By the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall the one liable to death be put to death (Devarim 17:6)

Rashi asks the obvious question on the verse quoted above. If two witnesses can put a person to death then why does the verse need to state also three witnesses? He answers that we can learn a law about A’dim Zomemin from here. A’dim Zomemin are false witnesses. Jewish law states that if a witness is found to be a false witness because other witnesses state he was at a different place during the time when the crime took place then the false witness is punished with the same punishment he tried to give to the other person. For example, if he accuses someone of murdering someone else and then is found to be a false witness, the false witness is given the death penalty. But before the false witness is punished, there is one other important detail: since all trials require two witnesses, both witnesses must be found to be false witnesses to be punished with the same punishment.

Now, back to Rashi… Rashi tells us that this verse states two or three witnesses because just as when there are two witnesses, the punishment of A’dim Zomemin only occurs if both witnesses are found to be A’dim Zomemin, if there are three witnesses that come in together, they only get punished if all three of them are found to be A’dim Zomemin. The three witnesses who came together are considered one group just like the two witnesses who came together are considered one group. The lesson we can learn from this is that a person can be safer when he is part of a larger group.

The story is told about a final exam in a college course. The exam started at 8am and all of the students arrived in the large hall on time. The proctor (who was not their regular professor) explained the instructions. Of course, there was to be no talking. Also, he said that the test is exactly two hours long. When the atomic clock in the room said 10am, everyone would be required to stop. Anyone who takes extra time would automatically fail. The clock then said 8am and the proctor told them to begin.

At 10am, the proctor told everyone to stop and to bring their tests to the front. Everyone piled their tests on the proctor’s desk, except for one person. He continued working. He worked for five minutes… ten minutes… fifteen minutes… twenty minutes. Finally, he walked up to the proctor and handed in his test. The proctor said to the boy, “Did you hear my instructions at the beginning of the test? Anyone who does not hand in their test by 10am fails.”

The boy very responded, “Do you know who am I?”

“No I don’t and I don’t care,” responded the proctor.

“Do you know my name?” the boy asked.

“No,” the proctor said.

The boy said, “Good.” He quickly put his paper in the middle of the pile of finished tests and ran out of the room.

This story shows that when a person makes himself part of a group, he can “get away” with things sometimes. Everyone sins; no one is perfect. As we come up to Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, all of us want to find ways to get rid of our sins. Our Gedolim point out that if we make ourselves part of the kehilla (the Jewish community) then we are able to be judged with others and this judgment is much easier than being judged as an individual.

Imagine it is the World Series and, since we are imagining, let’s say it is the Marlins vs. the Astros. The Marlins win the World Series in Game 7. In that game, one of the Marlins players had two errors and struck out every time he was at bat. Luckily, the other players on the team played well and they won. Will anyone remember the mistakes this player made? No. Also, this player still gets to celebrate winning and gets to wear a World Series Champion ring. This is because he was part of the team.

This is the lesson to us… we might have made mistakes this past year, but if we connect ourselves with the community, we get a much better judgment because we are on the winning team.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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