Parshat Mishpatim is full of various monetary and civil halachot. One of the more famous halachot is one that deals with altercations amongst two Jews; ( עין תחת עין (כא:כד, “An Eye for an Eye.” The Torah says if a person fights with a fellow Jew and knocks out his eye, meaning he blinds him, then we should take “an Eye for an Eye.” What does this mean? Does this mean we should blind the offender as a punishment for his actions? Who should blind him? The victim or the Jewish courts? Is this meant as revenge? I thought the Torah does not condone revenge...
Ironically, most people take this verse to mean that if I do something to damage you, I should be punished by having the same thing done to me. In other words, if I blind you, I should literally be blinded in return. In some extreme Arab countries, this is in fact the way they understand the verse. If you Google the phrase “an eye for an eye,” you will find some horrific stories of men being blinded for blinding others. Yet, Torah Shebeal Peh teaches us this is not what the Torah had in mind. The Talmud explains this verse is not to be taken literally; it does not mean you take any physical retaliation, but rather the offender must pay monetary damages to the victim. The courts will have to determine the amount of money this will cost the victim in lost wages, medical expenses, etc. It is meant as restitution, not as revenge.
But there is one glaring question you are likely asking yourself: If the Torah meant the offender must pay monetary restitution, why not just say that? Why use the phrase “An Eye for an Eye,” which creates the uncertainty of the Torah’s intent?
The Chazon Ishe zt”l explains that sometimes the Torah intends to teach us more about the morality that can be gleaned from a law, than from the actual law itself. In other words, the Torah here is trying to teach us something important about the morality of restitution. An example of this can be found in the Talmud, where a Jewish Beit Din which killed one person in 70 years was considered a “deadly” court. So if a justice system is set in place and yet one execution in 70 years is considered a lot, then there must be something more to learn. The lesson is that we are supposed to learn something deeper, beyond the fact that there are death penalties for certain offenses. The deeper lesson is how precious one life is. Even the life of a murderer is precious, and so a court that executes more than one in seventy years is deadly. So too here, “an eye for an eye” is teaching us the lesson of damaging another individual. True, if you damage someone you must pay restitution, but the Torah uses the language “An Eye for an Eye” to teach a moral lesson about how serious it is to damage another person. The Torah, so to speak, uses an exaggerated language to help us understand just how serious it is to damage another person.
The apparent lesson to all of us is not to underestimate one’s capacity to damage another through our actions. This is true in a physical sense, but it also means being sensitive, and sometimes delicate, with the words we choose to use. Our words have the power to destroy and the power to build up. We must be mindful of our choice of words at all times. We must think before we speak. It also means we have to be good role models; we must lead by example and use our words carefully and thoughtfully. “An Eye for an Eye” gets our attention; it sounds serious and real. Let us not forget that hurting another individual, whether it be physically, verbally or emotionally, is not anything less than taking out their eye.
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