Yohanan Elihai: "Turning the Other Cheek"

The other cheek

The Israeli public tends to quote the saying "to turn the other cheek" (the expression is from the Gospel according to Matthew 5:39), claiming that this is a typically Christian idea. The tendency is to add that this is not a good idea because it encourages injustice and violence. Furthermore, Judaism fights for justice and against evil, therefore, it is said, we cannot accept this saying because it is exaggerated and dangerous.

Two comments:

1. The idea is already present in the TaNaKh (the Jewish Scriptures of the Jewish people).

2. The intention is not to encourage violence or apathy in the face of evil.

We will discuss these two points further.

1. There are at least two places in the TaNaKh where this idea is presented: Lamentations 3:(27), 30 (It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth) - let him give his cheek to the smiter and be filled with insults.

In the Cassuto - Hartum edition of the TaNaKh (a version with a simple commentary in the margins at the bottom of the page that is often offered by parents on the occasion of a bar mitsvah), one finds the following comment to this verse: "give his cheek to the smiter" - that he offers his cheek to the one who seeks to smite him, that is that he not offer resistance to him.

In this note one finds a reference to a similar verse in the Book of Isaiah, 50:6. There one reads that the servant of God is ready to suffer, and he says: "I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting." That is to the one who sought to smite me I turned my body, my back, and to the one who sought to pluck out the hair of my face, I gave my cheeks.

2. How should one interpret these verses? One can find a key in Matthew 5:39, that is sometimes translated: "Do not resist evil". The verb in the Greek original means "to rise up against, to stand against the evildoer" (the intention being: to act in the same manner, with the same methods). However a more correct translation of the verse (as there is in Hebrew and in the NRSV) says: "But I say to you do not resist (violently) one who is evil". The same idea appears in the epistles of the Apostle Paul: "See that none of you repays evil for evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

Paul summarizes this beautifully in the epistle to the Romans (12:21): "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good".

It should be noted that Jesus, more than once, resists evil, lies, injustice. Even when he appears before the Sanhedrin, he says to the one who smites him on his cheek, "Why do you strike me?" (John 18:23). It is clear that an unjust act must be corrected. However, Jesus responds in goodness to the evildoer. Likewhise, on another occasion, a group of people comes to arrest him. Peter draws his sword and cuts the ear of one of the members of the group. Jesus says to Peter: "Put your sword back into its place" (Matthew 26:52) and he heals the man (Luke 22:51). One might assume that as a result of this, the servant who was healed will remember Jesus' example until the last day of his life.

Sometimes non-violence is victorious. Here are two examples from life:

A woman who was arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis during the Second World War, was tortured by the officer in charge. One day the officer came to "work" and she heard him say to his deputy: "My daughter is very sick, I am worried." The following day, when he came to the torture table, she asked him: "How is your daughter today? Is she better?" He was filled with emotion and he answered her as if she were a friend, and he returned home without torturing her.

I also remember what a veteran resident of Haifa, a well-known promoter of non-violence, retold in my presence. He described the events of the year 1948 and told that in the context of the violent events five Arabs approached him. They took hold of him and brought him to an empty well with the intention of murdering him and throwing his body into the well. They walked together and went quietly until the moment they reached the well. Then he turned towards them and said: "Okay, my friends, do your work". They looked at each other and left him without a word.

And if it does not succeed? Of course, good does not always neutralise evil. However, at least the one who acts thus does not descend to the level of the aggressor, he does not become like him, he does not corrupt the image of God in him. This victory prevents evil from spreading in the world and can serve as an example for others.

And what about the verse "an eye for an eye"? This verse does not intend revenge or evil doing but rather it intends compensation as befits the degree of damage done and not more. We will leave this for another article...