I have a question in the mishneh torah. In Hilchot edut 13:15 the rambam says that relatives are prohibited to witness only bc of a geziras hakasuv not bc of of presumption of love or hate. And he says explicitly that people who hate can be witnesses.
How does this square with the Halacha in Hilchot gerushin 12:16 that women who are disqualified bc they are presumed to hate each other?
Thank you.
Josh
Hi Josh,
We can say that there is a difference between two witnesses in Hilchos Eidus, where we do not suspect two people to lie because hatred or love, but maybe one person we suspect.
We can also say that as a rule we do not suspect a hater or friend to lie, but maybe the Rambam who takes this from the Gemara, holds that in some cases we can specify, the hate does influence our considerations.
For example, even according to Chachamim who the Rambam brings, that haters and friendship is not a reason to disqualify a witness, still, these do not qualify as judges. We can learn from this that there the fact we do not suspect these witnesses is not clear cut.
Kol Tuv,
Aharon Steiner