'אלו הן הנדונים למיתה': משנת סנהדרין וספר גזרות של הצדוקים

A survey of the Qumranic literature reveals that the sectarian Halakhah decrees the death penalty for some transgressors not mentioned in the Torah. This differs sharply from the list of the transgressors liable to death penalty recorded in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin, Chapters 7-11) which is limited solely to those sins explicitly punishable by death in Scriptures. The article suggests that this is the background for the dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees regarding the death-penalties described in a scholion to Megillat Tacannit (for the fourth day of the month of Tamuz)· This may support the identification, suggested by some scholars, of the sectarian law with the Halakhah attributed by Rabbinic sources to the Sadducees, while the Mishnah represents the tradition of the Pharisees.