Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Ki Tetze/0/en

Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Ki Tetze

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Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

Devarim 25:11-12 describes the administering of bodily punishment in a case of assault, demanding to cut off the hand of a woman who has intervened in a brawl and seized the private parts of a male.  Other verses seem to imply a punishment of mutilation as well, as in the famous call for "eye for an eye, tooth for tooth".

• Is such "measure for measure" punishment the the fairest form of justice, or "cruel and unusual" punishment?
• In setting penalties for crimes, which of the following objectives should take precedence: compensation to the victim, rehabilitation of the criminal, retribution, or deterrence? What does this law suggest? Is this the norm or exception in Torah?
• The overwhelming majority of Talmudic sages rule that in the case of bodily harm, the guilty party pays restitution rather than being mutilated. But is this the simple interpretation of the verses in the Torah? Does the peshat of the Biblical texts differ from the Rabbinic verdict? If so, why is this? And, most importantly, how can the peshat and derash be reconciled? See "עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן" – An Eye for an Eye.

Annihilating Amalek

What was so terrible about Amalek's attack that it led to a command to totally annihilate the nation?

• How is one supposed to react to terrorism?  If a nation with a terrorist mindset and lack of ethical norms attacks, how extreme a response is necessary or appropriate?  What if innocents will be killed as collateral damage?
• If you deem another nation to be an existential threat to your survival, is it justified to launch a preemptive attack to prevent your own destruction?  How can you determine when such a threat exists?
• How exceptional is the command to wipe out Amalek?  In the rest of Tanakh, what is Hashem's usual course of action when dealing with enemies of Israel?  How does this command compare to the directive to obliterate the seven Nations of Canaan?  See Annihilating Amalek and Calling for Peace in the Conquest of Canaan