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Abdon
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Abd-ul-Mejid
ABDON A
city in the doniiiiii of Aslicr. given to the licvitcs. Bene Gershnn (Josh. xxi. :i(). iind in Identithe concsponiliii!^ list df I ( liron. vi. 74). fied bv Guerin with Alxlch, tn the nrntli of Acre. G. 15. L.
ABDON, MOSES BEN REUBEN:
]{alibi
iit
a niriiilicidr the rnniiiiuiial lioard of a(hiiiiilstiiiliirs (steuanls nf Ihi- trlietlu) uji li> the In l^.^s In-, with other iiroinineiil Jews year l.")(>4. of Koine, irnaranteed to n-finid to Elijah t'oreos the snm of I.IMKI scn(li(abon1 S!(7(l). whieli the hitter Imd ]>aid to the jiapal authorities of Koine as a fine intlieled upon tlie Jewisli eoniinunity for tlieir failure to Imrn certain Hebrew l)ooks. Reuben Abdon, his sou. was steward after him, from l."):(i to l."iS4, is also mentioned A Samuel b. Moses in 150T. Rcinic in
loi:!. uiul
Abdon
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ABDUCTION
(••
Genebat
Ish.
Genebat Xefesh" =
Talintulie jurispruTheft of Man, Theft of !Sonl) dence bases the decree prohibitinj; this olTeiise iijion the eighth of the Ten ('oininainlinents, which it in:
terprets as
being]."
meaning "Thou slialt not steal [a human ral)bis argue that the unlawful ab-
The
is forliidden by the injunction, shall not steal" (Lev.' .xi.x. 1 U. which stands in juxtaposition to the
straction of chattels
"Ye Rabbinioal Pres-
prohibitions of embezzling, lying, and defrauding all oll'enses against proj)crty; while the context in the Decalogue, standing in juxtaposition to the crime of homicide, refers to heinous crimes against persons:
entation.
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therefore the prohibition " Thou shall not steal " aiiplies exclusively to the unlawful sciziu'e or stealing of a person (Sanh. Sti//). This ]irohibition, however, sets forth neither the jiarticulars that constitute the crime nor the penalty incurred by its commission the rabbis, therefore, adduce the following Scri])tnral jiassages: '"And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be jnit to death" (Ex. xxi. 1(>). and, "If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh mi-rihaiidise of him, orselleth him: then that thief sliall die " (I)eut. xxiv. From these decrees the Talmud deduces the fol7). lowing rules regarding (1) the malefactor, (2) the victim. (3) the crime, and (4) the penalty: (1) Tobe amenable to the law for the crime of Abducticm the malefactor, like the jierpetrator of any other crime, must be a person man Malefactor or woman of the legal age of responand sibility.and of sound mental condition; Victim. and since the Hebrew commonwealth was based on the principles of national unity and equality, the Israelite, the Lcvite and the priest, the free-born and the slave, were alike answerable for the crime. Even the high priest could be called >i))on by a competent tribunal of seventyfive judges to defend himself in case of his infraction of the laws; and, down to the change of dynasties in the MaccabcMn epoch, royalty' itself was subject to the jiuliciarv (see S. Mendelsohn, Criminal Jurisprudence," ^S 38, 4.5-.">0). ('2) Th(^ victim of the crime must be a ]ierson. male or female, child or ailnlt, who is free-born or made free. If the victim be a .slave, or even "half a slave" which iniglit hajipen in the case of a person formerly owned liy two partners, l)ut eman cipated by one of them (Git. 4"2<() no conviction
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for
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Abduction can follow,
since, in the e3'es of rab-
binic law," the slave has no brotherhood " dp |"Sn3y ^^aIdl. HIiiO. a'ld. conse(iuently, there is no niriN "stealing any of his lintlinn of tlu' children of Israel." Nor is the oll'ender. if found guilty of stealing such a being, obliged to jiay the double line which the Bible (Ex. xxii. 3) imposes upon convicted thieves; the slave, in Talmudic law. being placed in the siiine category with immovalile property which can not be taken away by theft (.Mishnah, B. .M. iv.S),
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Gem.
il>.
TAV,).
To
crime itself there must be the victim. (Ii) detention by the criininal. (<•) enslav<Mnent. and (</) (id The Abduction nuist be selling, Crime and Pun- complete the victim nnist be removed ishment. from his home and from his family. If the victim be sulijeeted to all the indignities forming constituent parts of the crime, while he still remains on his own premises the Jierpetrator of the indignities can not be convicted of AlHluction. Also, where the victim is naturally or habitually under the olfender's can as when the victim is the olfender's child, or ward, or ]uipil the law will not convict of Abduction; for the law (Ex. xxi. 10) .says, "If he be found in his hand," and thereon Talmmlic law bases the conclusion that the words "If he be found" exclude him who is habitually found there, that is. in the offender's ))ower (Sanh. Sli(/). (/<) Detention as a constituent of Abduction iinist actually take jilace on the abductor's premises, if the victim be detained anywhere else, though by and under the abductor's "And he authority, the condition is not fullilled constitute the (3) (a) actual Abduction of
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[the abducU'd] had been foiiiul in his [the abductor's] hand," which means within the abductor's own domains. (<•) Enslavem<iit nuist be accomlianicd by consciousness on the |iart of the victim, jlence, if the victim be in a stat<' of uneonsiiousness as in a profound sleep at the inception of the crime. an<l remain in such state thnnighout the process of the crime and until its accomplishment, there being in the eyes of the crime is inecnnpletc the law no actual enslavement, .since there could be no coercion at any stage of the whole i)rocedure. If, however, the victim awake before he is sold, even though be has failed to realize his degradation up to the last act, the condition will be considered as fully complied with and the crime as complete (JlaimoniTo constitute endes, "Genebah." ix. 2 et acq.). slavement the service imposed may be trivial. Thus, when the offender Conditions of Crime, merely leans on the victim, or uses him as a screen against a draft, and that even while the sidiject is asleep, it will be sullicient evidence of enslavement. {(I) By selling him the Talmiul imjilies the sale of the victim as boinlnn'n are sold (Lev. xxv. i'i) that is, the whole person is conveye<l. Therefore, if the victim be a pregnant woman, and be sold with the stijuilation that only her prospective olfspring shall liecome the iiropi'rty of her iiurcluLser although rabbinic law considers the embryo as jiart of its mother (Xin IDX "jT lyiV Sanh. SUA) this will not constitute .selling in the meaning of the law. Nor does the sale of part of Thus, if the victim's juTson complete the crime. he be sold with the proviso that he be half a slave only (that half of his time shall belong to his purchaser, and he shall be free to disiiose of the other half at his own jileastire). even this will not constitute the selling required in Abduction for. from the Biblical expression, "or selleth him." the rabbis deduce the legal maxim. "If he si'll him. but not h:ilf of
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liiin"(Mek., MishpatimXezikin. ^
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