LEV721 Part of what we generally mean by justice is retribution... Granted that the Mishnah later made it virtually impossible to carry out the death penalty (M. Makkot 1:10) and that it transformed these modes of retribution into compensation (M. Baba Kamma 8:1), still the standard of justice is lex talionis, the law of fitting the punishment to the crime in an attempt to achieve an exact balance of one for the other. That, in the view of both the Torah and the Rabbis, is justice. So how is justice different from vengeance such that the former is praised and a latter condemned? Several things mark the difference. First, justice is meted out by communal authorities—courts and/or kings in the ancient world--while the vengeance banned in Leviticus 19 [i.e., 19:18-AJL] is that of individuals against each other. The presumption is that the court or king will be neutral and fair in deciding whether punishment is warranted and, if so, what it should be. Judges, therefore, according to Mishnaic law (M. Sanhedrin 3:4), may not be related to each other or to the accused or litigants... Second, justice requires that people be treated fairly--that is, that everyone be subject to the same rules. Those taking revenge, by contrast, decide by themselves what they think is appropriate to do to get even with a particular person or people from whom they are wreaking vengeance. Finally, the agents and motives of justice and vengeance differ radically. Justice is meted out by neutral government authorities. Judges may be upset that they must inflict punishment on particular offenders, but if they are unrelated to them, as they should be, the judge’s motivation will not be to harm particular people but rather to uphold the law so that society can live in peace. In contrast, vengeance is inflicted by victims of their families or friends. Vengeance is therefore much more personal. As such, it can eat up the person who bears a grudge and seeks vengeance, sometimes to the point of making gaining revenge the focus of their lives. (By Elliot N. Dorff)