If you like “mitzvahs” (commandments), you will love Mishpatim as it contains the most mitzvot of any Torah portion. Every day this week Rabbi David Woznica will share his thoughts on one mitzvah.
But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:23-25)
Many are surprised to learn this phrase originated in the Torah. Other than “life for life,” the rabbis of the Talmud conclude that the penalties were not to be taken literally. If someone took out your eye, you were not to take out their eye. Rather, the Talmud concludes people were to be paid for their loss (including “pain and suffering.”)
There are great moral lessons in this verse. An “eye for an eye” meant only the person who committed the crime would be held accountable (not, for example, members of his/her family). It also taught that the punishment should fit the crime, that is, one could not exact more than was taken. Much of American jurisprudence is based on this Talmud understanding.
Rather than encouraging revenge, the rabbis wanted to foster an appropriate response to those who harmed others. It was a revolutionary way of creating a just society.
— Rabbi David Woznica