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  |      Rashi is Simple Version 2.0                         |
  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
  |       http://www.RashiYomi.Com                           |
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VERSE: Dt13-09a

BACKGROUND:
----------
The Bible is speaking about someone who tries to get you to
worship idols. This is a crime punishable by death.The Bible warns
against having mercy on such a person. It lists 5 levels of
mercy


RULE:
----
3 or more similar Biblical phrases **should** be interpreted
climactically as developing towards a goal. This climactic
requirement, in and of itself, justifies determination of
meaning of ambiguous phrases and their reinterpretation.


TEXT: (Talking about a person who asks you to worship idols)
----
Dont acquiesce
Dont listen
Dont pity
Dont care
Dont cover up

So without the principle of climax we would say that the verse
simply emphasizes not to have pity on him. But with the
principle of climax we interpret these 5 similar phrases as
climactically leading up to a description of not having ANY
mercy


APPLICATION OF CLIMAX
---------------------
Dt13-09a "Dont acquiesce"---eg
  Dont debate him about idol worship--but bring him to court
Dt13-09b "Dont listen to him"--(when he pleads for mercy)
               Dont WARN him---he **does** know what he is doing
Dt13-09c "Dont pity him"--dont avoid a trial
Dt13-09d "Dont care about him"--dont advocate defenses during trial
Dt13-09e "Dont cover up"---dont cover up prosecution arguments

NOTES
-----
Dt13-09a ie Don't think "It is only a verbal crime--I will debate
         with him..and when he retracts his sin will be cancelled
Dt13-09b ie Don't argue that "It is only a verbal crime--he had
         a bad day and eg I am obligated to help people with
         bad days Let me warn him that I will squeal---perhaps
         he will retract"
Dt13-09c ie Dont argue that "It is only a verbal crime"--maybe
         we should just ignore it; Maybe we should avoid the
         trial
Dt13-09d Don't argue in trial that "In other capital cases we
         always encourage bias towards defense so let us do
         the same here"
Dt13-09e Dont say (after an acquital) that I will keep quiet
         about an appeal to reverse and convict him(since in
         other capital cases it is prohibited to reverse an
         acquital)

FURTHER NOTES
-------------
Rashi hilights that the trial of the person who advocates
idolatry is different then all other capital crimes. In fact
Rashi lists several Biblical verses showing that we normally
do the above things in cases. That is we DO try and talk him
out of the crime; we do listen to his passions and warn him and
if he then retracts we do NOT bring him to trial.
we do try and acquit. We do NOT reverse acquittals even
if there was a court error. Here are the Biblical commandments
that Rashi lists (Also cited by Rambam in Courts Chapter 11)

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR LIKE THYSELF--so eg if someone wanted to kill
     someone you would and should try and talk him out of it
HELP YOUR NEIGHBOR UNLOAD HIS ANIMALS
DONT STAND ON THE BLOOD OF THY NEIGHBOR--so you try and
     save someone who is about to die or sin
AND THE COURT SHALL SAVE---so in capital cases we always
     try and save the accused (Cf Rambam Courts 11)
DONT KILL ACQUITTED PEOPLE (even if the court erroneously
     acquitted him).


SUMMARY: Typical of Biblical methodology we infer 5 levels
of mercy from a commandment NOT to have mercy. Here are
the 5 levels of mercy on a proposed wicked act

1) ACQUIESCE-------DEBATE pros and cons of act
2) LISTEN TO HIM---WARN him of consequences
3) MERCY-----------Dont bring to TRIAL (eg "out of court")
4) PITY------------Bias court proceedings towards DEFENSES
5) COVER UP--------If accidentally acquitted dont REVERSE trial

Again as mentioned, except for (3), all these things are done
during a capital-crime trial. (In passing many people are
surprised to learn that Jewish Law is biased towards defense!!
Did you know that

--conviction in a capital case requires a majority of 2 while
  acquital   in a capital case requires a majority of 1

--law/rabbinic students who advocate defenses are promoted to bench
  law/rabbinic students are prohibited from advocating conviction!

--an erroneous court decision of conviction should be reversed
  an erroneous court decision of acquittal can NOT be reversed)


COMMENT: Again we emphasize that the words used by the BIble
---acquiesce, listen, mercy, pity cover-up--these words are
all synonyms. However it is the principle of CLIMAX that
requires me to be specific in these 5 words and refer them
to 5 periods of time from crime to execution

-DEBATE-------BEFORE ACT
-WARN---------DURING ACT
-MERCY--------BEFORE COURT (Dont bring to court)
-PITY---------DURING COURT (Advocate defense)
-COVER UP-----AFTER  COURT (reverse decision)


RULE USED: CLIMAX
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 7 Number 9


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