The Jewish Legal System
- Business Law
- Criminal Law
- Laws of Damages
- Marriage Laws
- The Jewish King
- The Sanhedrin and the Rabbis
-
Whipping
Doesn’t the Torah say that a transgressor is whipped 40 times?How were the Rabbis allowed to reduce the number to 39? Deut.25:2-3 says “he (an official) shall beat him (the transgressor) before him (the judge), according to his wickedness, a…
-
Defacing Property
What is the source of the prohibition against defacing public property? It is a violation of “bal tashchis”, the prohibition against destroying or damaging things, based on Deut. 20:19. See the article on “Bal Tashchis” in the Talmudic Encyclopedia, Vol.…
-
Inheritance
What is the order of inheritance? The order of inheritance is sons, daughters, and father; and if the first in line doesn’t exist, his/her heirs get his/her portion, in the same order. Thus if there are no children or grandchildren,…
-
Jews as Slaves
Could Jews be sold as slaves? Answer: During First Temple times, Jews could be sold as slaves for six-year periods (see Ex.21:2). In some cases they could serve longer (see Ex.21:5-6), but only until the Jubilee year (Lev.25:40). All slaves,…
-
The Number of Slaves
How many Jews in Second Temple times were slaves? The slaves that Jews owned in Second Temple times were non-Jews who had been bought (or captured in war) by Jews. However, such slaves had to be converted, which made them…
-
The Laws of the Country
Must a Jew obey his country’s laws? The Rabbis recognize a country’s laws as binding on Jews who live in that country (see e.g., Talmud Gitin 10b), provided they are reasonable laws — not “evil” or unjust. The authority of…
-
Coveting
Why is coveting forbidden? Coveting things that belong to someone else, or being jealous of someone, is obviously not a good attitude. The commandment not to covet is repeated twice, in Ex.20:17 and Deut.5:21, to teach us that there is…
-
Scheming Witnesses
Why does the Torah use the singular in Deut. 19:19 in speaking about a “scheming witness” (ed zomem), when we know that two witnesses are required? The context makes it clear that the passage is speaking about two witnesses, since…
-
Observing Jewish Civil and Criminal Law
Why don’t we observe the civil and criminal laws in the Torah? Jewish civil and criminal law were enforced when there was a Sanhedrin. In its absence, we follow the Talmudic principle “The law of the kingdom is the law”…