Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 15, scan section 24

fifties, twelve thousand; and rulers of tens, sixty thousand. Hence the total number of the oflficers in Israel were seventy- eight thousand and six hundred. CHAPTER II. RULES AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE HIGH-PRIEST: IF HE MAY JUDGE AND BE JUDGED, BE A WITNESS AND BE WITNESSED AGAINST; THE LAWS REGARDING A DEATH OCCURRING IN HIS FAMILY AND THE CUSTOM OF THE CONDOLENCE. THE SAME RULES CONCERNING A KING. REGULATIONS AS TO WHAT A KING MAY AND MAY NOT ALLOW himself: how many wives AND HOW MANY STABLES FOR HORSES HE MAY HAVE; HOW HE MUST BE RESPECTED AND FEARED BY HIS PEOPLE, ETC. MISHNA /. : The high-priest may judge and may be judged ; he may be a witness and may be v^^itnessed against ; he may per- form the ceremony of Halitzah, and the same may be done to his wife if he dies childless, or his brother may marry his wife in such a case. He, however, must not marry his brother's wife when his brother dies childless — because it is forbidden for a high-priest to marry a widow. If a death occurs in his family, he must not accompany the cofifin; but if the coffin with those accompanying it are no longer visible in the street, he goes after them. And so with other streets — when they are not visible, he may enter the street, etc. ; and in such manner he may follow the coffin to the gate of the city. So is the decree of R. Meir. R. Jehudah, however, maintains: He must not leave the Temple at all, as it reads [Lev, xxi. 12]: "And out of the sanctuary shall he not go." When he, the high-priest, condoled with others, it was usual that the people went one after another, and the superintendent of the priests would place him between himself and the people (so that he could say a word of condolence to every one of them); but when he was being condoled with, the people used to say to him: We shall be your atonement (e.^., to us shall occur what ought to occur to you), and his answer was: You shall be blessed by Heaven. And at the condoling meal, all the people were placed on the floor, but he sat on a chair. A king must not judge, and he is not judged ; he must not be a witness, nor be witnessed against. The ceremony of Halit- zah does not exist for him, nor for his wife. He does not marry 43 44 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. his childless brother's wife, and his brother must not marry his wife. R. Jehudah, however, maintains: If he was willing to give Halitzah or to marry his brother's wife, he may be remem- bered among the good. And he was told: Even if he is willing, he must not be listened to. His widow must not remarry. R. Jehudah said: A king may marry the widow of a king, as so we found with David, who married the widow of Saul; as it reads [II Sam. xii. 8]: " And I gave unto thee the house of thy master, and (put) the wives of thy master into thy bosom." GEMARA: Is it not self-evident that the high-priest may judge ? It was stated, because it was necessary to say that he may be judged. But this is also self-evident; as if it were not permitted to judge him, how could he judge ? Is it not written [Zeph. ii. i]:" Gather yourselves," which Resh Lakish explained in Middle Gate (p. 287): " Correct yourself first, and then cor- rect others " ? Therefore we must say, because in the latter part it was necessary to teach that a king must not judge or be judged, it teaches also that the high-priest may judge and be judged. And if you wish, it may be said that it came to teach us what is stated in the following Boraitha: A high-priest who killed a person — if intentionally, he may be killed ; and if unintention- ally, he may be sent into exile : he transgresses a positive and a negative commandment, and is also, concerning other laws, considered as a commoner in every respect. Intentionally — he may be killed. Is this not self-evident ? It was necessary to state, if unintentionally, he might be sent into exile. But is this also not self-evident ? Nay! One may consider, because it reads [Num. xxxv. 28]: " He shall remain until the death of the high-priest," that he who has a remedy to return to his land by the death of the high-priest shall be sent into exile; but he who has no such remedy should not; and there is a Mishna: He who kills a high-priest, or a high-priest who has killed a person, is not returned from the city of refuge for everlasting, and therefore he should not be exiled — it comes to teach us that it is not so. But perhaps it should be so ? There is another verse [Deut. xix. 3]: " Every man-slayer," which includes a high-priest. The Boraitha states : He transgresses a positive and negative commandment. Must he, then, transgress ? It means to say that if it happened he should transgress a positive and a negative commandment, he is considered a commoner in every respect. TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME CCUNCIL). 45 " Be a witness, and witnessed against,'* etc. May he be a witness? Have we not learned in the following Boraitha: It reads [Deut. xxii. i]: "And withdraw thyself." There are cases from which one may withdraw himself, and there are others from which he may not. How so ? E.g., a priest who sees a lost thing lying in a cemetery is not obliged to pick it up for the purpose of returning it ; or if there were an old, respectable man, and it was not in accordance with his honor to bother with such a thing, or even if one's time is more valuable than the value of the lost thing, he may withdraw himself. Hence it is self- evident that it is not fit for a high-priest to go and witness. Why, then, should he be obliged ? Said R. Joseph : He may be a witness in a case that concerns the king. But does not our Mishna state " that a king must not be a witness, and not be witnessed against " ? Therefore said R. Zera : He may be witness in the case of a prince, the son of the king. A prince — is he not considered a commoner in all respects concerning the law ? Say he may witness before the king. But have we not learned that the king must not be a member of the Sanhedrin ; and also that both the king and the high-priest must not take part in the dis- cussion about a leap year ? For the honor of the high-priest, the king comes and remains with the Sanhedrin until the testify- ing of the high-priest ends, and then both depart; and the Sanhedrin themselves deliberate and decide the matter. The text states that a king must not be a member of the Sanhedrin, nor a king and a high-priest engage in the discussion about a leap year. The first is deduced from [Ex. xxiii. 2].* And the second — a king — because he would not like to add a month to the year, because of the increase of the wages of the military; and a high-priest, because of the cold {i.e., it is pre- scribed by the Scriptures to take during the Day of Atonement