[Avodah] What would a Torah government look like

[Shmuel Weidberg]

On Jan 24, 2008 2:52 PM, Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org> wrote:

> I do not think beis din would try to impose shemiras hamitzvos on a
> society that ignores them.

Yoshiahu hamelech tried to do that. He had two talmidei chachamim go
to everyhouse to inspect for avodah zarah. The avodah zarah was carved
into the two adjacent doors so that when the inspectors came, they
would be broken apart and hidden by the doors being open.

In any case, it didn't work. But it is not clear what Yoshiahu should
have done. There is no indication that he did the wrong thing.

> As in the past, I would argue that that has
> much to do with why Sanhedrin left har habayis.

Lulei demistafina, I would say that midinei adam there is no chiyuv
misah for certain crimes, when there is no Sanhedrin. Part of the
point of hasroas eidim is that the person gives away his life. If
there is no Sanhedrin there is no true giving of permission to be
judged for death. It could be that even if Moshiach came tomorrow,
such people could not be given misah. However, that might not apply to
talmidei chachamim who don't require hasraah.

Regards,
Shmuel