I. The brothers and Yosef
The Torah describes how the other brothers hated Yosef and plotted to kill him. When push came to shove they didn't kill him but instead sold him into slavery. The question is obvious:
How could the brothers simply decide to kill their brother out of what is described as jealously? What does that make the brothers? Many of the mefarshim explain that they made a Beis Din and had a din and paskened that Yosef was chayav misa for various reasons (for example as an eid zomem). This is of course very difficult for a number of reasons:
- There is not even a hint in the text of such a thing
- How can you have a din torah against someone when he is not present to defend himself? What kind of din is that? The chumash states explicitly that they decided to kill him before he arrived.
- If they did actually have a din torah and pasken that he was chayav misa how could they then not follow through with the gezar din and instead sell Yosef as a slave?
II. Yehuda and Tamar
The Torah relates that after the death of his sons Yehuda is traveling and sees a woman who thinks is a prostitute, he negotiates a price for her services, has sex with her and leaves. He then tries to find her to pay her and can't. The later meforshim ask how could Yehuda have sex with a prostitute it is an issur d'oraysa. Some answer that he actually was mekadesh her and married her. That answer IMHO is pure apologetics, the Torah clearly states that Yehuda thought she was a prostitute, would Yehuda really marry a random prostitute he discovered on the road?
Reuven and Bilha
After the death of Rachel, the Torah says that Reuven slept with Bilha his father's pilegesh. Most people are familiar with teh Gemara in Shabbas 55b that states כל האומר ראובן חטא אינו אלא טועה and that Reuven didn't really sleep with Bilha and they paint this as THE opinion of Chazal. However, that same Gemara says that whether he actually slept with Bilha is כתנאי, a machlokes tannaim and there are tannaim who state explicitly that he did sleep with Bilha.
Additionally problematic with the Beis Din explanation is that they were nogea badavar (involved in the matter of the case) and relatives which would both make then invalid as judges or witnesses. (I know for witnesses and I assume for being a judge as well).
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to have discovered your blog! You ask great questions and yes, the strength of the question often embarrasses the weakness of the proposed answers.
1) it says they were"planning to kill him (vayisnacalu)" it could be that they wanted to take him to a beis din (Shem v'ever... /Yakkov) to be put to death
ReplyDelete2) the issur in Torah is only if the 'kidiesha' is 'mibas yisrael'
3rd, you are correct according to one opinion Reuven slept with his father's pilegesh he sinned and got punished.......
And besides for all of the excuses - what's the problem with saying that the shevatim good something wrong? For those that say that they were tzadikikm they'll have to explain the pesukim noon- literally and they do, and if you want to be a litrallist then you say that they weren't.