Ki Seitze 5786 - Not Hanging Around

In this week's parsha, the Torah teaches:

“If a man has committed a sin punishable by death and is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, you shall not leave his body overnight upon the tree. Rather, you shall surely bury him on that day, for a hanging person is a disgrace to G-d; and you shall not defile your land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you as an inheritance.” (Devarim 21:22–23)

The Torah gives a striking reason why the body may not remain hanging overnight: “for a hanging person is a disgrace to G-d.”

Why should leaving the body of an executed criminal hanging from a tree constitute a disgrace to Hashem?

Rashi explains that the human being was created in the image of G-d and that the Jewish people are Hashem's children. He then cites the Gemara in Sanhedrin (46b), which illustrates this idea with a parable:

Two twin brothers resembled one another. One became king, while the other became a robber. The king ordered that his criminal brother be executed and hanged. When people saw the hanged man, they said, “The king has been hanged!” The king therefore ordered that his brother be taken down.

At first glance, the parable is difficult to understand. Obviously, no one seeing a human being hanging from a tree would literally think that Hashem Himself had been hanged. How, then, does the parable explain why the disgrace of a human being is described as a disgrace to G-d?

Perhaps the point of the parable is not that people would confuse the physical appearance of a human being with Hashem. Rather, the parable teaches that the humiliation of the king's brother reflects upon the king because of the close relationship and resemblance between them.

Similarly, human beings are created b'tzelem Elokim—in the image of Hashem. Every person therefore possesses a unique soul that was created by his Creator. When a human being is publicly degraded, the Divine image that he bears is also being dishonored.

But even this is hard to understand. Unlike Hashem, human beings have a yetzer hora and are fallible. Furthermore, the Torah is not discussing an innocent person or even a righteous person. We are talking about a person who was convicted of a capital crime and has been executed by the court. Is there any possibility that any onlooker would confuse the soul of such a person with Hashem?

We have to say that, according to Rashi, the answer is “Yes”!

Because people are created in the image of G-d, then human beings have the potential for spiritual greatness. When someone looks at the soul of any person, one can see an aspect of godliness in such a person, and therefore the disgrace of this person is a disgrace to Hashem Himself. Even the soul of a convicted criminal is not irredeemable, if one searches deep enough. The Torah teaches that sin—even terrible sin—does not erase the fundamental neshama that comes from being created b'tzelem Elokim.

Therefore, just as we are careful to never let any holy object, such as a Sefer Torah or Tefillin, disgracefully touch the ground, so we also cannot tolerate the tremendous disrespect to a dead human being with a holy soul remaining all night on a tree, or anywhere else without burial. Even after his terrible transgression, the Torah insists that his body must be treated with dignity and buried without delay.

This gives us a profound perspective on how we should view other people. It is easy to see only a person's failures, weaknesses and mistakes. The Torah teaches us to look deeper. Every human being was created with the capacity for spiritual growth and greatness. We may condemn a person's actions when they are wrong, and the Torah itself requires justice and accountability, but we must never lose sight of the divine neshama of every person.