כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר (במדבר ג, מז) ולקחת חמשת חמשת שקלים לגולגולת אמר משה כיצד אעשה להן לישראל אם אומר לו תן לי פדיונך וצא יאמר לי כבר פדאני בן לוי
For when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, Gather unto me seventy of the elders of Israel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XI, 16.
');"><sup>12</sup></span> Moses said [to himself]: 'How shall I do it? If I choose six out of each tribe, there will be two more [than the required number]; if I select five, ten will then be wanting. If, on the other hand, I choose six out of one and five out of another, I shall cause jealousy among the tribes.' What did he do? — He selected six men [out of each tribe], and brought seventy-two slips, on seventy of which he wrote the word 'Elder', leaving the other two blank. He then mixed them all up, deposited them in an urn, and said to them, 'Come and draw your slips.' To each who drew a slip bearing the word 'Elder', he said, 'Heaven has already consecrated thee.' To him who drew a blank, he said: 'Heaven has rejected thee, what can I do?' Similarly, thou readest, Thou shalt take five <i>shekels</i> apiece by the poll.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. III, 47. After the completion of the Tabernacle, the Levites were called to replace the firstborns of all Israelites in the service of the Sanctuary, (cf. Ex. XXIV, 5; XIX, 24.) In order to effect this transfer of office, both the firstborn and the Levites were numbered. And when it was found that of the former there were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three; and of the latter, twenty-two thousand, the two hundred and seventy-three firstborns who were in excess of the Levites were redeemed at the rate of five shekels per head. (Five shekels is the legal sum for the redemption of a firstborn. v. Num. XVIII, 16). To solve the difficulty of deciding who was to be redeemed and who exchanged, the above scheme was adopted.
');"><sup>13</sup></span>
Sefer HaChinukh
From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sanhedrin 17a) that if they all [advocated] for guilt, that he is exempt; [that] if the ones that make him innocent and the ones that make him guilty are equal, that we add [more judges] upon them, and until how many do we add (Sanhedrin 41a); what will be if one said, "I do not know." And that which they said, that one who advocates innocence may not go back and advocate guilt, is only said about the time of give and take; but he may go back and be counted with those that make him guilty at the end of the trial. And [that] if one opened and said, "I have guilt to advocate," and became paralyzed or died, he is like one who does not know; but we see one who [would] make him innocent that dies, as if he is in his place at the end of the trial. And [that] we silence a student who comes to advocate guilt; but if he wanted to advocated innocence, we elevate him to the Sanhedrin - and if there is substance to his words, we listen to him and he never goes down from there ever; and [even] if there is no substance to his words, he does not go down from there the whole day, by way of edification. And [that] we [even] listen to the accused himself that says, "I have innocence to advocate about myself" - and that is when there is substance to his words. And the rest of its details - are [all] elucidated in the seventh chapter of Sanhedrin.
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Sefer HaChinukh
And the Sages reduced one of the forty in the understanding of the negative commandment of 'do not increase.' So wrote Rambam, may his memory be blessed, (Mishneh Torah, The Sanhedrin and the Penalties within their Jurisdiction 17:1), and it is a wonder [to say such a thing], according to [that which is written in] the Gemara. And this prohibition is a warning to hit anyone of Israel. And if we are warned about not striking the sinner, is it not all the more so with all other people? And the sages, may their memory be blessed, prevented us from even hinting to strike. They said (Sanhedrin 58b), "Anyone who raises his hand against his fellow to hit him is called an evildoer, as it states (Exodus 2:13), 'and he said to the evildoer, "Why do you strike your fellow?"'"
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