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EXODUS — 21:24 eye

EXOD599 The initial question that must be asked of any criminal justice system is: "What gives us the right to punish?" After all, in the early biblical stories, it is God who metes out punishment. God expels Adam and Eve; God curses Cain (Gen 4:10-11). One could argue that God acts as a model for the authority in any society; what God can do, so can the controlling powers of a community. But Judaism does not rely on the power model for justice. Rather, justice derives from covenant--the social contract individuals have with God and with each other. Thus, the key laws governing the criminal justice system are set forth in Exodus and Deuteronomy after Jews have become a people. They are no longer governed by the laws of a foreign ruler. They must have laws by which they can govern themselves. There were many models of criminal justice they could have chosen. Some were as simple as allowing victims' families to avenge the blood of their loved ones. But that is not a criminal justice system; that is human behavior and emotions unchecked by society or legal system, barely distinguishable from the way animals react when one of their own is injured. Judaism seeks to elevate a criminal justice system. It is not reactive; it is proactive. The goal is to control aberrant behavior and provide a society where accountability is based on reason and moral imperatives, not just emotional reaction. The right to punish derives from the natural right of members of the community to protect their community. Retribution (driving from "retribuo" -- Latin for "I pay back") authorizes punishment as a way to repair the harm an individual has caused, not just to another individual, but to society by undermining its laws. Because an individual has accountability for his actions, he is obliged to acknowledge transgressions and, to the extent possible, repair the damages caused not only to the direct victims of his actions but also to the moral fabric of society. It is, of course, a separate matter to define what kind of punishment will serve these goals. The famous lex talionis, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth," [this verse], encapsulates Judaism's approach to punishment. Punishment should be in direct response and proportional to the harm caused. While the rabbis later converted this biblical demand into a system of monetary compensation [M. Bava Kamma 8:1], the principle remains the same. (By Laurie L. Levenson, "Judaism and CriminalJustice"

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EXODUS — 21:31 rule

EXOD613 … Israel's laws were unique in the ancient Near East; in biblical law we find no vicarious punishment, no capital punishment for crimes against property, while slaves and bond-servants receive relatively generous treatment. [Vicarious punishment--when the penalty for a wrong is suffered by someone other than the perpetrator--is found in the Laws of Hammurabi 230 and 210, and Middle Assyrian Law A55, found in Martha T. Roth, ed., Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995). [This verse and Deut. 24:16 prohibit this practice]. Capital punishment for theft is absent from the Bible except for the misappropriation of goods devoted to the sanctuary, called herem (Deut 7:25-26; Josh 7). The Laws of Hammurabi 6–11, 21-22, 25, and Middle Assyrian Law A3 would inflict capital punishment for a variety of property crimes. Regarding slaves, according to Jeffrey Tigay, Deut 23:16-17 "treats the whole land of Israel as a sanctuary offering permanent asylum" for slaves who flee from foreign countries (The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy [Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1996], p. 215). Ancient Near Eastern law collections decreed harsh penalties for harboring fugitive slaves; the Laws of Hammurabi 15-20 mandate capital punishment for giving refuge to runaway slaves. Further, Israelite law, in Exod 21:20-21, 26-27, restricts a slaveowner's abuse of his own property, while ancient Near Eastern law makes no such attempt. (By Elaine Adler Goodfriend, “Ethical Theory and Practice in the Hebrew Bible)

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EXODUS — 21:37 steals

EXOD620 Everyone knows that ["Do not steal"] is one of the Ten Commandments. What may be less well known is that the rabbis have traditionally held that the "Do not steal" in the Ten Commandments refers to stealing people, that is, kidnapping. They derived this meaning because all the other "Do not's" in the Ten Commandments are capital offenses, and kidnapping as the only form of theft that is a capital offense (B. Sanhedrin 86a). Ordinary theft of property is forbidden on the basis of several other verses in the Torah that explicitly forbid theft of objects such as sheep and cattle [e.g. this verse, Lev 19:11]. More specifically to our interest in business ethics, the Torah is aware of that commerce can provide special temptations to cheat, and so we are warned "You shall not have in your bag different weights, a large and small. You shall not have in your house different measures, a large and small. You shall rather have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall you have; that your days maybe lengthened in the land that the Lord your God gives you." (Deut. 25:13-15). These verses from the Torah teach us that it is not acceptable to cheat. If you are selling a pound of olives, you are obligated to deliver a full pound of olives. Obviously, this concept extends to other forms of business cheating and shortcuts. You are obligated to deliver "the full measure" of what the client buys. This is readily understood to include quality as well as quantity: a discussion in the Talmud that shows that when people pay for a specific product--vinegar, medium-quality wine, or select wine--they are entitled to receive what they purchased. (B. Bava Metzia 73a). The concept of "Do not steal" is extended beyond the theft of physical objects to include intangibles. We are forbidden to engage in geneivat da'at -- deception, literally "stealing the mind," creating a false impression, or misleading people. The Talmud explicitly states that such deception is forbidden, and it specifies that one may not deceive "idol-worshipers," which is to say not only Gentiles, who are also ethical monotheist, but anyone at all. (B. Hullin 94b). There are several examples of forbidden deception in the Talmud that we can use to extrapolate to contemporary situations. Some of these examples are: • Letting a guest think you are opening a barrel of wine in his honor, when you plan to open the barrel anyway. This act would deceive the guest to think you thought he was worth a great expense, and it might prompt the guest to think that he must treat you with the same degree of honor the next time you are a guest in his home. • Inviting someone to a meal when you know he will say no. (Does "let's do lunch" sound familiar?) Another contemporary equivalent would be offering to open a very expensive bottle of wine for a guest you are certain will say no. • Giving some meat to a Gentile and allowing him to think it is kosher and therefore more expensive then non-kosher meat when it is not. Even though the Gentile is not required to follow the kosher dietary laws, you may not deceive him in this way, both because he may inadvertently give it to a Jew thinking it is kosher, and because you are misleading him into thinking you are more generous than you are. • Inviting someone to anoint himself with oil when you know the jar is empty.• Offering many gifts to someone if you know he will not accept. Note that exceptions would probably be made for cultures where it was expected both to make the offer and to reject it, since there is no deception in that context. [All these examples are from B. Hullin 94a]. Contemporary applications abound: • Misleading advertising. This is a complex area that requires careful case-by-case consideration. Although it is forbidden to make false claims or to mislead intentionally, it is permitted to make your product look/sound as attractive as possible. There are those who might argue, for example, that advertisements for cars showing sexy women getting out of the cars are misleading because they imply that if the man buys that car, he will attract that kind of woman. I would disagree, because I do not think anyone believes a man's buying the right car will lead to sexy women throwing themselves at him; rather the manufacturers are trying to convey a certain image, to appeal to a particular demographic, and that is not forbidden. • Concealing flaws. For example, if you were selling a used car, it would be forbidden to put an extra heavy weight oil in the car to conceal the fact that the car had an oil leak. • Misleading financial statements. Any actions that would cost potential investors to think the company is financially healthier then it is to encourage them to invest is forbidden. For example, if the client asks a company to invoice them before the end of the year so that it uses up the prior year's budget, even though the goods are not shipped until later in the following year, it would be forbidden to claim all of that revenue without booking a corresponding liability for the goods not yet shipped. Failure to do so would artificially inflate the receiving company's profits, because they will have recorded the revenue but not yet recorded the associated expenses. (By Barry J. Leff, "Jewish Business Ethics")

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EXODUS — 22:23 your

EXOD684 Individual reward and punishment. The Torah also promises retribution on an individual basis. For instance, Israelites are prohibited from oppressing the widow and fatherless, lest the cry of the abused provoke God's rage, and God "will put you to the sword and your own wives shall become widows and your children orphans" [this verse]. Deuteronomy assures the Israelites that if he distributes the tithes of his produce to the widow, fatherless, stranger, and Levite (the priests), "the Lord your God may bless you and all the enterprises you undertake" (Deut 14:29). Generosity to the newly released slave similarly brings God's blessing (Deut 15:10) [?-AJL], and he who releases a mother bird and takes only her young is rewarded with an extended lifespan (Deut 22:7). Honoring parents and using honest weights and measures in commercial transactions is recompensed with "enduring long on the soil that the Lord your God is giving you (Exod 20:12, Deut 5:16, 25:15); here the reward may be individual or collective. Regarding the Decalogue's assertion that God visits "the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those who reject Me" (Exodus 20:5, Deut 5:9), Deuteronomy warns the transgressor that he cannot hope to escape punishment himself (Deut 7:10). (Emphasis upon individual (rather than collective or transgenerational) punishment is found in Ezekiel 18:2-4; Jeremiah 31:29–30.) [For author's discussion of "Collective reward and punishment," see [[EXOD332]] Exodus 19:6 nation OXFORD 38] (By Elaine Adler Goodfriend, “Ethical Theory and Practice in the Hebrew Bible)

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