“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Do you like that? If yes, congratulations, you’re a good Christian. If no, keep reading, you might turn into a good Jew.

You may even recall the rabbinical opinion that the lex talionis refers to equitable compensation. No! Compensation was the idea behind the Ur-Namma codex. Hammurabi, and the Torah, recorded later, purposely replaced unworkable compensation with reciprocal vengeance. And anyway, what could compensate murder? Would the rabbis accept German reparations to Israel as proper compensation for lives?

There is, of course, a big difference between an eye and a bus. We know the individual offender and can justly claim his eye. Taking out a bus in Ramallah harms civilians, people who did us no direct harm.

But G-d charges nations. Jews have suffered because of the wrongdoings of some, and not even all the men of Sodom were evil; Lot wasn’t. Individual responsibility works among neighbors; collective responsibility, among nations. Inside their society, Palestinians are welcome to exterminate terrorists.

My question is, Can an honest Jew refuse to recast an eye for an eye into a bus for a bus?