Sanhedrin 37a — the Talmud in English

and three rows of Torah scholars -

in each row, twenty-three Torah scholars -

sit before them

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

And

each and every one

of the Torah scholars

knows his place,

that is:

They would seat the Torah scholars according to their importance, namely: those sitting in the first row were greater than those in the second row, and those sitting in the second row were greater than those in the third; and also in every row they seated them according to the order of their importance, the greatest at the head of the row and the one lesser than him below him, and so on; therefore each one needed to know his place.

If

the Sanhedrin needed

to

to ordain

one of the Torah scholars in order to join him to the Sanhedrin, for example, when one of them died:

They ordain

one

from

the

first

row, namely, the one sitting at the head of the first row, who is the greatest of all; and

one of

the Torah scholars in the

second

row [he is the greatest among them, who had been sitting 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]

[that is, the greatest among them]

comes to the

end of

the second row -

And

they select for them one more from the public, and seat him in the

third

row,

where a place has become vacant,

and

but

he would not sit in the place of the first [that is, of that Torah scholar whose place he took]

[that is, in the place of the Torah scholar whose place he took];

but would sit in the place appropriate for him,

that is: he sits at the end of the third row, because the one who moved to the second row had been sitting at the head of the third row, since he is greater than all those in the third row, whereas this one who entered in his place is lesser than all those sitting in the third row; therefore he sits at the end of the third row.

Gemara:

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

The Gemara explains:

From where are these words

from where [do we know] that the members of the Sanhedrin sat in a semicircle?

He said,

he explained,

Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina,

because it is stated in the “Song of Songs”: “

Your navel is a round basin; let not the mixture be lacking

your belly is a heap of wheat, enclosed with roses”: “

Your navel”:

this is the Great Sanhedrin

and

why was its name called

of the Sanhedrin

“your navel”

because it sits at the navel of the world,

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

A basin”:

“

because it protects the entire world. “

“

The crescent”:

because it resembles

in its sitting

a crescent [

moon ]

which is a semicircle. “

Let not the mixture be lacking [

from the expression “mixing wine,” in which one pours one-third wine and two-thirds water]”: to teach

that if one of them needed to leave

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

they see: if there are [remain] there one-third of the Sanhedrin, namely

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

twenty-three [

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

corresponding to the lesser Sanhedrin -

then he

may leave, and if not, he may not leave. “

“

Your belly is a heap of wheat”:

Just as everyone benefits from a heap of wheat, so everyone benefits from the teachings of the Sanhedrin. “

“

Enclosed [

an expression of enclosure and fence ]

with roses”:

to teach

that even if

they do nothing but

an enclosure [

fence ]

of roses,

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

will not make breaches in them [

in the fences and safeguards ]

breaches,

that is: they will not transgress the serious prohibition for which this slight safeguard was made.

And this is what that heretic [

Epicurean ]

said to Rav Kahana:

You say, it is permitted for a menstruating woman to seclude herself with her husband [

you say that it is permitted for a menstruating woman to be secluded with her husband], and is it

possible

that there should be

fire in kindling and it does not flame [

grasping 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 “

enclosed with roses,”

that even with an enclosure of roses they do not make breaches in them,

and the safeguards that the Sages stated, to distance the husband from his menstruating wife so that they will not come to transgression, are sufficient.

Reish Lakish said: From here

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

Like a slice of a pomegranate, your temple [

an expression of emptiness],” to teach:

even the empty ones among you are full

they are

of mitzvot like a pomegranate.

Rabbi Zeira said: From here

we learn this, for it is stated concerning Isaac when Jacob entered before him in Esau’s garments in order to receive the blessings: “

And he smelled [

Isaac ]

the smell of his garments [

of Jacob ]

and he blessed him”;

do not read “

his garments”

but ‘his deceivers,”

that is: Isaac blessed even his deceivers, for they too are full of mitzvot.

There were those violent men [

ruffians ]

who were

in Rabbi Zeira’s neighborhood, whom Rabbi Zeira would draw near

Rabbi Zeira

so that they would return in repentance [

there were ruffians in Rabbi Zeira’s neighborhood, and he would draw them near so that he could bring them back in repentance] -

And the Sages were angry [

the Sages were displeased with Rabbi Zeira because he drew them near ] -

When Rabbi Zeira’s soul came to rest, they said

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

Until now -

when Rabbi Zeira was alive -

there was “

the short one with burned legs [

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 would pray for us and request mercy for us, but now that Rabbi Zeira has died, who will request mercy for us? And because of this they reflected and repented].

We learned in the Mishna: And

three rows

of Torah scholars... when it was necessary to ordain, they ordained from the first [row]... they selected for them one more 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 does not sit in the place of the one who left at the head of the third row, but he sits at its end; from this one may learn:

When they move, all of them move, [

when they are moved, all are moved], that is: when they ordained one of the Torah scholars, there was then movement of all those present there, for the one who came from the public settled at the end of the row, and the one who had until then sat at the end of the row advanced toward the head of the row, and so did all the members of the third row; and likewise one learns that the one who came from the third row did not settle in the place of the one who left the second row, but at the end of the row, and if so, all the members of this row also moved and advanced toward the head of the row; and likewise in the first row; and the members of the Sanhedrin themselves also moved, for the new judge, who was the least of all of them, settled at the end of the row, and all the other judges [up to the place of the judge who died] moved toward the head of the row of the Sanhedrin. It follows that all those sitting there moved from their places.

And we object:

But let them say to him,

each one who had initially been sitting at the head of the row and now moves to the end of the row preceding his, should say to the members of the row into which he comes to sit:

Indeed,

until now I was sitting at the head,

whereas

now you seat me at the tail [

until now I was sitting at the head of the row, but now you seat me at the tail of your row]?!

He said,

he answered,

Rabbi:

For they say to him thus [

this is what the members of the row answer the one who comes 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 a head of the less important row where you were 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:

Lest you say

the testimony:

By estimation,

that you assessed in your mind that it was as your testimony says; and in the Gemara this is explained further.

And from hearsay [

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

Or

from one witness through another witness,

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

And from the mouth of a trustworthy person,

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

Lest you not know that in the end we will examine you through examination and inquiry.

And they say to them further:

Know that capital cases are not like monetary cases,

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

In monetary cases, a person

who testified falsely against his fellow and caused him to lose money,

gives

him the

money

that he caused him to lose

and it atones for him -

whereas

in capital cases, his blood

of the one who was killed

and the blood of his descendants

who did not come into the world because their father died through this person

hang upon him until the end of the world -

For so we find with 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 out

to Me from the earth.”

It does not say “

the blood [

singular ]

of your brother,”

but “

the bloods [

plural ]

of your brother,”

as though saying:

his blood and the blood of his descendants.

Alternatively:

For this reason it is said, “

the bloods of your brother”:

That his blood

of Abel

was cast upon the trees and upon the stones,

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

And they further say to them:

Therefore the human being was created alone,

that is, for this reason the beginning of the creation of the human species was one person—he is the first man—in order to show you that from one person the fullness of the world was created, and

to teach you

this:

That whoever destroys one life of Israel, Scripture accounts it to him as though he had destroyed an entire world, and whoever sustains one life of Israel, Scripture accounts it to him as though he had sustained an entire world.

And there are other reasons for the fact that the world was created with [man] alone:

1.

And on account of peace among people

which would have been weakened had two [people] been created

; so that a person should not say to his fellow—

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

My father is greater than your father.”

2.

And

in order

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

in

Heaven,’

and each one created his own human being.

3.

And to proclaim

through this

the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, for

if

a person

were to

stamp several coins with one seal

in which the image is engraved, then

all of them would resemble one another,

for they were all engraved from one image.

And

if

the Almighty, the King of kings,

stamped every person with His seal

[in His image]

of the first man, and

nevertheless

none of them resembles his fellow.

Therefore each and every one is obligated to say “

For my sake the world was created,”

that is: I am as important as an entire world; I should not trouble myself away from the world through one transgression, and be drawn after it.