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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Arie Folger <afolger@aishdas.org><BR>> And it also
implies that this is the basis for the exclusion of<BR>> women as witnesses -
see eg Tosphos there (although of course this is from<BR>> a pasuk, so no
reason need really be given, so even that one cannot say for<BR>>
definite). What this seems to allow is for women, for the most part,
to<BR>> avoid cross examination and public humilation in a court setting.
[--R'n CL]<BR><BR>Beautiful hypothesis. However, lacking strong proof, you
should keep<BR>in mind that you may or may not be right. Data point: the
maamar<BR>'Hazal I quoted from Rashi states melamed she-ein la-isha
*reshut*<BR>ledabber bifnei ha-ish.<BR><BR>According to your beautiful theory,
the maamar should have taught:<BR>"she-ein ha-isha *tzerikha*" or "*'hayyavet,*"
"le-dabber bifnei<BR>ha-ish."<BR><BR>Kol tuv,<BR>-- <BR>Arie
Folger,</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>>><BR>My father addressed that point, too. I can't
remember his exact words but the idea was that if you gave the women the option
of either serving or not serving as witnesses, you would not have an equitable
system. It would introduce a level of arbitrariness to the legal system --
a male witness who is subpoenaed /must/ testify, but a woman gets to decide case
by case whether she wants to testify or not? Quite unfair, and it makes
the whole legal process unpredictable. Plus, maybe more important, it
would remove from the woman the element of protection of her dignity and tznius,
since if she /can/ testify at her own discretion, she will be pressured to do so
in many cases.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>==========<BR><BR><BR><BR>_____________________</B></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="3fb420b5feb975b863c10953deeb7"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/><B>An Excellent Credit Score is 750. <A HREF=http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585099x1201462822/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=JulyExcfooterNO62>See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!</A></B></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>