I’m sure you’ve all heard about Martin Grossman, may his memory be a blessing. Many would protest at my using the traditional Jewish expression for someone who has passed on (may his memory be a blessing) about a man who was addicted to drugs from his youth, who was high on drugs and yet with awareness of what he was doing, killed a female police officer and then tried to hide his guilt. After 25 years spent in prison, Martin was executed last week.
Thousands protested this death sentence, many of them Jews, arguing not that Martin Grossman was innocent, but that an execution after 25 years imprisonment was excessive, that the inmate had repented of his deeds and had shown genuine remorse. Others argued that the death penalty was not a cruel and unusual punishment in this case. I won’t attempt to express my opinion one way or the other. It isn’t so relevant, since Martin Grossman has already left the world, with the traditional Jewish prayer, “Shema Yisroel” on his lips and the words “ahavas Yisroel,” meaning “love for a fellow Jew”
I think most of us who protested Martin Grossman’s execution were under no illusion that he was innocent of the crime. Nor were we just having a knee-jerk reaction of trying G-d forbid to try to keep a brother from paying for his crime. In the Torah, there is much attention given to issues of justice, punishing those who have committed crimes and giving compensation and comfort to victims. We know that such crimes exist and need to be adequately punished.
But this is what I think lies at the heart of this issue, what bothered so many of us in the Jewish world, even though it was often unspoken. Three times a day, we pray for the restoration of the judges and the justice system that is our authentic justice system; the Sanhedrin. Even though many of us are privileged to live in the land of Israel, without an authentic Jewish court in the spirit of G-d’s laws given to us on Sinai, we cannot adequately address our problems. This is how deep the exile penetrates. Yes, for financial misdoings and other complaints, it is possible to go to a Beis Din, a court of three rabbis, to get justice. But for severe crimes the Beis Din cannot punish, for violent crimes, one has to rely on the secular courts. We don’t lament the fact a Jew has to pay for what he has done. That is basic responsibility the Torah requires of us in many places and in many situations. We mourn the fact that a Jew cannot yet take responsibility for any serious crime he may commit G-d forbid, in a way that G-d intended us to deal with these issues, through the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem with the Temple standing.
If G-d intended us to have a Sanhedrin, then why don’t we have one now? That is exactly the point. Every person must ask for the revelation of the ideal era, when Moshiach (the Jewish Messiah) will restore the authentic justice system outlined by G-d. Until then, any attempt at justice is lacking and no punishment can really fit the crime. Of course, we must go ahead and rely on what we have, but it isn’t enough. We have to ask G-d to give us the ability to live exactly according to His plan.