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Makos 5
1) [line 1] HACHRAZAH - a public announcement
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 89a) states that four cases of capital punishment need
to be announced publicly: Mesis (see Background to Sanhedrin 53:8); Ben
Sorer u'Moreh (see Background to Sanhedrin 53:10); Zaken Mamrei (see
Background to Sanhedrin 84:8); and Edim Zomemin (see Background to Makos
2:1). Each case is learned from the respective verses, where the people are
enjoined to "hear and fear" or "see and fear." The verses are: Devarim 13:12
(Mesis); Devarim 21:21 (Ben Sorer u'Moreh); Devarim 17:13 (Zaken Mamrei) and
Devarim 19:20 (Edim Zomemin).
2a) [line 2] MESHALSHIN B'MAMON - when false witnesses tried to make a
person liable to pay a sum of money but were found to be Edim Zomemin, (a)
Beis Din acts as a *Shelish* (a third party) and they divide the sum of
money among the witnesses; (b) Beis Din is *Meshalesh* (divides into three)
the sum of money among the witnesses
b) [line 2] EIN MESHALSHIN B'MAKUS - when false witnesses tried to make a
person liable to Malkus (lashes) but were found to be Edim Zomemin, (a) Beis
Din does not act as a *Shelish* (a third party) to divide the 39 lashes
among the witnesses; (b) Beis Din does not *Meshalesh* (divides into three)
the 39 lashes among the witnesses
3a) [line 11] MAMON MITZTAREF - money adds up [to the amount of the loss
that the witnesses attempted to inflict]
b) [line 12] MALKUS LO MITZTAREF - lashes do not add up (The pain that the
witnesses attempted to inflict upon the defendant is the pain of a full set
of lashes, i.e. the maximum number of lashes that the defendant could
withstand. Had the lashes been divided among the witnesses, none of them
would experience the pain that they attempted to inflict.)
4) [line 13] AD SHE'YAZIMU ES ATZMAN - until they (the second set of
witnesses) testify about [the first set of witnesses] themselves
5) [line 20] BA'U ACHERIM V'HEZIMUM - if others (a third set of witnesses)
come [to pronounce the same testimony as the first set of witnesses,] and
they (the Mazimim, the second set of witnesses,) also were Mezim them (the
third set of witnesses) [claiming that they, too, were with them at the time
of alleged crime]
6) [line 22] ISTATIS HI ZU - it is a conspiricy
7) [line 23] "[V'DARSHU HA'SHOFTIM HEITEV,] V'HINEI ED SHEKER HA'ED, SHEKER
ANAH [V'ACHIV.]" - "[The judges shall inquire well,] and [if they find
that,] behold, the witness gave false testimony, he testified falsely
[against his brother.]" (Devarim 19:18)
8) [line 24] AD SHE'TISHAKER GUFAH SHEL EDUS - until the actual witnesses
themselves are found to be "a lie," i.e. when they were not in the place in
which they claim to have been
9) [line 24] "[KI YAKUM ED CHAMAS B'ISH;] LA'ANOS BO SARAH." - "[If a false
witness rises up against any man] to testify against him that which is [far]
removed [from the truth.]" (Devarim 19:16)
10) [line 24] AD SHE'TISRAH GUFAH SHEL EDUS - until the actual witnesses
themselves are found to be "removed" from the scene, i.e. when they were not
in the place in which they claim to have been
11) [line 25] MIZRACH BIRAH - on the eastern side of a great hall, large
building or tower
12) [line 28] NEHORA BARYA - exceptionally good eyesight
13a) [line 29] B'TZAFRA - in the morning
b) [line 29] B'FANYA - in the evening
14) [line 31] GAMLA PARCHA - (lit. a flying camel) a very fast animal or
other method for travelling the distance
15) [line 36] SEIFA, "MAH SHE'EIN KEN BI'GEMAR DIN," ITZTRICHA LEI - (as the
Gemara contines)
16) [line 37] NIGMAR DINO - he was sentenced
17) [line 41] GANAV V'TAVACH U'MACHAR (TASHLUMEI ARBA'AH V'CHAMISHAH)
(a) If a thief surreptitiously steals an object from a fellow Jew, and is
found guilty of the theft in court based on the testimony of valid
witnesses, he must return the object (if it is still in its original state)
or its value (if it is not) to its owner (Vayikra 5:23). In addition, the
thief is obligated to pay the victim of the theft the value of the stolen
object a second time. Restitution of the value of the stolen object is
called "Keren," and the additional payment is known as "Kefel" (see
Background to Sanhedrin 2:5).
(b) If the object that was stolen was a live sheep or ox, and the thief
either slaughtered or sold it, the Torah (Shemos 21:37) places an even
stiffer fine on the thief. In the case of a stolen sheep that was
slaughtered or sold, the thief must compensate the owner a total of four
times its actual value ("Arba'ah"), while in the case of a stolen ox that
was slaughtered or sold the thief must compensate the owner a total of five
times its actual value ("Chamishah"). This law does not apply to any other
object or animal that is stolen. Chazal (Bava Kama 79b) explain that the
Torah was more lenient with a person who steals a sheep than with one who
steals an ox, since he already suffered a somewhat demeaning experience of
walking with a sheep on his shoulders (as opposed to the ox-thief, who
presumably led the ox on foot before him).
(c) A thief does not pay Arba'ah va'Chamishah for slaughtering a sheep or ox
unless he, or a person he appoints, performs a proper ritual slaughter (i.e.
a Shechitah of the type that normally permits an animal to be eaten).
According to some Amora'im (Bava Kama 68a), a thief does not pay Arba'ah
va'Chamishah for *selling* a sheep or ox unless he sold it after "Ye'ush
Ba'alim" (i.e. the owner lost all hope of recovering the sheep or ox, see
Background to Gitin 37:30:a), while according to others he only pays Arba'ah
va'Chamishah if he sells it *before* Ye'ush Ba'alim.
(d) Arba'ah va'Chamishah, like any other payment that involves
over-compensation for a monetary loss, is considered a "Kenas" (penalty)
rather than "Mamon" (compensation). As is true of every Kenas, a thief does
not have to pay Arba'ah va'Chamishah if he admits to his guilt of his own
accord. Only if witnesses testify to his guilt in court must he pay. If he
admits to his guilt of his own accord, and later witnesses testify to his
guilt in court, the Amora'im argue as to whether or not he must pay Arba'ah
va'Chamishah (Bava Kama 74b-75a -- he is exempted from payment, according to
the lenient opinion, only if his admission took place under specific
circumstances). Until he is obligated to pay the Arba'ah va'Chamishah in
court, the thief is fully exempt from payment and does not even have a moral
obligation to pay it on his own accord (RASHBA Bava Kama 74b, see also
RAMBAN in Milchamos HaSh-m at the end of the third Perek of Kesuvos).
5b---------------------------------------5b
18) [line 5] ITESA - a woman
19) [line 6] SAHADEI - witnesses
20) [line 9] ZIMNIN - one time
21) [line 13] HADAR CHAZYEI L'REBBI ELAZAR BISHUS - he looked upon Rebbi
Elazar with disdain (because Rebbi Elazar had not said over his words in the
name of Rebbi Yochanan and consequently Reish Lakish had not accepted them)
22) [line 14] BAR NAFCHA - Rebbi Yochanan, who was called Bar Nafcha because
(a) his father was a blacksmith, and Bar Nafcha literally means "son of the
smith;" (RASHI to Sanhedrin 96a, in the name of his teacher) (b) he was
called this because of his remarkable beauty (RASHI ibid., in the name of
other scholars)
23) [line 18] LEIKA D'KA MEHADER - there was no one who was going around
[rounding up false witnesses to testify, as she was]
24) [line 22] SAHADUSA - the testimony [of the woman]
25) [line 23] TZEDUKIN
The Tzedukim (and Baitusim) were students of Tzadok (and Baitus) who
rejected the Oral Torah (Avos d'Rebbi Nasan 5:2).
26) [line 27] BERIBI - (a) the name of a sage (RASHI); (b) one of the sages
who remains anonymous ("Beribi" is a descriptive title such as "the Great,"
used to refer to a sage possessing great wisdom and sharpness -- RASHI to
KIDUSHIN 21b)
27) [line 28] EIN ONSHIN MIN HA'DIN / EIN MAZHIRIN MIN HA'DIN
We do not administer corporal punishments through deriving them from an
exegetical process such as a Kal v'Chomer or Binyan Av (rather, it must be
written in the Torah explicitly, or learned from a Hekesh or Gezeirah
Shavah). For example, the Torah explicitly prohibits, with a punishment of
Sereifah, a man from living with his daughter's daughter (Vayikra 18:10),
but it does not explicitly mention one who lives with his own daughter. If
not for a Gezeirah Shavah, we would not be able to administer a punishment
to one who sins with his daughter, because "Ein Onshin Min ha'Din"
(Sanhedrin 76a; see there for an exception to this rule, whereby if the Kal
v'Chomer is not a real Kal v'Chomer but rather it is a Giluy Milsa (showing
what the words in a verse mean), then the punishment *can* be derived
through that Giluy Milsa.) (See Insights to Nazir 44:1, Bava Kama 2:2.)
28) [line 38] TALMUD LOMAR "RASHA" "RASHA" - it is learned through a
Gezeirah Shavah using the two words "Rasha" in the following two verses
(which are brought explicitly in Sanhedrin 10a): (a) "V'HAYAH IM BIN HAKOS
*HA'RASHA*..." - "And it shall be, if *the wicked man* deserves to be
beaten..." (Devarim 25:2); (b) "V'LO SIKCHU CHOFER L'NEFESH ROTZE'ACH, ASHER
HU *RASHA* LA'MUS." - "And you shall take no ransom for the life of a
murderer, who is *a wicked person* and is liable to [the] death
[punishment]." (Bamidbar 35:31)
29) [line 39] ASYA "ROTZE'ACH" "ROTZE'ACH" - it is learned through a
Gezeirah Shavah using the two words "Rotze'ach" in the following two verses:
(a) "V'HAYAH LANUS SHAMAH KOL *ROTZE'ACH*." - "... so that any [accidental]
*murderer* can flee to there." (Devarim 19:3); (b) "... MOS YUMAS HA'MAKEH,
*ROTZE'ACH* HU." - "he [who hit him] shall surely be put to death, for he is
*a murderer*." (Bamidbar 35:21)
30) [line 39] ER'EH BA'NECHAMAH - (a) "I will see the [day that Benei
Yisrael will be in a state of] comfort (and will be redeemed from Galus)"
(BEREISHIS RABAH 65:12, see MAHARSHA to Pesachim 54b). This phrase is a
euphemism meaning, "I will *not* see the Day of Redemption (if the following
is not true.)" (RASHI to Makos 5b DH Er'eh, 1st explanation); (b) "[I take
an oath that my sons shall die and] I will see [the period of mourning in
which people will come to] comfort [me] (if the following is not true.)"
(RASHI to Makos 5b DH Er'eh, 2nd explanation)
31a) [line 47] DILMA B'DINA KAM BAHADEI - that is, maybe it was the voice of
the witness who was put to death unjustly, but after the death of Rebbi
Yehudah ben Tabai he stopped crying because he took him to the heavenly
court
b) [line 47] IY NAMI PIYUSEI PAISEI - Rebbi Yehudah ben Tabai appeased the
dead false witness
32) [line 52] TALMUD LOMAR "EDIM" - since the verse states the word "Edim,"
"witnesses," indicating any number of witnesses
33) [line 53] LA'ASOS DINO KA'YOTZEI BA'ELU - to make his status similar to
those [first two witnesses]
34) [line 53] IM KEN ANASH HA'KASUV - if the verse prescribes such a
punishment
35) [line 53] LA'NITPAL L'OVREI AVEIRAH - to the person who is subordinate
to the main sinners
36) [line 55] KAROV O PASUL (PESULEI EDUS) - invalid witnesses
The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 24b, and Gemara there; Rosh Hashanah 22a) lists the
people who are Pesulei Edus, those people who are disqualified to judge or
to give testimony.
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