We Will Sing Again! (Season 7 Episode 20)
Chochmat Nashim
29/09/2024
One of many classic West Wing episodes, “Take the Sabbath Day” (season 1, episode 14), portrayed its characters’ struggles with the notion and implementation of capital punishment – including how to juggle personal beliefs with fulfilling their various roles in the American government.
After a difficult conversation with his rabbi, Toby Ziegler has another with his boss, President Bartlet, who is facing the difficult decision of whether to commute a death sentence.
TOBY: I had a strange experience this weekend. One of the P.D.s on the Cruz case, I guess trying the things you do when you’re desperate, he went and spoke to my rabbi.
BARTLET: Jewish law doesn’t prohibit…
TOBY: I know.
BARTLET: The commandment does not say, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ It says, ‘Thou shalt not murder.’
TOBY: I know. But the fact is that, even 2,000 years ago, the rabbis of the Talmud couldn’t… [tries to find the right word] …stomach it. I mean, they weren’t about to rewrite the Torah, but they came up with another way. They came up with legal restrictions, which make our criminal justice system look… They made it impossible for the state… to punish someone by killing them.
BARTLET: We make it very hard to kill anybody in this country, Toby.
TOBY: It should be impossible.
BARTLET: But it’s not.
TOBY: But it should be.
(Script excerpt from http://westwingwiki.com/2014/04/season-1-episode-14-take-sabbath-day/)
