Parshat Ki Teitze - People That Care
by Rabbi Lobel

(Deuteronomy; Chapter 25, Verses 2-3) "It will be that if the wicked one ought to be beaten, the Judge shall cast him down, and he shall strike before him, before him, according to his wickedness, by the count. Forty shall he strike him."

The Mishna (Makkos 22a) explains that the total amount of lashes shall not increase thirty nine. This is derived from the extra word, "Bemispar" - "by the count" that concludes the verse and by the fact that only in the next verse the amount of forty lashes is given. This teaches our Tannaic Sages of the Mishna that the Torah really means thirty nine lashes. The Rabbis understand the verses as if written, "the count that concludes forty - which is thirty nine."

Rava, commenting on the Mishna, says, (Makkos 22b) "How foolish are those individuals that stand up in front of a Sefer Torah and do not stand for a great Torah Scholar. In the Torah it is written forty lashes and the Rabbis came and reduced it by one." The Rabbis are the one who truly understand the meaning of the Torah; without them we would be lost to draw the wrong conclusion. Therefore, it logically follows that if you were to stand for the Torah, you should also stand for its Scholars.

The Maharsha explains Rava's statement. The fools that do not stand up for Torah Scholars are those individuals who think that Rabbis are here to prohibit all of one's actions. This Halachic ruling, reducing corporal punishment from forty to thirty nine, is testimony that Torah Scholars are only looking out for the good of the individual.

A Torah Scholar's mindset will not allow a wicked Rosha, who deserves severe punishment, to receive more than the legal amount. But only a Torah Scholar, someone who has dedicated his life to understand the true meaning within the Torah, would ever discover the that the legal limit is not forty lashes but only thirty-nine.

Even though this Halachic ruling does not practically benefit us much, it is the mindset of our Rabbis that is seen here. Ensuring the proper interpretation of the Torah, G-d's will, no matter the outcome.