Musar for Sanhedrin 91:13
<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> כיצד תולין אותו משקעין את הקורה בארץ והעץ יוצא ומקיף שתי ידיו זו על גב זו ותולה אותו רבי יוסי אומר הקורה מוטה על הכותל ותולה אותו כדרך שהטבחין עושין
He was brought before the<i>Beth din</i> and flogged, not because he meritedit,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The law does not prescribe this punishment for such improper conduct. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> but because the times requiredit.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., loose morals prevailed at the time. ');"><sup>26</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Prior to the appointment of the first king, the Sanhedrin performed both functions, i.e. משפט התורה as well as הוראת שעה. This is one of the reasons Moses is referred to in our traditonal sources as מלך, king. This is also why, after the destruction of the Temple when Israel no longer had a king, Rabbi Eliezer is on record as saying: "I have heard that (nowadays) a Jewish Court of Law may administer corporal punishment even when Torah law does not call for this."
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