Sanhedrin 11a — the Talmud in English

The Gemara brings beraitot and traditions concerning the laws and procedures of intercalating the year.

The Sages taught: A year may be intercalated only ![](pamud.bmp "

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with those invited for it,

whom the president of the Sanhedrin invited—the judges— on the previous day for this purpose.

There was an incident involving Rabban Gamaliel

the president,

who said

to the members of the Sanhedrin:

Rise early for me

the next day

seven

judges

to the upper chamber!

to the place designated for the sitting of the court.

He rose early and found eight.

Rabban Gamaliel said

:

Who is the one who entered without permission—

let him leave!

Shmuel the Small stood

on his feet

and said: I am the one who entered without permission, and I did not enter to intercalate the year,

to join you in this discussion,

but I needed to learn a practical halakha,

in order to learn how you would conclude the intercalation.

He said to him

Rabban Gamaliel:

Sit, my son, sit. All the years are worthy of being intercalated through you,

and you are worthy of joining us on account of your wisdom,

but the Sages said: A year may be intercalated only with those invited for it.

And the Gemara explains the incident in the beraita:

And

in truth,

it was not Shmuel the Small

who was the man who had not been invited,

but it was another person

who had entered without being invited,

and he did it because of embarrassment.

Shmuel the Small did this so that they would not identify which of them had entered without permission and disgrace him.

The Gemara relates another similar incident.

As with this

as happened with Rabbi,

when Rabbi was sitting—

Rabbi Judah the Prince—and

teaching

and expounding,

and he smelled the smell

of

garlic, he said: “Whoever ate garlic—

let him leave.” Rabbi Hiyya stood

from his place

and left.

And following him,

they all stood

all the students

and left.

The next day

at dawn, Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi found

Rabbi’s son

Rabbi Hiyya and said to him: “

Did

you cause my father distress

by eating garlic, so that the smell spread?”

Rabbi Hiyya said to him

Rabbi Hiyya to Rabbi Shimon: “

God forbid

and Heaven forbid!

Such a thing shall not occur among Israel,”

that I would eat garlic when I came to Rabbi’s beit-midrash. Rather, in order not to disgrace the one who ate the garlic, I left, so that everyone would leave, and they would not understand who he was.

The Gemara explains:

And from where did Rabbi Hiyya derive it

from where did he learn this conduct ?

The Gemara states that Rabbi Hiyya learned this matter—

from Rabbi Meir. For it was taught

we learned in a beraita:

There was an incident involving a certain woman who came to Rabbi Meir’s beit-midrash. She said to him: Rabbi! One of you betrothed me through intercourse ,

he betrothed me with betrothal through intercourse, which is one of the ways in which a woman is acquired.

Rabbi Meir stood

on his feet

and wrote her a bill of divorce

a get,

and gave it to her,

although he knew himself that he had not done so, but did this so that everyone would divorce her, and she would be divorced, and suspicion would not fall upon one of the students; and so it was, and

they all stood, wrote one, and gave it to her.

And from where did Rabbi Meir derive it

from where did he learn this conduct?

From Shmuel the Small

he learned this, for he said to Rabban Gamaliel that he was the one who had entered without permission.

And from where did Shmuel the Small derive it?

From Shecaniah son of Jehiel

he learned this conduct

as it is written [Ezra 10],

where it is related that they told Ezra that the Children of Israel, in their exile, had taken foreign wives, and Ezra prayed to God, and a very large assembly of Israel gathered to him, and it is stated:

“And Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra: We have acted treacherously against our God and have settled foreign women from the peoples of the land; and now there is hope for Israel concerning this.”

And he advises making a covenant with our God to remove all the women, and although he himself had not taken a foreign wife , he said in the language “We have acted treacherously.”

And from where did Shecaniah son of Jehiel derive it,

from whom did he learn this conduct?

From Joshua,

from the incident involving Joshua, when Achan acted treacherously regarding the ban, and the Holy One, blessed be He, did not reveal to him who the sinner was, but spoke to him in general terms: “Israel has sinned.”

As it is written [Joshua 7]:

Joshua 7:

“And the Lord said to Joshua: Arise, why are you falling upon your face? Israel has sinned!”

Joshua said

Joshua

before Him

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Master of the Universe! Who

among the Children of Israel

has sinned?” He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Am I a talebearer

a gossip

for you?”

Rather,

cast lots

among them, and the one upon whom the lot falls is the sinner. He did not explicitly reveal to him who the sinner was, so that he would not be embarrassed.

And if you wish

if you wish,

I shall say

I shall tell you: Shecaniah learned this

from Moses

when several people among the Children of Israel went out on Shabbat in violation of the prohibition to gather manna and did not find any,

as it is written

that Moses said to the entire people:

“Until when will you refuse?”

in general terms, although only some of them had done so.

The Gemara adds to relate the virtues of Shmuel the Small , and first relates an account concerning Hillel the Elder.

The Sages taught

our Sages taught:

Once the last prophets died

and they were

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Divine Spirit departed

the spirit of prophecy

from Israel,

and nevertheless they would make use of a heavenly voice,

which came to them from Heaven.

Once they were

the Sages

reclining in the upper chamber of the house

of a certain man whose name was

Guryah son of

the city

Jericho, and a heavenly voice was issued concerning them from Heaven,

and it said:

“There is here

one Sage

who

is

worthy for the Divine Presence to rest upon him

like Moses our teacher,

but

the Divine Presence does not rest upon him because

his generation is not worthy of this,

that the Divine Presence should rest in their days. Although the heavenly voice did not say who the Sage was, nevertheless

the Sages fixed their eyes upon Hillel the Elder,

for it was clear to them that the heavenly voice intended him.

And when he died,

Hillel,

they said about him

the Sages of his generation said words of eulogy: “

Alas, the pious one,

woe to us that he has departed from us—the pious one.

Alas, the humble one,

woe to us that the humble one has departed from us.

The student of Ezra.”

Once again they were

the Sages of the generation after them

reclining in an upper chamber in

the city

of Yavneh. And a heavenly voice was issued concerning them from Heaven

and it said:

“There is here

one Sage

who

is

worthy for the Divine Presence to rest upon him,

but his generation is not worthy of this.” The Sages fixed their eyes upon Shmuel the Small, and when he died they said about him: “Alas, the pious one; alas, the humble one; the student of Hillel.”

And he too,

although the Divine Presence had not rested upon him because the generation was not worthy of this, nevertheless at the end of his life the Divine Presence rested upon him, and he prophesied

and said at the time of his death: “Shimon and Yishmael to the sword,

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel the president and Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha the High Priest will be killed by the sword;

and his companions to killing,

their companions will be killed by other deaths, such as Rabbi Akiva, who was killed with iron combs, and Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion, who was killed by burning;

and the rest of the people

the remainder of the people

to plunder,

the Romans will plunder them;

and great troubles

great troubles

are destined to come

to arrive

upon the world.”

And all his prophecies were fulfilled; thus, in the end, the Divine Presence rested upon him.

And

likewise

concerning

Rabbi

Judah ben Bava, they sought

the eulogizers

to say this:

“Alas, the pious one; alas, the humble one,” and so on.

But

why did they not eulogize him in this way? Because

the hour was disrupted

and they had no time for this,

for those executed by the kingdom are not eulogized

by the wicked authorities, because of the concern that the king might not grant permission to bury him; therefore they hasten to bury him.

Introduction to the discussion of intercalating the year.

In the lunar year there are twelve lunar months, containing approximately 354 days.

In the solar year there are approximately 365 days. It follows that the solar year exceeds the lunar year by approximately eleven days.

The solar year is divided into the four “seasons” of the year. Each season is approximately ninety-one days, and they are: the season of Nisan, which is the time of “spring,” when the grain is full in its ear; the season of Tammuz, the season of Tishrei, and the season of Tevet.

The Torah commanded that the lunar year be aligned with the solar year, by commanding that the festival of Passover always be in the season of spring. Since the fixing of Passover is according to the lunar months, the calendar must be fixed in such a way that Passover falls in the season of spring. This is done by adapting the months of the year to the solar months, because the seasons of the year proceed only according to the solar months, and not according to the lunar months.

The Torah likewise commanded that the festival of Sukkot be at the time of the “gathering” of the grain from the fields, which is before the time of the rains; and this time depends upon the solar system. For this reason as well, we are commanded to align the lunar year with the solar year.

Since the months of the year are counted only as complete months, it is impossible to add eleven days to every lunar year, beyond the twelve months; rather, from time to time one must add an entire month. This addition is called “intercalation.”

When they sanctified the months of the year according to sighting the moon, in the court, they intercalated the year according to the Sanhedrin, as explained in our Mishna; that is, each year they deliberated whether that year was suitable to be intercalated.

And what did they deliberate about?

A. Concerning the “essence of intercalation”: the alignment of the lunar year with the solar year, so that Passover would fall in the season of spring.

B. “For a need.” Even if Passover would be in the season of “spring” according to the calculation [that the sun enters the sign of Aries], nevertheless, if it happened that the rains were delayed, or it was difficult to make the pilgrimage, or there were insufficient animals for the Passover offering, and similar other “needs,” which are explained in our discussion.

Intercalating the year to align the solar year with the lunar year is certainly from the Torah. But the early authorities disagreed whether intercalation for a need is from the Torah or rabbinic. From Rashi on the Torah it is implied that it is a Torah law, for he explains the verse [Leviticus 23:2], “Speak to the Children of Israel: The appointed times of the Lord that you shall proclaim,” and explains in the name of the Sifra: “Make the appointed times so that Israel will be accustomed to them.” This teaches that they intercalate the year for the exiles of Israel who uprooted themselves from their places to make the pilgrimage and have not yet reached Jerusalem. The Yad Ramah and other early authorities likewise wrote so. But Rabbenu Yonah holds that it is rabbinic.

And now the Gemara brings beraitot concerning the laws of intercalating the year.

The Sages taught: A year may be intercalated only if the president wishes

of the Sanhedrin .

And if the president was not with them, for example, if he was on a distant journey, it was possible to intercalate [the year] conditionally, if the president would consent upon his return.

And there was an incident involving Rabban Gamaliel the president, who went to obtain

permission

to speak about public affairs

from a certain authority in Syria, and delayed in returning

and did not return at the time of intercalation

, and they intercalated the year on the condition that Rabban Gamaliel would consent; and when Rabban Gamaliel came and said, “I consent,” the year was found to have been intercalated

retroactively.

The Sages taught: The year is not intercalated unless it was

the year

in need

of being intercalated,

because of the roads and because of the bridges

that had been damaged by the winter rains, and they had not managed to repair them, and the pilgrims would not be able to reach Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

And because of the ovens for

sacrifices

of Passover

in which the Passover sacrifice is roasted, which had melted in the rains and needed to be built and dried in the sun,

and because of the exiles of Israel,

who live in the distant Diaspora, and the court heard

that

already

they had been uprooted from their places

and had begun their pilgrimage to offer the Passover sacrifice

but had still not arrived.

For all these matters, the year is intercalated, since if they do not intercalate the year, the pilgrims will not come to celebrate the festival of Passover in Jerusalem.

But not

intercalate

because of snow or because of cold,

for these do not completely prevent the pilgrims from ascending ,

and not because of the exiles of Israel who

still

have not been uprooted from their places.

The Sages taught

they taught:

The year is not intercalated neither because of the young goats nor because of the lambs

goats and sheep one year old, for the Passover sacrifice, which have not fully grown, and they wish to intercalate the year so that they will grow—[nevertheless] the year is not intercalated. For this is not such a great necessity, since they can offer them as they are ,

nor

because of the fledglings

turtledoves that people lacking atonement [women after childbirth, men and women with discharges] would bring when they ascended on pilgrimage to celebrate the festival of Passover

that had not yet flown

for they are still small, since small pigeons may be offered.

But,

although for their sake alone they do not intercalate the year, nevertheless

they make them a support

as a supporting and assisting reason—that is, an addition

to

intercalate the

year,

for if they wish to intercalate because of the fruits, and we have learned in the following beraita that this is not a sufficient reason for which they would intercalate the year, it is possible to add to it the reason of the young goats and lambs or the reason of the fledglings, so that because of these two matters they would intercalate the year.

How

do they make them a support for the year:

Rabbi Yannai says: in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel

as Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel did, for he was president and head of the Sanhedrin, and he sent letters to distant places to inform them that the year was intercalated, and he wrote in the letters: “

We make known to you

we hereby inform you

that the fledglings are tender

that the fledglings are tender

and the lambs are thin [

and some versions read:

are thin]

the sheep are thin,

and the time of spring has not arrived

the time of spring has not yet arrived [for this is one of the three reasons, two of which permit intercalating the year],

and

therefore

the matter seems good to me

the matter is good before me [it appears so to me]

and I added to this year

and I added to this year a month of

thirty days

thirty days.

Thus, only one of the “reasons”—the spring—had not arrived, and it was not sufficient that they intercalate the year on its account; rather, together with the sheep and the fledglings, he intercalated the year.

From the words of Rabbi Yannai it appears that he added a month of thirty days, and concerning this the Gemara raises an objection:

It raises an objection:

we learned in a beraita:

How long is the intercalation of the year—

thirty days

so the Sages hold, whereas

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: a month

which is twenty-nine days.

Thus, there is a contradiction in the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

The Gemara answers:

Rav Pappa said:

What Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said, “a month,” did not intend to exclude a full month of thirty days; rather,

if they wished

the Sanhedrin added

a month

of twenty-nine days, and if

they wished

they added

thirty days.

The Gemara finds a difference between this wording of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who said, “And the matter seems good to me”—that it is good before me to intercalate the year—whereas Rabban Gamaliel in his generation wrote: “And the matter seems good to me and to my colleagues”—before me and before my colleagues.