**********SUPER TRIGGER WARNING**************
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE EXPOSED TO A GRAPHIC AND CANDID STORY AND DISCUSSION REGARDING CHILD RAPE
REALLY. IT IS RIGHT THERE IN THE TITLE. CHILD. RAPE. VICTIM. KILL.
A) The story:
Mary is a happy six-year-old girl. As an only child of two doting parents, she owns a large set of Magna Tiles, a full-size trampoline in the back yard, and the promise of a hoverboard for her seventh birthday. But Mary was lonely, and desperate for friends. One day, while Mary was jumping alone on her trampoline, her neighbor, Rabbi Greenwald asked her to join him in her car. On the outside, Rabbi Greenwald was an upstanding religious man who paid full tuition and always washed even on one slice of pizza, but he had a dark secret, he was a pedophile. Over the past few months, he had been grooming Mary, presenting himself as a friendly and kind presence. As Mary walked to Rabbi Greenwald's car, something inside her felt wrong. Her parents had warned her never to get into a car with a stranger, but Rabbi Greenwald was not a stranger; he was the fun next-door neighbor. Brushing her feelings aside, Mary entered Rabbi Greenwald's minivan. Once Mary was in the car, Rabbi Greenwald, started raping her.
Unbeknownst to Rabbi Greenwald, two other neighbors, tending to their own children at the bus stop, noticed Mary get into Rabbi Greenwald's car. Something seemed off, and after a minute or two they walked over to investigate. Looking through the car window, they found the horrifying scene of Rabbi Greenwald raping Mary and quickly called 911. An ambulance arrived for Mary, and Rabbi Greenwald was arrested and brought to Bais Din for sentencing. Mary's parent's stood-in for their daughter in the proceeding.
The first question the Bais Din discussed was punishment. Rabbi Greenwald raped a child and deserved to be punished, but the Torah does not proscribe a sentence for raping an underage girl. However, because Mary is a gentile, Rabbi Greenwald had violated the prohibition of sleeping with a non-Jew and is subject to lashes - a brutal punishment that brought its recipients close to death. However, because Rabbi Greenwald had not been warned that he was sinning within 4 seconds of committing the act, he was let free.
"You did a terrible act," the judges informed Rabbi Greenwald. "Although we cannot give you lashes according to the law, you are excommunicated until you can prove that you have done teshuva. Your teshuva will be considered complete when you publicly apologize to the girl and publicly demonstrate the appropriate amount of remorse for your actions. The gates of teshuva are never closed, and once you renounce your sinful ways, you will be reaccepted as a full upstanding member of the community. This is our judgment against you."
Rabbi Greenwald, his head bent down in shame, accepted the ruling of the bais din. After the judge finished speaking, Rabbi Greenwald, stood up.
"I accept my punishment and intend to do a complete teshuva, but I demand that Mary be punished for the damage she is inflicting on me?"
"Continue," The judge prompted Rabbi Greenwald.
"Every time someone sees Mary walking down the street or getting on the school bus, they will be reminded of the time that I was caught raping her in my car. Just think about the perpetual shame and damage to my reputation Mary's continued presence in our community will cause. I have children to marry off, and my reputation will be severy hurt by Mary's existence. As possessors of a divine and perfect moral system, you must correct this inequity and prevent this terrible misdeed."
After deliberating and reviewing the relevant Halachos, the court sent messengers down to Mary's hospital room. Mary is still recovering from her wounds and reacts with terror when four large Rabbis show up and begin wheeling her out of the ward. Ignoring Mary's shrieks and her parent's protests, the messengers wheel mary out of the hospital and drive her to a large cliff near the courthouse. The entire court is present, as well as Rabbi Greenwald.
"Mary," the head of the court addressed the girl. "You have done no wrong. But we cannot allow you to continue existing as a symbol of Rabbi Greenwald's shame. You must die. I am sorry."
Following Jewish law, the court messengers wheel Mary to the edge of the cliff and tip her wheelchair over, sending her plunging to the bottom of the canyon. Although the fall caused Mary's skull to fracture and caused her to suffer severe internal bleeding, the judge standing at the edge of the cliff heard her whimpering and determined that she was not dead. Per Jewish law, two members of the court picked up a huge stone and threw it on top of Mary, instantly killing her and ensuring that no one would remember the evil deed that Rabbi Greenwald committed.
B) Discussion:
a) Sex with an animal
This story sounds horrifying, but to understand the laws, one must begin with knowing the laws of animal sex in halacha. According to the Torah, if an animal is used for sexual rations with either a male or a female person, the animal must be stoned to death. The reason given for this is twofold:
A - the continued existence of the animal will cause the sinner shame. Whenever the animal is in the marketplace, people will see it and remember that it was sexually used by the sinner.
B - it is the object of a Jewish person's sin. Just as we destroy trees that have been used for idol worship, so we will kill an animal that was used for sin.
b) The Rambam's extension
The Rambam takes this rule of stoning an animal used for sin and applies it to the case of a Jewish man who has intercourse with a gentile. This is what he says in his code of law under the Laws of Forbidden Relationships 12:10:
אֲבָל יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּא עַל הַכּוּתִית בֵּין קְטַנָּה בַּת שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים וְיוֹם אֶחָד בֵּין גְּדוֹלָה בֵּין פְּנוּיָה בֵּין אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ וַאֲפִלּוּ הָיָה קָטָן בֶּן תֵּשַׁע שָׁנִים וְיוֹם אֶחָד כֵּיוָן שֶׁבָּא עַל הַכּוּתִית בְּזָדוֹן הֲרֵי זוֹ נֶהֱרֶגֶת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבָּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל תַּקָּלָה עַל יָדֶיהָ כִּבְהֵמָה. וְדָבָר זֶה מְפֹרָשׁ בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר לא טז) "הֵן הֵנָּה הָיוּ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּדְבַר בִּלְעָם" (במדבר לא יז) "וְכָל אִשָּׁה יֹדַעַת אִישׁ לְמִשְׁכַּב זָכָר הֲרֹגוּ":
If a Jewish man has relations with a gentile girl, irrespective of whether she is three years and one day old or if she is an adult, married or unmarried, even if the male is nine years and one day old - since he has deliberately had relations with a gentile - the girl is killed - for the sin of a jew has be perpetrated because of her. This ruling is explicitly stated in the Torah, as it says, "Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor...and also slay every woman who has known a man carnally."
c) The controversy
Some commentators are troubled, unable to locate the source of the Rambam's law. (See https://www.sefaria.org/Maggid_Mishneh_on_Mishneh_Torah%2C_Forbidden_Intercourse.12.10.1?lang=bi) These commentators believe that the Rambam's source from the Midianite woman is not strong enough to allow him to create the law.
But it essential to point out that those who question the Rambam did so out of academic difficulties, not out of any moral outrage. Though, with the proliferation of ancient texts, the Achronim (see Mahram Mi'Pano in his commentary to the RaSag below [1]) have uncovered a statement in the Pisakta Zutrasa as the most likely source of the Rambam's law. The Pisakta in Parshas Pinchas equivocates gentles that slept with Jews to animals that must be killed. Once the Rambam's source is uncovered, much of the reason to argue on the Rambam falls away.
c) The later commentators:
The Minchas Chinuch Mitzvah 209 adopts the view of the Rambam and explicitly clarifies that we will kill the gentile child even if we are absolutely certain that they do not possess the maturity of understanding to comprehend their actions. The gentile is killed, not because of any sin that they committed, but simply because they serve as a reminder to the sin of the jew. The Minchas Chinuch extends the Rambam's law to include homosexual intercourse between a Jewish adult and a gentile child. This is his exact wording:
כן הדין בכל העריות דהקטן פטור והגדול חייב ... מכל מקום כאן אותו הקטן נהרג כמ"ש פי"ב מהא"ב דישראל שבא על הנכרית אף על פי שהיא קטנה בת ג"ש מכל מקום נהרגה כיון שבאה לישראל תקלה ע"י כמו הבא על הבהמה וע"ש שכתב שד"ז מפורש בתורה גבי מדין וע"ש במ"מ אם כן כאן נמי אם בא על הזכר נכרי אפילו קטן נהרג כבהמה שבאה לישראל תקלה ע"י ואפילו היה הישראל קטן רק מבן ט' שנים למעלה דאינו נסקל מכל מקום הנבעל נהרג כמו הבא על הבהמה...כנ"ל ברור ב"ה לשיטת הר"מ.
[Typically] in all forbidden relationships [where an adult has forbidden sex with a child,] the child is not punished and the adult is punished ... Nevertheless here the child is killed. this is in accordance with the Rambam 12:10 who rules that if a jew has sex with a gentile, even if she is a three-year-old child, the child is killed since she is the pitfall of the jew - just like an animal [who was penetrated by a jew is killed because it was the source of the Jewish person's pitfall]. See there where [the Rambam] brings the story of Midian as the source of this law. So too [by homosexual intercourse] if one has sex with a gentile male, even a child, the gentile is killed just like an animal that was subject to relations with a Jewish man since they are the source of the Jewish man's sin. Even in cases where the Jewish offender is as young as nine years old - and is immune from receiving his own punishment - nevertheless, we will kill the gentile child just like [we kill] the animal [who was subject to relations by a Jew.] The above seems clear to me with the help of God in accordance with the opinion of the Rambam.
d) Is this Rambam the practical law?
No one less then Reb Moshe Feinstein in a discussion regarding the law of (Even HaEzer Chalek 1: Siman 38) understands this Rambam to represent the final law in this matter. A gentile woman - regardless of her age - who was sexually penetrated by a Jew is to be killed because she is a representation of the Jews' dirty act. There's are his words:
"This that you wrote that we kill a gentle (who slept with a Jew) even though they did no sin - as there is no commandment on the gentle forbidding them from having relations with a Jew - is because the gentle is the source of a Jews stumbling. This is per the opinion of the Rambam (issurai biyah 12:10). This understanding of why the woman is killed is CERTAINLY THE TRUTH."
Rav Feinstein is discussing the law of kanoim pogin bo, which states that if a man sees a jew copulating with a non-jew and is filled with righteous rage, he is commanded to kill them both. The question that is raised by the commentators is why we can kill the gentile woman; after all, she is not commanded to avoid having relations with a man? The answer given by Rav Feinstein is that the woman is the source of the man stumbling and must be killed. Rav Feinstein quotes the safer Ohr HaChaim that similarly brings this as the reason for killing the woman.
Rav Feinstein explains the Rambam's position as follows. The law that one can kill a Jewish man having relations with a gentile is limited to the time of intercourse. The moment the man separates from the woman, it becomes forbidden to kill him. This limitation, however, does not apply towards the woman, who is not killed for having done anything wrong, but rather because sin has come about through her. This is the words of rabbi Feinstein:
"Theoretically, one should kill the man even after he has separated (just as one kills an idolator even after he has committed the act of worship). However, the Torah has mercy on the sinner. This [mercy] is not extended to the gentile woman, for she has caused a Jewish man to be technically culpable for the death penalty [even if he is not killed by a zelot], and she remains forever with the death penalty."
Rav Moshe then goes on to discuss whether anyone Jewish person can kill the woman on sight, or whether one needs a bais din of 23 judges to execute her. Rav Feinstein additionally discusses the form of execution, presenting several reasons to believe that the girl is to be beheaded and not stoned like an animal used for relations. These are his words:
This that you are in doubt over the form of death to administer, for perhaps she is just like an animal who is stoned. In my humble opinion, it is clear that one should not be so strict to give her a death penalty greater than those provided for all infractions committed by a gentile, namely beheading by the sword. After all, even the Midianite woman was only killed by the sword. This that the Rambam compares the gentile woman to an animal is only to establish that she must be put to death like an animal, not to proscribe the type of death that should be administered."
So, in conclusion, if a Jew took a gentle child and had sex with her in public, two facts are accepted as law according to Jewish tradition.
1 - one who is on a high spiritual level can kill them both irrespective of the gentle's age.
2 - during the times when Jewish court was established, the girl would be executed, either by a bais din of 23 judges or by anyone who saw her.
3 - once the Sanhedrin is restored, the gentle girl will be killed either by stoning or by beheading.
It is important to note that it is not a random line controversial statement in the Rambam. It is ruling coming from an uncontested statement from the times of the Talmud, codified into law by the Rambam, extensively discussed by the commentators, and brought halacha by the modern-day poskim.
It is also worthwhile noting that not once in all the discussions did anyone throw out even the smallest comment decrying the moral insanity of killing a child because they are a reminder of the sin of a Jewish man raping her.
e) A bais Din that kills once in 70 years...
A very common response when discussing these issues is that there are various indications that Bais Din rarely killed people. This point is both moot and misplaced. The law itself is barbaric, irrelevant of how often it was carried out. A divine lawbook touted as the source of all morality should not have a law that puts three-year-old children to death for the "sin" of being raped, irrespective of how often that law is carried out. secondly, the rarity of Bais Din killing people was based on the technical hurdles needed to actually kill someone in Jewish law. To be killed, a person must be warned within seconds of committing the sin, and there must be two kosher witnesses who actually saw the actual forbidden act being performed. However, these special requirements law only applies to Jews. gentiles can be killed by Bais Din even without being warned or even if they committed the act in front of only one person. This is especially true in our case where the death sentence is handed out even in the absence of any guilt - as long as anyone saw the child being penetrated by a Jewish person, that is sufficient to require their death.
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