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Rabbi Akiva says: the death sentence can only be determined (by a court of) twenty-three. A tribe, a false prophet and the High Priest can only be judged by a court of seventy-one. A permitted/optional war can only be waged under the authority of a court of seventy-one.

1. Why do you think that these particular decisions require a special number of judges?
2. How does requiring seventy-one judges to wage war compare to the way that we declare war in America?