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Week 110 - Shabbat - 5 January 2002

SANHEDRIN: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 1

Monetary suits - by three; thefts and injuries - by three; damages and half-damages, twofold payments, and four[fold] and five[fold] payments - by three; the violator and the seducer and the defamer - by three; so Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say, The defamer - by twenty-three, because it may involve capital litigation.

Kehati

It is a Biblical obligation to appoint Courts in all the settlements of Eretz Israel, as it is written, "Judges and officers shall you make for yourself in all your gates" (Deut. 16:18). There were three types of Courts: (1) the Court of three judges, which judged monetary lawsuits and lawsuits involving fines, (see beginning of this chapter); (2) the Court of twenty-three judges, i.e., the "Small Sanhedrin," which judged capital lawsuits; (3) the Great Court of seventy-one, i.e., the "Great Sanhedrin," or merely the "Sanhedrin," which sat in the Gazit Chamber in the Temple. The Great Court judged the tribe that engaged in idolatry, the false prophet, and the High Priest, as will be taught in this chapter; it also appointed the Small Sanhedrins, and ruled on points of law, (see infra.). The term "Sanhedrin" is of Greek origin, and means, "the council of the elders of the people." Bartenura, (Sot.9:11) interprets the word Sanhedrin acrostically as "sone hadarat panim badin shin" being interchangeable with samekh (hate partiality in judgment). Tractate Sanhedrin elaborates, i.a., the proceedings of law-courts and their powers; laws of witnesses and their examination; how the judges discuss the material brought before them; how they deliver their rulings; how the four Court-imposed types of death penalty are executed, etc. The first mishnah deals with lawsuits which are decided by three judges.

Monetary lawsuits - e.g., the clarification of claims involving loans or admissions (i.e., the plaintiff claims a debt from his fellow, and he has witnesses that he lent in their presence, or that the borrower admitted in their presence to this debt); these lawsuits are clarified and decided by three - judges; lawsuits concerning thefts - e.g., a person took money or utensils by force, or denied a deposit that his fellow had left with him; and - lawsuits of - injuries i.e., a person who injures his fellow is liable to him for five things: damage, pain, healing, loss of time, and shame (see B. K. 8:1), by three judges.

The Gemara explains that in our mishnah "thefts and injuries by three," are not included in the clause, "monetary lawsuits by three," to teach the difference between the litigation of loans and admissions and that of thefts and injuries; whereas the former may be entrusted to three laymen, the latter requires three expert judges. The Torah section on bailees obliquely refers to this, because three times it uses the word elohim, an unusual word for judges denoting a superior type, instead of the more usual shofetim, ordinary judges (Ex. 22:7,8). Accordingly, three expert judges are required in monetary litigation. However, the Sages relaxed these requirements in loans and admissions, ruling that one expert judge or three lay judges suffice, so as not to harm the borrowers, for if such litigation required three experts the lender would refrain from lending lest the borrower deny and no expert judges would be found to apply the law;

the lawsuits of damages - the payments for injury, e.g., if a shor mu'ad (an ox which causes damage habitually; see B.K. 1:4) caused damage, its owner pays full damages, and half-damages - for a shor tam ("an innocuous ox" see BK. 1:4) which caused damage, twofold payments - in the case of a thief (see Ex. 22:3), and four[fold] and five[fold] payments - made by the person who stole an ox or a sheep and slaughtered it or sold it, for the Torah states, "he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep" (Ex. 21:37), by three - expert judges; the violator and the seducer - of a virgin girl (na'arah betulah), whose law is to pay a fine of fifty shekels of silver (see Deut. 22:28-29; Ex. 22:15-16; Ket. 3:4), and the defamer - who claims he did not find the tokens of virginity in his wife, who pays a fine of one hundred shekels of silver (see Deut. 22:13-19), by three - expert judges; so Rabbi Meir - who holds that the defamer also is judged by three.

But the Sages say, The defamer - by twenty-three - judges, because it may involve capital litigation - if it transpires that she did engage in illicit sexual relations when she was a betrothed na'arah, for which the verdict is death by sekilah (stoning), as is stated in Deut. 22:20-21, (see infra., mishnah 4 "capital lawsuits - by twenty-three"). Rabbi Meir holds that if it turns out to be a capital case, twenty judges may be added to the three already present, while the sages hold it improper to add judges subsequently, lest the first three judges thereby acquire a bad reputation that they are not expert judges (see Tosefot Yom Tov). The halakhah follows the sages.

SANHEDRIN: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 2

Lashes – by three. They said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael, By twenty-three. The intercalation of the month - by three; the intercalation of the year - by three; so Rabbi Meir. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, They begin with three, and they discuss by five, and they conclude by seven, but if they concluded by three, it is intercalated.

Kehati

Lashes - If a person transgresses a Torah prohibition, and is punishable by lashes (forty minus one) - he is judged by - the Court of - three - expert judges. They said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael, By twenty-three - as in capital cases. In the Gemara, Abbaye explains Rabbi Yishmael's opinion: the law regarding lashes is likened to the law regarding those liable to the death penalty, by analogous use of the word "rasha"; regarding lashes, it is written, "Then it shall be, if the wicked man [rasha] deserve to be beaten" (Deut. 25:2), and regarding the person liable to the death penalty, it is written, "And you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, that is guilty [rasha] of death" (Num. 35:31) - just as those liable to the death penalty are judged by twenty-three, so too those liable to lashes are judged by twenty-three. Rava says, Because lashes are considered a substitute for the death penalty (since he transgressed the prohibition of his Creator, he deserves to die, and such death was imposed on him by the Torah, hence it is a form of execution - Rashi), they are included in the definition of capital cases. The law, however, follows the First Tanna, who proceeds from the Scriptural reference to those liable to lashes - "and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them" (Deut. 25:1) - implying two judges. However a Court may not consist of an even number of judges, to preclude a deadlock; therefore an additional judge is added to them, and this makes three.

The intercalation of the month - the Gemara explains, kiddush hahodesh, the declaration of the new month, is determined by three - experts; during the period of the Mishnah, the Court would determine the onset of the new month on the basis of the sighting of the new moon. When witnesses came and testified that they had seen the moon on the night of the thirtieth day of the month, the Court - after examining the witnesses and verifying their testimony - would sanctify the thirtieth day and proclaim it Rosh Hodesh, i.e., they would establish the past month as a "deficient" one (with twenty-nine days), and the thirtieth day as the first day (rosh) of the new month (hodesh) How did they sanctify the month? It has been taught, "The head of the Court says, 'Sanctified!' and all the people answered after him, 'Sanctified, sanctified!'" (R. H. 2:7). Accordingly kiddush hahodesh on the thirtieth day is dependent upon a court pronouncement, and a Court of three members is therefore required. If, however, the moon was not sighted on the night of thirtieth day of the month, the past month was made me'ubar (full), i.e., of thirty days, and the thirty-first day was automatically sanctified as Rosh Hodesh, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eleazar ben Zadok (see loc. cit.). This is the halakhah.

The intercalation of the year - the addition of a thirteenth month to the year, so there will be two months of Adar, is established by three - expert judges; so Rabbi Meir - for during the period when Rosh Hodesh was determined on the basis of sighting, as explained above, the intercalation of the year also was determined by the Court, in accordance with certain criteria: e.g., the festival of Passover had to fall during the spring, for the Torah states, "Observe the month of Aviv (lit., 'spring'), and keep the Passover" (Deut. 16:1), or with other factors, as explained in the Gemara (Sanh 11 b); Rabbi Meir holds that the intercalation of the year, like kiddush hahodesh, requires a Court of only three members.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, They begin - to deliberate, with three - whether it is necessary to convene a Court that will consider the issue of intercalation of the year. If two of them said that there is no need to convene a Court to consider the matter, for in their opinion the year did not require intercalation, and one of them said that a Court must be convened, the latter minority opinion is rejected, and the matter is not discussed further. But if two say that a Court must be convened, they add two judges to them, and they discuss by five - among themselves, whether the year requires intercalation or not. If three say that there is no need to intercalate the year, the majority opinion is followed, and the year is not intercalated; if three say that the year must be intercalated, then two additional judges are added, and they conclude - the year is intercalated, by - a Court of - seven - by majority opinion. The Gemara explains that this "three, five, and seven" corresponds to the priestly blessing, the first sentence of which, "The Lord shall bless you and shall keep you," contains (in Hebrew) three words, the second sentence of which, "The Lord shall make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you," contains five words, and the third sentence of which, "The Lord shall lift up His countenance upon you, and shall give you peace" (Num. 6:24-26), contains seven words. The intent of this is that the priestly blessing be associated with the fixing of the year and its produce (Tiferet Yisrael; see Tosefot Yom Tov).

But if they concluded by - the first - three - i.e., they agreed in their first session that the year requires intercalation, then it - the year, is intercalated - bediavad and there is no further need to convene courts of five and seven judges. The halakhah follows Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

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