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Sephardic Halacha Center S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XVII • PARASHAT YITRO • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER swallow his fellow alive.” R’ Yerucham MOB RULES: Levovitz, the Mirrer Mashgiach, used to say, Does the Torah Sanction Vigilante “Within a person lies an entire zoo.” and Justice? When fear of government disappears (the lynchers are rarely punished), there is no lim- Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald it to the cruelty of which man is capable. Add a dollop of righteous indignation and you Summary of Parasha & Halacha Shiur for Parashat Yitro by Dayan Shlomo Cohen MURDER IN THE PARK have a recipe for staggering evil. Victor Melo, 16, began his afternoon listening Additionally, acting cruelly damages the ac- to music in the sprawling national park in the Partners in Crime: Stealing in Pairs tor’s personality, making him cruel (see Or Brazilian capital, Brasilia. We are commanded not to steal. According HaHayim HaKadosh, Devarim 13:18). This At some point a classmate of Victor’s, stand- to Maran, who follows the Rambam, that in- initiates a vicious circle. Each episode makes ing nearby, had her phone stolen. She thought cludes stealing from a non-Jew. However, the Victor did it and called out for help. Her the people less human and more likely to act Rama permits keeping a Hafka’at Halva’a (for- friends, assisted by onlookers from whom a cruelly in the future, so the society gets pro- pair of sunglasses had been taken earlier, ran gotten debt) or mistake of a Goy, unless there is gressively worse. to punish the offender. a chance of Hillul Hashem. There are multiple reasons vigilantes might Over the next thirty minutes, while a hundred The Sm”a writes,that not paying from mer- spectators stood by, Victor was beaten sav- act: in vengeance, to punish violators or to chandise is not considered a “forgotten debt” agely. When paramedics arrived, they found a deter future violations. In the Torah’s juris- stab wound from a broken bottle in his belly, but rather stealing, and is forbidden. Rama says prudential system, none of these is the job multiple screwdriver punctures between his that the mistake we permit must be made by of the public—or of the courts. The role of ribs, and a knife wound in his heart. They the Goy, but one may not trick a Goy. The Be’er worked vainly to resuscitate him. Bet Din is not to maintain order in society, HaGolah writes that money made from such At no point did anyone bother to search to forestall chaos, or to make sure offend- mistakes is never blessed, whereas, people Victor for the missing phone or glasses. Police ers don’t go unpunished. That is Hashem’s later found them in another man’s possession. who have returned the money in place of Hillul department. Rather, the job of Bet Din is to Hashem merited great Beracha. Oops. promote a value system in society that keeps Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. In ad- people upright and good. Torah keeps at bay The Havot Ya’ir was asked about two thieves dition to the world’s highest murder rate, the baser instincts of man. Recognizing and who conspired to steal silverware, one climbed Latin America has the world’s highest rate of respecting the Tzelem Elokim – the image of up the ladder, packed up a sack and threw it impunity. In Brazil and Mexico, police solve G-d – in oneself and in others is, according to down to his friend who drove off and sold fewer than one in ten murders. (Brazil’s Su- R’ Shimshon Refael Hirsch, the foundation of $100,000 worth of merchandise for preme Court has a 44,000-case backlog that a just society. $20,000 in the black market. One of them was caught, and was stretches back 49 years.) Anticipating no jus- It has become popular of late in some quar- obligated to pay $100,000 tice from the authorities, mobs mete it out ters in the United States to treat law enforce- for the real value of daily, with participants often summoned on ment with derision. Those who promote this the merchandise. spotlight WhatsApp. And the mob’s process for deter- are in violation of that Pirke Avot dictum, and Many years mining guilt can be less than rigorous. they help to foster the creation of the kind Medical Halacha later Center Seminar on RPL What is the Torah view of vigilante justice? of society Hachamim are warning us about. The Bet HaVaad Medical This article, first in a series, will begin to ad- There is a Torah precept (see Bava Kama 23) (continued on back) Halacha Center recently hosted dress the issue. that Kim Leh Bid’Rabba Minneh, meaning an informative seminar for Rabbanim on the topic of recurring pregnancy loss We are told in Pirke Avot (3:2): “Pray for the that one who commits a capital crime featuring Senior Medical Halacha Posek, Rav welfare of the government, for but for the cannot for the same act be liable to Moshe Zev Feldman, shlit”a; Dr. Isaac Glatstein, monetary payment. This is true Associate Medical Director of Boston IVF; and the fear of the government, each man would emotional perspective, by Dr. Eliyahu Weinschneider. (continued on back) Don’t miss our upcoming Business Halacha Journal topic on Ribbit. Don’t yet receive it? Visit www.TheSHC.org, call us at 732.9300.SHC (742) or email [email protected] (continued from front pg.) even where the act is unintentional and the 91a), the victim is permitted to seize payment death penalty doesn’t obtain (Ketubot 35). Rav nonviolently. However, if the perpetrator was The Hirsch (Shemot 21:22) sees in this a great prin- actually subject to death, like one who mur- ciple of justice: As evident in BeMidbar 35:31, dered intentionally and also damaged prop- in no amount of money can compensate for erty, there is no monetary obligation of any murder. For the court to exact payment for the kind (Ketzot ibid. citing Yam Shel Shelomo illicit killing of someone created in the Divine B.K. 6:6). A death sentence is the ultimate sei- Bring the Daf to Life! image would be an affront to human dignity. zure; it wouldn’t make sense to “additionally” מסכת חולין .Even where the crime comprises the murder of take his money one person and financial damage to another Likewise, in the case of a Rodef (pursuer), (e.g., an arsonist who burns down a house and whom a bystander must kill if that is neces- kills someone inside who isn’t the homeown- sary in order to save the pursued. Because he This Week's Topics er), Bet Din doesn’t order compensation for was subject to death, there is no financial obli- the monetary damage. Murder and theft are gation at all. The Ketzot proves this from Rav’s RAV YEHOSHUA GRUNWALD so distant from each other that they cannot refusal to accept his property back from the DAYAN, BAIS HAVAAD LAKEWOOD appear in the same case file. Murder is adju- man who burgled his home (Sanhedrin 72). RAV YOSEF GREENWALD dicated by a minor Sanhedrin (rabbinic court) A burglar is considered a Rodef and may be DAYAN, BAIS HAVAAD YERUSHALAYIM of 23 judges, each with Semicha (ordination) killed (Shemot 22:1), because we assume he in an unbroken chain from Moshe Rabbenu. comes prepared to kill the homeowner if he’s RAV SHMUEL BINYOMIN HONIGWACHS Financial claims are judged by three, no Semi- confronted. DAYAN, BAIS HAVAAD LAKEWOOD cha required. And ne’er the twain shall meet. * * * WATER BUGS דף נ"ט -Equating phone theft to murder is an outrage Last week, Jair Bolsonaro assumed the pres to Tzelem Elokim. idency of Brazil. During the entire election NIGHT SEDER: LEARNING PESUKIM דף ס' Although Bet Din cannot collect payment campaign, only once was he stabbed nearly AT NIGHT even if the act was unintentional and the per- to death. (He survived despite organ damage KOSHER BIRDS : PART 1 דף ס"א (.petrator is not actually subject to death, he and 40% blood loss owes the money and must pay it LaTzet Yede KOSHER BIRDS : PART 2 דף ס"ב Elected on a platform of a return to Biblical Shamayim – to fulfill his obligation to Heav- values, Bolsonaro roundly rejects secularism KOSHER EGGS : PART 1 דף ס"ג -en. For this reason, as the Ketzot HaHoshen and leftism. Maybe there’s hope for Brazil af (28) demonstrates from Rashi (Bava Metzia ter all… KOSHER EGGS : PART 2 דף ס"ד INSECT INFESTATION: TORAH OR דף ס"ה RABBINIC? (continued from front pg.) they both be- loan the other must reimburse him for half. Or came Ba’ale we can compare it to two damaging part- and Teshuva and ners, where, if only one was caught, it would they met on depend whether each one could’ve caused Erev Yom Kip- the damage on their own right. Thus, in our pur! The thief who was caught told his friend scenario, if each could’ve stolen on their own he owes him $50,000 for his share of the theft. right, it would seem that each one is really The Havot Ya’ir says that we may compare responsible for the full value, whereas if they this to two “business” partners who borrowed could’ve only stolen together, then each one jointly, where, if one was made to pay the full is only responsible for a half.
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