Yechiel Michel Epstein

“ Interestingly, though one blind in one eye cannot inspect plagues, since the verse specifies a 'full and complete visual' of the plague, he can be a judge, as the visual seen by one eye is no worse than trying to see a person at night, and the Torah does specifically permit issuing a final ruling at night, as explained in chapter 5. To sum up: one who can see with only one eye is perfectly valid to serve as judge from the beginning of a case through its final ruling, for if he could only issue a final ruling, how would he reach that point without first deliberating the entire case? ”

“ And this is the great and holy Talmud, overflowing with all wealth, beautiful pearls and stones of desire covered with sapphires. And to a person with eyes to confirm it, he will see jewels hidden in every single matter. ”

“ Section 5 According to me, how can you say that there is no (Scriptural) commandment to pray to our father in heaven? Isn't Avodah (worship in the Holy Temple) is one of the three pillars of the world's existence! {Pirkei Avoth) !? (However) because of our many sins today, we do not have the Holy Temple, the only reminent of worship is prayer.
We are like servants in the hands of our masters. How can (one) say that you are not obligated to pray to God every day?
Furthermore, I will bring a proof from the Ramban himself that prayer is a Scriptural commandment. ”

“ However, on the other three fast days we do eat the night before, and we do not observe all the other stringencies, only to fast from the morning to the evening like any fast that an individual undertakes.
Today, among our many sins we find that many are apathetic in observing these fasts, and they will have to answer for that in the future. All who are healthy are not permitted to separate themselves from the community and transgress a commandment of the prophets. If one who has to eat because he is weak should not eat a meal as on all days, only enough to provide for the upkeep of his body. ”

“ Section 6 Even though an individual expert can act as judge, it is a command of the sages that he sit others with him if possible. There are those that caution that an individual should never act as a judge alone, unless he clearly states to the litigants that he is not knowledgeable enough to act as a judge and they nevertheless accept him even on the condition that his ruling is incorrect (Shach) . In truth, the populace does not seem to follow this practice, and it is known that many a Rabbi in small towns will judge alone without specifying any precondition. ”

“ Section 37 It has already been explained that all may slaughter, including women and even servants. However, there are those who posit that women should not be allowed to slaughter, and the custom is that women do not slaughter. This is true even in the face of the maxim that “what we have not seen done does not prove it is not done”, since in a constant practice such as slaughter not having seen is a proof that it should not be done (Shach 1) . Therefore, it is the established custom that women do not act as shochet. ”

“ That's why a person cannot legally bequeath property to someone who is not an heir (Chapter 6, Laws of Inheritance) . The reason seems to stem from the words 'a decree of judgment', which also gives him the Biblical right to increase the portion of one heir and decrease the portion of another (as explained the Rambam, chapter 6 and later in chapter 281) . This is also a type of inheritance and is like an act of the court that requires daytime. Therefore, if two visit a sick person and he does not wish to change the Torah mandated default distribution he need do nothing. ”

“ We have only learnt about first fruits from a field, how do we know this requirement pertains to those that grew on the roof, in abandoned ruins, in a flower pot or on a boat? That is why we have the verse 'The first fruit of all that grows in their land'... ”

“ If, however, there are others who can also fill the position, he is praiseworthy to refuse to act as judge. In fact, any judge who chooses to pursue compromise between the parties instead of acting as judge will benefit himself, as he prevents others from having enmity against him, as well as avoiding the possibility of false oaths and the misappropriation of funds arising from incorrect rulings. Even if the law in a given case is as clear as the sun, it is always preferable to strive to have all parties reach an out-of-court settlement. ”

“ However, if the dispute concerns a non tax issue from an individual of their city or concerns an individual of another city, the community cannot act on their own and must take the matter to a court. The individual is still required to give a deposit, because communal concerns usually drag on interminably as each one expects his fellow to follow up on the issue ("a pot with two cooks is neither hot nor cold") . If the community's conflict is with a Torah scholar the community does not have the status of 'a possessor', even in regards to tax issues. ”

“ One who is sick and unable to eat Maror should not eat Maror. Afterall, Matzah in this day and age is still a Biblical commandment, whereas Maror is Rabbinical (Gemara Pesachim 120.1) , for it is written “with Matzah and Maror you should eat the Paesach sacrifice” - when there is a Paesach sacrifice there is a Biblical obligation to eat Maror - otherwise there is not. If should should ask, ‘Doesn’t the verse also mention Matzah?’ - Know that Matzah has its own verse: “In the evening you should eat Matzah...”, which is true even when there is no Peasach sacrifice. ”

“ Any judge who does not judge accurately causes the Divine Presence to remove itself from the Jewish people – and any judge who takes money from one and gives to another not in accordance with the law – G-d takes souls from him in recompense. On the other hand, any time a judge correctly applies the law, striving for absolute truth, he is credited as if he repaired the entire world, and he causes the divine Presence to dwell amongst the Jewish people. ”

“ Section 26 It should be obvious that one cannot fulfill his obligation to light the Menorah through the synagogue's lighting. Each person is required to light in his own home, even one who said the blessing for the synagogue's Menorah lighting. The reason for this is that there is a specific obligation on the head of every household to light, while the lighting in the synagogue does not relate to this law and only serves the purpose of a general recognition of the miracle. ”

“ Section 6 Our sages state (in Pesachim 108.1) :
”A married woman need not recline. If she is a woman of importance and stature, she must recline.” The Rashbam attributes the basic ruling to a woman who has the serving role while her husband leads the seder, while a ‘woman of stature’ is one whose status is more significant than her husband (and would not be in a service role) . It follows that a woman who has no husband is required to recline. Also, if her husband is not in the home at that time she is required to recline. ”

“ In any type of court [EVEN A 3 MEMBER COURT?] a elderly man is not appointed a judge, rather one who has reached middle age maturity. A man of advanced age has probably forgotten the pressure of raising a family and will not be sensitive to the litigants’ needs and have the proper mercy (Rashi, Gemara Sanhedrin 36.2.) One who is impotent is not appointed as he tends towards a type of cruelty and one who has no children, even if he had and they passed away, is similarly not appointed. ”

“ Therefore, we have a custom that a shochet cannot practice until he has received certification from a sage who is expert, who has ascertained that this individual is knowledgeable in the law and is practiced at the actual process of slaughter. Because this is the general practice, we also have a custom to accept all who come to slaughter, at the outset, without checking their bonafides before or after, because all who are engaged in this field have already been certified before a sage." This concludes this quote from the Shulchan Aruch. ”

“ Not only are judges prohibited to accept brides but also anyone who is appointed to oversee communal needs or even anyone who voluntarily undertakes communal tasks, even if their work does not involve laws of the Torah, they are prohibited to bend the rules because of friendship or dislike and certainly not because of accepting a bribe.
Bribery does not only apply to the exchange of money. Even words can be bribery. For example, offering greetings upon meeting the judge, if he would not normally do so, or praising the judge, even a small amount, if he has not done so in the past. ”

“ The President could only empower individuals to act as judges in the Land of Israel, though he himself could judge anywhere. Even were he to judge outside the Land of Israel, he could not levy fines unless the litigants agreed to allow him that power. The Head of the Exile, on the other hand, could empower judges to force appearance of litigants and to issue ruling anywhere in the world, including inside Israel. The only caveat is that his judges could not levy fines in Israel except with the permission of the President and sages of the Land of Israel. ”

“ And how could it not be so? [For the Torah] is the daughter of the living God, and is the essence of supernal wisdom, and there is the secret of its strength [that it is hidden away inside wisdom] , and He is praised; His Name and wisdom are one. Just as there is no beginning to His beginning or no end to His end, so too is there no beginning or end to His wisdom [it is without limit] . Concerning this, the pleasant singer of Israel (Psalms) says: "your commandment is exceedingly broad" (Psalms 119: 96) . That is to say: there is no boundary [to your commandment; to the study of Torah] . ”

“ What is Hanukkah? That which our Rabbis taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev: there are eight days of Hanukkah. One may not eulogize on them, nor to fast during them. For when Antiochus’ men entered the Holy Temple, they made impure all of the oil that was in the Sanctuary, and when the Hasmoneans came to power and defeated them, they searched but only found one jug of oil which was left with the seal of the High Priest, and there was only in it enough to light [the Menorah] for one day. A miracle happened with it, and they lit from it for eight days. ”

“ However, when one seeks to establish a communal court, all the members must be knowledgeable and possess fear of G-d.
It is forbidden to establish one who is ignorant of law as a judge with the proviso that he will enquire of a sage for every case, for perhaps he will not bother sometimes and will decide the law incorrectly. If there is no one in a city qualified to act as judge, and they do not have the funds necessary to hire a sage from another city, the best and wisest among them can be appointed as judges, in order to prevent lawlessness from taking hold. ”

“ If there are many members in the household wish wish to fulfill the Mitzvah themselves it is impossible for all to light within a hands-breadth of the entrance, as all the candles will be mixed together and there will not be a clear recognition of which day it is. ”

“ The reason the Rabbis phrased their statement as ‘a poor man’ was to discredit a possible rationalization of the student, who would think “Even though according to the law I see a merit, the Rabbi must understand that the truth is with the rich man, for why would a rich man falsely claim money from a poor man” [it does not seem sensible that a rich man would bother to go through the trouble of court proceeding and risk being caught in a lie for a minor gain.] ”

“ All the laws explained herein are with permission of the Czar's government: "The law of the land is the law."
Section 1 It is a command of the Torah to appoint judges, as it says, “Judges and officers you should provide yourselves” (Dvarim 16.18) . They must be ordained in the land of Israel by at least 3 sages, one whom has been ordained (Rambam, 4 chapter of the laws of the court ‘Sanhedrin’) . When a sage who can rule and teach is recognized he should be ordained and acquires the title “Rabbi”. ”

“ The Rambam continues: "Ordination can be limited to various functions and periods of time. A man, even if he be knowledgeable in the entire Torah, can be ordained to judge civil cases, but not ritual law; one or both of these, but not fines; fines, but not laws relating to first born animals; to only annual vows or deal with family purity law. Similarly, he can be ordained until, for example, the president of the court should return, or until he is rejoined with the other court members in the same country, or any such condition. ”

“ One who knows the laws but is not expert in the process is prohibited to slaughter alone, although it is permitted post facto. This is because he is able to recognize if something is amiss, since he knows the law. However, when one does not know the laws, though he is proficient in the mechanics - that he is seen to slaughter many times correctly – if he slaughters alone it is prohibited, as I have written, because there may be a flaw in the slaughter which he will not recognize, since he does not know the laws. ”

“ The judgment to kill and animal (an ox that gored or an animal that had a sexual sin committed with it) likewise requires 23, as the verse states "the ox is stoned and also the owner will die", which our accepted tradition states is a reference to the animal's death requiring the same legal proceeding as a human's death. Even if one's domesticated lion, bear, or cheetah kill they are judged by a court of 23, since they do not commonly damage. Animals that are not domesticable, such as a snake, do not require a judgment when they kill and even a single individual can kill them. ”

“ Now even though the ‘presumption of being forbidden’ – (Heb. ‘Chezkas Issur’) usually invalidates a solitary witnesses’ testimony to permit, and a live animal is certainly in a state of being forbidden to eat, that rule only applies to a prohibition that one is unable to permit by his own action. Here, however, a person can make an animal permitted to eat, whether through his or another’s slaughter, and he is believed to have done so correctly (Gemara Yevamos 88.1) . ”

“ Additionally, a prophet is not allowed to create a new law or procedure that cannot be derived from the Torah. It must therefore be based on the agreement of all the sages.
As an additional reason, the basic advantage of ordination is to certify that the individual is worthy of occupying the position as judge. If there is a direct line of rabbi to rabbi ordination from Moshe and Yehoshua certainly they know the worthiness of their appointments. Similarly, if all the rabbis in the Land of Israel were to agree on one man this individual must certainly be worthy. ”

“ Slaughter, however, never needs two people to testify to it’s fitness, for one witness is always believed regarding prohibitions over an item that is under his control, even if it normally would have a prohibited status (as I have already written) . If so, it is not possible to state that a shochet is believed as two, rather he is only believed as a single witness, and is treated in law as a single witness. Therefore, when another later contradicts him it is one against one, which cancels out, and the meat remains in it’s previous prohibited state. ”

“ The Rambam writes that "he who is not worthy to be a judge because of his lack of clear knowledge of the law or his bad character traits cannot receive an appointment, and his appointment would be invalid, just as one who sanctifies a blemished animal for the altar has not performed any sanctification at all." ”

“ This reasoning seems to be contradicted by the widespread accepted practice of having young boys and girls bring chickens to the shochet for slaughter, where no one asks for further proof, nor have we found anyone who opens their mouth to protest. Therefore, we are forced to conclude that when we speak of the legal unreliability of a minor’s word, that is only referring to extracting money in court, or some similar situation that requires testimony that meets true legal standards, or when a minor claims to have done an action requiring great exertion. ”

“ In addition, the requirement of the Maharshal and the Shach [comment 6] to begin with chickens, which is certainly the custom, must all be before an expert shochet. They further write that one who is expert at slaughtering chickens should not slaughter small birds, such as two turtle doves or young doves, unless he has done so before and is experienced (see there) . They continue to explain that even a great expert should only slaughter one together with a large bird, for small birds are so easy to render non kosher that there is a concern that his blessing will be in vain. ”