Beam. A long and thick timber for roofing and supporting buildings. Dictionary of the Royal Academy.

In an ancient Talmudic source we find the account of a controversy between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel, about a man who had stolen the main beam of a building and built his own house with it. The House of Shammai said that the entire house of the thief had to be demolished and the beam returned to its rightful owner. The House of Hillel said that the thief only had to pay the rightful owner in money the value of the beam, without having to demolish the house. Beit Hillel said that the thief only had to make the payment in money, supported by the “Takanat Hashavim”, the “provision for the one who repents” (BT Gittin 55a). The House of Shammai interpreted the Biblical commandment, “And he who stole it shall return the stolen object” (Vaykra 5:23), in a literal way, that is, the thief must return the original object to its owner. He is obligated to return the stolen object even if this means demolishing his own house.

The House of Hillel understood that if a repentant thief is faced with the choice of destroying his house or not returning the stolen object, he could choose the latter. Therefore, their school was inclined to allow him to repent in exchange for correcting his mistake without causing excessive harm to himself. Rashi explains that Hillel’s position contains the true meaning of Takanat Hashavim, because if you force him to destroy his home, he will avoid the act of repentance. Maimonides in his Mishne Torah tells us that the sages decided that the thief can pay the value of the stolen object and not have to destroy his home. Halacha prefers the rehabilitation of the scoundrel, rather than the imposition of a strict judgment of the Torah commandment.

It is this humanistic interpretation that prevailed and must prevail in rabbinical interpretations. Unfortunately in our time, extremist sectors lean towards literal interpretations, without realizing that applying the full weight of the law does not help a person to change. The weight of the law should not be greater than the weight of a beam.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Evolving Halakha by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Zemer.