וְכַמָּה יְהֵא בָעִיר וּתְהֵא רְאוּיָה לְסַנְהֶדְרִין? – מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים. רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר, מָאתַיִם וּשְׁלשִׁים, כְּנֶגֶד שָׂרֵי עֲשָׂרוֹת:
9:
We now come to the
Seifa [last section] of our mishnah (which also concludes the chapter). The
Seifa discloses a 'Maĥloket' [disagreement] between Tanna Kamma and Rabbi Neĥemyah. The term Tanna Kamma almost invariably indicates the consensus of all the sages with the exception of the
Bar Pelugta of Tanna Kamma [the disputant actually named]. This was device used by Rabbi [Yehudah the President of the Sanhedrin] as compiler of the Mishnah to indicate which opinion was that of the majority of the sages, and therefore halakhah.
10:
The Seifa seeks to establish the minimal size of a township for it to qualify for a Lesser Sanhedrin (of twenty-three members). Townships smaller than this minimum number would have to resort to the judiciary of a nearby town. Tanna Kamma answers the question by stating the minimum number of inhabitants as being one hundred and twenty. The Gemara [Sanhedrin 17b] "explains" this number in a rather artificial way. First of all there are the twenty-three justices; add on to that three rows of twenty-three students [Talmidei Ĥakhamim], who were present at these sessions and you get a total of ninety-two. (A later mishnah will explain the topography of the court, so we shall not let it detain us now.) Add on to these ten householders who were free from all other chores and were to be found in the Bet Kenesset at all times in order to serve the public's needs [Batlanim] and you reach one hundred and two. But the court had to be served by officials: two secretaries [Sofrim] and two bailiffs [Ĥazzanim] bring the total up to one hundred and six. But there must be two litigants and at least two witnesses: that makes one hundred and ten. In theory one could also need two more witnesses to refute the evidence of the former two – and two more to refute the latter two (!) That brings the total to one hundred and one hundred and fourteen. But an ordered township also requires certain officers who are not directly connected with the court: two to collect the compulsory weekly contribution to the community's charity box and three others to oversee the distribution of these monies; that makes one hundred and nineteen. A well ordered township needs a further eight functionaries: a beadle (to tend the synagogue), an attendant for the public baths, an attendant for the public latrine, a blood-letter, a physician, a scribe, a slaughterer (of animals for food), and a teacher for the children.
11:
I include here a very brief resumé of the arrangements that obtained for charitable purposes, since this has been mentioned in our explanation. We must remember that there were no taxes leveled by some central authority, so each township had to answer the needs of its needy. Every citizen (even those receiving assistance) were required to pay a weekly sum into the Community Chest [Kuppat Tzedakah]. The amount varied from week to week, depending on the person's present means and the community's present needs. The assessment was made, not by the citizens themselves, by by the Charity Collectors [Gabba'im], from whose decision there was no appeal and who had the right to confiscate property until the recalcitrant paid up. (That is why these two officers were usually highly respected and highly responsible people.) The funds thus collected (every Friday morning) were distributed at the discretion of a special Court of Three, because this was Dinei Mamonot. This distribution was made on Fridays so that the recipients would be able to buy the necessities for Shabbat. Another collection was made daily. Three Gabba'im would assess families every day for warm food. The food thus collected was distributed daily to the indigent, so they ate more or less the same as everyone else was eating. Various other levies were made at times for charitable purposes: clothing, burial and so forth.
12:
Rabbi Neĥemyah is of the opinion that each one of the justices should have a standing equivalent to the "Captains of Ten" mentioned in the Torah [Exodus 18:21, for example]. If each of the judges was "in charge" of ten others this would require a minimum population of two hundred and thirty before twenty-three judges could be appointed.
13:
We have thus reached the end of Chapter One. Let us recapitulate. There were three levels of courts: a Court of Three ordinary people acting as a court of arbitration was to try cases involving loans and similar claims. (These cases could also be tried by a sole judge if he was fully qualified and licenced.) A Court Of Three qualified judges was to try other cases involving monetary payments. Courts of Twenty-Three tried all cases of Dinei Nefashot – trials in which the accused, if found guilty, would pay with his life. The Supreme Sanhedrin of seventy-one members served several judicial functions. It appointed the judges of the lower courts; it decided the law when asked to do so by judges from the lower instances; and it was the court of first instance in certain exceptional cases.
