Q&A: A Halakhic-Legal System
A Halakhic-Legal System
Question
Hello Rabbi, from what I understood from you, the punishments for the prohibitions in the Torah apply only to someone who believes in the Torah. If so, then how can people be punished? Seemingly, they could just say they do not believe. And if you say that in fact only someone who says he believes can be punished, then why would you believe him about that? After all, if he really believes in his heart, then he is wicked because he committed a transgression, and a wicked person is disqualified from testimony. And if he does not believe, then this system does not apply to him. Thank you very much
Answer
If he is presumed to be a believer, then he is a believer. You look at his general way of life: does he observe commandments or not. As is well known, stoning and burning are administered on the basis of legal presumptions. It is like someone who is presumed to be my father—then he is my father, and they would even execute me if I struck him. Or if I am presumed to be Jewish, they count me for a minyan.
Discussion on Answer
Not necessarily. A person who observes commandments and looks Haredi doesn’t necessarily believe. A lot of religious people from home just go along with it without believing. And a warning, seemingly, also doesn’t force the conclusion that he believes, only that he is aware that the Torah states a prohibition there (and maybe also that they would punish him for it; I don’t remember exactly).
By the way, if you’re talking about punishment, then it has nothing to do with what I said. Someone who doesn’t want to be punished can simply refuse the warning, or not commit the sin once warned. But punishment is given only after there was a warning and he said, “Yes, and with that understanding I am doing it.” If he said that, he can’t later claim that he doesn’t believe. And without that, he isn’t punished even without saying that he doesn’t believe.