Shame punishment in Jewish law

The kune, or pillory, was used as a form of shame punishment in Jewish law. So said Professor Hanina Ben-Menahem of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in a faculty seminar at UCT's Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research on 24 July. In a presentation titled The Kune: A preliminary case study of shame and punishment in Jewish law, Ben-Menahem showed numerous photographic examples of pillories in Eastern Europe synagogues. According to historical texts, this form of punishment was used until as late as the 19th century.

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