Saturday 4 November 2017

Sanhedrin 112: How to Manage an Ir HaNidachas

In daf 111, we were introduced to a new Mishna.  We learned about the Ir HaNidachas. a Jewish city where the majority of the population has turned to idol worship.  Some rabbis say that residents of such a city would not merit the World-to-Come even if they repent.  Others claim that this opinion was removed from the historical text and that there were conditions which might allow residents to merit the World-to-Come.  Today's daf explores those conditions in great detail.  Some of the considerations include:

  • did people entice themselves to worship idols or were they coerced?
  • were men the enticers or were women and children, who don't really count as full people, the enticers?
  • people must be individually judged and convicted to know that a majority worship idols
  • would many betei dinim be required for such a task? how could such a task be completed quickly?
  • if a caravan or donkey driver stopped in the city for 29 days or less and were enticed to worship  idols, is he subject to the same punishment?  Different means of capital punishment are suggested for different lengths of time in the city.  Rabbis argue that one is not a resident until living in a city for 12 months.
  • what property should be destroyed and what property should be spared?  If property such as an animal or bread dough is owned equally by a resident and a non-resident, can it be split?  The rabbis agree that a dough can be split but an animal must be slaughtered.  Property in the city should be destroyed as it led the people to worship idols there
  • should a wig be spared if it is attached to a woman's head by wax?  What if it is hanging on a peg in her home?
  • a city requires a square; should one be built if there is no square already present?
  • what happens to property that is hekdesh, consecrated for use in/toward the Temple?
  • is consecrated property automatically blemished by being held in an Ir HaNidachas?  or are they still spoils of the city?
  • what is done with the terumah of the city?  Is it left to rot?
  • Jerusalem can never be called an Ir HaNidachas
  • can teruma from an Ir HaNidachas be brought into Jerusalem at all?

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