Sanhedrin 14a — the Talmud in English

Rather, ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location of the folio")

the laws of fines were annulled in Israel.

For once the Roman kingdom issued

Rome

a harsh decree against Israel,

to abolish the semikha, and they decreed

that everyone

who ordains shall be killed, and everyone who is ordained shall be killed, and the city in which they ordain shall be destroyed, and the boundaries

two thousand cubits around the city

in which they ordain shall be uprooted.

What did Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava do

so that the semikha would not be annulled from Israel

? He went and sat between two great mountains, and between two great towns, and between two Shabbat boundaries,

between

the town

Usha and

the town

Shefar'am,

and not within the town, so that they would not destroy the town.

And there he ordained five elders,

sages,

and these are they: Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yosei, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Shamua.

Before he finishes telling the account, the Gemara adds another version, that six were ordained there.

Rav Avya adds: Rabbi Nehemiah as well.

When their enemies recognized them,

for the matter became known to the wicked kingdom,

he said to them

Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava said to the elders:

My sons! Run,

flee for yourselves from the Roman troops!

They said to him

the elders said to Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava:

Rabbi! What will become of you!?

He said to them:

I cannot flee,

and here I lie before them like

a

stone that has no one to turn it over.

They said,

the Sages recounted:

The Roman troops did not move

from there

until they had driven into him

Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava

three hundred lances

spears,

and made him

pierced

like a sieve.

Thus Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava ordained alone.

And the Gemara answers:

Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava,

several and several other ordainers

were with him,

they were together with him,

and the reason that they were not mentioned,

and the reason the teller of the account did not mention them, is

because of the honor of Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava.

And since in this account it was said that Rabbi Meir was among those ordained by Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava, the Gemara asks:

And

if

Rabbi Meir—Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava ordained him,

he was the one who ordained him

?

But,

indeed Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan: “Anyone who says, ‘Rabbi Meir was not ordained by Rabbi Akiva,’”

is nothing but mistaken.

Thus Rabbi Meir was ordained by Rabbi Akiva!

And the Gemara answers: At first

Rabbi Akiva indeed ordained him.

But

they did not accept it,

the matter was not accepted, because he was still young. And afterward

Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava ordained him, and they accepted it,

the matter was accepted.

And now the Gemara discusses: Where is the place of semikha?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: There is no semikha outside Eretz Yisrael.

And the Gemara asks:

What

is meant by the statement that

“there is no semikha

outside Eretz Yisrael

? If you say

that the semikha performed there is not effective for judging there,

for they do not judge laws of fines at all outside Eretz Yisrael,

even judges who were ordained,

this is not so,

for we learned in the Mishna,

as we learned in our Mishna,

“the Sanhedrin is practiced both in Eretz Yisrael and outside Eretz Yisrael.”

And it follows that if they were ordained in Eretz Yisrael, they are permitted to judge laws of fines even outside Eretz Yisrael.

And the Gemara answers:

Rather, they do not ordain outside Eretz Yisrael.

And the Gemara continues to discuss whether the one being ordained must be together with the ordainer at the time of the semikha.

This

is obvious,

there is no doubt about the matter, and it is simple, that if the

ordainers

are located

outside Eretz Yisrael, and those being ordained

are located

in Eretz Yisrael,

the semikha is not effective. For

we have said that it is not so.

For they do not ordain if the ordainers are located outside Eretz Yisrael, even if those being ordained were there with them. All the more so, they do not ordain outside Eretz Yisrael when those being ordained are in Eretz Yisrael, since those being ordained are not with them.

Rather,

the question is: If

the ordainers

are located

in

Eretz Yisrael,

and those being ordained

are located

outside Eretz Yisrael,

and the one being ordained is not with the ordainer,

what is the law?

Does the semikha performed by the ordainer in Eretz Yisrael take effect, as though the one being ordained were with him at the time of the semikha, and does he become ordained to judge even outside Eretz Yisrael?

Or, since the one being ordained is not present with the ordainer, the semikha is not effective?

And the Gemara resolves that such semikha is not effective. For Rabbi Yoḥanan wished to ordain Rabbi Shaman bar Abba, but did not ordain him because he was not with him, and he grieved over this.

Come and hear

come and hear:

For Rabbi Yoḥanan was grieved on account of Rav Shaman bar Abba

because he had not ordained him, because

he was not with them so that he could ordain him.

For Rabbi Shaman bar Abba was not with him to ordain him.

And the Gemara recounts an incident involving a pair of tannaim,

Rabbi Shimon ben Zerud and one who was with him,

and another tanna with him,

and who was he?

Who was the tanna who was with him?

Rabbi Yonatan ben Akhmai.

And some say,

there are those who say that it was

Rabbi Yonatan ben Akhmai and one who was with him,

and another one with him,

and who was he?

Who was he?

Rabbi Shimon ben Zerud.

One,

one of the two,

who was with them,

who was present with Rabbi Yoḥanan—

they ordained him.

And one,

the second one,

who was not with them,

who was not present with Rabbi Yoḥanan—

they did not ordain him.

And the Gemara recounts another incident involving two amoraim whom Rabbi Yoḥanan wished to ordain.

Rav Ḥanina and Rabbi Hoshaya—Rabbi Yoḥanan was diligently seeking

pursuing and awaiting

Rabbi Yoḥanan—

to ordain them

to ordain them.

The matter did not come about

the matter did not succeed for him, because he did not have with him two others who could ordain Rav Ḥanina and Rabbi Hoshaya together.

He was greatly distressed

Rabbi Yoḥanan was greatly distressed.

They said to him

Rav Ḥanina and Rabbi Hoshaya said to Rabbi Yoḥanan:

Let our master not be distressed,

let our master not be distressed,

for we come from the house of Eli,

we are descendants of Eli the priest,

for Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan:

From where do we know

that those being ordained

descendants

to the house of Eli?—

As it is stated,

the prophet said to the house of Eli that as punishment for their deeds,

“There shall not be an old man in your house all the days.”

And

what is “old man”?

What is the meaning of “old man

? If you say

if it is said that it means

a literal old man—

advanced in days,

but it is written,

it is already written there,

“Everyone who increases your household shall die as men,”

that most of the sons of Eli would die at the age of eighteen, so why was it necessary to repeat and say, “There shall not be an old man

? Rather,

it must be said that its meaning is

ordination,

so that even the minority among the sons of Eli who would merit reaching old age through Torah and acts of lovingkindness would not reach “old age,” that is, become ordained. Therefore they said to Rabbi Yoḥanan not to be distressed, since the punishment had taken effect upon them that they would not be ordained.

And the Gemara recounts another incident concerning semikha.

Rabbi Zeira was hiding,

he was hiding himself

from being ordained,

because he did not want Rabbi Yoḥanan to ordain him, and his reason was

that Rabbi Elazar said: Always be obscure

be dark, keep far from authority, like one who stands in darkness,

and live,

and you will live, for authority buries its holders.

When he heard what Rabbi Elazar said,

when he heard another statement of Rabbi Elazar:

“A person rises to greatness only if all his sins are forgiven him,”

he exerted himself

to be ordained, so that his sins would be forgiven him.

And the Gemara recounts the ordination of Rabbi Zeira.

When they ordained him,

when they ordained

Rabbi Zeira, they sang to him

his colleagues

the following,

this song:

No eye-paint,

he has no need to paint his eyes,

and no rouge,

he does not need color to redden his face,

and no adornment,

fine braiding of the hair—

and

nevertheless, he is

a graceful gazelle.

This song, which they would sing for a bride, they sang to Rabbi Zeira, to say that although he was modest and did not adorn himself in garments of honor, his qualities beautified him.

And the Gemara recounts the ordination of Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi.

When they ordained Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi, they sang to them

their colleagues

the following

this song: “

Anyone such as these, anyone such as these

everyone who is like these,

ordain them for us

they should ordain them for us; that is, they are worthy of being ordained.

Do not ordain for us

do not ordain for us—

not rags

rags; that is, they do not give a proper reason for their words,

and not turners

those who turn over the reasons of the Torah

. And some say

some members of the academy said this wording:

not extortionists

extortionists who state only a fifth of the reason; that is, they withhold the reasons of the Torah

and not empty men,

empty people.”

And from one matter to another, the Gemara recounts:

When Rabbi Abbahu would come

when he arrived

from the academy

from the beit-midrash

to the house of the emperor

to the emperor’s house to speak with him about public affairs,

the noblewomen of the emperor’s house would go out

the important women of the emperor’s house would come out to meet him

and sing to him:

and sing before him: “

Great one of his people,

a prince among his people,

leader of his nation,

leader of his nation, for he was a communal leader and close to the Roman kingdom,

lamp of light,

a light that shines, and their intention was his beauty, for the appearance of his face gleamed—

blessed is your arrival in peace

blessed is your coming in peace.”

We learned in our Mishna:

The decapitation of the heifer is with three,

the words of Rabbi Shimon; Rabbi Yehuda says: with five.

The beraita expounds from the exposition of the verse the number of judges for measuring the city nearest to the corpse in the case of the decapitated heifer, and the Gemara explains the reason for the dispute between Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehuda.

The Sages taught

they taught our Sages concerning what is written in the Torah regarding the measurement of the city nearest to the corpse:

“And your elders and your judges shall go out,”

and we expound:

“your elders”

in the plural—there are

two

judges,

“your judges”

another

two

judges,

and

since

a court may not be evenly divided —

they add to them another

judge,

so here are five;

these are

the words of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Shimon says: “Your elders”—

two, and since a court may not be evenly divided, they add another one to them; here are three.

Rabbi Shimon does not expound “your judges” to add two judges, and the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Shimon! What use does he make of this “your judges”?—

For what exposition is it required, since he cannot use this exposition to add two judges?

And the Gemara answers:

That

“your judges”

is needed for him

he requires it

to

expound from it:

the distinguished ones among your judges,

that the judges of the decapitated heifer must be from the elders of the Great Sanhedrin.

And the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Yehuda!

From where will he derive that they must be from the Great Sanhedrin?

And the Gemara answers:

It follows from “the elders” and “your elders,”

for the Torah could have written “the elders,” and from the fact that the Torah wrote “your elders,” meaning your elders, it follows that they are from the Sanhedrin.

And the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Shimon!

Why does he not expound “the elders of your elders”?

And the Gemara answers:

If from “the elders,”

if the Torah had written “the elders”—

we would have thought

we would say that the reference is

to the elders of the marketplace,

ordinary elderly people. Therefore

the Merciful One wrote: “your elders,”

to teach that your elders are required, meaning those from the Sanhedrin.

And if the Merciful One had written “your elders,”

and the Torah had indeed written “your elders,”

we would have thought

that the reference is

to the lesser Sanhedrin.

Therefore

the Merciful One wrote: “and your judges,”

to expound:

the distinguished ones among your judges,

that specifically they must be members of the Great Sanhedrin.

And the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Yehuda!

How does he derive from “your elders” that they are from the Great Sanhedrin? Surely this has no indication in the Torah, and perhaps the reference is to the lesser Sanhedrin.

And the Gemara answers: Even without the verse “and your judges,” we would derive that they are from the Great Sanhedrin. For—

he derives “the elders” from “the elders”

by a gzera shava,

from

the verse:

“And the elders of the congregation shall place their hands,”

which is written concerning the bull brought for an unwitting matter of the community,

just as there

in the explanation of that verse, “the elders” means

the distinguished ones of the congregation

as expounded in the discussion there,

so here,

what is written, “the elders,” means

the distinguished ones among your elders,

who are the Great Sanhedrin.

And the Gemara challenges Rabbi Yehuda’s answer:

If he derives it,

if Rabbi Yehuda received this gzera shava from his teachers,

let him derive the entire matter from there,

for he could learn the entire law from there, including the law that five are required. If so, the difficulty is:

Why do I need “your elders and your judges”?

Why did the Torah write them? [Is it to expound that two more are required from “your elders” and two more from “your judges,” making nine—is that conceivable?]

And the Gemara retracts this, saying that in truth Rabbi Yehuda did not receive this gzera shava from his teachers. The question returns: If so, how does he expound “your judges”? It is not superfluous for an exposition, since from it he derives that they must be from the Great Sanhedrin.

Rather,

from where does Rabbi Yehuda derive two more?

The vav of “and your judges,”

for the Torah could have written, “your elders, your judges,” and the superfluous vav comes

for counting,

to add two more.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

“And Rabbi Shimon!”

And what will Rabbi Shimon answer concerning this superfluous word?

And the Gemara answers:

“He does not expound the vav.”

Rabbi Shimon does not derive this exposition.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

“Rather”

if one expounds the plural form to add judges,

“from now”

we have additional words in the plural form, for it is written there in the Torah:

“and they shall go out”

and it is possible to derive an additional

“two”

judges; and it is further written there:

“and they shall measure,”

another

“two.”

Shall we say

that according to Rabbi Judah there are indeed nine

judges,

whereas according to Rabbi Shimon

there are indeed

seven?”

And the Gemara answers that “and they shall go out” and “and they shall measure” are not superfluous.

That verse

is needed for

another exposition,

as

for example,

as it was taught

in a beraita: We learned: It is written in the Torah:

“and they shall go out,”

and we expound:

“they”

the judges themselves shall go out to measure

and not their agents.

And it is written:

“and they shall measure,”

and we expound:

“even if it is found”

the slain one

plainly next to the city,

openly next to the city—that is, close to one city and far from the other towns—even so

it is necessary

for the court

to engage in the measuring.