the caption is correct. it was carma, not karma.
did the power of gravity exact justice in the universe?
in california, a man was found dead crushed by a car. it was believed that he was trying to steal the vehicle’s catalytic converter. catalytic converter theft, in california, is plague-like. the thefts increased from 1,298 in 2018 to 14,433 in 2020, according to a report by nicb. kiro7.com converters have high value as they contain valuable precious metals.
from the reporting, it appeared that the man’s jack failed and he was crushed by car’s it was pure carma!
this tragic story may be a source of joy to the many individuals who have been victims of this theft. one of our family’s vehicles was a victim of the crime. the theft rendered the car inoperable and was salvaged. a perfectly useful car was permanently disabled by a criminal act which would perhaps yield $250.00 to the thief.
any joy over this tragedy is , however, tempered with the torah’s notions of justice. leviticus 24:19, provides that when “a man who inflicts an injury upon his fellow man just as he did, so shall be done to him [namely,] fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. just as he inflicted an injury upon a person, so shall it be inflicted upon him. ”
the torah provision addresses the need for punishment proportionality for an offense. certainly, a converter theft would not justify a death sentence. ironically, the portion the talmud discussing this matter has name sounding like karma, it is called bava kama.
one of the most famous misunderstanding of this provision is from gandhi. it is attributed to him that “[a]n eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind.” in making his statement, he failed to understand the intent of the statement was that justice needed to be dispensed in a precise manner in order to not be excessive.
be well!!
if you would like to read more blog posts, click here
The Ten Commandments Project 