Shalom and thank you for your question. Is there a concept in the Torah of punishment that is meted out measure for measure, as in – the punishment fits the crime?
The short answer is – yes there is a concept of measure for measure. However, don’t worry! G-d is not out to get you! Now let’s get into a bit more detail.
The sources in the Torah for which punishment is relevant to which crime are too numerous to mention here. In Leviticus Chapter 9, the Ten Commandments are presented, and after each commandment is written “I am the L-rd your G-d.” This is because although the commandments seem easy enough to understand, we are all equipped with two souls. We have a G-dly soul, which is described in the Tanya (a basic text of Chassidic teaching) as a “veritable part of G-d above”, and we have an animal soul, meaning the spiritual energy that animates us – meaning, gives us physical life and physical desires. We cannot live and keep the commandments without it, but we have to channel those physical desres to good places, with the aid of the G-dly soul, which likes to connect with G-dly ethics and deeds, and in fact desperately wants us to connect with G-d, with what is true and right. It is like a fiery flame that constantly curves and stretches higher and higher, back to its heavenly source.
Both of our souls struggle constantly to influence us. Each soul draws us to its side. So the Torah says “I am the L-rd your G-d” after each commandment in order to stimulate our G-dly soul to take charge and overcome the default urges of the ‘animal’ soul which can sometimes be contrary to the commandments. We need positive encouragement, from the G-dly energy of Chessed – loving-kindness, and we need the check balance of the energy of severity. (These are part of the ten soul powers – spiritual energies that we are comprised of and originate in the higher spiritual realms.) That’s why we need the deterrent of ‘punishment’, the admixture of severity that balances loving-kindness. My mother of blessed memory always insisted that a cake is not a cake without a pinch of salt. She would also add a little sugar to spicy recipes. For balance.
Punishment however, is not meant to be a negative ‘reward’ for our actions, rather, as in the context of education- it is actually a consequence of our actions, like the situation of a person who neglects their teeth and then suffers on the dentist’s chair, not to mention the bills. The spiritual worlds can work like that also. The Tanya also teaches us what happens when we do a mitzvah, keep a commandment of G-d. When we do that, we draw down G-dly light and elevate ourselves and the object/ people we performed the mitzvah with. Not only that, but when we have reached out and touched someone with even a tiny act of goodness and light, even a smile, it has a domino effect. I was once hosted by a person who lived very very simply, but thoughtfully provided my friends and I with new toothbrushes, since we had not brought our own. That was more than forty years ago, but since then I have bought many many cheap toothbrushes and offered them to our guests, who hadn’t brought their own, and they in turn have been very touched.
This is actually what happens with negative deeds. The punishment is not G-d’s revenge on us, it is the negative EFFECT of our deed.
However, the cherry on the sundae is this: GOOD IS ETERNAL- because it is actually part of G-d. Evil is not eternal. Even extremely wicked individuals who are theoretically punished for all generations to come, will eventually have their souls rectified and be part of the Messianic age. It will simply take longer for them than for most people.
In the book of Exodus 10:19, it says “and within the entire boundary of Egypt not one locust was left.” The classic commentator Rashi explains that the Egyptians were so sunk in their evil that they did not realize that had G-d left the locusts that they had collected and salted as food, it would have been a constant reminder of the punishment that they received. People who ‘repent’ that is – endeavor to rectify their mistakes, merit that all their previous wrongdoings are converted to MERITS! (Tractate Yomah 86.) A repentant is called in Hebrew a ‘Baal Teshuvah’. Literally that means a ‘master of return’. Return to where? To G-d of course. The ‘wrongdoings’ of the past now accompany the Baal Teshuvah and like the locusts that would have reminded the Egyptians of their evil deeds, these merits strengthen the person who returned to G-d and remind them of the positive changes they have made.
It is very important to realize that we are commanded to worship G-d with joy. This can be very challenging, and it takes determination. When we realize how important it really is, then we are enabled to do what we need to do with joy. A famous Chassidic teaching us that joy breaks boundaries. When we function from a paradigm of “this may be difficult but with G-d’s help I will deal with it” or “I am so grateful for my blessings and I trust G-d that what He does is for the good,” then we are empowered. When we are busy learning Torah, reaching out to our fellow, working hard at the things we need to, and grabbing every chance to celebrate with our nearest and dearest, not much room is left for worry.
