Rabbi YY Jacobson: Crime and Punishment

Description

If the Entire Court Says Guilty, He's Innocent. Really? This women's class was presented Tuesday Parshas Shoftim, 3 Elul, 5778, August 14, 2018, at Ohr Chauim Shul, Monsey, NY. There is a strange law in Judaism. If a court judging a case of capital punishment votes unanimously to convict the defendant, the defendant is acquitted! Only if there is at least one judge who attempts to argue on the defendants behalf, will the conviction stand, following the majority. This seems bizarre: Where the evidence of guilt appears indisputable, Jewish law frees the suspect! Yet a case with weaker evidence, and thus containing a split among the justices, results in conviction! Is this not an irrational outcome of the law?! The Torah, as usual, does not fit into our man-made, prefabricated political platforms, but rather has its own unique and refreshing approach. This class presents two fascinating insights. One presented by a 16th century Turkish scholar; the other by a 19th century Polish scholar. Fascinatingly, Dostoevsky's world famous novel Crime and Punishment sheds light on the Jewish version of Crime and Punishment.