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Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
A bout two weeks ago, on the
Sabbath that began on Feb.

17 and ended on Feb. 18,
religious Jews read Parshat Mishpatim.

The Torah portion lays out God’s
“Covenant Code,” or a series of laws
outlining just punishments for serious
crimes. Many times over, God makes
one detail clear.

The death penalty is just.

It is just against “one who strikes a
man so that he dies,” against one who
“deliberately plots against his friend to
slay him” and against “one who strikes
his father or his mother,” among other
types of off enders.

“If there is a fatality, you shall give a
life for a life,” the text reads. “An eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand
for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for
a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise
for a bruise.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a
religious Jew who uses his faith as
part of his political identity, is reject-
ing that principle. On Feb. 16 at the
Mosaic Community Church in West
Philadelphia, the longtime Montgomery
County resident announced that he
would not sign any execution warrants
during his term. He also called on
the Pennsylvania General Assembly to
abolish the death penalty.

“This is a fundamental statement of
morality. Of what’s right and wrong,”
Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services
Is Josh Shapiro’s Rejection of the Death
Penalty in Line with Jewish Law?
Josh Shapiro
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