An unpaid debt is stolen money

Hi,

"Repaying a debt is a biblical mitzvah, as Leviticus 5:23 says, 'And he shall return the object he stole or the money he withheld or the charge placed in his care or the lost item he had found.'..."

מצות עשה של תורה היא דכתיב "והשיב את הגזלה אשר גזל או את העושק אשר עשק או את הפקדון אשר הופקד אתו או את האבדה אשר מצא"

(Responsa of Rabbi David ibn Abi Zimra [Radbaz] 2:610)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Who owns a human life?

Hi,

[The following passage is meant to explain why self-incriminating testimony in a beit din (Jewish court) is accepted in financial matters, but not in matters which could lead to physical punishment by the beit din.]

"One might give some explanation thus: A person's life is not his property; it is the property of Gd, as Yechezkel 18:4 says, 'The souls are Mine.' Therefore, one's admission regarding something that is not his cannot be effective. [This is even true if the admission would lead not to death but only to lashes, for] lashes are a partial death.

"However, one's property is his own, and so we say that a litigant's admission is [valid] like the testimony of 100 witnesses."

ואפשר לתת קצת טעם לפי שאין נפשו של אדם קניינו אלא קנין הקב"ה שנאמר "הנפשות לי הנה" (יחזקאל י"ח) הילכך לא תועיל הודאתו בדבר שאינו שלו, ומלקות פלגא דמיתה הוא. אבל ממונו הוא שלו ומש"ה אמרינן הודאת בעל דין כמאה עדים דמי. 

(Radbaz to Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sanhedrin 18:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The script on the Tablets, Part II

Hi,

"I cannot accept or bear that any tanna or amora [ie sage] would think that Assyrian script was entirely created in the days of Ezra. Rather, this is what happened: The aseret hadibrot were written on the tablets, according to everyone, in Assyrian. No one argues with this at all."

(Responsa of Radbaz 3:442)

Have a great Yom Tov,
Mordechai

Torah and Logic

Hi,

Here's one from a few years ago, with fascinating ramifications:

"It is written, 'The Torah's ways are pleasant,' so that the laws of our Torah must match sense and logic."

(Responsum of Radbaz 3:627)

Have a good day,
Mordechai