I was flipping through channels and came upon a
program about Human Trafficking. We
all hear about things like this, but after an initial shock, they are soon
forgotten. Many of us "modern"
people don't really think about "slavery."
That concept is relegated to Biblical times or before the Civil War -- but "slavery", like so many other evils, never goes away. In
the Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic writings, Jewish history and prayers - redeeming captives appears a number of times.
It is a mitzvah (commandment) to redeem
captives. Read Rabbi Leynor’s blog at -- http://tovcenter.blogspot.com/2015/05/redeeming-captives-ancient-tov-idea.html
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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