Saturday, June 18, 2011

A Jerusalem rabbinical court has sentenced a wandering dog to death by stoning

The barbaric sentence stemmed from the belief that the dog was the reincarnation of a famous secular lawyer, who insulted the court's judges in the past. What apparently happened was that a large dog entered the Monetary Affairs Court near the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim. The dog scared the court's visitors and, to their surprise, refused to leave even after they attempted to drive him away. One of the judges suddenly recalled that a couple of decades ago, a famous secular lawyer who insulted the court was cursed by the panel of judges, who wished that his spirit would move on to the body of a dog (considered an impure animal by Halacha). The lawyer passed away several years ago. Still offended, one of the judges sentenced the poor animal to death by stoning, recruiting the neighborhood's children to carry out the order. Luckily, the dog managed to escape.

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