Chapter 2
WHAT IS CRIME?
Leonard KravitzWhat is a crime? That originally was not a Jewish question.
Jews did not speak of crimes; they spoke of chait, averah. pesha, of
sins of various kinds, the kinds of sins for which we will beat our
breasts this coming Yom Kippur as we repeat the long confessional: ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, debarnu dofi. "Crime" is a secular term; sin is a religious term. We Jews dealt with sins; crimes
were the things that other people dealt with. I should like to
speak about the transformation of sin into crime and the transformation of crimes into sins. Perhaps a paradox, but "a most
unusual paradox."I will begin with a definition. Crime isWHAT IS CRIME?
| 1. | the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law... |
| 2. | a grave offense especially against morality |
| 3. | criminal activity... |
| 4. | something reprehensible, foolish, or disgraceful.1 |
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Crime and Punishment in Jewish Law:Essays and Responsa.
Contributors: Walter Jacob - Editor, Moshe Zemer - Editor.
Publisher: Berghahn Books.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 1999.
Page number: 22.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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