Bava Kama 28 – You Shall Take No Ransom

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 28, discusses whether a slave should be compensated if he is injured when resisting being freed. This same text can be interpolated to reflect that we are forbidden from taking ransom, from holding a person captive for profit. This Talmudic conversation feels all the more prescient now as we watch as nearly two hundred innocents being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. At the same time, the news media asks ridiculous questions about the value of one human life over another. Should we consider the value of an innocent child as being higher than that of a terrorist? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group. We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hostedby Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer.  Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices