פרשת משפטים תשי"א - משפטים

And one who hits his father and mother shall surely die- The Chachamim already learned that he dies from strangulation (Sanhedrin 84), and also if he kidnapped a man and sold him, he has the same death. And we learn that cursing your parents is cause for death by stoning, as it says “And from this language we see it is stoning” (Sanhedrin 66). We learn this as it says, “they shall be pelted with stones, and their bloodguilt shall be upon them” (Vayikra 20: 27). And the death of one who curses is worse than the death of one who hit, because the sin of the one who cursed is more lasting. That the fool when he becomes angry and he is furious and he curses at his king, and his father, and his mother always all day, and the sin is the reality that they are always in great agony and pain. Or because there is a greater sin in cursing towards Hashem (Shavuos 36), and here he needs to be punished on his sin to his father and mother and on that he endured the name of Hashem his God to transgress and sin. And the Gaon Rav Sa’adyah says there is a correlation to one who steals a man, because the majority of thieves are minors that grew up in another place and they wouldn’t recognize their fathers and they would eventually come to them and curse them, and hence it is proper to punish a thief in the same death as them, for the punishment is about him.

וכי יכה איש את עבדו או את אמתו AND IF A MAN SMITE HIS SERVANT OR HIS MAIDSERVANT — Scripture speaks of a Canaanitish servant. Or perhaps this is not so, but it speaks of a Hebrew servant? Scripture however states, (Exodus 21:21) “for he is his money”. How is it in the case of his money? It is something that is his forever (i. e. it is something the possession of which is not limited to a definite time)! So also the servant referred to here is such a one as is his forever (and only a Canaanitish servant serves his master for ever, cf. Leviticus 25:46, whilst the Hebrew servant goes free after six years). But surely he (one that smites his servant) is included in the general statement, (Exodus 21:12) ”Whosoever smiteth a man [so that he die shall surely be put to death]”; why, then, is this case mentioned at all? But Scripture singles it out from the general statement that he (who smiteth his servant etc.) may be subject to the particular regulation of “a day or two” (Exodus 21:21) — that if he (the servant) does not die beneath his hand and continue to live twenty-four hours his master should be freed from the death-penalty (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 21.20.1).

והאלוקים אנה לידו, this was not a death caused intentionally by the killer, but we know that there operates a principle in this world known as מגלגלין חובה על ידי חייב, “G’d arranges matters so that the guilty party being punished will be punished by someone himself guilty of something else.” This is what Solomon referred to in Proverbs 16,4 וגם רשע ליום רעה, “even the wicked for the day of evil.” [to the question if everything has a purpose in this world, what is the function of the wicked? Solomon answers that the wicked is used by G’d to administer punishment to those who deserve it. Ed.]

And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die.

וכי יזד AND IF A MAN ACT INTENTIONALLY — Why is this stated at all (since v. 13 expressly provides a place for the murderer only if he does not lie in wait)? Since it is said, (v. 12) “Whosoever smiteth a man [so that he die shall be put to death]”, I might infer that this is so even if the victim is a heathen, and that there it included even a physician who kills a person as a result of his treatment, and a court-officer who kills a man when inflicting on him the forty lashes, and a father who beats and thereby kills his son, and a teacher who chastises his pupil and thereby kills him, and one who kills in error (שוגג, i. e. one who intended to kill a certain person but missed the mark and killed another instead — נתכוין להרוג את זה והרג את זה)! Scripture therefore states here: “if a man acts intentionally (יזיד)” — but not in error (שוגג); “against his fellowman (רעהו)” — but not against a heathen; “to slay with guile (בערמה)” — thus excluding the court-officer, the physician, and one who chastises his son or his pupil for all these though acting intentionally do not do so with guile (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 21:14:1).

And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die.