יָדַ֥ע שׁוֹר֙ קֹנֵ֔הוּ וַחֲמ֖וֹר אֵב֣וּס בְּעָלָ֑יו יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔ע עַמִּ֖י לֹ֥א הִתְבּוֹנָֽן׃
Lembu mengenal pemiliknya, dan keledai mengenal palungan tuannya; tetapi Israel tidak mengenal, umat-Ku tidak memperhatikan.
Mishneh Torah, Repentance
Among this group of twenty-four are five transgressions which block the way of repentance against the sinners, they are: (1) he who secedes from the community, for he would be absent at the time they repent and could not acquire aught in their virtuous performance; (2) He who opposes the decisions of the sages, for his opposition to them brings about his own separation from them, and he knows not the path leading to repentance; (3) he who disdains the precepts, for as they appear debased to him he does not pursue after them nor perform them, and without performance what virtue can he attain? (4) he who insults his masters, for such conduct brings about his displacement and repudiation, even as it happened to Gehazi2See II. Kings, 4.1G., and being repudiated he will not find a teacher to guide him to the path of truth; (5) He who despises criticism for he, indeed, left no path open for repentance, as it is criticism that begets repentance. Forsooth, when a man is informed that his sins are known, and that he should be ashamed of himself for his wrongdoings, he does repent. For example: it written in the Torah: "Remember, forget thou not, how thou didst make the Lord thy God wroth in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst go forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord" (Deut. 9.7), and: "But the Lord hath not given you a heart to know" (Ibid. 29.3), and: "A foolish people and unwise" (Ibid. 32.6); and Isaiah, likewise, rebuked Israel and exclaimed: "Ah sinful nation!" (Is. 1.4) and, "The ox knoweth his owner" (Ibid. –3), and, "Because I knew that thou are obstinate" (Ibid. 48.4). Almighty, too, charged him to rebuke the sinners, saying: "Cry aloud, spare not" (Is. 58. 1). In like manner did all of the prophets criticise Israel until they turned in repentance. It is, therefore, necessary to appoint over each and every community in Israel a great scholar of mature age, God-fearing since his early youth, and loved by them, people, to preach to the public and turn them to repentance. But he who despises criticism does not come to hear the preacher and does not pay attention to his words, he, therefore, holds on to his sins, which to his eyes appear to be good.3Alfasi, Yoma, Chapter 8. 7a. G.
Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim
The entire congregation (every Jewish member of the community) receives forty lashes53Malkut Arba'im, מלקות ארבעים, forty lashes, the maximum biblical punishment for a transgression; see footnote 31.
The following comment is offered by Magen Avraham, (see footnote 33.): 607:8 - "Lashes": Not exactly forty (lashes) but rather thirty-nine. after the Minḥah Prayer, for because of it he will take to heart to turn away (and repent) from his transgressions.
Hagah: It was customary that the one being flogged say the confessions, vidduim54Vidduim, וידוים, the plural of viddui, confession of sins; see footnote 39., at the time that he was flogged, and that the flogger say, “And He (God) pities and will atone sins…” (Psalms 78:38), three times which equals thirty-nine words corresponding to the thirty-nine lashes55Thirty-nine lashes, a biblical means of punishment for certain sins or a transgressions; see footnote 31., (this is a custom). And it is customary to whip with a little strap because this (flogging) is merely a remembrance to the genuine flogging. One should take a strap of calfskin, corresponding to the Biblical verse, “the ox knows his owner and the ass his master’s crib,” (Isaiah 1:3), (כל בו),56Kol Bo, כל בו; see footnote 34. The one who is flogged shall not stand nor shall he sit, but he should be in a slanting position, (מנהגים),57Minhagim, מנהגים; see footnote 13. with his face to the north and his rear should be to the south, (מהרי״ל).58Maharil, מהרי״ל; see footnote 8. Yom Kippur only atones for the repenters who believe in its (Yom Kippur’s) atonement. However, one who despises it and thinks to himself, “how can this Yom Kippur help me,” Yom Kippur does not atone for him, (רמב״ם פ״ג מהלכות שגגות).59Rambam, chapter three from "Hilkhot Shegagot" (The Laws of Transgressions committed Unintentionally), מהלכות שגגות רמב״ם פ״ג.
Rambam is an acronym for Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon. He is also known as Maimonides. This twelfth century intellectual is one of the most famous Jewish philosophers, halakhists, and writers of all times in addition to being a famous physician. His most famous work is called the Mishneh Torah which means "The Repetition of the Law" or a second Torah. It is a code of Jewish law. Maimonides wanted to collect and organize Jewish law so it could be easily found and understood by people not as well versed as he was in the law. Maimonides' goal was to concentrate all of Jewish law from the Written Law until his time in a scientific and systematic way. His knowledge of and commentaries on halakhic material was phenomenally extensive. He wanted to subdivide and classify all of Jewish law according to subject matter which had not been done since the Mishna of Judah ha-Nasi. He divided his work into fourteen books (the letters, י״ד, equal fourteen and therefore the alternate name for his work is ha-Yad ha-Hazakah, "The Strong Hand"). Each book has eighty-three further divisions called halakhot, the construct form being hilkhot (the reference made by Isserles in this footnote is to one of these divisions called Hilkhot Shegagot), these parts were further divided into one thousand chapters, perakim, made up of some fifteen thousand paragraphs, each called a halakhah. Maimonides gave a single halakhic rule in his work in clear, legal Hebrew without stating different opinions or the sources for his decisions except when they originated in the Torah. For this he is criticized. (For a further explanation of Maimonides and the Mishneh Torah as part of the whole of codification literature, see the introduction to this thesis.)
Maimonides' work as a halakhist was not limited to the Mishneh Torah, although that is his most famous legal work. He wrote commentaries to some tractates of the Talmud, and mention is also made to his commentaries on the Palestinian Talmud as well as the Mishna. His Mishneh Torah contains the whole of Jewish law, both practical and theoretical. Maimonides also wrote responsa where we learn of the life of the Jewish community in Egypt and its neighboring countries during his lifetime. There are 464 responsa of Maimonides in Hebrew and Arabic. Many of his decisions became the accepted halakhah. Another famous work of Maimonides is his Sefer ha-Mitzvot, the "Book of the Commandments". In this halakhic work Maimonides decided to arrange the traditional 613 commandments in a new way. He gave his own enumeration of the 248 positive and the 365 negative commandments. The book, originally written in Arabic and translated into Hebrew by Moses ibn Tibbon, received much criticism for the methodology employed, but it later became an accepted work. The Sefer ha-Mitzvot served as an introduction to the Mishneh Torah which he worked on for ten years. Although the Mishneh Torah is an halakhic work, and even though Maimonides' philosophic work, The Guide of the Perplexed, was written after the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam still managed to include philosophic ideas in his code. Maimonides felt that philosophy and science are handmaidens to theology. Mainmonides in the Mishneh Torah included a system of metaphysics (Book One), the astronomical calculations for the calendar (Book Three), and the doctrine of the Messiah and a refutation of Christianity, Islam and their founders (Book Fourteen).
Even though the Mishneh Torah received much criticism by the contemporary scholars of Maimonides because it was such a novel way or arranging halakhah, since it did not give all the sources, and because it was feared that students would use it and no longer study the original talmudical sources, the book became one of the most creative sources of halakhah in all Jewish literature.
Jacob I. Dienstag, E. J., v. 11, pp. 764-68.
The following comment is offered by Magen Avraham, (see footnote 33.): 607:8 - "Lashes": Not exactly forty (lashes) but rather thirty-nine. after the Minḥah Prayer, for because of it he will take to heart to turn away (and repent) from his transgressions.
Hagah: It was customary that the one being flogged say the confessions, vidduim54Vidduim, וידוים, the plural of viddui, confession of sins; see footnote 39., at the time that he was flogged, and that the flogger say, “And He (God) pities and will atone sins…” (Psalms 78:38), three times which equals thirty-nine words corresponding to the thirty-nine lashes55Thirty-nine lashes, a biblical means of punishment for certain sins or a transgressions; see footnote 31., (this is a custom). And it is customary to whip with a little strap because this (flogging) is merely a remembrance to the genuine flogging. One should take a strap of calfskin, corresponding to the Biblical verse, “the ox knows his owner and the ass his master’s crib,” (Isaiah 1:3), (כל בו),56Kol Bo, כל בו; see footnote 34. The one who is flogged shall not stand nor shall he sit, but he should be in a slanting position, (מנהגים),57Minhagim, מנהגים; see footnote 13. with his face to the north and his rear should be to the south, (מהרי״ל).58Maharil, מהרי״ל; see footnote 8. Yom Kippur only atones for the repenters who believe in its (Yom Kippur’s) atonement. However, one who despises it and thinks to himself, “how can this Yom Kippur help me,” Yom Kippur does not atone for him, (רמב״ם פ״ג מהלכות שגגות).59Rambam, chapter three from "Hilkhot Shegagot" (The Laws of Transgressions committed Unintentionally), מהלכות שגגות רמב״ם פ״ג.
Rambam is an acronym for Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon. He is also known as Maimonides. This twelfth century intellectual is one of the most famous Jewish philosophers, halakhists, and writers of all times in addition to being a famous physician. His most famous work is called the Mishneh Torah which means "The Repetition of the Law" or a second Torah. It is a code of Jewish law. Maimonides wanted to collect and organize Jewish law so it could be easily found and understood by people not as well versed as he was in the law. Maimonides' goal was to concentrate all of Jewish law from the Written Law until his time in a scientific and systematic way. His knowledge of and commentaries on halakhic material was phenomenally extensive. He wanted to subdivide and classify all of Jewish law according to subject matter which had not been done since the Mishna of Judah ha-Nasi. He divided his work into fourteen books (the letters, י״ד, equal fourteen and therefore the alternate name for his work is ha-Yad ha-Hazakah, "The Strong Hand"). Each book has eighty-three further divisions called halakhot, the construct form being hilkhot (the reference made by Isserles in this footnote is to one of these divisions called Hilkhot Shegagot), these parts were further divided into one thousand chapters, perakim, made up of some fifteen thousand paragraphs, each called a halakhah. Maimonides gave a single halakhic rule in his work in clear, legal Hebrew without stating different opinions or the sources for his decisions except when they originated in the Torah. For this he is criticized. (For a further explanation of Maimonides and the Mishneh Torah as part of the whole of codification literature, see the introduction to this thesis.)
Maimonides' work as a halakhist was not limited to the Mishneh Torah, although that is his most famous legal work. He wrote commentaries to some tractates of the Talmud, and mention is also made to his commentaries on the Palestinian Talmud as well as the Mishna. His Mishneh Torah contains the whole of Jewish law, both practical and theoretical. Maimonides also wrote responsa where we learn of the life of the Jewish community in Egypt and its neighboring countries during his lifetime. There are 464 responsa of Maimonides in Hebrew and Arabic. Many of his decisions became the accepted halakhah. Another famous work of Maimonides is his Sefer ha-Mitzvot, the "Book of the Commandments". In this halakhic work Maimonides decided to arrange the traditional 613 commandments in a new way. He gave his own enumeration of the 248 positive and the 365 negative commandments. The book, originally written in Arabic and translated into Hebrew by Moses ibn Tibbon, received much criticism for the methodology employed, but it later became an accepted work. The Sefer ha-Mitzvot served as an introduction to the Mishneh Torah which he worked on for ten years. Although the Mishneh Torah is an halakhic work, and even though Maimonides' philosophic work, The Guide of the Perplexed, was written after the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam still managed to include philosophic ideas in his code. Maimonides felt that philosophy and science are handmaidens to theology. Mainmonides in the Mishneh Torah included a system of metaphysics (Book One), the astronomical calculations for the calendar (Book Three), and the doctrine of the Messiah and a refutation of Christianity, Islam and their founders (Book Fourteen).
Even though the Mishneh Torah received much criticism by the contemporary scholars of Maimonides because it was such a novel way or arranging halakhah, since it did not give all the sources, and because it was feared that students would use it and no longer study the original talmudical sources, the book became one of the most creative sources of halakhah in all Jewish literature.
Jacob I. Dienstag, E. J., v. 11, pp. 764-68.