[Avodah] Redemption

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

.
When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. I was wrong, and I thank all the
chevreh who pointed out my error. "Yikom" does mean to avenge. Thank
you all.

But the main question is our attitude towards revenge in general. R'
Zev Sero wrote:

> It means that vengeance is a right and proper thing, not
> something to be ashamed of.

He seems to feel that there's nothing wrong with wanting to take
revenge in general, except that we're not allowed to do it if the
object of the revenge is a fellow Jew. I  suppose he might compare
vengeance to eating meat: right and proper in general, but sometimes
forbidden. (Pork in the case of meat, and Jews in the case of
revenge.)

Exactly *why* is it that we can't take nekama if the object is a Jew?
RZS gets it from "V'ahavta l'rayacha kamocha", but it seems to me that
"Lo sikom" [without the nun, I finally noticed!] is a more direct
source. But either way...

I must admit that I never before noticed that "lo sikom v'lo sitor"
only applies to Jews. I had always presumed it to be a general law of
morality and ethics, much like Lashon Hara. I never thought it to be
in the "Ribis" category.

There seem to be three categories: (A) Things that may may not do even
to non-Jews, such as stealing. (B) Things that are technically allowed
against non-Jews, but we are taught to avoid it, such as Lashon Hara.
(C) Things that we may not do to a Jew, but are clearly allowed with a
non-Jew, such as Ribis. I had thought Nekama was in category A, but I
admit my error. I would like to know more clearly whether it is in B
or C. (I can even imagine some saying that it is in a fourth category,
things that we may not to do a Jew, but are *encouraged* to do to a
non-Jew.)

Setting Nekama aside for a moment, does anyone know of a source which
goes through the various Bein Adam L'chaveiros, and categorizes them
in that manner? (I can easily imagine that most people would avoid
publishing such a list, to avoid supplying the anti-Semites with
ammunition, but I figured I'd ask.)

Akiva Miller