What happens when two witnesses testify about a murder — and then other witnesses prove they couldn't have been there? In this shiur, we dive into the fascinating halacha of Eidim Zomemim, using a vivid example: Reuven and Shimon claim they saw Jack kill Jill on top of Mount Trashmore in Evanston — but Levi and Yehuda prove they were in Atlantic City that very day. The Torah's chiddush, rooted in a pasuk in Shmos and unpacked through the Gemara's darshanim, is striking: not only is the original testimony nullified, but the witnesses themselves become pasul retroactively — disqualified as edim, not just disbelieved. Why does the Torah tell us to believe the latter witnesses over the former, even without logical reason to do so? The answer will change how you think about eidus forever.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction & announcements
0:45 - Introducing the sugya: What is Eidim Zomemim?
1:30 - The Jack and Jill case: Reuven and Shimon testify in Beis Din
3:00 - Setting the scene: Mount Trashmore, August 13th, the Chicago Beis Din
4:15 - Levi and Yehuda's hazamah: "You were with us in Atlantic City"
5:30 - The core question: Are Reuven and Shimon pasul only from now, or retroactively?
6:30 - The Torah's chiddush: why we believe the latter witnesses (Gezeiras HaKasov)
8:00 - The pasuk from Shmos (23:1) — Rav Aryeh Kaplan's Living Torah translation
9:15 - The Gemara's darshan: edim convicted of sheker become pasul l'eidus entirely
10:45 - The stunning conclusion: they're not just disbelieved — they are eidei sheker
11:45 - Summary and closing thoughts
#torahlearning #jewishpodcast #talmud #halacha #eidimzomemim #hazamah #falswitnesses #jewishlaw #shiur #dafyomi #mishnahtorah #rambam #gemara #beitdin #torahwithsimcha #jewishwisdom #orthodoxjewish #parshaweek #torahclass #jewishlife
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