A burglar breaks into a store in the middle of the night. An altercation ensues and the shopkeeper strikes the burglar with a plank of wood and stabs him five times in the leg.

Should we be permitted to take the law into our own hands when law enforcement is not present?

Tractate Brachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim of the Mishnah, the first major text of Jewish law. It primarily addresses the rules regarding the Shema, the Amidah, Birkat Hamazon, Kiddush, Havdalah and other blessings and prayers. It is the only tractate in Zeraim to have a Gemara from both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud.

Sam Sheffer downed late-night beers with his brother at a New York City bar when he realized his iPhone had been stolen from the back pocket of his jeans. Luckily, he had installed the Find My iPhone app. He hastily downloaded the same app to his brother’s device…