Mishpatim

Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1-24:18, Shabbat Sh’kalim 

Murder And Atheism

In claiming power over human lives, a murderer denies that God alone possesses that power.

 "He who smites a man and [the man] dies shall surely be put to death."

A Houston, Texas newspaper published the story of a young Eastern lawyer who complained to an old Texas Judge about the Texas way with crime. "I don't understand Texas justice," said the lawyer. "You will suspend the sentence of a convicted murderer, but you will hang a horse thief."

The old judge rang a spittoon with a stream of tobacco juice. "Sorry," he replied, "I reckon that's cause we got men that need killin’, but we ain't got no horses that need stealin’."

A Gruesome Crime Murder is a gruesome crime. From time immemorial, when Cain first murdered his brother Abel, great cynicism has been embedded in the warped minds of those who would kill.

A cynicism stemming from atheism. If these murderers could not create life, they would flourish on destroying it. Feeling hapless to the power of the Almighty, they would rob Him of his image. If they could not conquer the King, they would overpower his children.

One cannot separate the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" from the second commandment, "Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me." Undermining God through murder is tantamount to worshipping those gods that others have created.

The Talmud speaks disparagingly of a court that brings hands down a death sentence but once in seventy years. It is considered a "killer court." Even once in seventy years, is far too frequent for moral men to dispense such judgment. The Torah finds it exceedingly difficult to delegate authority for capital punishment to an array of righteous and learned scholars and judges because, in the final analysis, they, too, are flesh and blood.

Just as no horse needs stealing, practically no man needs killing at the hands of mortal man. Only the Almighty can bring a deluge, a plague, a famine.

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