Sifra Emor Section 14

¹1) (Vayikra 24:10) ("And the son of an Israelite woman went out; and he was the son of an Egyptian man in the midst of the children of Israel. And they strove within the camp, the son of the Israelite woman and the Israelite man.") "And the son of an Israelite woman went out": Whence did he go out From the beth-din of Moses. For he came to pitch his tent in the midst of the camp of Dan — whereupon they said to him: "Who are you that you would pitch your tent in the midst of the camp of Dan?" He: "My mother was of the tribe of Dan." They: "Scripture states (Bamidbar 2:2) 'The Israelites shall encamp; each with his standard by signs according to their fathers' house shall the children of Israel encamp'" — at which he entered the beth-din of Moses, emerged unvindicated, arose, and blasphemed. "and he was the son of an Egyptian man": Even though there were not mamzerim ("bastards") at that time, he was regarded as a mamzer. "in the midst of the children of Israel": We are hereby taught that he became a proselyte. "And they strove within the camp": over the affair of the encampment. "the son of the Israelite woman and the Israelite man": his antagonist. (Vayikra 24:11) ("And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and he cursed. And they brought him to Moses. And the name of his mother was Shlomith the daughter of Divri of the tribe of Dan.") ²2) "and the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name": the ineffable Name that he heard at Sinai. "and he cursed": It is not written "And he 'blessed,'" as in (I Kings 21:13) "Navoth has 'blessed' (a euphemism for the opposite) G d and king," but "and he cursed" — to teach that there is no death penalty for (cursing) with an epithet. ³3) R. Yehoshua b. Karchah said: The entire day )of deliberation) they would examine the witnesses (to blaspheming) with an epithet — "May Yossah smite Yossah." When the judgment was concluded (and beth-din came to pronounce him liable), they could not execute him (on the basis of the testimony that they had heard, for the had heard from their mouths only a curse) by epithet. But everyone is sent out, (it being demeaning to utter a "blessing of the Name" in public), and they ask the senior witness (what he heard) and say to him: "Repeat what you heard explicitly," and he does so. And the judges stand upon their feet, and they rend (their garments) and do not resew them. And the second witness says: "I, too, heard as he did." And the third witness says: "I, too, heard as he did." And the witnesses need not rend (their garments), for they already did so upon hearing it originally. ⁴4) "And they brought him to Moses": But they did not bring the wood-gatherer (mekoshesh) with him (see Bamidbar 15:32). "And the name of his mother was Shlomith the daughter of Divri, of the tribe of Dan." a blemish to himself, a blemish to his mother, a blemish to his family, and a blemish to his tribe whence he came. ⁵5) (Vayikra 24:12) ("And they put him in confinement, to be explained to them at the mouth of the L–rd.") But they did not place the mekoshesh with him, though their situations were concurrent. And they knew that the mekoshesh was liable to the death penalty, viz. (Shemoth 21:14) "Those who desecrate it (the Sabbath) shall die, but they did not know which death penalty, viz. (Bamidbar 15:34) "for it was not clear what should be done to him," but here it is written "to be explained to them at the mouth of the L–rd" — whereby we are taught that they did not know whether he was liable to the death penalty or not.