Timeless Torah

I was all prepared to write a Fax of Life that focused on the verse that dealt with the festival pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Based on a thought from the revered Rabbi Meir Shapiro of “Chachmei Lublin” fame, it was to be a call to the faithful that Torah is the only road to personal salvation, the ultimate destiny for the Jewish nation and the redemptive state for all mankind. Instead, I will tell you about body piercing.

Don’t be too surprised. Judaism not only deals with all-embracing themes that affect all of humanity, it also speaks to the details of one man’s life. In fact, most of the 53 laws listed in this week’s Torah portion concentrate on the seedier side of society and discuss events that hopefully most of us law abiding citizens will never be involved in.

One of these ordinances, oft quoted and misunderstood reads like this: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand...” Most folks refer to this piece of Biblical legislation as the Law of Legal Revenge.

The Talmud however qualifies this verse and limits any retaliation we might wish for to only include financial compensation. Both Maimonedes (the Rambam) and Nachmanides (the Ramban) as well the Sages in the Talmud itself go to great lengths to prove that physical difigurement is not tolerated as a means of punishing the original offender. If so, the question that must be on every thinking person’s mind is, why could the Bible not have worded that law more explicitly? Why did the text open itself to mirepresentation and worse, accusations that G-d Almighty’s sense of justice is barbaric and cruel?

The answer has to do with body piercing. Whether it be rings for the nose, rings for the navel, rings for the... on second thought, maybe I should stop here.

If the Torah had simply stated that if you gouge out someone’s eye you must pay so many dollars, what inference would we have drawn? That mutilation of another’s body is okay as long as you can afford the legal fine. After all, like many other weird enjoyments in life, it’s only a matter of cost.

G-d however has another view on the situation. In his estimation, the body is holy. Indeed, it is nothing less than the sacred palace that houses the soul and the means by which all physical mitzvohs are accomplished. As our Penitential Prayers point out, both soul and body belong to Him. Thus we are not permitted to injure, wound, cut or mutilate our bodies unless it be for medical reasons.

What then is Biblical phrase, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...” coming to teach us? That there is no amount of money in the world that anybody can pay that would compensate for the loss of a limb. For if the body is holy, so is the eye and the hand. However if such an injury did occur, what should the courts do? At least grant disability renumeration. For that is the most one can do to repair the wrong, but real compensation? It will never happen.

So if in truth there is no price tag on any of our limbs and all of them are precious to He who fashioned them, what is the crazy idea behind making holes in your tongue and other places that shall remain unmentionable? It is the notion that we are in charge of our bodies. We have squatters rights and the freedom to choose. Obviously, these people haven’t encountered individuals who are blind or crippled. So remember, treat G-d’s merchandise as you would any store owner’s. In other words, you damage it, you pay for it.