[Avodah] Revenge and Punishment

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

RZS:
> You omit "et benei amecha". That is not an afterthought, it is the most
> important phrase in that pasuk. We do *not* aspire to rid ourselves of
> the desire for revenge; we are not Xians. What we do aspire to, is to
> gain such over control that desire that we can turn it off when it comes
> to "benei amecha".

Point one: Am Yisroel's internal relationship 


The meta-halacha here aiui is simple

We are one people one big family

That's why we need to be kind to each other
Love one another
Not say LH about each other
Not charge interest to each other
Not avenge each other [with some extreme exceptions]
If "banim atem Lashem"
Then we are after all like siblings and should go out of our way to care for each other.


To me the concept of mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh is a major
meta-halachic principle, to create a JUST and HOLY Society. This is - in
my hashqafa -paramount. [Note ethics is insufficient, q'dusha counts, too]


Point 2 re: Nochrim

Exactly how these niddos should be used against nochrim is beyond this
post. I can feel for both RZS' povand RMB's pov as both having merit.


Point 3 prison vs. Capital punishment 

I'm not so sure tat substituting if life-inprisonment for execution
is unjust. One COULD argue that permanent exile is tantamount to
execution. Certainly there mst be aggados and midrashim that suggest this.

Parallel: recall that Elifaz was under orders to execute Yaakov avinu
and Yaakov gave him his possessions instead becuase being impoverished
is tantamount to being dead. Also ki meisu ho'anashim hm'vakshim es
nafshecha, Dassan and Aviram were NOT literally dead, either.

OTOH when missas BD is called for, galus would NOT suffice halachically
speaking. For me it's almost a toss-up.

Tangent:
RMB:
> of the position of a
> dozen or so baalei mesorah about Chatzi Hallel on the 7th day of Pesach
> and "maasei Yadai tov'im bayam, ve'atem omerim shirah?"

IIRC the Midrash Rabbah has a different girsa re: this story that does
out a different spin on it. If anyone has a MR handy - plz verify.

KT
RRW
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