✍ Scribed by Peter H. Kahn Jr.
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Two men were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership and bolstered his claim with apparent proof. To resolve their differences, they agreed to put the case before the rabbi. The rabbi listened but could not come to a decision because both seemed to be right. Finally he said, "Since I cannot decide to whom this land belongs, let us ask the land." He put his ear to the ground and, after a moment, straightened up. "Gentlemen, the land says it belongs to neither of you-but that you belong to it."
This Talmudic story motivates several questions. It is well known that children have complex moral judgments and values about acts that involve people, both positive such as helping other people in need and negative such as causing other people physical or psychological harm (for example,
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