For centuries, legal systems have distinguished between larceny and robbery. Larceny is “the taking away of the personal goods of another.” Robbery is considered a “compound larceny.” Robbery means taking something directly from its owner or in the owner’s presence. Robbery is committed by means of violence or threat of violence. Larceny is merely a crime against property. Robbery, in contrast is also crime against a person. It is not surprising that robbery usually carries a more severe punishment than larceny in American law.
Jewish law has a different perspective. According to Halacha, the larcenist (ganav) must pay back what s/he stole and also pay the victim an additional fine equal to the value of what was stolen. The punishment for robbery, gezeila, is not specified in the Torah. The Talmud explains that there is no fine in a case of gezeila. The robber must return what s/he actually stole, but there is no additional monetary penalty.
Yet in the times of the Talmud the students of Rabbi Yochanan were aware that the Halacha is counter-intuitive. When they asked their teacher why the ganav pays more than the gazlan, he replied:
“Zeh Hishveh Kevod Eved LiK’vod Kono, V’zeh Lo Hishveh Kevod Eved L’Kevod Kono.
The robber equates the honor due to man with the honor due to God, while the larcenist does not.
Rav Hirsch explains the Gemara in Baba Kamma as saying that the Ganav, the larcenist, has committed a double sin: against the property of his fellow human being- and against society and the social contract that keeps civilization civilized. In the (translated) words of Rav Hirsch:
“Robbery is a simple crime against the individual whose rights of possession have been violated. Theft is a double crime, a crime against the individual rights of possession, and a crime against the general idea of respect for right of property, under the protection of which the owner had left his property. This idea forms the basic principle on which the whole of civilized communal life rests…. The thief accordingly has to pay the value of the theft, as restitution to the owner; and then again an equal sum for his contempt of the principle of general honesty against which he has offended.
The double payment mandated from the Ganav teaches us that our actions have an influence and impact on the people around us- for better or for worse.
We are impacted by what is happening around us and by the behaviors that we witness, even if no one is trying to actively teach us. But the lesson of the Ganav is more personal: Each of us must appreciate just how impactful our actions really are. We may not realize it, we may not want it to be true, but the Torah says that we must accept the fact that each of us has incredible power to influence those around us. The Ganav’s actions erode the foundations of society, and for that he is doubly punished.
Most people are willing to live with the consequences when they make a poor decision. Most people have no intention of impacting society through their actions, nor do they want to. But the lesson in Parshat Mishpatim of the Ganav is that we all have that power, and we can’t opt out of the repercussions of our actions.
The Ganav impacts society in a deleterious / negative way. Let us resolve to use this tremendous power invested in each of us to influence the world in a positive fashion.
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