Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 15, scan section 49

is not allowed to do so, is not competent. And if a bastard only were stated, one might say, because, after all, he is a descendant of an Israelite ; but a proselyte, who is a descendant of a heathen, is not competent. Therefore both statements are necessary. " But not ail of them are competent to Judge criminal cases." What is the reason ? That which was taught by R. Joseph : As the court must be select in its uprightness, so it must be select in all other things — without any blemish. And R. Ameimarsaid: Where is there to be found an allusion to this in the Scripture ? In [Solomon's Song, xiv. 7] : " Thou art altogether beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish on thee." But perhaps it means literally that the judges shall be without any bodily blemish? Said R. Aha b. Jacob : It reads [Num. xi. 16] : " And they shall stand there with thee "—which means those who are equal to thee {i.e., in birth, but not a proselyte and a bastard). But per- haps there is a difference, because of the glory of the Shekinah. Therefore said R. Na'hman b. Itz'hak: This is inferred from [Ex. xviii. 22]: " When they shall bear with thee." This means they shall be equal to thee in birth. MISHNA //. : The Sanhedrin sat in a half-circle in order that they could see each other. Two scribes of the judges stood be- fore them, one on the right and one on the left, and they wrote no THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. down the reasons of the accuser and of the defender. Accord- ing to R. Jehudah there were three — one who wrote down the reasons of the accuser and one the reasons of the defender, and one the reasons of both. And before them sat three rows of scholars (disciples). To every one of them his seat was known. If it was necessary to add a judge, one from the first row was elevated, and one from the second came and took the latter's place, and one from the third took the place of this one ; and for the place in the third row one of the standing people was selected, but he did not take the same seat as the one departed occupied, but that to which he was entitled. GEMARA: Whence is this deduced? Said R. Aha b. Hanina : From [Solomon's Song, vii. 3] : " Thy navel is like a round goblet which lacketh not the mixed wine." By " navel " is meant the Sanhedrin. And why were they named navel? Because they used to sit in the middle of the world (according to the Talmud, Jerusalem was the middle of the world and the Temple was in the centre of Jerusalem), and also protected the whole world. And why were they named a " round goblet " ? Because the Sanhedrin sat in a circle : " Which lacketh not the mixed wine" — i.e., if one wished to leave, it must be seen that besides him twenty-three remained, and if there were less, he must not. " Thy body is like aheap of wheat fenced about with lilies," means that as from a heap of wheat all derive benefit, so all were pleased to hear the reasons given by the Sanhedrin in their dis- cussions. " Fenced about with lilies " means that even a fence of lilies was not broken by them to go out of it. This is what was said by a certain Minn to R. Kahana: Your law permits a man to stay alone with his wife during the days of her menstrua- tion. Is it possible that flax and fire should be together and should not burn ? And he answered : The Torah has testified that we are such a kind of people that even a fence of lilies is suffi- cient for us, and will never be broken, Resh Lakish said : This is inferred from ibid. vi. 72, which means that even thy vain fellows are full of meritorious acts — like the pomegranate.* R. Zera said : From [Gen. xxvii. 27] : "And he smelled the smell of his gar- ments," etc. Do not read " bgadov," which means dress, but "bagdov," which means his transgressor. There were vy^provf ♦ It is useless to quote the passage, as its translation does not correspond with the saying of Resh Lakish at all. f We have translated in accordance with Sch6nhack's Dictionary, as it seems to us correct. TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). m (insolent fellows) in the neighborhood of R. Zera, who neverthe- less associated with them and showed them respect, to the end that they should repent. The rabbis, however, were not satis- fied with this. But after the soul of R. Zera had gone to its resting-place the above-mentioned people took this to heart, saying: Hitherto there was the Httle man who prayed for us, but now who will do so ? And they repented and became good. " Three rows,'' etc. Said Abayi : Infer from this that if one left his place, all in the row had to change their places. But could one not protest, saying : Hitherto I have sat in front, and now you place me in the back ? Said Abayi : To such a protest he was answered : There is a parable that it is better for one to be the tail of a lion than the head of a fox. MISHNA ///. : How were the witnesses awestruck in crimi- nal cases ? They were brought in and warned : Perhaps your testimony is based only on a supposition, or on hearsay, or on that of another witness, or you have had it from a trustworthy man ; or perhaps you are not aware that finally we will investigate the matter by examination and cross-examination. You may also be aware of the fact that there is no similarity between civil and criminal cases. In civil cases one may repay the money damage and he is atoned ; but in criminal cases the blood of the person executed, and of his descendants to the end of all generations, clings to the originator of his execution. So do we find in the case of Cain, who slew his brother. It reads [Gen. iv. lo] : " The voice of the * bloods ' of thy brother are crying unto me from the ground." It does not read "blood," but "bloods," which means his blood and the blood of his descendants. [According to others it reads " bloods " in the plural, because his blood was scattered all over the trees and stones.] Therefore the man was created singly, to teach that he who destroys one soul of a human being, the Scripture considers him as if he should destroy a whole world, and him who saves one soul of Israel, the Scripture con- siders him as if he should save a whole world. And also because of peace among creatures, so that one should not say: My grandfather was greater than yours ; and also that the heretic shall not say : There are many creators in heaven ; and also to proclaim the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He. For a human being stamps many coins with one stamp, and all of them are alike ; but the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, has stamped every man with the stamp of Adam the First, and nevertheless not one of them is like the other. Therefor*^ 112 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. every man may say : The world was created for my sake, hence I