In Reply to: Re: thank you so much! posted by Jo on October 14, 2006 at 00:51:59:
I appreciate Student's concern that this subject has gone a bit sideways. After all, he/she went quite some lengths to answer my question on the subject. As you will recall, I was the one who raised the original question that it appeared that the law allowed too-harsh punishment in some verses. I was very uneasy with those verses, so I appreciate the great length that Student has gone to to show the issue from the perspective of learned rabbis. I simply was not aware that so much thinking had gone into the issue. I read the posts and found it interesting and it helped me understand. I just hope the early Israelites interpreted those verses and applied them with the same compassion and benevolence that the rabbis did in later years.
Given my original question, it should be no surprise that I don't believe in corporal punishment. I fully understand why this discussion would touch off spanking-related issues. Student, I appreciate the great lengths you've gone to explain the Jewish position to me, and again, it was very helpful to me and probably to others, but I think it's perfectly natural this conversation takes this turn as well.