[Avodah] rules of evidence in halcha

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Tue, 26 May 2009 09:30:21 -0400
"Dov Weinstock" <dov.weinstock at nycadvantage.com> wrote:

> Background - The recent plot to bomb synagogues in Riverdale NY has taken a
> new twist, with reports that the suspects were hapless recruits of an FBI
> informant and that the whole thing smells of entrapment - i.e. there would
> have been no attempt to engage in criminal activity without the FBI egging
> them on.
> 
> Which made me curious about a couple of things.
> 1. Is there a similar concept in halacha, or do we find both parties liable
> - i.e. the entrapper and the entrapped?

I don't think that Halachah has a general notion of absolving one of
responsibility (b'dinei adam) for a crime or sin on the grounds that he
has been entrapped, but there does exist literature on the question of
whether the entrapment itself is permitted, or proscribed by the
injunction of lifnei iver.  See, e.g., Pis'hei Hoshen Geneivah Ch. I n.
72 s.v. be'sefer Torah Lishmah, and R. Spitz's Mishpetei Ha'Torah Vol. I
#78.

Yitzhak
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