Shimon Ben Shatach Said: "Examine The Witnesses Thoroughly; And Be Cautious With Your Words, Lest Through Them They [The Witnesses Or The Litigants] Learn To Speak Falsehood."

Shimon Ben Shatach Said: "Examine The Witnesses Thoroughly"

Our Rabbis[32] associate this teaching with a tragedy that occurred to Rabbi Shimon: his son was executed because of false testimony delivered in court.[33] Moreover, we find that Shimon ben Shatach reproved his colleague, Yehudah ben Tabbai, for executing a lying witness when Torah law did not require his death.[34] These two incidents intensified Rabbi Shimon's commitment to investigate testimony thoroughly before acting upon it.

There is also a homiletic dimension to this teaching. Our Sages say:[35] "The walls of a person's house testify regarding his [character]." On the most simple level, it is possible to "examine the witnesses" and determine a person's character by studying the walls of his house - which books, whose pictures, and which art do they feature.

(Sichos Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Shemini, 5739; Sichos Shabbos Parshas Kedoshim, 5741)

   

Notes:

32. (Back to text) Midrash Shmuel, quoting the Rashbam.

33. (Back to text) Rashi, Sanhedrin 44b, based on Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin 6:6.

34. (Back to text) Makkos 5b.

35. (Back to text) Taanis 11a.