Commentary for Rosh Hashanah 50:19

למימרא דעד נעשה דיין לימא מתני' דלא כר"ע דתניא סנהדרין שראו אחד שהרג את הנפש

[Therefore we reason], Just as judgment is delivered by day,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Sanh. 32a.');">²¹</span> so here [the pronouncement must be] by day. IF THE BETH DIN [ALONE] HAVE SEEN IT, TWO OF THEM SHOULD COME FORWARD AND TESTIFY BEFORE THEM. Why so? Surely hearing should not carry greater weight than seeing?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the report of the witnesses should not carry greater weight than what they have seen with their own eyes.');">²²</span> - R'Zera said, [It is necessary if] for instance, they saw it at night.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence on the next day they must rely on a report.');">²³</span> IF THREE PERSONS SAW IT, THEY [THEMSELVES] CONSTITUTING THE BETH DIN, TWO [OF THEM] SHOULD COME FORWARD AND THEY SHOULD ASSOCIATE SOME OF THEIR COLLEAGUES WITH THE ONE LEFT. Why so? Here too we can argue that hearing should not carry greater weight than seeing? And should you reply that here too [it is necessary] if, for instance, they saw it at night, then this i the same case as the one [preceding]? - It was necessary to state the last clause<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., this sentence merely leads up to the next.');">²⁴</span> [VIZ.]: BECAUSE AN INDIVIDUAL IS NOT AUTHORIZED [TO SAY 'SANCTIFIED'] BY HIMSELF. For you might have thought that since it has been taught, 'Money suits must be tried before three, but one who is a recognized legal expert<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. Mumhe (v. Glos.) .');">²⁵</span> can try them even alone', so here too one might sanctify the month single-handed. Therefore we are told [that this is not so]. But cannot I say that this actually is the case?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That one expert may sanctify.');">²⁶</span> - There was no more universally recognized expert in Israel than Moses, and yet the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, [Do not sanctify the month] until Aaron is with thee, as it is written, And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month is to you.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XII, 1, 2; cf. supra 22a.');">²⁷</span> This implies that a witness<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., one who is competent to act as witness, as here the Beth din.');">²⁸</span> may act as judge. Shall we say then that our Mishnah does not agree with R'Akiba, since it has been taught: 'If the Sanhedrin saw a man slay a person

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