Still Imperfect Mortals

The United States of America is, as Rav Moshe Feinstein used to refer to it, a medinah shel chesed, a benevolent country. Founded on enlightened ideals of equal justice and opportunity for all, it’s filled with decent people who strive to uphold those principles. We all ought to be greatly thankful for everything we gain from living here, and we Jews have a particular debt of gratitude to this welcoming haven.

But, at the same time, America has always been comprised of imperfect human beings who create and enforce imperfect laws from which people suffer. In historical terms, this country is likely unsurpassed in its benevolent governance, but that’s a relative statement. Utopia it is not.

A newcomer to Gemara whom I know often airs his gripes about aspects of the Torah’s civil and criminal laws that don’t jibe with his sense of fairness and justice, because his unexamined assumption is that the Torah’s system of justice is essentially a Western-style one, just that it’s for Jews. In truth, however, the premises underlying the Torah’s system — most importantly, that it is for Hashem, not man, to mete out ultimate, inescapable justice — is very different from those of man-made systems.

I’ve told my friend that he ought to be a bit more dubious of the American justice system he holds up as such a worthy role model. I’ve noted, to his great surprise, that there are numerous features of American law that, were he aware of them, would make his hair stand on end. One need not be a lawyer to know about these laws; there have been many articles in the general press discussing them.