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SANHEDRIN 35
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SUMMARY

1. A Beis Din is not permitted to judge two different cases of Dinei Nefashos on the same day.
 
2. Beis Din may not issue a final verdict that a person is Chayav Misah unless they have waited overnight so they could contemplate their ruling.
 
3. If the people of a town fail to distribute Tzedakah to the poor on the night after a fast day, it is tantamount to murder.
 
4. Beis Din may not judge Dinei Nefashos on Erev Shabbos or Erev Yom Tov.
 
5. If a person is on his way to perform Bris Milah on his son or to Shecht a Korban Pesach and he receives word that one of his relatives has died, he should continue on his way to perform the Mitzvah.
 
6. If a Kohen is Chayav Misah, Beis Din must carry out the death sentence even if he is about to perform the Avodah.
 
7. The Melachah of Hav'arah (igniting a fire) is singled out in a verse.
 
8. A Chovas ha'Guf applies both in Eretz Yisrael and in Chutz la'Aretz.
 
9. Beis Din may not put a sinner to death on Shabbos.

A BIT MORE

1. A single Beis Din may not judge two capital cases on the same day if each case involves a different form of Misas Beis Din. Since the judges must deliberate each Misas Beis Din separately, if they were permitted to judge two separate cases on the same day, they might not pay sufficient attention to each case and they might arrive at an incorrect decision through faulty reasoning. However, two people who are accused of committing the same Aveirah and who would incur the same Chiyuv Misah may be judged by one Beis Din on the same day.
 
2. Once Beis Din has waited overnight and then ruled that a person is Chayav Misah, they are required to put him to death on the day that their verdict was issued so as not to violate the prohibition of Inuy Din. However, as long as the Beis Din has not yet reached a final decision, it is not considered Inuy Din if they delay their ruling.
 
3. In a city where the Minhag is to distribute bread and dates (foods that are ready for immediate consumption) to the poor on the night after a fast day, if the townspeople fail to distribute the food to the poor it is tantamount to murder because the poor people rely on that food in order to break their fast. However, if the Minhag is to give wheat or money to the poor, the failure to distribute that Tzedakah immediately is not tantamount to murder. Since the items that are normally given for Tzedakah are not foods that can be eaten immediately, the poor people do not rely on the Tzedakah for the meal following the fast.
 
4. A Beis Din may not judge a capital case on Erev Shabbos or Erev Yom Tov because if they wish to rule that the defendant is Chayav Misah they will have to wait until the following day to issue their verdict, and it is forbidden to put someone to death on Shabbos or Yom Tov. It is not an option for Beis Din to judge the case on Erev Shabbos or Erev Yom Tov and wait until after Shabbos or Yom Tov to issue a ruling because the judges might forget their reasoning. Even though the discussions of Beis Din are recorded by the Sofrim, the Sofrim record only the essence of the judges' reasoning, but the judges may forget the details which are necessary to uphold their reasoning and make it logical.
 
5. The Mitzvos of Korban Pesach and Bris Milah supersede the Mitzvah of being Mitamei for a relative who died. However, if there is a situation of Meis Mitzvah, a person must bury the Meis Mitzvah even if he is a Kohen Gadol and a Nazir, both of whom are prohibited to become Tamei, and he is also on his way to bring a Korban Pesach or to perform a Bris Milah.
 
6. If a Kohen who is Chayav Misah has already begun the Avodah, Beis Din is not permitted to remove him from the Mizbei'ach to carry out his death sentence; rather, they should wait until he has completed the Avodah and then execute him. However, if the Kohen has not yet begun the Avodah, then Beis Din should not delay his execution to allow him to perform the Avodah; rather, they should kill him immediately.
 
7. Rebbi Yosi maintains that the verse singles out the Melachah of Hav'arah because unlike the other Melachos of Shabbos, Hav'arah is only a Lav, and a person who performs this Melachah is punished with Malkus rather than Kares or Sekilah. Rebbi Nasan maintains that the punishment for Hav'arah is the same as the punishment for the other Melachos. According to Rebbi Nasan, the verse singles out the Melachah of Hav'arah in order to teach that a person who performs many Melachos b'Shogeg in one He'elem (without realizing between his actions that he sinned) is Chayav to bring a separate Korban Chatas for each Melachah.
 
8. Any Mitzvah which applies to Karka (such as Shemitah) or to the produce of the land (such as the Mitzvos of Terumah and Ma'aser) is obligatory only in Eretz Yisrael. However, a Mitzvah such as Shabbos, whose obligation applies to people rather than Karka, must be kept even in Chutz la'Aretz.
 
9. Logically, it would seem that the obligation to put a sinner to death should override the prohibitions of Shabbos, since it supersedes the Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash and the Avodah itself is performed on Shabbos even though it involves Melachos that are usually forbidden on Shabbos. Nevertheless, there is a Gezeiras ha'Kasuv (a Torah decree) that forbids Beis Din to put a sinner to death on Shabbos.

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