"One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves." - The Talmud

POSTING QUOTES FROM JEWISH PHILOSOPHY - DAY 8

Today's quote comes from the Talmud (Berakhot 10a):

There were these hooligans in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. Rabbi Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. Rabbi Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? On what basis do you pray for the death of these hooligans? Do you base yourself on the verse, as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35), which you interpret to mean that the world would be better if the wicked were destroyed? But is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written. One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves.

Moreover, go to the end of the verse, where it says: “And the wicked will be no more.” If, as you suggest, transgressions shall cease refers to the demise of the evildoers, how is it possible that the wicked will be no more, i.e., that they will no longer be evil? Rather, pray for God to have mercy on them, that they should repent, as if they repent, then the wicked will be no more, as they will have repented.Rabbi Meir saw that Berurya was correct and he prayed for God to have mercy on them, and they repented.

Interpreting this quote and applying it to the modern day is in my opinion quite straightforward: an approach to criminal justice must focus on rehabilitation, not on punishment.

There is another interesting part of this quote: who it is from. The one who gives this wisdom is not Rabbi Meir, but his wife, Berurya. (Also known as Bruriah and Beruriah.) It probably would not surprise you to learn that women in ancient Judaism were not treated equally to men. There are a number of Talmudic quotes that are unfortunately quite disparaging to women, which may indicate the attitudes of the Talmudic scholars. While women were not forbidden to study Torah, they were not obligated to do so like men were, so they were not in general as well educated or treated with the same respect as men were in regards to Torah study. It was sometimes said that a woman's priority should be on encouraging the men in her life to study Torah rather than studying it herself.

However, Berurya was said to be a great scholar. In another part of the Talmud, there is a story about her learning 300 halachot from 300 sages on a single day. The quote above is significant for a number of reasons: Berurya was a named woman in the Talmud, and not only was she quoted, but she also won the argument! This means that the Jewish canon necessarily recognizes that women can be sages as well. The Talmud is a dialectic, so coming out on top of an argument is probably about the highest honor one can have.

One thing I wonder: Where are female scholars elsewhere in the Talmud? This is a bit of speculation, but I have two guesses: Men were given credit for the wisdom coming from women, or the wisdom was simply not recorded, not being seen as important. I can only lament how much we have lost due to these historical sexist attitudes.