In principle, a person could be put to death for a crime, but Jewish law made it very difficult for this to happen. The Mishnah and its later running commentary, the Gemara, record the great caution with which these capital cases proceeded. If necessary, a capital case could be brought as far as the Great Sanhedrin, the Jewish “supreme” court,” where seventy-one judges sat in session in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Ancient Jewish communities in the Land of Israel tried capital cases before regional courts with twenty-three sitting judges. Jewish law does not provide for what we would recognize as a jury of one’s peers, but the Torah does require capital cases to be tried with no fewer than two witnesses (Deut. In the Land of Israel of ancient times, capital cases-those in which the accused could be executed if convicted-encompassed crimes as diverse as murder, idolatry, adultery, even violations of the Sabbath (a ritual prohibition). The judge’s admonition reminded me of a famous passage in the Mishnah (the compendium of ancient Jewish law and legal argument) that cites the story of Cain and Abel to warn witnesses to capital crimes about the gravity of their testimony. If you are selected for this jury, you will have a tremendous responsibility placed upon your shoulders.”Īt that moment I glanced over at the defendant and realized that no matter how carefully the judges and lawyers selected the 12 jurors, his well-being would lie in that jury’s all-too-human hands. Before he began what would turn out to be several hours of tortuously slow proceedings, he said to us, “I know that this process will be very boring, but it is one of the most significant things you will ever do in your lives.
Once, when I was part of jury selection for a criminal court case, the judge’s admonishment to us potential jurors made a deep impression on me.