Sanhedrin 37a (לז.) — the Talmud in English

And three rows of Torah scholars -

twenty-three Torah scholars in each row

sit before them

of the lesser Sanhedrin They too sit in a semicircle and on the ground, whereas the members of the Sanhedrin sit on benches -

And

each and every one

of the Torah scholars

knows his place,

that is:

The Torah scholars were seated according to their importance: those seated in the first row were greater than those seated in the second row, and those seated in the second row were greater than those in the third. Also, within each row they were seated according to their order of importance: the greatest at the head of the row, the one lesser than him below him, and so on. Therefore, each one had to know his place.

If

the Sanhedrin

needed

to ordain

one of the Torah scholars, in order to add him to the Sanhedrin—for example, when one of its members died:

They ordain

one

from

the

first

row; that is, the one seated at the head of the first row, who is the greatest of them all.

And one of

the Torah scholars in the

second

row [the greatest among them, who had been seated at the head of the second row]

comes

[moves]

to the

end of the

first

row.

And one of

the Torah scholars in the

third

row [that is, the greatest among them]

comes to the

end of the

second row -

And

they select another person from the public and seat him in the

row that

is third,

where a place has become vacant.

And

however, he

does not sit in the place of the first

[that is, of the Torah scholar whose place he has taken];

rather, he sits in the place appropriate for him,

that is, he sits at the end of the third row. Since the one who moved to the second row had been seated at the head of the third row, as he was greater than all those in the third row, whereas this person who has replaced him is lesser than all those seated in the third row, he therefore sits at the end of the third row.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: The Sanhedrin was arranged like half of a circular threshing floor:

The Gemara explains:

From where are these matters

derived? From where is it known that the members of the Sanhedrin sat in a semicircle?

Said

—he explained—

Rabbi Aḥa said that Rabbi Ḥanina said,

because it is stated in the Song of Songs: “

Your navel is like a round basin, may it never lack blended wine;

your belly is a heap of wheat, fenced about with lilies.” “

Your navel”:

This is the Great Sanhedrin,

and

why is it called

the Sanhedrin

“your navel”?

Because it sits at the navel of the world,

as it sits in the Temple—in the Chamber of Hewn Stone—which is the center of the world.

“A basin”:

“

A round basin”: because it protects the entire world.

“

The crescent”:

because in its seating it resembles

in its arrangement

a crescent

[the moon]

which is a semicircle. “

May it never lack blended wine

[an expression referring to blending wine, in which one pours one-third wine and two-thirds water]”: This teaches

that if one of them needed to leave

for his affairs outside the Chamber of Hewn Stone, where they sat,

they would see whether there were

[whether there remained] there one-third of the Sanhedrin, namely

twenty-three

[which is one-third of sixty-nine; since the remaining two cannot be divided into thirds, they are not counted, Yad Ramah]

corresponding to the lesser Sanhedrin—

then he

may leave, but if not, he may not leave.

“

Your belly is a heap of wheat”:

Just as everyone benefits from a heap of wheat, so does everyone benefit from the judgments of the Sanhedrin.

“

Fenced

[an expression of a fence and boundary]

about with lilies”:

This teaches

that even if

they make only

a fence

[a boundary]

of lilies,

that is, a minor warning and slight separation in order to withdraw from transgression, even this will suffice, so that

they will not breach them

[the fences and safeguards] with

breaches,

that is, they will not violate the severe transgression for which this minor safeguard was made.

And this is what that heretic

[Epicurean]

said to Rav Kahana:

You say that a menstruating woman is permitted to seclude herself with her husband

[you say that it is permitted for a menstruating woman to be alone with her husband]; but

is it possible

that there should be

fire in flax without it flickering

[gripping and burning]? That is, is it possible that they will not come to transgression!?

He said to him,

Rav Kahana to that heretic:

The Torah testified concerning us: “

Fenced about with lilies,”

so that even with a fence of lilies they do not breach them,

and the safeguards that the Sages prescribed to keep a husband distant from his menstruating wife are sufficient to prevent them from coming to transgression.

Reish Lakish said: From here

one may learn that a small safeguard is sufficient for Israel, as it is stated further in the Song of Songs: “

Like a split pomegranate is your temple

[an expression of emptiness],” teaching:

Even the empty ones among you are full

of

mitzvot like a pomegranate.

Rabbi Zeira said: From here

one may likewise learn this, as it is stated concerning Isaac when Jacob entered before him wearing Esau’s garments in order to receive the blessings: “

And he smelled

[Isaac]

the smell of his garments

[Jacob’s]

and he blessed him.”

Do not read

“his garments”

but “his transgressors,”

that is, Isaac blessed even his transgressors, for they too are filled with mitzvot.

There were certain ruffians

[violent men]

who were

who were in Rabbi Zeira’s neighborhood, whom Rabbi Zeira would draw close

Rabbi Zeira

so that they would return to repentance

[There were ruffians in Rabbi Zeira’s neighborhood, and he would draw them close in order to bring them to repentance] -

And the Sages were displeased

And the Sages were displeased

When Rabbi Zeira died, they said

those ruffians [when Rabbi Zeira died, those ruffians said]:

Until now—

when Rabbi Zeira was alive—

there was “

the short one whose legs were scorched

[a designation for Rabbi Zeira]”

who would request mercy for us,

but

now—

since Rabbi Zeira died—

who will request mercy for us!?

They reflected in their hearts and repented

[Until today Rabbi Zeira prayed for us and asked mercy for us; but now that Rabbi Zeira has died, who will ask mercy for us? As a result, they reflected and repented].

We learned in the Mishna:

And three rows

of Torah scholars... when it was necessary to ordain, they ordained one from the first row... they selected another person from the public and seated him in the third row, and he did not sit in the place of the first, but sat in the place appropriate for him:

Abaye said: Learn from this,

from what we learned concerning the one who came from the public, that he did not sit in the place of the one who had left at the head of the third row, but sat at its end:

When they move, they all move,

[When they move, they all move]. That is, when one of the Torah scholars was ordained, all those present shifted. The one who came from the public sat at the end of the row, and the one who had previously sat at the end of the row advanced toward its head, as did all the members of the third row. Likewise, one learns that the one who came from the third row did not sit in the place of the one who left the second row, but at the end of the row. Consequently, all the members of that row also moved and advanced toward the head of the row, and likewise in the first row. The members of the Sanhedrin themselves also moved: the new judge, who was the least of all of them, sat at the end of the row, and all the other judges [up to the place of the judge who had died] moved toward the head of the Sanhedrin’s row. Thus, everyone seated there moved from his place.

And we raise an objection:

Let him say to them,

each one who had initially sat at the head of the row and now moved to the end of the preceding row, let him say to the members of the row with whom he has come to sit:

“Behold,

until now I sat at the head,

whereas

now you seat me at the tail

[Until now I sat at the head of the row, and now you seat me at the tail of your row]!”

Said

—he answered—

Rabbi:

They say to him as follows

[This is what the members of the row would answer the one who came to sit with them]: “

Be a tail to lions, and do not be a head to foxes,”

that is: It is better for you to be a tail in our important row than to be the head of the less important row where you sat until now.

Mishna:

How do they intimidate the witnesses

so that they will not testify falsely?

Regarding witnesses in capital cases, they would bring them in and intimidate them:

Regarding witnesses in capital cases, they would bring them in and intimidate them: Lest you say

the testimony:

On the basis of estimation,

because you reached this conclusion in your minds as your testimony, as the Gemara explains further.

Or from hearsay

[or from hearsay], that is, you heard this from a person whose identity is unknown.

Or

from one witness through another,

that is, you heard it from a witness who testified so in another court.

Or from a trustworthy person,

that is, you heard it from a person whom you recognize as someone who would not lie.

Perhaps you do not know that in the end we will examine and interrogate you.

Lest you not know that in the end we will examine and interrogate you. They say to them further:

Know that capital cases are not like monetary cases,

that is, one who testifies falsely and causes another to lose money is not comparable to one who testifies falsely and causes another to be killed through his testimony; for:

In monetary cases, a person

who testified falsely against another and caused him to lose money

gives

him the

money

that he caused him to lose

and thereby attains atonement -

but

in capital cases, his blood

of the murdered person

and the blood of his descendants

who would never come into the world because their father died through this act

remain dependent upon him forever -

For so we find with regard to Cain

when he

killed his brother,

Abel,

as it is stated concerning him: “And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother?... And he said, What have you done? The voice of

the bloods of your brother cries out

the bloods of your brother cries

to Me from the ground.”

It does not say “

the blood

[singular]

of your brother,”

but “

the bloods

[plural]

of your brother,”

meaning:

His blood and the blood of his descendants.

Alternatively:

This is why it says “

the bloods of your brother”:

For the blood

of Abel

had been cast upon the trees and the stones,

and this is “the bloods of your brother,” as though many bloods had been there.

And they also say to them:

Therefore, one person was created alone,

that is, the human species began with one person, Adam the first man, in order to show you that from one person an entire world was created, and

to teach you

by this:

That whoever destroys a single life of Israel, Scripture considers it as though he destroyed an entire world; and whoever sustains a single life of Israel, Scripture considers it as though he sustained an entire world.

There are also other reasons why the world was created with a single person:

a.

And for the sake of peace among humanity,

which would have been weakened had two people been created,

so that no person should say to another—

if two people had been created at the beginning, one descended from this man and the other from another—

“My father is greater than your father.”

b.

And

in order

that the heretics should not say: “There are many authorities

in

Heaven,”

each of whom created his own person.

c.

And to proclaim

thereby

the greatness of the Almighty, that

if

a person

were to

mint several coins with a single die,

on which the image is engraved,

they would all resemble one another,

for they were all engraved from a single image.

But

if

the Almighty, King of kings,

stamped every person with His seal

[in the image]

of Adam the first man, and

nevertheless

none of them resembles another.

Therefore, each and every person is obligated to say,

“For my sake the world was created,”

that is: I am as important as an entire world; I should not remove myself from the world through a single transgression and be drawn after it.