Talmud Tractate Bava Me-Senate: Franken and Coleman Dispute the Case of Two Jews Holding on to a Seat

The antics over in Minnesota of the two Jews disputing one seat (in the senate) have frequently reminded us of the Talmud.

Beginning Talmud students often start their learning with the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Baba Mezi'a where two Jews are disputing the ownership of one garment,

MISHNAH. TWO [PERSONS APPEARING BEFORE A COURT] HOLD A GARMENT. ONE OF THEM SAYS, 'I FOUND IT', AND THE OTHER SAYS, 'I FOUND IT'; ONE OF THEM SAYS, 'IT IS ALL MINE', AND THE OTHER SAYS, 'IT IS ALL MINE', THEN THE ONE SHALL SWEAR THAT HIS SHARE IN IT IS NOT LESS THAN HALF, AND THE OTHER SHALL SWEAR THAT HIS SHARE IN IT IS NOT LESS THAN HALF, AND [THE VALUE OF THE GARMENT] SHALL THEN BE DIVIDED BETWEEN THEM. IF ONE SAYS, 'IT IS ALL MINE', AND THE OTHER SAYS, 'HALF OF IT IS MINE', HE WHO SAYS, 'IT IS ALL MINE' SHALL SWEAR THAT HIS SHARE IN IT IS NOT LESS THAN THREE QUARTERS, AND HE WHO SAYS, 'HALF OF IT IS MINE' SHALL SWEAR THAT HIS SHARE IN IT IS NOT LESS THAN A QUARTER....(Soncino Translation)

For those of your who wish to start learning Mishnah and Talmud today, start here with Learn Mishnah.

Here is the latest on the senate dispute from the Star Tribune. Now that the three judge Minnesota "beis din" has found in favor of Franken, public sentiment is turning against Coleman.

Coleman explains his continued legal efforts
By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE and BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune staff writers

Republican Norm Coleman said he will appeal Democrat Al Franken's court victory in the U.S. Senate race next week. But for now, he said, he's hoping to relieve the frustration many Minnesotans feel about the five-month recount process that has still left the state one senator short.

Coleman, who was featured in a New York Times article on Wednesday and has done several interviews with local media this week, said he recognizes that people are frustrated with the length of the recount and that it's important to explain why he's continuing to contest Franken's 312-vote lead.

"In spite of what some say, that somehow this is an effort to delay something -- no," he said today in a meeting with the Star Tribune's editorial staff. "There are very legitimate, important constitutional questions regarding whether or not people's vote should count.

"There are thousands whose votes haven't been counted, and this is the one path to make that happen."

Coleman was referring to 4,400 rejected absentee ballots that his campaign says are similar to ones that have been counted.

He said that he expects an appeal to be filed early next week, well within the 10 days that state law gives him. Joe Friedberg, the noted defense lawyer who led his legal team during the recount trial, will argue the case before the Minnesota Supreme Court, Coleman said.

Coleman said he is focused on the state appeal and declined to say whether he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary, although he wouldn't rule that out.

He also said he wasn't concerned that extending the recount might damage his political prospects should he lose.

"I say this humbly, I don't spend 30 seconds worrying about my political future," he said.

Meanwhile, although Coleman handily beat Al Franken last fall when it came to endorsements from the editorial boards of Minnesota's newspapers, that support is starting to erode.

In the wake of Coleman's setback this week at the hands of the three-judge panel overseeing the U.S. Senate contest, a growing number of newspapers that endorsed Coleman are advising him to throw in the towel.

The editorial boards at daily newspapers in Owatonna, Albert Lea, Worthington and Faribault have said he should step aside. All of those papers endorsed him last year.

The St. Cloud Times, which endorsed independent candidate Dean Barkley, has also called for him to give up his fight. So has the Winona Daily News, one of the few papers that endorsed Franken.

Editorialists at the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the state's biggest papers, have said he should continue to make his case to the state Supreme Court.

Even the New York Times has weighed in on the Senate contest with an editorial headlined, "It's Over, Norm. OK?"