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Murder is one of the three most grievous sins in Judaism for which the rabbis teach that one is to let oneself be killed rather than kill another. Jewish texts discuss this law and also speak about the spiritual and social implications of taking another's life and also the very limited circumstances under which it is permissible to kill another person.
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Thou Shall Not Murder
TANAKH
One of the Ten Commandments commanded at Mount Sinai was not to murder one's fellow person. The book of Exodus offers the first of two versions of these Ten Commandments.
The Sanctity of Life
MISHNAH
Jewish tradition does not consider murder nor capital punishment lightly. The Mishnah, the first codification of Jewish law from the early third-century land of Israel, in tractate Sanhedrin, begins to elaborate on the process of questioning witnesses and considers the value of a single life.
Beware the Company of the Wicked
TANAKH
When one is young, it can be easy to fall in with the wrong crowd. The biblical book of Proverbs — in the course of offering guidance about how to live a wise and moral life — counsels an imagined son not to be drawn in by those who would lie in murderous ambush.
The Tops of the Tablets
MIDRASH
The Ten Commandments were given on two stone tablets, which means the first and sixth commandments are parallel to each other. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, an ancient midrash from the land of Israel on the book of Exodus, interprets an important lesson about the prohibition not to murder from this parallelism.
The Limited God-Given Right to Take Life
COMMENTARY
All life is sacred and created by God, so under what circumstances may a human end it? The medieval Proveçal Jewish biblical commentator Rabbi David Kimchi takes up this question.
Murder or Manslaughter?
MISHNAH
Jewish law distinguishes between murder — a capital crime — and manslaughter , a crime for which the perpetrator is sent to a city of refuge until the death of the high priest. The Mishnah, the earliest codification of Jewish law from the early third-century land of Israel, in tractate Makkot describes how this worked.
The Dilemma of Sacrificing One for Many
TALMUD
The moral dilemma of whether one may sacrifice one person to save many is particularly thorny. The Jerusalem Talmud, an ancient corpus of law, ethics, and stories from the ancient land of Israel, presents different rabbis' answers to this quandary.
Redirecting a Murderous Disposition
JEWISH THOUGHT
If one is fated to have bloodthirsty tendencies, does that mean that they will one day murder? Rabbi Isaac Arama, in his 15th-century work Akeidat Yitzchak, suggests productive ways to channel such tendencies to avoid taking human life.
The Mark of Cain
COMMENTARY
After Cain killed his brother Abel — the first ever recorded murder — God marked him with the mark of Cain. Rabbanit Dr. Mikhal Tikochinsky takes up the question of the meaning of this mark in her contemporary essays on the weekly Torah reading.
Reincarnation and the Cities of Refuge
MUSAR
Why did Moses designate the three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan river even though they would not become cities of refuge until the other three cities on the west side were also designated? Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, in his 17th-century work Shenei Luchot HaBerit, looks to an earlier kabbalistic teaching about reincarnation to answer this question.
A Murderous Court
JEWISH THOUGHT
If the purpose of capital punishment is to establish deterrence, would a court that never executes a murderer be effective? Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, better known as the Maharal, in his work Be'er HaGolah, explores the question of how often a court may execute a criminal without becoming a murderous court.
A Real 17th-Century Murder
RESPONSA
The tension between religious law and state law in the case of a murderer seeking repentance in 17th-century Europe presents a real moral and legal quandary. A real case of murder, its aftermath, and the religious and ethical challenges it raised are recorded in Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach's Havot Yair.
Remembering the Six Million Murdered Souls
LITURGY
Yizkor is a memorial prayer recited on major Jewish holidays for one's relatives and loved ones. A particular Yizkor prayer was composed to memorialize the six million Jewish souls lost during the Holocaust.
Killing to Prevent Murder
HALAKHAH
Jewish law requires one to use lethal force to prevent murder. Rambam, in his famed 12th-century code of Jewish law, Mishneh Torah, details the conditions under which one ought to kill a murderous pursuer to save a potential victim.
"Our Hands Did Not Shed This Blood..."
TANAKH
Who may be held responsible when a person is found murdered and there are no clues as to who is responsible? The book of Deuteronomy outlines a procedure for just such a case to prevent God from holding responsible the people of the nearest town, the nearest jurisdiction to the murder.
The Necessity of Two Eye-Witnesses
TOSEFTA
Even when circumstantial evidence seems overwhelming, Jewish law demands the eye-witness testimony of two witnesses to ensure justice. The Tosefta, an ancient collection of rabbinic laws and teachings from the land of Israel, presents this requirement, emphasizing the Torah's high evidentiary standards.
 "You shall not murder", The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20. Leningrad Codex (1008 CE), Location: LC Folio 43r, Courtesy of: Bruce Zuckerman, West Semitic Research, in collaboration with the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center; courtesy Russian National Library, Saltykov-SchedrinSource: dornsife.usc.edu
"You shall not murder", The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20. Leningrad Codex (1008 CE), Location: LC Folio 43r, Courtesy of: Bruce Zuckerman, West Semitic Research, in collaboration with the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center; courtesy Russian National Library, Saltykov-SchedrinSource: dornsife.usc.edu
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