My Parents Were Wrong: Crime Does Pay

My parents were wrong. Crime does pay.

That's all I could think of last week when I heard the news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and other Americans unlawfully and immorally detained in Russia would be released later that day. Now don't get me wrong: I don't think for a moment that we should not have moved heaven and earth to get them home. I am grateful to all who had a hand in securing their release -- except the Russians -- and I think a special acknowledgement of President Biden's leadership is in order. This was a complicated bargain, one that made last year's release of WNBA star Brittney Griner simple by comparison. Yes, all that is true. 

But still, crime pays. And that is a painful lesson. 

I have talked about the issues of kidnapping, hostage taking, and unlawful imprisonment many times over the years.  I gave my first sermon about this subject in 1999! While a great deal of attention has been directed toward this in recent years, it is actually a problem as old as humanity itself. How many of you remember the story from the Bible of Abraham, who was informed that Lot was taken prisoner during a series of wars between the various city states in the land of Canaan. The Bible tells us that Abraham gathered all the men of his household (318 men, a significant fighting force!) and secured Lot's freedom. How many of you remember what our own great nation's first significant military episode was after the Revolutionary War? You might be  tempted to say the War of 1812, but in actuality it was 1785, the beginning of decades of significant naval battles and negotiations with the Barbary States, North African nations that often practiced state-supported piracy in order to exact tribute from weaker Atlantic powers.  These states had a policy of kidnapping Americans engaged in commerce and trade off the coast of North Africa.  These are but two examples of this ancient and modern crime, and the difficult choices that confront leaders and policy makers. This is an especially painful issue to address for the Jewish community now as the fate of Israel’s captives in Gaza is foremost on our minds.  Israel has paid dearly over the past 30 years to free its unlawfully detained soldiers and civilians.

There is an entire body of Jewish law devoted to this issue, because as an often weak and defenseless minority, we were often targeted for kidnapping.  The basic Jewish text for dealing with this issue is found in the Mishna. The Mishna states that we must not ransom captives for more than their value for the sake of the public good. The logic is simple.  We must not incentivize the taking of hostages.  That is why both Israel and the United States until recently had a policy that eschewed negotiating with terrorists and criminals who unlawfully took prisoners (at least publicly).

On the other hand Pidyon Shvuyim, the redemption of captives is considered one of the greatest and most important of the mitzvot because it deals with the saving and preservation of human life.  Sadly, the Rabbinic literature deals in great length with this subject because it has been a threat which Jewish communities have had to deal with often,  Every generation has been called upon to work for the freedom of their fellow Jew.

So this is the tension in Jewish law.  The earlier text I cited lays out a strong fundamental principle.  We must not incentivize kidnapping.  Yet later sources also emphasized the human element  into the discussion. The Talmud (Baba Batra 8a) taught that pidyon shvuyim was a mitzvah rabbah, a responsibility of paramount importance. Later sources encouraged, despite the ruling in the Mishnah which urged restraint for the sake of the common good,  to go to great lengths to fulfill this responsibility.

That the great compendiums of Jewish Law of the Middle Ages dealt extensively with this mitzvah demonstrates the constant threat of captivity, whether under Christian dominion, where records of Spanish Jewish communities speak of special endowments to be used specifically for this purpose, or under Islamic dominion as evidenced by Maimonides’ ruling in the Mishneh Torah (Mattanot Ani’yim 8:10) that the responsibility of redeeming captives supersedes the responsibility of charity to the poor.  Given the miserable conditions and slavery to which captured Jews were often subjected, we understand the urgency with which earlier generations responded to these challenges, and can only marvel at the exceptional efforts they devoted to this task. 

In December 2022, following the release of Brittney Griner,  I wrote the following to the JCCP/CBT community.

Today, we join with all who are celebrating Ms. Griner's return to her family and to our country. But at the same time, every American must consider what Russia did, and what our government was forced to accept. So let me conclude with an idea that I shared with the congregation when I last wrote about this issue in June. When considering the lopsided nature of a possible deal for her release, I wrote, "... if it does indeed lead to the release of our citizens held prisoner in Russia, I will nonetheless be elated.  Elated, that is until the next time Russia chooses to falsely arrest an American citizen. What will we have to pay next time?"

The next time came again last week.  The price was high.

We rejoice that Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and others are free.  But other Americans remain wrongfully detained in Russia, as well as China, Iran, and Afghanistan.  What will we need to do to secure their release, especially when those nations know that crime does indeed pay?