About this episode
Study Guide Sanhedrin 33 Today's daf is sponsored by Leah Brick in memory of her great niece Nava Tova bat Yehoshua Yisrael Leib v'Liora Charna Cherney, on her third yahrzeit. "In her zechut may we see all of the hostages released now, and refuah shleima to all cholei Yisrael ." The Mishna states that monetary rulings can be overturned in either direction - whether to find someone liable or to exempt them. However, this contradicts a Mishna in Bechorot 28b which rules that when a court makes a mistake, their ruling stands and the judge must personally compensate for any monetary difference. Three approaches have been suggested to resolve this contradiction and the Gemara raises difficulties with each approach and resolves them. In capital cases, a verdict can only be overturned to acquit the defendant, never to convict them. This principle derives from the Torah, though there is one notable exception: in cases where someone has seduced others to worship idols, the verdict can be changed from innocent to guilty. What verses in the Torah serve as the basis for this principle and the exception? This rule about overturning verdicts applies beyond capital cases to two additional categories: cases involving exile to a city of refuge (for accidental killing), and cases involving corporal punishment (lashes). Both of these extensions are derived through a gezeira shava (textual comparison) from the laws of capital murder. There exists one additional exception to this rule: if the court's mistake involved a clear and explicit Torah law, then the verdict can be overturned in either direction.