TRADITION Bring in your old lamp and try on some new shades! Introducing A New Section At Top of the Lamp, we specialize in rejuvenating lamps. We do it with a stock of over 2000 replacement shades and expert repair service. Our large in-store selection offers you choices in shape, size, color, fabric, texture and trim in traditional and unusual shades. So come in and let us help you turn that old lamp bright again. We sell new lamps, too . . floor and table lamps in all sizes and styles 17621 West 12 Mile at Southfield Lathrup Village . . . 313-559-5630 8461 Wayne between Joy & Warren Westland 313-525-0570 Explaining The Bible's Most Vilified Phrase UNDER ONE ROOF Serving the Jewish Community since 1921 "An eye for an eye" teaches that ALWAYS 20% We carry a full line of: Golf Shirts • Sweat Shirts • T-Shirts Variety of Caps • Campwear punishment must fit the crime. OFF ,E, g e erie I JOSEPH TELUSHKIN 855-2772 Pface For Bar/Bat Mitzvahs: T-Shirts • Boxer Shorts • Canvas Bags Fruit of the Loom Wholesale Prices 961-3656 1-800-783-3656 1200 Trumbull - exit Howard St. off Lodge Fry. South A TISKET A TASK.ET Custom Gift Baskets & Nosh Trays • • 661-4789 • • When Quality And Originality Count! Barbara Kaplan = Judi Shefman 52 FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1991 quent entries, will be taken from a new book by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin aimed as a sourcebook of the fundamentals of Jew- ish tradition. The book, entitled Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History, represents a major ac- complishment in helping Jewish and non-Jewish readers increase their knowledge of things Jew- ish. Please let us know your reactions and, if there are particular subjects you would like us to address. TOP of the LAMP National Dry Goods 7 Days a Week Editor's Note: Part of a Jewish newspaper's obligation should be to in- form, not only about the events of the day in the Mideast or here at home, but about what it means to be Jewish. That is why we intro- duce this page, Tradition, which is intended to pro- vide basic information about the fundamentals of Jewish history, thought and tradition in an authoritative yet readable style. Writers will include rabbis, scholars, laymen and staffers; this first en- try, and many subse- New Babies Get Well Hotel Shiva Etc. MN M UM I= =I= I= NM pi= glom MN III low smil ■■■■■■ .... mow l■ IMO 1■11 IN THE ORCHARD MALL WEST BLOOMFIELD • miummoisimmm CLASSIFIED GET RESULTS! Call The Jewish News 354-5959 f one could speak of bibli- cal verses as being vili- fied, then "an eye for an eye" would be the most vili- fied verse in the Bible. It is commonly cited to "prove" the existence of an "Old Testament" ethic of vengefulness, and then con- trasted with the New Tes- tament's supposedly higher ethic of forgiveness. "An eye for an eye" is often associa- ted with modern Jews as well, and invariably in a pe- jorative manner. Israel's critics, for example, com- monly accuse her of practic- ing "eye for an eye" morali- ty when she retaliates against Arab terrorist acts. In actuality, the biblical standard of "an eye for an eye" stood in stark contrast to the legal standards pre- vailing in the societies that surrounded the ancient Hebrews. The Code of From the book JEWISH LITERACY by Joseph Telushkin. Copyright (c) 1991 by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. Reprinted with permission of William Morrow and Co., Inc. Hammurabi, a legal code hundreds of years older than the Torah, legislated retalia- tion even against innocent parties. Thus, if A con- structed a building for B, and the building collapsed and killed B's daughter, then A's daughter was put to death (Law number 229). The biblical law of "an eye for an eye" restricted pun- ishment solely to the perpe- trator. Furthermore, unlike Hammurabi's code, one who caused another's death acci- dentally was never executed. "An eye for an eye" also served to limit vengeance; it did not permit "a life for an eye" or even "two eyes for an eye." The operative bibical principle was that punishment must be com- mensurate with the deed, not exceed it. Blood feuds and vendettas were long practiced among the Israe- lites' neighbors — indeed, they have persisted in the Middle East until this cen- tury — and revenge was of- ten carried out without re- straint. Christians often contend that Jesus went beyond the standard of "an eye for an eye," that he advocated for- giveness and saw retaliation