(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אִ֕ישׁ כִּ֥י יַפְלִ֖א נֶ֑דֶר בְּעֶרְכְּךָ֥ נְפָשֹׁ֖ת לַֽה׳׃ (ג) וְהָיָ֤ה עֶרְכְּךָ֙ הַזָּכָ֔ר מִבֶּן֙ עֶשְׂרִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְעַ֖ד בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה וְהָיָ֣ה עֶרְכְּךָ֗ חֲמִשִּׁ֛ים שֶׁ֥קֶל כֶּ֖סֶף בְּשֶׁ֥קֶל הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃ (ד) וְאִם־נְקֵבָ֖ה הִ֑וא וְהָיָ֥ה עֶרְכְּךָ֖ שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים שָֽׁקֶל׃ (ה) וְאִ֨ם מִבֶּן־חָמֵ֜שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים וְעַד֙ בֶּן־עֶשְׂרִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְהָיָ֧ה עֶרְכְּךָ֛ הַזָּכָ֖ר עֶשְׂרִ֣ים שְׁקָלִ֑ים וְלַנְּקֵבָ֖ה עֲשֶׂ֥רֶת שְׁקָלִֽים׃ (ו) וְאִ֣ם מִבֶּן־חֹ֗דֶשׁ וְעַד֙ בֶּן־חָמֵ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֔ים וְהָיָ֤ה עֶרְכְּךָ֙ הַזָּכָ֔ר חֲמִשָּׁ֥ה שְׁקָלִ֖ים כָּ֑סֶף וְלַנְּקֵבָ֣ה עֶרְכְּךָ֔ שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת שְׁקָלִ֖ים כָּֽסֶף׃ (ז) וְ֠אִ֠ם מִבֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֨ים שָׁנָ֤ה וָמַ֙עְלָה֙ אִם־זָכָ֔ר וְהָיָ֣ה עֶרְכְּךָ֔ חֲמִשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר שָׁ֑קֶל וְלַנְּקֵבָ֖ה עֲשָׂרָ֥ה שְׁקָלִֽים׃ (ח) וְאִם־מָ֥ךְ הוּא֙ מֵֽעֶרְכֶּ֔ךָ וְהֶֽעֱמִידוֹ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְהֶעֱרִ֥יךְ אֹת֖וֹ הַכֹּהֵ֑ן עַל־פִּ֗י אֲשֶׁ֤ר תַּשִּׂיג֙ יַ֣ד הַנֹּדֵ֔ר יַעֲרִיכֶ֖נּוּ הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ {ס}
(1) ה' spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When any party explicitly vows to ה' the equivalent for a human being, (3) the following scale shall apply: If it is a male from twenty to sixty years of age, the equivalent is fifty shekels of silver by the sanctuary weight; (4) if it is a female, the equivalent is thirty shekels. (5) If the age is from five years to twenty years, the equivalent is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. (6) If the age is from one month to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and the equivalent for a female is three shekels of silver. (7) If the age is sixty years or over, the equivalent is fifteen shekels in the case of a male and ten shekels for a female. (8) But if one cannot afford the equivalent, that person shall be presented before the priest, and the priest shall make an assessment; the priest shall make the assessment according to what the vower can afford.
Wait. Doesn't this go against our Jewish principles? I thought we couldn't assign value to human life...
(יב) כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַה' בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃
(12) When you take a census of the Israelite men according to their army enrollment, each shall pay ה' a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled.
ונתנו איש כפר נפשו לה׳ בפקוד אותם. במדבר. ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם. לדורות, לכך הזכיר פעם שנית בפקוד אותם.
לך הכתוב כי העם הנפרט במנינו כל אחד לגלגלותם הנה הוא מושגח מבעל ההשגחה יתעלה וכל מעשיו נפרטין לפניו ואז יחול הנגף, מה שאין כן בתחלה שהיה ענינו נמשך בכלל הרבים
אבל עתה בהיות כל יחיד ויחיד וכל מעשיו נפרטין אי אפשר מבלתי עונש
ונתנו איש כופר נפשו בפקוד אותם, “every man shall give an atonement for his soul when counting them.” This refers to the census in the desert. ולא יהיה בהם נגף בפקוד אותם, these words refer to counting the people in future generations. This is why the words בפקוד אותם were necessary a second time...
The most important revelation of our verse is that all the people that were counted each enjoy individual supervision of their fates by the Lord G’d. All the deeds performed by any individual are recorded. This is why these people become potential victims of a plague. As long as they had only been part of a whole, and not individuals in their own right, the evil eye had not been able to focus on them, seeing they were not a number in themselves. The whole idea of enjoying individual supervision of one’s fate by G’d carries with it also the awesome responsibility of ensuring one does not become a candidate for punishment by G’d.
״אִם ה׳ הֱסִיתְךָ בִי יָרַח מִנְחָה״, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְדָוִד: ״מֵסִית״ קָרֵית לִי? הֲרֵי אֲנִי מַכְשִׁילְךָ בְּדָבָר שֶׁאֲפִילּוּ תִּינוֹקוֹת שֶׁל בֵּית רַבָּן יוֹדְעִים אוֹתוֹ. דִּכְתִיב: ״כִּי תִשָּׂא אֶת רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם וְנָתְנוּ אִישׁ כֹּפֶר נַפְשׁוֹ וְגוֹ׳״
As for David’s statement to Saul: “If it be the Lord that has incited you against me, let Him accept an offering” (I Samuel 26:19), Rabbi Elazar said that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to David: Do you call Me an inciter? In retribution, I will cause you to fail in a matter that even schoolchildren know, as it is written: “When you take the sum of the children of Israel, according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul
רוצח גופיה מנא לן סברא הוא דההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבה ואמר ליה אמר לי מרי דוראי זיל קטליה לפלניא ואי לא קטלינא לך אמר ליה לקטלוך ולא תיקטול מי יימר דדמא דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דהוא גברא סומק טפי
The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this halakha with regard to a murderer himself, that one must allow himself to be killed rather than commit murder? The Gemara answers: It is based on logical reasoning that one life is not preferable to another, and therefore there is no need for a verse to teach this halakha ... Who is to say that your blood is redder than his, that your life is worth more than the one he wants you to kill? Perhaps that man’s blood is redder.
We are, after all, supposed to take offense to the idea of human lives having a monetary value.
But, at the same time, that value is all around us. According to the UK's NICE (National Institute for Care and Excellence), which sets the standards for ethical decision making in medicine (sometimes not nice), one QALY (quality adjusted life year) is worth 30,000 USD of taxpayer expenditure.
Thomas Schelling’s essay, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, tells us that we can also calculate the perceived value of human life by:
1) Working out how much we're willing to pay to avoid a micromort (i.e. a one-in-a-million chance of death)
2) Multiple that figure by a million
3) That's how much we think our own lives are worth.
In America, that's about $10 per micromort. Ergo, our lives are worth...10 million USD.
This isn't some abstract idea. Economists use this to advise on everything from pollution, to product safety regulations, to speed limits on roads.
(With thanks to Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford)
In his book titled What is Life Worth?, Feinberg described the eight-part plan which was applied to approaching the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (dramatised) in the 2021 film Worth)
- Identifying someone with sufficient and exceptionally broad experience in mass tort action mediation, litigation, and settlement, which Feinberg possessed through his previous personal experience as a political activist and his work in the Agent Orange compensation settlement.
- To support and follow the law regarding the proportional compensation of victims based on estimated losses from future earnings, by hiring a full staff of accountants and attorneys to track and service each claim individually.
- Accumulate all the reports and applications, along with counter-claims to gauge and initiate the direct compensation process.
- The value of informed discretion in compensating claimants under the formula of keeping compensation under the rule of thumb that 85% of the money should not go to 15% of the 'richest' claimant families, by narrowing the gap between the largest and the smallest compensations paid to claimants.
- With a mind to the future, the process of the program should be maintained and serviced as a precedent for future courts to use in future compensation cases as needed. The actions taken should be uniform in their approach.
- There would be "no substitute for hard work and legal craftsmanship" of rigorous intellectual honesty.
(and two other less relevant ones)
So is the solution to be as specific as possible in the judgement? Surgical, almost?
ערך ראשי וערך כבידי נותן ערך כולו: מ"ט נפשות קאמר רחמנא:
§ The mishna teaches that if one says: It is incumbent upon me to donate the valuation of my head, or: The valuation of my liver, he gives the valuation of his entire self. The Gemara asks: What is the reason? The Gemara answers that the Merciful One states: “A valuation of living people” (Leviticus 27:2), which indicates that in the case of one who valuates an item upon which the soul is dependent and without which one will die, he must give his entire valuation.
How does this approach reconcile the divinity of the individual?
It is at this time that we are forced to consider - in the absence of the system of erekhim, how would we make a judgement? Would it be better - fairer?
(ה) כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר ה׳ אָר֤וּר הַגֶּ֙בֶר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְטַ֣ח בָּאָדָ֔ם וְשָׂ֥ם בָּשָׂ֖ר זְרֹע֑וֹ וּמִן־ה׳ יָס֥וּר לִבּֽוֹ׃
(ט) עָקֹ֥ב הַלֵּ֛ב מִכֹּ֖ל וְאָנֻ֣שׁ ה֑וּא מִ֖י יֵדָעֶֽנּוּ׃(י) אֲנִ֧י ה׳ חֹקֵ֥ר לֵ֖ב בֹּחֵ֣ן כְּלָי֑וֹת וְלָתֵ֤ת לְאִישׁ֙ כִּדְרָכָ֔ו כִּפְרִ֖י מַעֲלָלָֽיו׃ {ס}
(5) Thus said G-D:
Cursed is the man who trusts in mortals,
Who makes mere flesh his strength,
And turns his thoughts from G-D.
(9) Most devious is the heart;
It is perverse—who can fathom it?
(10) I, G-D probe the heart,
Search the mind—
To repay each person according to their own ways,
With the proper fruit of their deeds.
Rav Hirsch:
This expression of value is a generally fixed one, it completely ignores physical, intellectual, moral, social peculiarities and only rises and falls according to gender and age. This universality is already indicated in the expression: ערכך נפשות, only the נפשות come into consideration as such, and every living person is a נפש.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l (1895-1986) explains that each person has two values, one value is from being a part of the Jewish Nation and the other is through his or her individual talents. The laws of erechim stress that each Jew is precious and given equal opportunity to greatness. If someone promised to give the erech, Torah value, of Moses at age 120 and that of another simple Jew who was also a 120 year old male, he would pay the same amount. Each Jew is precious. If someone promised to donate the damim, market value of Moses, that would be an entirely different amount than for any other Jewish person. The value would reflect Moshe’s individual greatness. We each have a great value as members of the Jewish nation. We also have our own talents and greatness that only we alone have to share with the world.