The lives they lived
"The world looks marvelous from up here, so peaceful, so wonderful and so fragile," Ilan Ramon commented two days before he perished.
Today, once again, Ilan and his six colleagues gaze down at us from heaven. Just this time, we can neither see them nor hear them. We can only remember them, the lives they lived and their final mission, a mission for which they risked and lost their lives. One special way to honor the men and women who perished in the heavens would be to gain profound personal and collective inspiration from their final mission.
Journey to the moon
Thirty-four years ago, on December 21, 1968, for the first time in history, man finally broke the bounds of the earth, as three Apollo 8 astronauts, Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William A. Anders, took the first trip to the moon.
The flight was initially planned as another earth orbiting checkout of the Apollo hardware. But rumors that the Soviets were plotting to beat us into orbit around the moon caused a last-minute change in plans. On December 25, as the world held its breath, the three Nasa astronauts conducted ten orbits of the moon and made it back safely to earth, two days later, on December 27.
This space mission served as an important prelude to Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin's actual landing on the Moon, seven months later, on July 20, 1969.
Stump the rabbi
That very same week, on Thursday, December 26, another far less significant "event" took place, this one in a small studio in New York City. Barry Farber, a popular Jewish radio talk show host interviewed Rabbi Zalman Posner, a distinguished rabbi from Nashville. The discussion focused on the Halachik tradition of Judaism and the symmetry worked well, since Barry Farber is also a Southerner.
"How does Judaism dare to interfere in the private lives of individual human beings," protested the talk show host, "How dare the Torah instruct people, say, what to eat and what not to eat?
"What is even more disturbing," continued Mr. Farber, "are the punishments the Torah imposes upon would-be transgressors. According to Judaic law,(1) if a Jewish adult willingly consumes food, the size of an olive, that has been prohibited in the Bible -- pork, lobster, horse meat and the like -- he (or she) is liable to receive thirty-nine lashes.(2)
"How," lamented the radio show host, "can one justify such a horrific violation of human rights: Is it anybody's business if I eat a ham sandwich?"
The bureaucracy of punishment
Rabbi Posner's response was that rarely -- if ever -- did a Jewish court have the Torah-right to impose upon a person the penalty of lashes.(3)
First, according to Jewish law, lashes can only be administered by a court whose members were ordained by a judge who was, in turn, ordained by a previous judge, and he by a previous judge, etc. -- all the way back to Moses, who was "ordained" by G-d at Sinai.(4) Since this form of ordination has ceased around 1500 years ago,(5) no Jewish court since is able to execute the penalty of lashes.(6)
Second, even during the times of yore when the courts had this right, the penalty could only be carried out if two witnesses, not related to each other or to the violator, observed the act. A person's own admission would not suffice to penalize him. The two witnesses were scrutinized mercilessly, each one independently, and if the slightest discrepancy was discovered in their testimony, they were invalidated and the victim exonerated.
Third, for a person to receive the lashes, the witnesses were required to warn him prior to his transgression. Not only did they need to warn him not to do the act, but they were also obligated to spell out the punishment he would receive should he proceed to perform the prohibited action. For example, if they observed a Jew about to consume pork, they were required to say to him, "You are prohibited to eat this piece of pork; if you do, you will receive lashes."
Fourth, even after their warning, a person could not become liable to actually receive the lashes, unless he verbally accepted and reiterated the warning. If the violator nodded his head yes, or even stated clearly, "I know exactly what you are saying," and then went ahead to eat the pork, he was exempt of any court penalty. Rather, he needed to respond to the witness warning and say: "I understand what you are saying; I am about to eat this pork knowing that I will receive lashes." Only then can the court ascertain that the violator clearly understood the nature and the consequences of his act, and could thus be held responsible.
Fifth, even after all of this, the violator was still not eligible for punishment unless he began to act within three seconds after the witnesses issued the warning. So, for example, if Harry Goldberg was sitting and enjoying Crab Sushi (the real one?), and two witnesses observing warned him that this was forbidden and that if he continued to do so he would be liable for lashes. Harry then reiterated the warning verbally, waited four seconds and continued to eat the crab -- in such a case he would be exempt of any penalty, since he could claim that he forgot the warning.
The obvious implications of this are that it was extremely unlikely for anybody to ever receive lashes. You needed to be a real moron to get yourself lashed by a Jewish court, and if you were a genuine moron you would then be exonerated because of your lack of ability to discriminate between right and wrong.
Furthermore, even if you actually got yourself subjected to the penalty, and you were tied down in court ready to receive the lashes -- if you broke free and ran from the room, Jewish law would not allow the court to return you to the bench. You were free.(7)
Where can one find in the history of mankind a judiciary system that functioned in such a fashion?
The Sabbath after
This occurred, as mentioned, on Thursday night, December 26, 1968. On the following Sabbath afternoon, December 28 (in the Jewish calendar Teves 7), one of the great spiritual personalities of our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, held an unexpected assembly with thousands of his disciples at his headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. One of the participants was Rabbi Zalman Posner.
The Rebbe began his address by stating that although initially he did not schedule to hold a gathering during this Sabbath, the events of the week inspired him to change his plans. Many questions, reflections and dilemmas were evoked in people's minds as a result of the space mission to the moon and the Rebbe said he felt compelled to elaborate on them during this Sabbath assembly.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe then turned his attention to the Thursday night radio interview, and expressed discontent with Rabbi Posner's answer outlined above. "Though the answer contains a certain amount of truth," the Rebbe said, "it doesn't offer a completely satisfactory answer to the question.
"Let us assume," said the Rebbe, "that in ancient times the Jewish courts administered the penalty of lashes no more then once in a century, due to the tremendous difficulties imposed by the Torah on the execution of the penalty. Good. But the question still applies to that once-in-century punishment. How dare the Torah instruct that a person be whipped 39 times just because seconds after a warning by witnesses, he consumed prohibited food? How dare we mix into the private eating habits of an otherwise good and decent human being? How can we, raised and bred on the ideals of democracy and individual freedom, embrace with love a value system that would display such lack of tolerance, if even only once in a hundred years? To hurt an innocent human being once in a century, doesn't make it more right then doing it every day!?
A mission in jeopardy
In a moving presentation, the Rebbe went on to explain, that were we to reflect on the major event of the week, Nasa's space mission to the moon, we would be enlightened as to this challenging question.
Before the three astronauts boarded the Apollo, they were instructed how to conduct their daily schedule while on the spacecraft in the most exacting detail. They were told what to wear and how to put on their shoes; what to eat and when to eat; how to sit, how to move around, how to sleep, even how to tend to their bodily needs. Almost every part of their behavior, from the most external to the most intimate, needed to conform to the meticulous instructions outlined by the experts.
Imagine if mid-flight one of the astronauts would decide to light up a cigarette and enjoy a smoke? He would naturally be rebuked and penalized in the harshest of manners. Why? As an individual is he not entitled to make his own choices and light up a cigarette when he feels like it?
This is obviously a foolish question. If you were igniting a cigarette, or eating the wrong food, in the privacy of your own home, that would be your business. But when you ignite a flame, or deviate in some other way from the prescribed rules of conduct, amid a mission in outer space, this cannot to be seen as an isolated act, affecting merely one individual. Rather, we must view this act in its proper context. A seemingly insignificant aberration of some rules is placing three lives in danger; it is sending a one billion-dollar investment to the garbage dump and is laying waste decades of sweat, toil and energy by numerous scientists and engineers in the preparation of the mission. Finally, this little deviation of the rules may destroy, in a single moment, the dreams and hopes of an entire country, perhaps an entire world.
For such chutzpah and selfishness you ought indeed to be penalized severely. If you are ready to decimate human lives; a billion-dollar investment; the tremendous labor of thousands of men and women for decades long; if you are prepared to kill a mission eagerly anticipated by the entire world --and why? Just so that you can fulfill a selfish craving to smoke a cigarette -- this is a demonstration of titanic inhumanness and horrific apathy.
The voyage of human history
Though far less obvious, this is true concerning each of our lives as well.
Judaism views the history of man as a single, harmonious voyage, extending from the beginning of creation till the end of time. All of us have been placed together on a little planet suspended, just like the shuttle, in mid air, and have been charged with the romantic task of generating a kiss between heaven and earth. Together, the human race travels a long and difficult journey through space and time, assigned with a mission to sanctify the world and turn it into a beautiful and harmonious abode for love and holiness.
Each and every individual who ever lived -- and will ever live -- is indispensable to the journey of our world toward redemption. History is a grand "space mission," and every human being an "astronaut," chosen to fulfill a mission in this world that he, and only he, can accomplish. Each and every one of us is absolutely indispensable to G-d's vision of the world's destiny and everything we do or don't do has an affect on the entire mission.
Our sages put it thus(7): "The first human being (Adam) was created alone" (without any other men) in order to teach us, that "Each and every one is obligated to say, 'For my sake was the world created.'" In other words, you must assess your value to the fate of the universe as though you were the only human being in existence. This is not a dramatic exaggeration; it reflects the profound truth that you -- you as an individual, making your own moral choices -- posses the power to build or to destroy the world.
How selfish can one be?
In light of this, we may understand, that when the Torah -- the Divine blueprint that guides the human being on how to achieve his mission of transforming the world -- tells the Jew not to eat certain foods, should he go ahead and eat them, it is not to be seen as an isolated act, affecting merely his own abdomen. If we view this act in context of this individual's role in the drama of world-destiny we will come to recognize that this very act generates vibrations throughout the entire cosmos, as it diverts all of history from its course toward redemption. The world that existed prior to this act will never be the same.
When I choose to eat something non-kosher, or to commit another act that is antithetical to the G-dly vision for the Jew, I am not only abusing my own spiritual and physical self; I am, in a very real sense, hurting and abusing thousands of years of blood and tears of millions of women and men who sacrificed their lives to lead the world on its journey toward peace and light. For the mission of creation to be fulfilled, my participation is critical. When I choose to reject the Divine rules for our mission in "space," I am in effect endangering the entire mission.
Now, if within seconds after hearing and accepting a clear-cut warning by witnesses as to the nature of your forbidden act, you still go ahead to eat your bacon or shrimp, knowing that by committing this act you are laying waste to thousands of years of human love and blood, knowing that you are hurting the dream and the hope of all of history, so that you should be able to fulfill a selfish craving to eat non-kosher steak instead of kosher steak, such a display of inhumanity warrants indeed 39 whips. In fact, one may even ask: Only 39 whips?(8)
Thank you, Ilan!
In that sense, Ilan Ramon's and his colleagues' final breaths came in the midst of a mission that could teach each and every one of us how every moment and every deed of our lives, contains within it the power to shape history for all of eternity.
Thank you, Ilan. Thank you for the lesson. We will continue to shape the world so it may fit the image you so eloquently described from outer space -- marvelous, peaceful, wonderful and fragile.
1) Rambam Hilchos Maacholos Asuros, chapter 2.
2) For the sake of accuracy I should note that Mr. Farber kept on referring to the number of 38 lashes. This was, obviously, an error. The correct number is 39, see Talmud Makos p. 22; Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 17:1.
3) The five points outlined below are all discussed in Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 16:1-4; 12:1-3; Hilchos Eidus chapters 1-2; 3:2 and Talmudic references noted in the commentaries. The Talmud goes so far as to compare the punishment of whipping a human being to killing him! (Sanhedrin 10a; Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 16:1) Thus, all of the extraordinary procedures required to impose the death penalty, were required prior to the lashes penalty as well (Rambam, ibid. 16:1; 4; 11:4). According to Rabbi Ishmael, a court of 23 members was required to impose lashes, the same amount required to issue a death sentence (Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 1:2; Cf. Tosefos Sanhedrin 10a). However, the established verdict is that a court of three suffices (Sanhedrin, ibid., Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 5:4; 16:2).
4) The nature of this unique ordination is discussed in Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin chapter 4.
5) It is interesting to note that in the 1500's, one of the well known sages in the Holy Land, Mahari Bei Rav, attempted to renew this type of ordination in Jewish life. He wished to establish Jewish courts whose members would enjoy the status of Musmachim, fully ordained rabbis (this attempt was based on an innovative ruling by the Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin, 4: 11). His plan was counterattacked by many a leading sage of the time and never came to full fruition (for a discussion of the event, see Kuntres Hasmichah at the end of Shaalos Utshuvos Maharlbach).
6) In a similar vein, the possibility of Jewish courts imposing death penalties ceased around 1,995 years ago. For a Jewish court to impose the death penalty there must be a Temple (Beis Hamikdash) existing in Jerusalem, and the Jewish Supreme Court numbering 71 members must be established near the Temple. Since this condition did not exist forty years before the destruction of the second Temple, the death penalty was abolished from the Judaic Judicial system (Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 14:11-13).
7) Mishnah Sanhedrin 37a.
8) I thought that this may be the deeper reason for the fact that all of these penalties have ceased from Jewish life. Since, as the generations progressed, it became increasingly difficult to feel how our individual acts may affect the entire universe, our violations of Torah laws do not bespeak rebellion as much as they express ignorance. Thus, the punishments of old have become inappropriate.
9) For the sake of this essay, I interviewed Rabbi Posner, who shared with me the details of the story. The dialogue between Barry Farber and Rabbi Posner was not quoted verbatim in the essay.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Jacobson is an internationally known lecturer on Israel, Torah and Jewish mysticism. He can be reached at YYJacobson@aol.com.
--------------------------------------------------------
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
"The world looks marvelous from up here, so peaceful, so wonderful and so fragile," Ilan Ramon commented two days before he perished.
Today, once again, Ilan and his six colleagues gaze down at us from heaven. Just this time, we can neither see them nor hear them. We can only remember them, the lives they lived and their final mission, a mission for which they risked and lost their lives. One special way to honor the men and women who perished in the heavens would be to gain profound personal and collective inspiration from their final mission.
Journey to the moon
Thirty-four years ago, on December 21, 1968, for the first time in history, man finally broke the bounds of the earth, as three Apollo 8 astronauts, Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William A. Anders, took the first trip to the moon.
The flight was initially planned as another earth orbiting checkout of the Apollo hardware. But rumors that the Soviets were plotting to beat us into orbit around the moon caused a last-minute change in plans. On December 25, as the world held its breath, the three Nasa astronauts conducted ten orbits of the moon and made it back safely to earth, two days later, on December 27.
This space mission served as an important prelude to Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin's actual landing on the Moon, seven months later, on July 20, 1969.
Stump the rabbi
That very same week, on Thursday, December 26, another far less significant "event" took place, this one in a small studio in New York City. Barry Farber, a popular Jewish radio talk show host interviewed Rabbi Zalman Posner, a distinguished rabbi from Nashville. The discussion focused on the Halachik tradition of Judaism and the symmetry worked well, since Barry Farber is also a Southerner.
"How does Judaism dare to interfere in the private lives of individual human beings," protested the talk show host, "How dare the Torah instruct people, say, what to eat and what not to eat?
"What is even more disturbing," continued Mr. Farber, "are the punishments the Torah imposes upon would-be transgressors. According to Judaic law,(1) if a Jewish adult willingly consumes food, the size of an olive, that has been prohibited in the Bible -- pork, lobster, horse meat and the like -- he (or she) is liable to receive thirty-nine lashes.(2)
"How," lamented the radio show host, "can one justify such a horrific violation of human rights: Is it anybody's business if I eat a ham sandwich?"
The bureaucracy of punishment
Rabbi Posner's response was that rarely -- if ever -- did a Jewish court have the Torah-right to impose upon a person the penalty of lashes.(3)
First, according to Jewish law, lashes can only be administered by a court whose members were ordained by a judge who was, in turn, ordained by a previous judge, and he by a previous judge, etc. -- all the way back to Moses, who was "ordained" by G-d at Sinai.(4) Since this form of ordination has ceased around 1500 years ago,(5) no Jewish court since is able to execute the penalty of lashes.(6)
Second, even during the times of yore when the courts had this right, the penalty could only be carried out if two witnesses, not related to each other or to the violator, observed the act. A person's own admission would not suffice to penalize him. The two witnesses were scrutinized mercilessly, each one independently, and if the slightest discrepancy was discovered in their testimony, they were invalidated and the victim exonerated.
Third, for a person to receive the lashes, the witnesses were required to warn him prior to his transgression. Not only did they need to warn him not to do the act, but they were also obligated to spell out the punishment he would receive should he proceed to perform the prohibited action. For example, if they observed a Jew about to consume pork, they were required to say to him, "You are prohibited to eat this piece of pork; if you do, you will receive lashes."
Fourth, even after their warning, a person could not become liable to actually receive the lashes, unless he verbally accepted and reiterated the warning. If the violator nodded his head yes, or even stated clearly, "I know exactly what you are saying," and then went ahead to eat the pork, he was exempt of any court penalty. Rather, he needed to respond to the witness warning and say: "I understand what you are saying; I am about to eat this pork knowing that I will receive lashes." Only then can the court ascertain that the violator clearly understood the nature and the consequences of his act, and could thus be held responsible.
Fifth, even after all of this, the violator was still not eligible for punishment unless he began to act within three seconds after the witnesses issued the warning. So, for example, if Harry Goldberg was sitting and enjoying Crab Sushi (the real one?), and two witnesses observing warned him that this was forbidden and that if he continued to do so he would be liable for lashes. Harry then reiterated the warning verbally, waited four seconds and continued to eat the crab -- in such a case he would be exempt of any penalty, since he could claim that he forgot the warning.
The obvious implications of this are that it was extremely unlikely for anybody to ever receive lashes. You needed to be a real moron to get yourself lashed by a Jewish court, and if you were a genuine moron you would then be exonerated because of your lack of ability to discriminate between right and wrong.
Furthermore, even if you actually got yourself subjected to the penalty, and you were tied down in court ready to receive the lashes -- if you broke free and ran from the room, Jewish law would not allow the court to return you to the bench. You were free.(7)
Where can one find in the history of mankind a judiciary system that functioned in such a fashion?
The Sabbath after
This occurred, as mentioned, on Thursday night, December 26, 1968. On the following Sabbath afternoon, December 28 (in the Jewish calendar Teves 7), one of the great spiritual personalities of our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, held an unexpected assembly with thousands of his disciples at his headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. One of the participants was Rabbi Zalman Posner.
The Rebbe began his address by stating that although initially he did not schedule to hold a gathering during this Sabbath, the events of the week inspired him to change his plans. Many questions, reflections and dilemmas were evoked in people's minds as a result of the space mission to the moon and the Rebbe said he felt compelled to elaborate on them during this Sabbath assembly.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe then turned his attention to the Thursday night radio interview, and expressed discontent with Rabbi Posner's answer outlined above. "Though the answer contains a certain amount of truth," the Rebbe said, "it doesn't offer a completely satisfactory answer to the question.
"Let us assume," said the Rebbe, "that in ancient times the Jewish courts administered the penalty of lashes no more then once in a century, due to the tremendous difficulties imposed by the Torah on the execution of the penalty. Good. But the question still applies to that once-in-century punishment. How dare the Torah instruct that a person be whipped 39 times just because seconds after a warning by witnesses, he consumed prohibited food? How dare we mix into the private eating habits of an otherwise good and decent human being? How can we, raised and bred on the ideals of democracy and individual freedom, embrace with love a value system that would display such lack of tolerance, if even only once in a hundred years? To hurt an innocent human being once in a century, doesn't make it more right then doing it every day!?
A mission in jeopardy
In a moving presentation, the Rebbe went on to explain, that were we to reflect on the major event of the week, Nasa's space mission to the moon, we would be enlightened as to this challenging question.
Before the three astronauts boarded the Apollo, they were instructed how to conduct their daily schedule while on the spacecraft in the most exacting detail. They were told what to wear and how to put on their shoes; what to eat and when to eat; how to sit, how to move around, how to sleep, even how to tend to their bodily needs. Almost every part of their behavior, from the most external to the most intimate, needed to conform to the meticulous instructions outlined by the experts.
Imagine if mid-flight one of the astronauts would decide to light up a cigarette and enjoy a smoke? He would naturally be rebuked and penalized in the harshest of manners. Why? As an individual is he not entitled to make his own choices and light up a cigarette when he feels like it?
This is obviously a foolish question. If you were igniting a cigarette, or eating the wrong food, in the privacy of your own home, that would be your business. But when you ignite a flame, or deviate in some other way from the prescribed rules of conduct, amid a mission in outer space, this cannot to be seen as an isolated act, affecting merely one individual. Rather, we must view this act in its proper context. A seemingly insignificant aberration of some rules is placing three lives in danger; it is sending a one billion-dollar investment to the garbage dump and is laying waste decades of sweat, toil and energy by numerous scientists and engineers in the preparation of the mission. Finally, this little deviation of the rules may destroy, in a single moment, the dreams and hopes of an entire country, perhaps an entire world.
For such chutzpah and selfishness you ought indeed to be penalized severely. If you are ready to decimate human lives; a billion-dollar investment; the tremendous labor of thousands of men and women for decades long; if you are prepared to kill a mission eagerly anticipated by the entire world --and why? Just so that you can fulfill a selfish craving to smoke a cigarette -- this is a demonstration of titanic inhumanness and horrific apathy.
The voyage of human history
Though far less obvious, this is true concerning each of our lives as well.
Judaism views the history of man as a single, harmonious voyage, extending from the beginning of creation till the end of time. All of us have been placed together on a little planet suspended, just like the shuttle, in mid air, and have been charged with the romantic task of generating a kiss between heaven and earth. Together, the human race travels a long and difficult journey through space and time, assigned with a mission to sanctify the world and turn it into a beautiful and harmonious abode for love and holiness.
Each and every individual who ever lived -- and will ever live -- is indispensable to the journey of our world toward redemption. History is a grand "space mission," and every human being an "astronaut," chosen to fulfill a mission in this world that he, and only he, can accomplish. Each and every one of us is absolutely indispensable to G-d's vision of the world's destiny and everything we do or don't do has an affect on the entire mission.
Our sages put it thus(7): "The first human being (Adam) was created alone" (without any other men) in order to teach us, that "Each and every one is obligated to say, 'For my sake was the world created.'" In other words, you must assess your value to the fate of the universe as though you were the only human being in existence. This is not a dramatic exaggeration; it reflects the profound truth that you -- you as an individual, making your own moral choices -- posses the power to build or to destroy the world.
How selfish can one be?
In light of this, we may understand, that when the Torah -- the Divine blueprint that guides the human being on how to achieve his mission of transforming the world -- tells the Jew not to eat certain foods, should he go ahead and eat them, it is not to be seen as an isolated act, affecting merely his own abdomen. If we view this act in context of this individual's role in the drama of world-destiny we will come to recognize that this very act generates vibrations throughout the entire cosmos, as it diverts all of history from its course toward redemption. The world that existed prior to this act will never be the same.
When I choose to eat something non-kosher, or to commit another act that is antithetical to the G-dly vision for the Jew, I am not only abusing my own spiritual and physical self; I am, in a very real sense, hurting and abusing thousands of years of blood and tears of millions of women and men who sacrificed their lives to lead the world on its journey toward peace and light. For the mission of creation to be fulfilled, my participation is critical. When I choose to reject the Divine rules for our mission in "space," I am in effect endangering the entire mission.
Now, if within seconds after hearing and accepting a clear-cut warning by witnesses as to the nature of your forbidden act, you still go ahead to eat your bacon or shrimp, knowing that by committing this act you are laying waste to thousands of years of human love and blood, knowing that you are hurting the dream and the hope of all of history, so that you should be able to fulfill a selfish craving to eat non-kosher steak instead of kosher steak, such a display of inhumanity warrants indeed 39 whips. In fact, one may even ask: Only 39 whips?(8)
Thank you, Ilan!
In that sense, Ilan Ramon's and his colleagues' final breaths came in the midst of a mission that could teach each and every one of us how every moment and every deed of our lives, contains within it the power to shape history for all of eternity.
Thank you, Ilan. Thank you for the lesson. We will continue to shape the world so it may fit the image you so eloquently described from outer space -- marvelous, peaceful, wonderful and fragile.
1) Rambam Hilchos Maacholos Asuros, chapter 2.
2) For the sake of accuracy I should note that Mr. Farber kept on referring to the number of 38 lashes. This was, obviously, an error. The correct number is 39, see Talmud Makos p. 22; Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 17:1.
3) The five points outlined below are all discussed in Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 16:1-4; 12:1-3; Hilchos Eidus chapters 1-2; 3:2 and Talmudic references noted in the commentaries. The Talmud goes so far as to compare the punishment of whipping a human being to killing him! (Sanhedrin 10a; Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 16:1) Thus, all of the extraordinary procedures required to impose the death penalty, were required prior to the lashes penalty as well (Rambam, ibid. 16:1; 4; 11:4). According to Rabbi Ishmael, a court of 23 members was required to impose lashes, the same amount required to issue a death sentence (Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 1:2; Cf. Tosefos Sanhedrin 10a). However, the established verdict is that a court of three suffices (Sanhedrin, ibid., Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 5:4; 16:2).
4) The nature of this unique ordination is discussed in Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin chapter 4.
5) It is interesting to note that in the 1500's, one of the well known sages in the Holy Land, Mahari Bei Rav, attempted to renew this type of ordination in Jewish life. He wished to establish Jewish courts whose members would enjoy the status of Musmachim, fully ordained rabbis (this attempt was based on an innovative ruling by the Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin, 4: 11). His plan was counterattacked by many a leading sage of the time and never came to full fruition (for a discussion of the event, see Kuntres Hasmichah at the end of Shaalos Utshuvos Maharlbach).
6) In a similar vein, the possibility of Jewish courts imposing death penalties ceased around 1,995 years ago. For a Jewish court to impose the death penalty there must be a Temple (Beis Hamikdash) existing in Jerusalem, and the Jewish Supreme Court numbering 71 members must be established near the Temple. Since this condition did not exist forty years before the destruction of the second Temple, the death penalty was abolished from the Judaic Judicial system (Rambam Hilchos Sanhedrin 14:11-13).
7) Mishnah Sanhedrin 37a.
8) I thought that this may be the deeper reason for the fact that all of these penalties have ceased from Jewish life. Since, as the generations progressed, it became increasingly difficult to feel how our individual acts may affect the entire universe, our violations of Torah laws do not bespeak rebellion as much as they express ignorance. Thus, the punishments of old have become inappropriate.
9) For the sake of this essay, I interviewed Rabbi Posner, who shared with me the details of the story. The dialogue between Barry Farber and Rabbi Posner was not quoted verbatim in the essay.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Jacobson is an internationally known lecturer on Israel, Torah and Jewish mysticism. He can be reached at YYJacobson@aol.com.
--------------------------------------------------------
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.