Ask The Rabbi
21 June 1997 
Issue #154 (Parashat Beha'alotcha)
===========================================================================
This Issue Contains:
1.  For Eyes
2.  Yiddle Riddle
===========================================================================
You can now submit your questions to the Rabbi with your internet browser:
                 http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/page/ask.htm
===========================================================================
REMINDER TO OUR UNIVERSITY STUDENT SUBSCRIBERS:
If you have a university account that will be closing for summer vacation,
please don't forget to ask us to unsubscribe you!
===========================================================================

Barbara Beran of Rockville, Maryland <beran@bellatlantic.net> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>Please explain why it is said that `an eye for an eye' refers to monetary 
>recompense for an injury.  I have heard that it has something to do with 
>the letter ayin - but I do not know the link.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Barbara Beran,

The phrase `an eye for an eye' is one of the most well known yet 
misunderstood in the entire Torah.

Obviously, an eye is of inestimable value.  You can never replace it or put 
a price on it.  Certainly, blinding the offender will do nothing to help 
the victim.

However, an eye does indeed have a monetary aspect to it.  Let's say, for 
example, that the victim is a football player who earns a million dollars a 
year.  After losing an eye, he can no longer play big-league ball.  His 
best job prospect is coaching a minor-league team, which pays an average 
salary.  Losing his eye cost him millions of dollars in actual financial 
loss.

This financial loss is what the Torah refers to when it says "an eye to 
replace an eye."  The eye can't be replaced, but at least the victim can 
reclaim the financial loss caused by the loss of his eye.

In addition to the financial value, the Torah requires four types of 
punitive damages:  The offender must recompense the victim for pain, 
embarrassment, unemployment, and medical expenses.

But how do we know that `an eye for an eye' is not literal?  First of all, 
`an eye for an eye' is a bad translation.  The correct translation is `an 
eye to replace an eye.'  The word `replace' connotes payment rather than 
revenge.

But to understand any verse properly, you need to look at the context.

The verses before and after this verse describe someone who accidentally 
kills another person's animal:  "Whoever kills an animal must pay for it -- 
a soul to replace a soul."  (Leviticus 24:18)  Obviously, the term "a soul 
to replace a soul" means payment.  We don't kill the person, or his animal, 
because he killed an animal!  It says explicitly `he must pay for it.'  
Therefore, it's logical that `an eye to replace an eye' also means payment.  
To say otherwise is to take the verse out of context.

Furthermore, if the verse were literal, what would happen if a blind person 
poked out someone's eye?  Would he be exempt?  And what if a person with 
only one eye poked the eye of someone with two eyes, or the other way 
around?

Above all, taking out someone's eye is dangerous and could easily cause his 
death.  Would the Torah require that an offender be put at risk of death, 
especially in the case where his offense was accidental?

Probably the strongest indication that this verse is not literal is the 
very fact the Jewish people say so.  Our tradition is a faithful, unbroken 
chain dating back to Sinai.  (The evidence for this is a topic for another 
discussion.)  In all Jewish history there is absolutely no record of this 
verse ever having been implemented literally.  The very idea is abhorrent 
to any Jew.

The Vilna Gaon discovered an ingenious clue, hinting that "an eye to 
replace an eye" refers to paying money.  Very literally, the verse reads 
`an eye under an eye."  Take the three letters `under' the three letters of 
the word `eye' in the Hebrew alphabet.  They spell `kesef' -- money!  [Eye 
in Hebrew is `ayin' -- spelled `ayin yud nun.'  The letters immediately 
after (`under') each of these letters are `Feh Kaf Samech.'  (`Peh' and 
`Feh' are the same in the Torah.)  These letters spell `kesef' -- money!]

Sources:
o  Leviticus 24:18-21
o  Talmud, Tractate Baba Kama 83b
o  Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Exodus 23

===========================================================================

Yiddle Riddle

Judith Subar <abubbe@aol.com> wrote:

We were at our synagogue dinner and someone asked the following Yiddle 
Riddle:  What blessing can't you say if you are on the moon?
                                                           Answer next week
===========================================================================
Do you link to us?  Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by
dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page:

          <A HREF="http://www.ohr.org.il" TARGET="_top">
          The Ohr Somayach International Home Page</A>
=========================================================================== 
                                 SUBSCRIBE!

to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions:

      ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site
       weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion
      dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi
          ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism
   parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion
   os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach
      os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter
     judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism
        month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months

Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists.
To subscribe, send the message:  subscribe {listname} {your full name}
                          mailto:listproc@virtual.co.il
===========================================================================
Dedication opportunities are available for Ask The Rabbi.
Please contact us for details.
===========================================================================
Ask The Rabbi is written at
Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel.
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Lev Seltzer
===========================================================================
   Jewish   L         EEEEEEEE  Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of
     J      L         E         Ohr Somayach International
     J      L         E         22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103
     J      L         Exchange  Jerusalem 91180, Israel
     J      L         E         Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890
J    J      L         E         Mailto:ohr@virtual.co.il
 JJJJ       Learning  EEEEEEEE  http://www.ohr.org.il
===========================================================================
(C) 1997 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.
This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior
permission.  We also encourage you to include this material in other
publications, such as synagogue newsletters.  However, we ask that you
contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.

