Pesachim 32a, b

We continue the rabbis' debates about whether we are permitted secondary gain from leavened bread on Pesach.  Today the rabbis focus on the repayment of terumah that has been consumed by a non-priest.  If that terumah is leavened bread, and leavened bread is worthless on Pesach, how must one repay the cost of that item?

Some of their conversation points:

• thieves pay for the stolen item at its value when stolen
• when paying for stolen terumah figs, one is blessed for paying back the same weight in dates which are of higher value
• how do we value terumah leaven that is eaten during Pesach when leaven is worthless?
• do we pay back for stolen/wrongly eaten items by their monetary value, their measure, or some other rate?
• when a non-priest intentionally eats terumah leaven on Pesach, how do we repay its monetary value (ie. nothing) in firewood, as is otherwise customary?
• can we learn anything from practices of repayment on Shabbat or Yom Kippur?
• what benefit can we derive from eating ritually impure terumah on other days of the year?
• when can priests burn or feed to their dogs ritually impure terumah, and how does this help us to understand today's dilemma?

Daf (b) focuses on an intricate argument involving the voices of Abaye, Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri, Abba Shaul, Rav Pappa, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak and Rav Chiyya bar Avin.  

Their argument regards details concerning three statements: it is forbidden to derive benefit from leavened bread during Passover; one pays according to the monetary value (thus no repayment is made for the worthless leaven of Pesach), and one pays according to the measure of terumah that has been consumed (thus repayment must be made for leaven consumed even during Pesach).

The rabbis use many different proof texts to back up their arguments regarding these statements.  One of the points they reiterate at the conclusion of today's daf regards karet as a punishment.  Which is stronger, the punishment of karet or the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven?  Karet means to be 'cut off'.  This could amount to many different realities: spiritual exclusion, physical exclusion, a death penalty, etc.  We learn today that Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak tells Rav Chiyya bar Avin that punishment at the had of Heaven is the stronger of these punishments.  They continue to discuss this idea.

The notion of punishment - especially for failure to comply with the mitzvot - is a pivotal issue in Jewish thought today.  A vast majority of Jews do not worry about  death at the hand of Heaven for our transgressions.  Further, we do not belong to a communities that will institute karet and thus bring meaning to that consequence.  How can we practice the mitzvot when we do not believe that there is a real consequence - karet - for our failures?  Often I hear Liberal Judaism criticized for 'picking and choosing' our observance.  I won't steal, for example, but I might drive a car on Shabbat. Is there any way to encourage compliance with the practice of mitzvot without instilling fear of punishment?

Beyond this argument lies perhaps a more important question: as Liberal Jews, should we be striving to observe the mitzvot at all?  Is there an inherent value in observing the mitzvot for their own sake, without believing that they are tied to a larger, overriding truth?  One that is systematized through the promise of reward and punishment? 

I practice Judaism selfishly.  I do pick and choose the mitzvot that I keep.  And I do this to inspire a connection with my idea of G-d, with my community, and to better my mental health through conscious, traditional ritual.  I do not believe that I will be or should be punished for the mitzvot I observe erroneously or for those I do not observe at all.  But I do find meaning in the mitzvot that I observe.  And I am part of a large community that practices similarly.  

So should I be striving to observe 'better'?  Who might be served by that phoney practice?  Certainly not that G-d that I know and believe in and pray to.  Do I somehow wrong the orthodox community when I practice in this way?  Even though I could not stomach practising rituals that carry no (or very negative) meaning to me? I would continually make errors and not care to fix my practice for I do not believe that G-d might punish me for those errors.  Would that forced compliance be better than my 'picking and choosing'?

Larger questions inspired by a very small passage in this very large sea of Talmud.