What is life worth?: Parshat Behar-Behukotai

Abstract

These Talmudic cases of injury and charity, like those in the 9/11 victim compensation fund, occupy the complicated space between establishing objective standards that will never be fully just with the subjectivity of one’s individual financial and social standing. The process will always be inherently flawed because we can never measure human worth with accuracy. And most of the time, we don’t have to. But, every once in a while, we have to, and it requires clarity, strength of character, and lots of time. It takes moral leadership. As we close the book of Leviticus, we are asked to personalize the Temple and its rituals by asking what we are willing to give to God to show what we value.