The Sanhedrin and the Rabbis
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Advice for Prosecutors
What advice does the Talmud have for a prosecutor? Answer: The Talmud’s statements about prosecution were made in the context of a legal system rather different from ours; they dealt with a judge who is arguing for conviction before his…
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Difference Between Murder and Killing
The death penalty does not fit under the commandment “You shall not murder.” I have understood that murder and killing are two different words in Hebrew, with the word “murder” being used in instances such as Cain and Abel, and…
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Establishing Chanukah as a Holiday
Why do Rabbis insist that there was a”miracle”. Judah declared an 8 day celebration to begin on 25th of Kislev and to last 8 days. He decreed that it was to be celebrated annually in honor of the victory. Josephus…
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Capital Punishment in Practice?
I heard a radio host say that the punishments mentioned in Leviticus (e.g. stoning someone to death for some horrible act, etc) were only mentioned to show how egregious God thought such acts were, but that the punishments were never…
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Was Chicken Always Considered Meat?
I have been told that at one time chicken was considered to be Parve (neither Meat nor Dairy). This later was changed to consider chicken to be meat. Is this true? When did it happen? Who did it? Why was…
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The Death Penalty
Why don’t Orthodox Jews of today take a literalist view of the Levitical prescriptions mandating stoning or the death penalty for certain sins? The death penalty cannot be administered without a trial before the Sanhedrin, a capital Jewish court, which,…
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Authority of the Talmud
My question is, that the Talmud is considered divine. Yet the Talmud is a progression of Rabbinic interpretation. Even the name “Living Torah” the idea of a document that brings the Torah to every situation. How can the Talmud be…
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Capital Punishment
As a Christian involved in Judaic studies, am I to understand that Jews do not believe in death sentences? Is the interpretation of death sentence in the Torah “figurative”? You will find the death penalty in every one of the…
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Death Sentences
I know that there are numerous Jewish Laws which in theory are punishable by death but when was the last recorded instance of a death sentence carried out? The State of Israel has only ever executed one person – Adolf…