Corporal punishment (Judaism)
Encyclopedia
The Jewish tradition describes certain forms of corporal punishment
and capital punishment
for certain crimes, while cautioning against the use of such punishments.
underscore the severity of the sin rather than the expectation of death. This is bolstered by the standards of proof required for application of the death penalty, which has always been extremely stringent (Babylonian Talmud Makkoth 7b). Because the standards of proof were so high, it was well-nigh impossible to inflict the death penalty. The Mishnah
(tractate Makkoth 1:10) outlines the views of several prominent first-century CE Rabbis on the subject:
According to the Talmud
forty years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
in 70 CE (i.e. in 30 CE) the Sanhedrin
effectively abolished capital punishment.
The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar Maimonides
stated that "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice." Maimonides was concerned about the need for the law to guard itself in public perceptions, to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect.
As a result, it was next to impossible to convict someone of a capital offense in Judaism.
If there was a mistrial in a murder case and it was known that the offender clearly committed the crime, the Sanhedrin locked the offender in a cell and only fed him/her barley and water until their stomach exploded. This made it so that they did not kill the offender directly.
(execution by the rabbinic court). These four types of capital punishment, in decreasing severity, were:
in his Mishneh Torah
(Hilchoth Sanhedrin Chapter 15) of which crimes carry a capital punishment.
, Conservative Judaism
, and Orthodox Judaism
tend to hold that the death penalty is a correct and just punishment in theory, but they hold that it should not generally be used (or not used at all) in practice. In practice the application of such a punishment can only be carried out by humans whose system of justice is nearly perfect, a situation which has not existed for some time or never existed at all.
Rabbinical courts
have given up the ability to inflict any kind of physical punishment, and such punishments are left to the civil court system to administer. But the modern institution of the death penalty is opposed by the major rabbinical organizations of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism
(CCAR) and the Union for Reform Judaism
(URJ) have formally opposed the death penalty. The CCAR resolved in 1979 that "both in concept and in practice, Jewish tradition found capital punishment repugnant" and there is no persuasive evidence "that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime."
the death penalty was the subject of a responsum
by its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
, which has gone on record as opposing the modern institution of the death penalty:
Yosef Edelstein writes:
Orthodox Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
writes:
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
and capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for certain crimes, while cautioning against the use of such punishments.
Capital punishment in classical sources
The harshness of the death penalty indicated the seriousness of the crime. Jewish philosophers argue that the whole point of corporal punishment was to serve as a reminder to the community of the severe nature of certain acts. This is why, in Jewish law, the death penalty is more of a principle than a practice. The numerous references to a death penalty in the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
underscore the severity of the sin rather than the expectation of death. This is bolstered by the standards of proof required for application of the death penalty, which has always been extremely stringent (Babylonian Talmud Makkoth 7b). Because the standards of proof were so high, it was well-nigh impossible to inflict the death penalty. The Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
(tractate Makkoth 1:10) outlines the views of several prominent first-century CE Rabbis on the subject:
A Sanhedrin
SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
that puts a man to death once in seven years is called destructive. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says that this extends to a Sanhedrin that puts a man to death even once in seventy years. Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Tarfon say: Had we been in the Sanhedrin none would ever have been put to death. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says: they would have multiplied shedders of blood in Israel.
According to the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
forty years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
in 70 CE (i.e. in 30 CE) the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
effectively abolished capital punishment.
The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
stated that "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death." Maimonides argued that executing a defendant on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof, until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice." Maimonides was concerned about the need for the law to guard itself in public perceptions, to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect.
Stringencies of Evidence in Capital Cases
- Two witnesses were required. Acceptability was limited to:
- Adult Jewish men who were known to keep the commandments, knew the written and oral law, and had legitimate professions;
- The witnesses had to see each other at the time of the sin;
- The witnesses had to be able to speak clearly, without any speech impediment or hearing deficit (to ensure that the warning and the response were done);
- The witnesses could not be related to each other or to the accused.
- The witnesses had to see each other, and both of them had to give a warning (hatra'ah) to the person that the sin they were about to commit was a capital offense;
- This warning had to be delivered within seconds of the performance of the sin (in the time it took to say, "Peace unto you, my Rabbi and my Master");
- In the same amount of time, the person about to sin had to:
- Respond that s/he was familiar with the punishment, but they were going to sin anyway; AND
- Begin to commit the sin/crime;
- The Beth Din had to examine each witness separately; and if even one point of their evidence was contradictory - even if a very minor point, such as eye color - the evidence was considered contradictory and the evidence was not heeded;
- The Beth Din had to consist of minimally 23 judges;
- The majority could not be a simple majority - the split verdict that would allow conviction had to be at least 13 to 11 in favor of conviction;
- If the Beth Din arrived at a unanimous verdict of guilty, the person was let go - the idea being that if no judge could find anything exculpatory about the accused, there was something wrong with the court.
- The witnesses were appointed by the court to be the executioners.
As a result, it was next to impossible to convict someone of a capital offense in Judaism.
If there was a mistrial in a murder case and it was known that the offender clearly committed the crime, the Sanhedrin locked the offender in a cell and only fed him/her barley and water until their stomach exploded. This made it so that they did not kill the offender directly.
The 4 Types of Capital Punishment
Before any capital sentence was carried out, the condemned person was given a drug to render them senseless. There were four types of capital punishment, known as mitath beth dinBeth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
(execution by the rabbinic court). These four types of capital punishment, in decreasing severity, were:
- Sekila - stoningStoningStoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
- This was performed by pushing a person off a height of at least 2 stories. If the person didn't die, then the executioners (the witnesses) brought a rock that was so large that it took both of them to lift it; this was placed on the condemned person to crush them.
- Serefah - burningExecution by burningDeath by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
- This was done by melting lead, and pouring it down the throat of the condemned person.
- Hereg - decapitationDecapitationDecapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
- This is also known as "being put to the sword" (beheading).
- Chenek - strangulationStranglingStrangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
- A rope was wound around the condemned person's neck, and the executioners (the witnesses) pulled from either side to strangle the condemned person.
Capital Sins Separated by the 4 Types of Capital Punishment
The following is a list by MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
in his Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
(Hilchoth Sanhedrin Chapter 15) of which crimes carry a capital punishment.
Punishment by Sekila (stoning)
- Intercourse between a man and his mother.
- Intercourse between a man and his father's wife (not necessarily his mother).
- Intercourse between a man and his daughter in law.
- Intercourse with another man's wife from the first stage of marriage.
- Intercourse between two men.
- Bestiality.
- Cursing the name of God in God's name.
- Idol Worship.
- Giving one's progeny to Molech. (child sacrifice)
- Necromantic Sorcery.
- Pythonic Sorcery.
- Attempting to convince another to worship idols.
- Instigating a community to worship idols.
- Witchcraft.
- Violating the Sabbath.
- Cursing one's own parent.
- A stubborn and rebellious son.
Punishment by Serefah (burning)
- The daughter of a priest who completed the second stage of marriage commits adultery.
- Intercourse between a man and his daughter.
- Intercourse between a man and his daughter's daughter.
- Intercourse between a man and his son's daughter.
- Intercourse between a man and his wife's daughter (not necessarily his own daughter).
- Intercourse between a man and his wife's daughter's daughter.
- Intercourse between a man and his wife's son's daughter.
- Intercourse between a man and his mother in law.
- Intercourse between a man and his mother in law's mother.
- Intercourse between a man and his father in law's mother.
Punishment by Hereg (beheading)
- Unlawful premeditated murder.
- Being a member of a city that has gone astray.
Punishment by Chenek (strangulation)
- Committing adultery with another man's wife, where it doesn't fall under the above criteria.
- Wounding one's own parent.
- Kidnapping another member of Israel.
- Prophesizing falsely.
- Prophesizing in the name of other deities.
- A sage who is guilty of insubordination in front of the grand court in the Chamber of the Hewn Stone.
Corporal punishment in classical sources
There was only one form corporal punishment - lashes (malkoth). The maximum number of lashes allowed per sentence was 40, given in multiples of 3, effectively making the maximum 39. Apart from as a punishment for violating Torah law, malkuth mardus (lashes of rebellion) was also administered in cases of contempt of court and violation of rabbinic law, where the court lashes the violator to the extent they see fit.Contemporary attitudes towards capital punishment
Leading rabbis in Reform JudaismReform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
, Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, and Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
tend to hold that the death penalty is a correct and just punishment in theory, but they hold that it should not generally be used (or not used at all) in practice. In practice the application of such a punishment can only be carried out by humans whose system of justice is nearly perfect, a situation which has not existed for some time or never existed at all.
Rabbinical courts
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
have given up the ability to inflict any kind of physical punishment, and such punishments are left to the civil court system to administer. But the modern institution of the death penalty is opposed by the major rabbinical organizations of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism
Reform Judaism
Since 1959, the Central Conference of American RabbisCentral Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
(CCAR) and the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
(URJ) have formally opposed the death penalty. The CCAR resolved in 1979 that "both in concept and in practice, Jewish tradition found capital punishment repugnant" and there is no persuasive evidence "that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime."
Conservative Judaism
In Conservative JudaismConservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
the death penalty was the subject of a responsum
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
by its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...
, which has gone on record as opposing the modern institution of the death penalty:
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox RabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Yosef Edelstein writes:
Orthodox Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his "intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah." He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and...
writes: