Sanhedrin 028
|
BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
|
|
|
סַנְהֶדְרֵי גְדוֹלָה הָיְתָה שֶׁל שִׁבְעִים וְאֶחָד, וּקְטַנָּה שֶׁל עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁלשָׁה. וּמִנַּיִן לַגְּדוֹלָה שֶׁהִיא שֶׁל שִׁבְעִים וְאֶחָד? – שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "אֶסְפָה לִּי שִׁבְעִים אִישׁ מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל", וּמשֶׁה עַל גַּבֵּיהֶן, הֲרֵי שִׁבְעִים וְאֶחָד. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, שִׁבְעִים. וּמִנַּיִן לַקְּטַנָּה שֶׁהִיא שֶׁל עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁלשָׁה? – שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וְשָׁפְטוּ הָעֵדָה וְהִצִּילוּ הָעֵדָה" – עֵדָה שׁוֹפֶטֶת וְעֵדָה מַצֶּלֶת, הֲרֵי כָאן עֶשְׂרִים. וּמִנַּיִן לָעֵדָה שֶׁהִיא עֲשָׂרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "עַד מָתַי לָעֵדָה הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת": יָצְאוּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכָלֵב. וּמִנַּיִן לְהָבִיא עוֹד שְׁלשָׁה, מִמַּשְׁמַע שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "לֹא תִהְיֶה אַחֲרֵי רַבִּים לְרָעוֹת"; שׁוֹמֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁאֶהְיֶה עִמָּהֶם לְטוֹבָה. אִם כֵּן לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר "אַחֲרֵי רַבִּים לְהַטּוֹת"? –לֹא כְהַטָּיָתְךָ לְטוֹבָה הַטָּיָתְךָ לְרָעָה: הַטָּיָתְךָ לְטוֹבָה עַל פִּי אֶחָד, הַטָּיָתְךָ לְרָעָה עַל פִּי שְׁנַיִם. וְאֵין בֵּית דִּין שָׁקוּל – מוֹסִיפִין עֲלֵיהֶן עוֹד אֶחָד, הֲרֵי כָאן עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁלשָׁה. וְכַמָּה יְהֵא בָעִיר וּתְהֵא רְאוּיָה לְסַנְהֶדְרִין? – מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר, מָאתַיִם וּשְׁלשִׁים, כְּנֶגֶד שָׂרֵי עֲשָׂרוֹת:
The Supreme Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one [sages] and the lesser Sanhedrin consisted of twenty-three [sages].
On what basis did the Great Sanhedrin consist of seventy-one? – The Torah says, "Assemble for me seventy of Israel's elders"; when Moses is at their head you have seventy-one. Rabbi Yehudah says [that it consisted only of] seventy. On what basis did the lesser Sanhedrin consist of twenty-three? – The Torah says, "The congregation shall judge" and "the congregation shall rescue". Now, how do we know that a congregation consists of ten? – The Torah says, "How long [shall I have to put up with] this congregation?"; and you must exclude Caleb and Joshua. And where do the other three come from? – It is implied in the verse that says "Do not follow after the majority for bad": I find implied in that that I should follow after them for good. In which case, why does it also say, "Tilt the majority"? – Your tilting for good should not be the same as your tilting for bad. For good you can tilt by just one, but your tilting for bad must be by two. Now no court can consist of an even number of justices, so we add one more – and that adds up to twenty-three. How large does a township have to require a [lesser] Sanhedrin? – one hundred and twenty. Rabbi Neĥemyah says two hundred and forty, parallel to the Captains of Ten. EXPLANATIONS:
1:
In my translation I have divided this rather long mishnah into its component parts in order to make it easier to understand. The topic of our mishnah is, of course, the composition of the two courts: the lesser Sanhedrin, which is the court of twenty-three justices whose task it was to try cases involving Dinei Nefashot [a capital charge], of which there were several all around the country, and the Supreme Sanhedrin, meeting on the Temple Mount, of which there was only one. We have already noted that the former consisted of twenty-three sages, and the latter of seventy-one. We have also noted already that the term 'Sanhedrin' can refer to any kind of court, even though the word came to be identified with the Supreme Court. (The word is borrowed from the Greek language, and indicated an "assembly".) 2: 3: 4: To be continued. |