Q&A: Drafting Torah Scholars
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Drafting Torah Scholars
Question
1. How does the Rabbi answer the proofs for exempting Torah scholars from military service from Abraham and Asa, who imposed corvée labor on Torah scholars {just please don’t send me to 649..?}
2. Is there a rationale for the rule of “kim lei be-rabba minei”? Why shouldn’t he also pay for what he damaged in addition to death/flogging?
Thank you very much
Eyal
Answer
- I would definitely send you there. Beyond the fact that I do not derive Jewish law from the Bible, I already answered that there.
- At first I thought that since we are dealing with one act, then if a religious court is already sitting in judgment over that act, there is no need to sit again. He is already receiving his punishment for that act. But that does not explain the teaching from the school of Hezekiah regarding those liable to death unintentionally. So it seems more likely, as I once wrote here, that the rationale is the belittling of the more severe offense. When a person committed offenses A and B, and A is more severe, punishing him for the lesser offense B blurs the severity of offense A. It is like someone who murdered a person and also broke a vessel—if in addition to the death penalty you obligate him to pay 20 shekels, that cheapens the murder and its punishment.