Measure for Measure

Q: What do Quentin Tarantino, Eric Holder and Abdel Baset al-Megrahi have in common? A: They have all forced us, in the last week, to consider the boundaries of vengeance. Tarantino’s new movie “Inglourious Basterds,” follows a troop of Jewish soldiers who take Nazi scalps during WWII. Our own Nicole Neroulias says the movie is […]

Q: What do Quentin Tarantino, Eric Holder and Abdel Baset al-Megrahi have in common?

A: They have all forced us, in the last week, to consider the boundaries of vengeance.

Tarantino’s new movie “Inglourious Basterds,” follows a troop of Jewish soldiers who take Nazi scalps during WWII. Our own Nicole Neroulias says the movie is part of a trend (think “Munich” and “Defiance”) in which Jews are portrayed as avengers rather than victims.


Neroulias writes: “Anne Frank is no longer hiding in the attic; the fate of Judaism no longer depends on benevolent Gentiles like Oskar Schindler.

“In short, the Jews are fed up. And they’re not going to take it anymore.

“But does Judaism condone such raging retribution? Rabbis and academics point out that Judaism distinguishes between acts of self-defense and vengeance and Jewish law frowns upon torturing an enemy – even Adolf Hitler himself, said Rabbi Joel Roth, a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.”

Hollywood is fond of revenge tales. It lets directors have their cake (explosions, shootings, murder) and eat it, too (the violence is morally acceptable, supposedly, because the hero is only “getting even” with the bad guys). The list of movies with this plot are long, and where would comic books be without it?

The freeing of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi last week by the Scottish government offers a real-life example of how people struggle with the justice versus mercy question.

Anastasios Vrenios, whose 20-year-old son was killed in the bombing, told the WaPo that Scotland was right to release the cancer-stricken Magrahi.

“You have a choice in life, don’t you? You can either be bitter and let it turn you inside out . . . turn you into a bitter human being. Or you can let it go. You don’t forgive the act. But you don’t become a vindictive human being so that it sends out poison to other people. Maybe it’s a Christian thing.”


But Rabbi Stephanie Bernstein, whose husband was killed in the bombing, takes a different view, tracing her approach to mercy from the Torah, according to the Post.

“It’s in Deuteronomy,” she said. “If we’re not committed to following the rule of law, how can we say that we’re working toward a world that is just?”

Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores this question more in depth here. Calum Carmichael, a professor of comparative literature and of law at Cornell University, tells Townsend that ” justice and mercy are not compatible.”

“Since ancient times, forgiveness has been a cherished religious virtue. A third-century Jewish commentary on the book of Numbers asks: `Which measure is greater, the measure of goodness (mercy) or the measure of punishment? The measure of goodness.’

Finally, the Justice Department’s release of a report on CIA abuse of detainees has prompted a new round of questions of how Americans guilty of such offenses should be punished, or if they should be punished at all.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is calling for a Commission of Inquiry and asking Attorney General Holder launch a full-scale investigation into possible crimes.


NRCAT says, “Our country will not end this sordid chapter of American history until we understand the full nature of U.S.-sponsored torture and put safeguards in place to make sure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again. It is our responsibility to assure that future generations of Americans grow up in a country that does not torture.”

WaPo columnist Eugene Robinson says President Obama can’t simply sweep this unpleasantness under the rug. (Have I used my alloted cliches yet?)

“If there is credible evidence that crimes were indeed committed, I don’t see how the nation’s chief law enforcement officer — or its commander in chief — could just look the other way.”

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