Wednesday, 15 December 2010

The testimony of 100 Jewish women is equivalent to that of a single Jewish man



Professor Israel Shahak of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem wrote:

According to Jewish religious law, both non-Jews and Jewish women cannot validly testify in rabbinical courts. True, Jewish women are permitted to testify in a few strictly limited matters considered "female affairs." If a case involves "a major judicial effort," however, a Jewish woman's testimony is perforce invalid, because "all women are lazy by nature."

But even in cases not involving a "major judicial effort" when Jewish women can testify, a problem appears when the testimony of a Jewish woman is contradicted by the testimony of a Jewish man. Jewish religious law solves this problem by the formula that "a testimony of 100 Jewish women is equivalent to a testimony of a single Jewish man."


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