No pity! Off with her hand

Replica of a severed hand

Image Seasons USA. Halloween

“If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity."
Deut 25:11-12 NASB

Cut off her hand!

Show no pity!



Actualisation of Judges
Some of the many Israeli settlers are looking for the fullness of Biblical life in the Promised Land under the direction of the rabbis. In addition to peaceful activities for some this includes also the harassing of modern day Philistines in the style of Samson and for some even the destruction of Amalek according to the commandments in the Torah of the Most High as described in a recent book on the interpretation of Mosaic Laws.

Direct living by the Book represented in the controversial 2009 rabbinical text Torat Hamelech is adopting the ethics from the Iron Age without later modifications. It is a novelty in Judaism - a branch in the religion that has become possible with the birth of modern Israel and the reconquista of the Biblical heart-lands according to the commandment of God. Until that happened the books of Joshua and Judges were sacred history and theory during the long centuries in Diaspora with more symbolic than practical meaning. But now, suddenly, the Bible becomes actual also in its aspect of the Conquest of the Promised Land, human rights, activities of the settlers and army.

À la Samson burning of the "Philistine" wheat fields or cutting of ancient olive trees to uproot the hated Palestinians from the Promised Land is probably a matter of discussion among Israeli policy makers and army generals. However, the general atmosphere is lenient and understanding towards the perpetrators of Biblical deeds as the conquest of the entire Promised Land and Messianic hopes are in the rise. May the King of Israel arrive soon to the glorious rebuilt Jerusalem!


Interpretation of Mosaic law
Judaism is one of the most ancient of religions still alive today and there is a very long history of rabbinical interpretation of Mosaic laws. The teachings of the fathers were well known in Jesus time some 2000 years ago and there are several discussions on these interpretations in the New Testament. Oral law and the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmud similarly contain extensive discussions on the law in the Torah.


Fight not only against non-Jews or men
One would be wise not to forget that the fullness of living directly according to the Torah and skipping the softening interpretations of fathers also includes divine commands concerning the people of Israel deviating from the commandments. These Jews are no less enemies of the Chosen People as the Philistines and Amalek and must be dealt with harshly.

There is not only the genocidal "destroy Amalek" commandment in the Laws of Moses but also laws on the children of Israel that make the Shari'a laws of Islam look lenient. Unfortunately, many of these laws are aimed specifically against the women of Israel. We are afraid that some day - perhaps soon - also obedience to God's commands in this respect will again become a reality.

Rabbinical teaching is definitely called so that not every man takes directions from the Torah. Such advise is forthcoming in the case of killing of non-Jews who are trying to stop the fulfilling of God's commands. In such quarters of Torah obedient communities we may some day find a Jewish woman without her left or right hand.


Trial by order
Rabbinical softening and interpretation of the harsh Iron Age laws in the holy Bible is going on in many levels. People are not burned alive as commanded by God and stoning of adulterous women has ended among the people of Israel. The Sabbath laws and Kashrut laws are excellent examples of the rabbinical innovative ingenuity in translating Iron Age rulings to the atomic age so that God's will is obeyed.

To further emphasize the distance in time let us similarly strip the softening of criminal law by modern times and ethics. For example, only a few hundred years ago Europeans abandoned trial by order. It has been said that this was actually quite effective tool in delivering justice as the innocent was ready to take the dangerous test while the guilty one preferred to confess rather then to get painfully bodily harmed.

Why do the Europeans not reintroduce the ancient practice with roots in prehistoric societies and the laws of Hammurabi and Ur Nammu that predate Mosaic Laws by almost a millennium? Let the suspect prove his or her innocence by picking a piece of iron from boiling water by bare hand. If the person is not guilty the heat of the water will not harm the skin of the hand. Like the trial by order also the extracting of confession by torture was outlawed just a few hundred years ago. (Using reasonable force to extract a confession is still allowed in some countries today and illegal use of torture is widespread.)


Off with her hand
The law to cut off the hand of a woman trying to protect her husband in a fight is written in Deuteronomy which has over 2500 years old content. This particular fragment of civil law is of great historical interest as it dramatically sheds light on the sensitivity in ancient Israel towards sexual purity and the separation of men and women.

Would the God of Israel want literal adherence to this law today?

Amputation of the woman's hand could be done in a hospital under anaesthesia - unless, of course, this would be considered "pity" that is explicitly forbidden in this case.

Most religious Jews do accept the mountain of rulings by fathers, traditions, rabbinical modifications, clarifications and extensions and limitations of Mosaic law that is required by the changes of times. But there are people who prefer the pure word of the Bible as it is ... especially in situations where it suits their understanding of God's will towards them.