20 years ago a creative episode of the TV show "Star Trek:The Next Generation" captured my attention. An android named Data asked ”if you prick me do I not …leak?”. The allusion to The Merchant of Venice was powerful and immediate. Within a moment I was transported to Shylock’s famous speech in the streets of Venice. Shylock challenges status quo anti- Semitism with the famous speech “Hath not a Jew eyes? …warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh?…” (Act 3, scene 1). It is masterful presentation of the sameness of all people; at least as compelling as the playground scene in the film "To Sir With Love" during which Sidney Poitier cuts his hand while deflecting a sharp can and preventing injury to a student. One student exclaims “Hey, it’s blood !” and the retort is “what did you expect ?…ink?”
The sameness of all people undergirds our American ideals and resonates deeply within us. From our earliest ages we insistently clamor for fairness - and although fairness for a 5-year-old is decidedly one-sided, as we mature we come to appreciate the importance of consistency. Our call for justice is rooted in the theological premise that all are created equal.
In this week’s Torah Reading, named Mishpatim, 53 different mitzvot are enumerated. More than any other Parshah, Mishpatim constrains our behavior. From prevention of child cruelty to protection against animal suffering, to prohibiting the charging of interest by Israelite towards Israelite and preserving rights of migrants, this Parshah repeatedly blasts forth calls for societal justice. It is this Parshah which famously contains “ a soul for a soul, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”( Exodus 21:23-25).
We would likely agree that a demand for removing one organ or limb from an offender does not remedy the injury done to the victim. While It is impossible to know if this law was actually carried out in the days of Torah, the overwhelming attitude for the past two millennia has been that the only way to be consistent in justice is to develop formulae for financial compensation. Lost wages, humiliation, medical bills, pain and the actual damage are the five categories of damages developed by the Mishnah; each with governing formulae for the sake of eliminating a seemingly bloodthirsty system of vengeance which, left unchecked, would wreak havoc upon our people. In effect, the concern for compassion and fairness wrote literal implementation of ‘eye of eye’ out of existence.
Ironically, or perhaps, maliciously, Shylock is crafted as greedy and cruel based upon his demand for exacting justice which is associated with a narrow and pecuniary reading of Torah. That our Jewish leaders developed loopholes to eliminate such practices 1,500 years before Shakespeare walked this earth is much grander than poetry and irony.
May we continue to learn and study our Jewish tradition in order to better understand and share it, dispelling false allegations and promoting justice and compassion.
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