Jamie R. Mill, 50, from Alabama is the next person on death row in the United States of America. He was found guilty of robbery and murder. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 30th of this year.
Bryan Shawn Smith, 37, also from Alabama, was convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses, including assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Smith’s actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
The aforementioned, are not being held in the same jail cell. This week’s Parsha also discusses criminals who were not held in the same cell.
“And they left him [the person who cursed Hashem] under guard...” (Vayikra 24:12)
Rashi explains why the Passuk says, “left him under guard” when it should have used more conventional terms which would be, “placed him under guard.” The term, “left him” indicates that there is more to explain. Rashi explains that Bnei Yisrael, “left him” alone and did not want to place the one that cursed Hashem (the “Curser”) in the same cell as the one who gathered stones on Shabbos (the “Gatherer”). Both incidents happened at the same time, however, the Bnei Yisrael knew what the penalty was for desecrating the Shabbos (death). However, regarding the Curser, the Bnei Yisrael did not know how he was to be punished.
A brief look at the Sifsei Chachomim, one of the super-commentaries on Rashi, explains Rashi further. If the Curser had been placed in the same jail cell as the Gatherer, the Curser may have assumed that he was to meet the same end as the Gatherer. This may have caused him unnecessary, excess anxiety, as his fate was still unknown. This would be an act of injustice.
Being truthful is not limited to avoiding lying and deceptive behavior. Being truthful also means being just and fair-minded. The Torah’s concept of punishment is intended to help deter further crime (“Lema’an Yishme’u V’yira’u” – so that others will listen and hear (and be deterred)). It is also to mete out justice to those who have committed a crime.
However, Bnei Yisrael is commanded to mete out justice very precisely. Any amount of excessive punishment is an act of injustice and must be avoided. We see from the above, that even to cause the Curser unnecessary, excess anxiety is an injustice and not permitted.
This sensitivity is even more astonishing when we look at the words of the Da’as Zekainim miBaalei HaTosfos. They ask why the Bnai Yisroel did not draw a Kal VaChomer, a fortiori argument, from the punishment meted out to the one who curses his parents. In that case, the Torah specifically states that such an individual incurs the death penalty. The argument could have gone as follows: If someone that curses a parent incurs the death penalty, all the more so, one who curses Hashem (Heaven forbid) would incur the death penalty. The Daas Zekainim explain that the Bnei Yisrael did not entertain this argument because they reasoned that the Curser did something so bad that he may even be denied the atonement that the death penalty would provide – in short, death would be too good for him. And yet, even when dealing with such an evil person, we still must be concerned with the unnecessary, excessive anxiety that we may be causing him, by placing him in the same cell as the Gatherer.
