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Friday, 10th Adar 5783/March 3, 2023
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Parshas Tetzaveh-Shishi
- The Tamid offering:
- The following offerings are to be brought daily onto the altar: Everyday two sheep within their first year are to be offered, one in the morning and the second in the evening. It is to be accompanied with a Mincha offering consisting of 1/10th of fine flour, mixed with a ¼ of a Hin of crushed oil. Its libation is to be a ¼ of a Hin, per sheep. This is to be done for all generations.
- The dwelling of the Shechina on the Mishkan:
- “I will meet with the Jewish people by the Ohel Moed and be sanctified there through my honor. I will dwell amongst the Jewish people and be for them a G-d, and they will know that I am the G-d who took them out of Egypt in order to dwell with them.”
Tanya End of Chapter 32:
4. The Mitzvah to hate a sinner and its caveats:
- The Talmudic statement: The Talmud states that if one sees that his friend has sin, then he should hate him and also tell his teacher to hate him. [This seemingly contradicts the above command to love every single Jew.]
- Only applies to an observant Jew: [To answer the above seeming contradiction, we must first establish as to which type of Jew the above applies to.] The above Talmudic statement is only directed towards a transgressor who is observant of Torah and Mitzvos [and not towards an individual who is not observant].
- Only applies if you already reproved him: Furthermore, even by an observant Jew, the instruction to hate them only applies if order ready rebuked him repeatedly and he has still refused to repent.
- Only applies if one is acquainted and on intimate terms with the individual: Based on the above we can deduce that one who is not acquainted with the transgressor and is not his friend and is not on intimate terms with him, then the above instruction and mitzvah to hate him does not apply.
5. The mitzvah to love all other sinners, including the not observant Jew:
- The mitzvah to love all creatures: Furthermore, not only may one not hate an individual who is not his colleague in Torah and mitzvah’s and is excluded from the above instruction to be hated, but on the contrary, towards such a person applies the dictum of Hillel the Elder that one should always chase after peace, and love all creatures and draw them closer to Torah.
- The mitzvah to love nonreligious Jews and bring them back to Judaism with love: The above instruction to love all creatures includes even those who are very distance from the Torah and service of God, nonetheless, one is instructed to attract them to Judaism with strong cords of love.
- The purpose of this love to the nonreligious Jew-fulfills the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisrael: [There are no drawbacks involved in this love for the nonreligious Jew, as] if he is successful, then he will manage to bring him back to Torah and service of God, and even if he is not successful, he does not lose out from being rewarded for fulfilling the mitzvah of loving his fellow Jew.
6. The mitzvah to love even those sinners that one is instructed to hate:
- Furthermore, even those sinners whom one is instructed to hate being that one has an intimate relationship with them, and he has reproved them, and they have still not repented from their ways, nonetheless, remains a mitzvot also love them.
7. How one can love and hate a person at the same time:
- Loving the good and hating the evil: Both the command to hate this Jew and the command to love this Jew are true and viable to be fulfilled, as the hatred is only towards the evil that is within him, while the love is towards his good aspects that are hidden within him, which refers to the godly spark that enlivens his godly soul.
- Arousing mercy for the sinner: Furthermore, one should also arouse mercy in his heart for this spark of godliness which is found in a state of exile inside of the evil of the transgressor.
- Mercy has ability to nullify the hatred: This mercy that one arouses, has the ability to nullify the hatred towards this Jew and arouse the love for him.
8. The mitzvah to hate heretics:
- An exception to all the above is with regards to Halachically defined heretics, towards whom one is instructed to hate them to the utmost [without any feeling of love or mercy for them].
- The reason for this is because [they have lost all their good and] no longer have a portion in the God of Israel.
Rambam, Hilchos Eidus, Chapter 5:
Chapter 5: The testimony of a single witness, and a witness serving as a judge
Halacha 1: The testimony of a lone witness
- It’s invalidity for giving a verdict: The testimony of a lone witness is not acceptable in court to use for the giving of a verdict.
- This applies both by monetary cases and cases of capital punishment.
- It’s validity of forcing an oath: Nonetheless, the testimony of a lone witness is acceptable to force an oath on the other party.
Halacha 2: Cases in which testimony of a lone witness is acceptable
- There are two cases in which the Torah accepted the testimony of a lone witness.
- A Sotah.
- Egla Arufa
- The law by a Sotah: The Torah believed a lone witness in the case of a Sotah to prevent her from drinking the bitter waters if he testifies to adultery.
- The law by Egla Arufa: The Torah believed a lone witness in the case of a Egla Arufa to prevent the calf from being killed if he testifies to have seen the murderer.
- Testimony of death of a woman’s husband: The rabbis accepted the testimony of a lone witness who claims that a woman’s husband has died, in order to permit her to remarry.
Halacha 3: Accepting an invalid witness as a lone witness
- In all cases that the testimony of a single witness is accepted, the testimony of a woman or other invalid witness is acceptable.
- Forcing an oath: The one exception to this rule is by an oath, that we do not force an oath due to the testimony of a single witness unless he is a valid witness.
Halacha 4: If an invalid witness is found amongst a group of witnesses
- If an invalid witness is found amongst a group of witnesses who came to testify, such as if one of the witnesses is a relative or has another invalidation, than the entire group of witnesses is deemed invalid.
- This applies both by monetary cases and cases of capital punishment.
- If they did not come to testify: This, however, only applies if they all intended to testify. If, however, the group of witnesses who came to testify does not contain an invalid witness, even though invalid witnesses, such as two brothers, were also eyewitness of the event, then their testimony is accepted.
Halacha 5: Excluding the invalid witness from the group
- It is possible to exclude invalid witnesses from a group of witnesses in the following manner: The court asks the group of witnesses as to which witnesses saw the event for the sake of testifying regarding it, and which simply happened to be there and saw it. They then separate the two groups of people, and if within the group of those who stated that they intended to testify there are no invalid witnesses, then their group is validated even though the other group contains invalid witnesses.
- If both groups contain valid witnesses, that they are all considered one group and all their testimony is accepted.
Halacha 6: If an invalid witness is found on a document with a number of signatures
- If an invalid witness is found amongst the many signatures of witnesses on a document, then if there is testimony that they invalid witness was part of the intended group of witnesses then the document is invalid. If, however, no such testimony exists in the document is valid as we assume that the invalid witness signed on his own without being summoned to do so.
Halacha 7: If the first witness to sign was invalid
- Even if the first witness to sign of the document was found to be an invalid witness, nonetheless we accept the document if there is no testimony that he was part of the original group of intended witnesses.
Halacha 8: A witness cannot become a judge in the case
- Capital punishment cases: A witness to an event involving a case of capital punishment is invalid to serve also as a judge regarding that case.
- Arguing for the guilt or innocence of the defendant: It is forbidden for him to argue on behalf of the case either for innocence or guilt.
- Monetary cases: A witness to an event involving a monetary case is also invalid to serve as a judge regarding that case. Nonetheless, he may argue on behalf of the defendant either for guilt or innocence.
Halacha 9: The law by cases in which testimony is not required
- The above invalidation for a witness to serve as a judge in the tribunal only applies in scenarios in which witnesses are biblically required to establish the verdict. However, in those cases that testimonies is only Rabbinically required, then a witness can also serve as a judge of the tribunal.
- For example, a person who brought a Get from overseas may testify that it was written and signed before him and then go ahead and serve on the tribunal which then gives the Get to the wife.
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