The thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty – a group that I co-founded – has advocated vociferously against Israel’s proposed death penalty bill for terrorists since National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir first presented it in the Knesset. L’chaim is but one of many Jewish organizations standing firmly against this bill and the death penalty as a whole. Just as there have been proponents of the death penalty since time immemorial in the Jewish tradition, there are, of course, those among them who support this bill now. In the malaise of debate over this bill, it is easy to lose sight of the scope and scale of the specifically rabbinic voices currently in opposition to the death penalty. Upon closer examination, this number is prodigious and is worthy of review in this liminal moment for Israel and the Jewish world.

The Current Context: Responding to a Recent Op-Ed

In a recent op-ed in the Times of Israel entitled “On Ben Gvir’s death penalty law controversy,” Dr. Alex Sternberg and David Levine, formerly of the Jewish Defense League, singled out this author and Rabbi Yitz Greenberg for our public advocacy against this bill. They disparagingly referred to us as “two liberal and woke voices.” The writers disapprovingly referred to Rabbi Greenberg as “a rabbi no less” when they cited his and my references to some of the statements of Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides or the Rambam (1138-1204), regarding the death penalty. They erroneously asserted that we “opined that capital punishment is not ‘Jewish’ and [that we] failed to state that there were numerous examples where the Talmud and the Torah mandated the death sentence in specific circumstances.” They added that we “need to relearn the Rambam and the other Jewish sources [we] misquoted.” The authors later stated that they “fear that Messrs. Zoosman and Greenberg are naïve in their worldview,” asking at one point: “Has Zoosman thought this nonsense out?” They conclude that “the death penalty is just. It is definitely Jewish. This law must be approved,” and that “confusing compassion with justice undermines society’s fabric. The Rambam understood this. Messrs. Greenberg and Zoosman do not.”

All personal attacks aside, these comments merit a response that clarifies a few significant points. First and foremost, while I cannot speak for Rabbi Greenberg, I can certainly convey that he is much more than what the authors seem to dismissively refer to as “a rabbi no less.” Rabbi Yitz (Irving) Greenberg is a prominent American Orthodox rabbi, theologian, and activist known for pioneering Holocaust theology and fostering Jewish-Christian dialogue. He is a Harvard-educated historian who founded CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadershipand led efforts to establish the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. I am honoured that the authors would deign to couple me, who is “a cantor no less,” with this highly prominent modern rabbinic voice.

Beyond the lack of proper kavod (respect) due to Rabbi Greenberg, the authors falsely claim that he and I seem to believe that Jewish tradition has never allowed for the death penalty. This could not be farther from the truth. We have made clear that there can be no doubt that Jewish tradition did create space for a death penalty, both in the Torah and in various places in the Talmud. It is equally clear, however, that Chazal (חז”ל) – Chachameinu Zichronam Livracha (חכמינו זכרונם לברכה – “Our Sages, of blessed memory”) – provided such prodigious safeguards over the implementation of the death penalty as to render it virtually impossible to carry out. This pattern reflects the fact that Jewish tradition places the highest possible value on human life. It was for this reason that our sages erected those extraordinary barriers around the use of the death penalty, teaching that a court that executes even once in seventy years is considered destructive. This moral caution reflects a foundational Jewish commitment to the sanctity of life.

Readers might gain the impression from the author’s op-ed that Rabbi Greenberg and I – being, as they write, “two liberal and woke voices” –........

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