EXOD273 Judaism's imperative of individual culpability adds an important ethical dimension to its criminal laws. Especially in times when groups, domestic or foreign, are perceived as threatening a community's safety, there is a natural inclination to judge a person on the basis of his ethnicity or affiliations, and there are times when the Torah condemns entire nations. [For example, entire nations were at times condemned in the Bible. These include Amalek (this verse, Deut 25:17-19) and the seven Canaanite nations (Num 33:50-56; Deut 7:1-6; 12:29-13:1; 20:10-18), and Midian (Num 31)]. Yet, Judaism's focus on individual culpability tempers this natural inclination to blame someone on the basis of who they are rather than what they did. Moreover, Judaism places high value on an individual's intent in deciding whether that person is criminally culpable. Generally, bad thoughts alone are insufficient for criminal culpability. As the Talmud emphasizes, no person is criminally responsible for any act unless he did that act willfully. B. Avodah Zarah 54a; B. Bava Kamma 28b; M.T. Laws of the Fundamental Principles of the Torah 5:4; Laws of Courts 20:2. (By Laurie L. Levenson, "Judaism and CriminalJustice"