Hello Everyone,
For the past two weeks we have discussed the “Jewish System of Justice.” We saw how two of the greatest of our scholars, the Rambam and (the lesser known) Rabbeinu Nisim taught that within this “Jewish System of Justice” accommodations were made to meld the “system” with the needs of society.
The area of law which we saw over the past two weeks was the area of criminal law. Today we will study civil law. There is a single great difference between criminal law and civil law. In Jewish criminal law circumstantial evidence is not admissible. Criminal law procedure is rigid. We saw that the Rambam taught that it is better that one thousand criminals be acquitted in order that a single innocent person not be convicted. Civil law procedure allows judges tremendous latitude in reach a decision. There is a well-known rule in civil law: “אין לדיין אלא מה שעיניו רואות”- “the judge has naught but what his eyes see.” Today we will see how civil law is carried out.