed by a court. But he might have been killed by his parents.
So, have times changed? Not really. There are still places in the world today, today, where parents kill their children for shaming the family. There's no court. They The parents take the law in their own hands, and they kill their kid. Especially girls. So, we're not talking about ancient times, we're talking about today.
So, what does the Torah say? The Torah is saying, "If parents develop a real hatred for their kid, and they really believe this kid is an evil seed, and he's just going to grow up to be a murderer, a uh molester of people, and they're convinced that this child has just got to go." The Torah says, "Calm down. Maybe you're right. Let's check it out. Bring the kid to court. But you cannot lift a hand against your child." In a fit of anger, parents could be much more cruel than any court. Especially rabbinic court.
It turns out that according to the oral law, what does it mean he eats too much? What's too much? He has dessert after a big meal, is that too much? You see how dangerous it is without the oral law? If he eats like a glutton and drinks like a drunkard, what what what does that mean? What what's a glutton? And how old is this child we're talking about? If he's 10 years old, he's not responsible for anything he does. You can't punish him. He's a child. If he's grown up, an adult, he doesn't have to listen to you. He can eat as much as he wants. So, who are we talking about? Turns out that this whole law, this whole chapter applies to a child who is 12 and a half. Cuz once he's 13, he's independent. Before 12 and a half, he's a baby.
So, here's the important message. If you want to kill your kid, do it quickly at 12 and 1/2 because you only have 6 months. So first of all, you see how restricted this whole idea is? It's really not meant to tell you when and how to kill your kid. It's meant to tell you that you can't kill your kid. Even if you think you should. Yeah, darn it. >> [clears throat] >> And that's where the joke comes from, the joke that says, "Grandchildren are so delightful. They are the reward for not killing your kids." So if you want to have children grandchildren that you can really enjoy, don't don't kill your kids. Let them have another sandwich. It's all. It's okay. We really could be monsters without the oral law.
In the early days of the church, if a if a mother in labor was was was at risk, and you had to make a choice between the baby and the mother, you killed the mother and saved the baby. Because the mother is already baptized, and her soul is already saved. But the baby still needs to be saved, so you let the mother die and save the child. By extension, any person who refused to be baptized can be killed to save his soul. So, it's not it's not an academic question. It's not theoretical. What does "Thou shalt not murder" mean? Under what circumstances? When is it permissible to take a life? In self-defense? How do you know that? It says, "Thou shalt not murder." We really would know nothing without the oral law.
With the oral law, we know that there is a huge difference between murder and killing. "Thou shalt not murder" is the commandment, not "Thou shalt not kill." Because of self-defense, you may kill. That's not considered murder. So, look at how confused the world can get. If you're attacked and you fight back, you're doing the same thing your attacker did. And you're guilty of the same sin as your attacker. It's craziness. Dangerous craziness. So, in self-defense, not only are you allowed to kill, you're obligated. You're obligated to defend your life and to protect your life. Certain crimes are punishable by death. So, any country, any any any state that has the death penalty is perfectly kosher. Just be very careful how you apply it. But, the commandment "Thou shalt not murder" doesn't mean you never kill a dangerous criminal. Cuz that's not murder. Murder means to kill out of anger someone who is innocent. So, the only way we can kill someone who is guilty is through a court, not through angry victims. Not for revenge.