Pungent yet tender! In Rodkinson’s translation Section Jurisprudence (Damages) in Tract Sanhedrin, crime and punishment are discussed. A most intriguing debate rages on the ‘stubborn and rebellious son’. While the rabbis are dubious about the Mosaic law of awarding the death sentence to a disrespectful son, the ‘worst case scenario’ unveils the principle of jurisprudence where execution of divine law must be tempered by human mercy. Wisdom is also dispensed on unrelated topics like the location of the lost tribes, the window material of Noah’s ark, and the Messiah’s birth.
