<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">On Jun 8, 2017, at 8:30 AM, Zev Sero via Avodah <<a href="mailto:avodah@lists.aishdas.org" class="">avodah@lists.aishdas.org</a>> wrote:<div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div class="">On 08/06/17 07:31, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">How does a "goel hadam" work into all this? There is no restoration of<br class="">any kind. If the goel hadam was interested in justice, or even<br class="">punishment, he would bring the murderer to court. But in the heat of<br class="">the moment, his only thought is revenge. This is redemption?<br class=""></blockquote><br class="">The idea that revenge is not a legitimate or worthy goal is not Jewish.</div></div></blockquote><br class=""></div><div>An intriguing thesis, but I think you have hardly made your case. Perhaps the issur on taking revenge is, so to speak, a middos chassidus but I think the simpler reading is that revenge is bad.</div><div><br class=""></div><div>That doesn’t mean onesh is bad, consequences are bad, or the like. Going back to RAM’s original question: who says the go’el hadam should be only thinking of revenge. Perhaps he should try to rise above his anger and act only for kinnos ha’emes.</div><div><br class=""></div><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">—</div><div class="">Daniel Israel</div><div class=""><a href="mailto:dmi1@cornell.edu" class="">dmi1@cornell.edu</a></div></div>
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