***Excerpts taken from Chapter 4 of Rabbi Brad Hirshfield’s book ‘You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right‘.
Hirschfield’s Quadrant (A Circle with 4 quadrants)
“Imagine setting up a new paradigm, one in which there are two axes, with revenge and forgiveness running along the horizontal, and justice and mercy running along the vertical” (Hirschfield, pg 91)
“Part of what makes us human is that we are not above taking revenge and bearing a grudge, and it’s interesting that the bible prohibits both of these things in chapter 19 of Leviticus…This prohibition in Leviticus directly precedes the directive to love one’s neighbor as oneself” (Hirschfield, pg 92)
“The basis of any just legal system – not to mention any healthy relationship – is that we should be treated equally. Without that expectation, why should we expect a reciprocal relationship?” (Hirschfield, pg 93)
Justice/Revenge
“That is what the marriage the quadrant of the marriage of justice and revenge is all about. You did something to me, which justifies me doing it to you…the marriage of justice and revenge is always a death spiral. We know that all it does is give us just enough moral high ground to do to other people precisely what we wouldn’t want done to us” (Hirschfield, pg 93)
Revenge/Mercy
“Indulging our inclination toward revenge is not such a good thing…The bible tells us to be aware that while the urge for vengeance can be legitimate, acting on the urge is not” (Hirschfield, pg 96)
“The key lies in our ability to merge the impulse toward revenge with the capacity for mercy. When that happens we build cities of refuge, sometimes in the world and sometimes in our own hearts” (Hirschfield, pg 97)
Forgiveness/Justice
“The rabbi’s insist that execution is an appropriate response, in principle, to a horrific crime; but they teach that any court that carries out that sentence even once in 7 years is a terrorist court…Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah teaches that the death penalty must not be given even once in 70 years and Rabbi’s Akiva and Tarfon teach that if it were up to them the death penalty would never be imposed at all” (Hirschfield, pg 99)
“The theory behind the death penalty is something I support. But justice is never pure…Unless you claim to be that authority yourself, then the demands of justice and forgiveness invite us to keep the death penalty on the books but almost never use it, if we use it all” (Hirschfield, pg 99)
“The truth is never that simple or one-sided. Any time we think it is, we should be extremely careful about what actions we take in the name of that kind of truth. According to the Mishna, that kind of truth is actually dangerous, while the willingness to live with doubt is sacred” (Hirschfield, pg 100)
Mercy/Forgiveness
“The overlap of forgiveness and mercy is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the overlap of justice and revenge. Instead of what I won’t do for you because of what you wouldn’t do for me, or what I am entitled to do to you because of what you did to me, here we have what I will do for you because of what I hope one day you will do for me in return, even if that never comes to pass…it is the only one of our four combinations that entirely depends on us” (Hirschfield, pg 102)
Loosing My Religion 