“Ransoming captives supersedes charity to the poor”- Maimonides (Moshe ben Maimon)

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (acronymed Rambam  for “Rabbeinu Moshe Ben Maimon”, and Latinized Moses Maimonides), was a preeminent medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher and astronomer,and  became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt.

The United States, a few years back, completed a prisoner swap with Iran, freeing 7 Iranians held in the US (mostly on charges of violating the trade embargo- no terrorists among them) in exchange for 4 Americans held by Iran on dubious spying and security charges.

The politics of this event aside, Maimonides and other Jewish thinkers put a high value on freeing captives. The Talmudic sages even said that we should redeem our teachers before our parents, even before the king! (Although, given that they were the community teachers,  this may have influenced their thinking!)

Failure to redeem captives in a timely way was seen as equivalent to spilling their blood, likely because it could lead to that either by their own hand or their captors. However, the price to be paid was proscribed and limited, so as not encourage more captives being taken, in an endless game of Red Rover.

Is freeing 4 captives in Iran a fair swap for 7 captives in the US? No one freed was held because they were dangerous actors, just businesspeople, journalists, students, and so on. The Talmud says that anyone who saves life, saves an entire world, and whoever takes a life destroys an entire world. Human lives are ascribed an infinite value. Let’s do the math: 4 times infinity = infinity, and  7 times infinity = infinity. So infinite worth was freed in exchange for infinite worth. Sounds like a fair deal, a just deal, and more freedom all around. The Course in Miracles teaches that the holiest places on earth are where an ancient enmity has become a current love. We are a long way from love with Iran, but I have to think that the world moved a bit toward the holy with the release of these 11 people, and a little more freedom and redemption resulted. And I think Maimonides would agree.

What is captive in yourself that longs to be redeemed?

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.