Hot answers tagged edim-witnesses
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Ari Zivotofsky and I have worked hard to collect tens of testimonies from Yemenites and North Africans on the ID and traditions of which chagav (locust-like insect) is kosher. There is no question, as there are still many people alive who can remember them from their countries of origin.
Birds as the paradigm
As mentioned in Isaac Moses' response above, ...
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The author of Or HaChayim writes (Pri To'ar 85) that he discouraged the members of his city from eating them for a few reasons, one of them being because their tradition was not completely reliable.
I later happened to come across this article which discusses this topic more extensively.
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I think you're confused.
If someone stole and then confessed, they just pay it back.
If one FALSELY SWORE after stealing something, then felt guilty, then in addition to a guilt sacrifice, one must pay it back plus "a fifth" (actually a quarter, but that's a story for another day). See Leviticus 5:20.
Gezel HaGer (Numbers 5:5) is simply a special case of ...
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Probably each example you cite above could be answered separately; here are some thoughts:
Gen. 31:48: The Alshich asks your exact question and explains that גלעד is equivalent in Mispar Koton (a form of Gematria) to 17 - Hashem's Great and Holy Name - in order to hint that the true witness in this case is Hashem (see Rashi to 31:44).
Alternatively, ...
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The Shalo Hakadosh (Parshas Vayeshiev) writes that from the words "ויבא יוסף את דיבתם רעה" (Yaakov brought evil reports to his father), it seems that Yosef did not fabricate these stories (otherwise it should have said he "made up" the reports).
The Midrash relates that Yosef would tell his father that his brothers were guilty of eating meat that was not ...
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It doesn't seem to have a fixed formal definition, but perhaps reading Maimonides' description of it will help you get the right picture. At the end of the fifth chapter of Yesodei haTorah (which discusses mostly the laws of "dying al kiddush hashem"), he writes (5:10-11):
כל העובר מדעתו בלא אונס על אחת מכל מצוות האמורות בתורה, בשאט בנפש להכעיס--הרי זה ...
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