Josephf:
appropos to my post about “yesh koach” What is your understanding of Chazal’s statements about negah habayit, ben sorer umoreh, ir hanidachat, (about each they say “lo haya v’lo yihyeh”)? Regarding the death penalty can you not see the possibility that Chazal, being opposed to it, legislated it away? Don’t forget R. Akiva’s famous statement that were he on the Sanhedrin, he would have insured that no one would ever be executed for any crime. Was R. Akiva a “Koifer gomer?” since he seemingly put his love for humanity before the Torah’s injunction to invoke the death penalty where It mandates capital punishment?