At the end of Parashat Emor, the Torah issues a death sentence against the blasphemer. The story is open, the verdict declared, and we expect the next verse to be the execution. Suddenly — the Torah pauses. Instead of carrying out the sentence, four verses appear about striking a man, striking an animal, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Only after that does the stoning take place. Why does the Torah jam an entire code of bodily injury laws into the middle of a death sentence? The answer reveals a hidden code — the same code that stands behind the moral DNA of every Israeli soldier to this day.
1 The Vast Silence — Why Don’t They Execute?
The blasphemer cursed. The court heard the witnesses. He is condemned to death. We expect the verse of execution — and it doesn’t come. Instead, the Torah inserts laws that seem unrelated. Why?
And the L-rd spoke to Moshe, saying: bring forth the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone himLeviticus 24:13-14
The command is clear: Bring him out. Place hands. Stone him with stones. Three steps in one sequence. We expect the next verse to be the closing line: “And the children of Israel did as the L-rd commanded.” But no. Instead, the Torah continues: “And a man who kills any human soul shall surely be put to death. And he that kills an animal shall pay for it, life for life. And if a man causes a defect in his neighbor, as he did so shall be done to him.”
Laws that have no apparent connection to anything. Fracture for fracture. Eye for eye. Tooth for tooth. Only after all of this, in the very last verse of the parasha: “And Moshe spoke to the children of Israel, and they brought forth the blasphemer outside the camp, and they stoned him with stones.”
⭐ That last verse should have come immediately. So why does the Torah shove an entire code of personal injury law between the verdict and the execution? If we can crack this — we will understand something profound about what it actually means to perform a hard mitzvah.
2 The Subverted City — “He Will Give You Mercy”
In the book of Devarim, there is a similar mitzvah — an extremely harsh one. In the case of the subverted city, you must kill everyone, burn the city, take nothing as plunder. And after this command, the Torah promises something strange.
If you hear in one of your cities, which the L-rd your G-d gives you to dwell there, saying: men, sons of worthlessness, have gone out from your midst and have led astray the inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other godsDeuteronomy 13:13-14
The subverted city — an entire city that turns to idolatry. The verdict: “You shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city by the sword, destroy it utterly, and all that is in it.” No compromise. No mercy. Burn it. Don’t even take anything from the spoils.
And then, at the end of this brutal command — a verse that seems redundant: “And He will give you mercy, and have mercy upon you, and multiply you, as He swore to your fathers.”Deuteronomy 13:18.
🔷 A strange doubling: “He will give you mercy, and have mercy upon you.” If the Holy One gives me mercy, why also “have mercy upon you”? And whom is this verse speaking about? The soldier. The brigade going up to execute the destruction. The team that has to carry out this terrible verdict.
3 The Movie Behind the Subverted City
Picture the brigade. They surround the city. The order comes down. They go in, and execute. In what state do they come back home?
They are loyal soldiers. They are following an order — and it is the command of G-d. But they are slaughtering. They are burning. They are killing. What does this do to a man? Two possibilities, and both are bad:
Possibility A
Shell shock. He comes back broken, dissociated, dysfunctional. Cannot return to a normal life after what he has done.
Possibility B
Cruelty. Suddenly he discovers that killing is possible, and it isn’t so terrible. He acquires cruelty. He damages his own soul.
To this the Torah says: “He will give you mercy, and have mercy upon you.” Don’t worry, dear soldier — you fulfilled an order, but along the way perhaps cruelty has entered you. I will add extra mercy in counterweight, so that you return to being a human being — sensitive, sane, sound. So that you don’t come out wounded.
⭐ This is one of the most powerful sources in the Torah for sensitivity of the heart. Even when the action is commanded and obligatory — it endangers the one performing it. And the Holy One worries about the soldier, not just about the mitzvah. He wants you to leave His side with your soul intact.
4 The Movie Behind the Stoning
Back to our parasha. Picture the stoning. The whole congregation is gathered around. Each holds a stone. The order is given. And they begin to throw.
The blasphemer stands in the middle of the open square. The whole nation surrounds him. “The whole congregation shall stone him” — everyone, not just the witnesses. Each holds a stone. All for the unification of the Holy One and His Shechinah — intending to fulfill the mitzvah, “and you shall remove the evil from your midst.”
And they throw. The stone flies, hits. Blood begins to flow. Another stone, opens his head. Another, breaks his shoulder. Blood, screaming, another stone, another stone. The man writhes like crushed meat. What does this do to the people throwing?
🔷 They begin to feel something dangerous: “You can hit a person, and it’s okay. Everything is normal. He cursed, he deserves it, we are commanded, so we throw.” And drop by drop, the throwing becomes light. If it’s permitted now — perhaps in another situation too? If I threw at the blasphemer, perhaps also at someone who annoyed me? Cruelty enters without you noticing.
⭐ This is the moment when the Torah stops. “Wait. Before I continue telling you what to do — remember what this is doing to you.”
5 The Surgical Pause
Right when we expect the verse of execution, the Torah jams in four reminders. Why four? Because each one closes off a possible escape route for cruelty.
And a man who kills any human soul shall surely be put to death. And he who kills an animal shall pay for it, life for life. And a man who causes a defect in his neighbor, as he did so shall be done to him. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for toothLeviticus 24:17-20
Reminder 1
“He who kills a human soul — shall surely die.” Don’t think that after stoning the blasphemer, it is permitted to strike anyone else. Human life — sacred.
Reminder 2
“He who kills an animal shall pay.” Even for an animal you will give an account. Animals are not free for the taking.
Reminder 3
“If he causes a defect in his neighbor.” It is enough that you wound your friend — even for that you will give an account. Not just murder. Even injury.
Reminder 4
“Fracture for fracture, eye for eye.” Every blow has weight. There is no cheap strike. No fracture without a verdict.
After you understood all this — now if you want to throw stones at him, remember you are doing it only because he is one who curses G-d, whose verdict is death, only because in this specific case I command you. But do not think the leash has been let loose, that you may strike at will, that human life is cheap.
⭐ This is not a digression. This is an inoculation. The Torah inoculates the people against absorbing cruelty — precisely at the moment when cruelty might enter. Only after the inoculation does she give permission.
6 Vayomer and Vayedaber — Two Tongues
In Parashat Ha’azinu, the very first verse teaches us the subtle difference between two of the Torah’s ways of speaking. Why does this matter here?
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak (vaadabera); and let the earth hear the words (imrei) of my mouthDeuteronomy 32:1
One verse, two tongues. “Vaadabera” — harsh speech, firm speech. To whom? “Heavens” — far away. “Imrei pi” — soft speech, gentle speech. To whom? “Earth” — close at hand.
The principle: “Vayomer” — soft speech. “Vayedaber” — firm speech. One who is far from you needs to be addressed with firmness, so that he hears. One who is close — a whisper is enough.
🔷 And now, back to our parasha. After the Torah dedicated four whole verses to sensitivity of the heart — reminding us that one must not strike, must not kill, that human life is sacred — what happened to the people? They recoiled. “Wait, if it’s like this — leave me out of it, I don’t want to get involved, I don’t want to enter this story.” There was a real risk that the execution would never happen.
7 Vayedaber Moshe — The Firmness That Saves the Mitzvah
The last verse of the parasha — which tongue did the Torah choose?
And Moshe spoke (vayedaber) to the children of Israel, and they brought forth the blasphemer outside the camp, and they stoned him with stonesLeviticus 24:23
“Vayedaber.” Firm speech. With force. Why specifically here does Moshe Rabbenu need to raise his tone? Because the audience just heard the Torah’s sensitivity — and that very awareness threatened to cancel the execution. “What, we have to throw stones at him? But we just heard you cannot strike, cannot wound, that human life is sacred. So perhaps not?”
Moshe Rabbenu stands firm: “Yes. Now, here, on this blasphemer — throw. Why? Because his verdict is death. Because he cursed G-d. And because this is what I commanded. But do not interpret this as a general license. It is only here. Only now. Only in this mitzvah.”
⭐ This is the complete moral code:inner sensitivity + outer firmness. Sensitivity must not paralyze you when you are commanded to act. And firmness must not freeze you on the inside. Balanced. Whole. Jewish.
8 Without Hatred — The Secret Signature of the Last Verse
The last verse says they brought him out and stoned him. End of story. So why does the Torah add: “And the children of Israel did as the L-rd commanded Moshe”?
You already said they did it! “They brought forth… they stoned.” Why add what looks redundant — “they did as the L-rd commanded”?
🔷 The answer is the secret signature of moral execution: when they finally threw the stones, they did not throw out of unnecessary hatred. Not from rejoicing. Not from glee that “at last we have permission, so let us go in on him.” Rather “as the L-rd commanded Moshe” — exactly, and nothing beyond. We fulfill the command of G-d without any superfluous emotional bias against the one condemned to death.
⭐ This is the standard. When you do something hard, you do it exactly. Not more. Not by a millimeter. Not with thrill. Not with pleasure. Without leaning toward the condemned. Only because G-d commanded. The logic of the command — not the logic of emotion. This is the bittersweet sanctity of Israel’s Torah.
9 The Spiritual DNA of Israel’s Soldiers
Where does the unique morality of the IDF soldier come from? What is the source of that spiritual DNA?
When people speak of the unique morality of Israeli soldiers — soldiers who sometimes pay with their lives in order not to harm enemy women and children — where does it come from? It comes from this place.
The Torah commands us: do what must be done, one hundred percent. Carry out the mission. But only what must be done. With no leaning, no deviation that flows from a base, animal emotion that does not align with the holiness that must be present. “And your camp shall be holy”Deuteronomy 23:15.
🔷 Soldiers of Israel. People of Israel. “And your camp shall be holy.” Not a military camp that operates excellently. A holy camp. That is the name of the game. That is the name of the connection. That is the code that has accompanied us for 3,300 years.
📕 This code — how to do something hard without losing your soul — is precisely the kind of tension David Goldberg explores in his novels of Israeli officers facing impossible dilemmas. See “Ghost Frequency” and “The Tehran Protocol”. The first chapter is free.
🗓 Week Plan — Seven Drills of a Soft Heart and a Steady Hand
SUNDAY · A hard piece of feedback at work
Once this week, you have to deliver unpleasant feedback to a colleague or report. Ask yourself first: “Am I telling the truth — without a hint of pleasure in striking?” Do exactly what is needed, and not a millimeter more.
MONDAY · A child who crossed the line
Today the child will cross a line. You will need to set a limit or impose a consequence. Ask before you react: “Am I acting from love, or from a private offense of my own?” If your raised voice lasts more than three seconds — emotion has taken over.
TUESDAY · Cutting a relationship
There’s a tie you know must end. A friendship that drains you. A partnership that poisons you. Do it this week — without a parting stab. Without a poisoned summary. “Mercy and have mercy upon you” — protect your soul even as you cut.
WEDNESDAY · Refusing a request
Someone will ask you for money, a favor, a commitment you cannot give. Refuse — without insulting, without proving you were right to refuse, without blaming the asker. A clean “no” is a holy “no.”
THURSDAY · Personal inoculation
Before you end the day — check yourself: “Where did I absorb cruelty this week without noticing? In which moment did I take pleasure in someone’s pain?” Don’t deny. Identify. Identification = inoculation.
FRIDAY NIGHT · A short accounting
Before lighting Shabbat candles: two questions. (1) When this week did I act “as the L-rd commanded” — precisely, without a negative emotional surcharge? (2) When did I not? Not to flagellate yourself. To improve next week.
SHABBAT · The Torah reading
When you hear in the Torah reading the verses about the blasphemer and “eye for eye” — remember that these are not two subjects. They are the moral code. Sensitivity + firmness. Inner softness + steady hand. Read it as if you are receiving it for the first time.
Go Deeper
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Daily Halakha
Every day — clear ruling, MOUTTAR or ASSOUR. Sephardic halakha following Yalkut Yossef / Hazon Ovadia.
Friday Night · Emor 5786 · Based on the shiur of M. Yéhouda Himi
At the end of Parashat Emor, the blasphemer is sentenced to death. We expect the verse of execution — and it doesn’t come. Instead, the Torah jams in four verses on bodily harm: striking a man, striking an animal, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Why?
Picture the stoning. The whole congregation surrounds the blasphemer, each holding a stone. Blood, screaming, another stone, another. What does this do to the people throwing? Drop by drop — cruelty enters. “You can hit a person. It’s fine. He had it coming, we are commanded.” Suddenly the standard breaks. The Torah stops: “Wait. Before you carry it out — remember: human life is sacred. Even an animal is not free for the taking. Even a wound has its verdict.”
Thus the people are inoculated against absorbing cruelty — precisely at the moment when cruelty might enter. Only after the inoculation does permission come. Shabbat shalom.
B”H
Vayedaber, Not Vayomer — The DNA of Israel’s Soldiers
Shabbat morning · Emor · M. Yéhouda Himi
After the Torah dedicated four verses to sensitivity of the heart — the people recoiled. “If it’s like this, leave me out.” There was a real risk that the execution would never happen. So Moshe Rabbenu raises his tone: “Vayedaber Moshe el bnei Yisrael” — firm speech, not “vayomer.”Outer firmness, inner sensitivity — this is the code.
And the closing verse: “And the children of Israel did as the L-rd commanded Moshe.” Apparently redundant — you already said they did! Rather — when they threw the stones, they threw without unnecessary hatred. No glee. No thrill. Only because G-d commanded. Exactly. And nothing beyond.
This is the spiritual DNA of Israel’s soldiers. Sometimes they pay with their lives so as not to harm enemy women and children. “And your camp shall be holy.” Shabbat shalom umevorach.
