Q&A: The Death Penalty in the Torah
The Death Penalty in the Torah
Question
Hello Rabbi. I’ve heard people say that the death penalty in the Torah made sense in their time, because those were earlier periods when morality was at rock bottom, but today it would no longer exist. But God is the one who gave us the Torah, and He did know true morality, so why didn’t He move us forward? Why *command* killing people for desecrating the Sabbath?
And what do you think? In your view, is this a value that conflicts with life, but still overrides it? Or have the times indeed changed? And when the Sanhedrin is reestablished?
Thank you.
Answer
Ask those who say that. I don’t say it. I have no idea why the Torah prescribed the death penalty, but in practice the Oral Torah already curtailed it very sharply (a Sanhedrin that executed once in seventy years was called destructive).
One could also ask why He created us with an evil inclination and did not program us to do good. I do not know what His aims are, but it is plainly evident that He is interested in our decisions and not only in the correct outcomes.
Clearly this conflicts with the value of life. That is a fact and has nothing to do with my opinion.
When a Sanhedrin is reestablished, it will have to examine the topic anew and decide. Personally, I do not see how the death penalty could be implemented at all given the halakhic requirements surrounding it, so the question is only theoretical.