Halakhah for Sotah 90:20

זקני אותה העיר רוחצין את ידיהן במים במקום עריפה של עגלה ואומרים (דברים כא, ז) ידינו לא שפכה את הדם הזה ועינינו לא ראו וכי על דעתינו עלתה שזקני ב"ד שופכי דמים הן אלא שלא בא על ידינו ופטרנוהו (בלא מזון) ולא ראינוהו והנחנוהו (בלא לוייה)

BUT JERUSALEM DOES NOT BRING A HEIFER WHOSE NECK IS TO BE BROKEN. Because Scripture declares, To possess it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXI, I. ');">¹⁵</span> and he is of the opinion that Jerusalem was not apportioned among the tribes. IF THE HEAD WAS FOUND IN ONE PLACE etc. In what do they differ? If I should say that they differ on the question from where the measurement is to be taken, behold since [the author of the Mishnah] states in the sequel: FROM WHAT PART [OF THE BODY] DO THEY MEASURE? it follows that we are not dealing here with the subject of measurement! — R. Isaac said: They differ because of the regulation that a meth mizwah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'a dead body which is a commandment'; i.e., an unattended corpse, and it is the duty of whoever finds it to be concerned with its burial. The Talmud (B.K. 81b) relates that when Joshua divided out the land, he imposed a condition that a meth mizwah should be buried in whatever spot he is found. ');">¹⁶</span> acquires his place; and thus he means to say: He acquires his place for burial, and where the head is found in one place and the body in another, they carry the head to the body [and bury it there]. Such is the statement of R. Eliezer; but R. Akiba says, [They carry] the body to the head [and bury it there]. In what do they differ? One is of the opinion that the body is in the place where it fell and the head rolled away, while the other is of the opinion that the head remains in the place where it falls while the body falls some way off. FROM WHAT PART [OF THE BODY] DO THEY MEASURE? In what do they differ? One is of the opinion that the source of existence is in the nose, while the other is of the opinion that the source of existence is in the navel. Is this to say [that they differ on the same point] as the following teachers: From where is the embryo formed? From the head, and thus it states: Thou art He that took me [gozi] out of my mother's womb,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. LXXI, 6. ');">¹⁷</span> and it further states: Cut off [gozi] thine hair and cast it away etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. VII, 29. On the basis of the similar word in this verse, it is explained in the former as 'the place where my hair grows', i.e., the head. ');">¹⁸</span> Abba Saul Says: It is from the navel, and its root spreads in all directions [from there]! — You may even say that Abba Saul [agrees with R. Akiba], because Abba Saul's statement only applies to the formation, that when an embryo is formed it is formed from the centre, but with respect to existence all agree that [its source is] in the nose; for it is written: All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. VII, 22. ');">¹⁹</span> R. ELIEZER B. JACOB SAYS: FROM THE PLACE WHERE HE WAS MADE A SLAIN PERSON, FROM THE NECK. What is the reason of R. Eliezer b. Jacob? — Because it is written: To lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are slain.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek. XXI, 34. ');">²⁰</span> <b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. WHEN THE ELDERS OF JERUSALEM<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The members of the Great Sanhedrin whose duty it was to make the measurement. ');">²¹</span> HAD DEPARTED AND GONE AWAY, THE ELDERS OF THAT CITY<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is found to be nearest the corpse. ');">²²</span> TAKE A HEIFER OF THE HERD<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Defined in Parah I, 1 as less than a year old. ');">²³</span> WHICH HAS NOT DRAWN IN THE YOKE, AND A BLEMISH DOES NOT DISQUALIFY IT. THEY BRING IT DOWN TO A RAVINE WHICH IS STONY<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The word ethan (Deut. XXI, 4) is interpreted by Maimonides in the sense given in the E.V. viz., running water. ');">²⁴</span> — 'ETHAN' IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD IN ITS LITERAL SENSE OF 'HARD' — BUT EVEN IF IT BE NOT STONY, IT IS FIT [FOR THE CEREMONY]. THEY THEN BREAK ITS NECK WITH A HATCHET FROM BEHIND.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Not in front as in the act of ritual slaughter. ');">²⁵</span> THE SITE MAY NEVER BE SOWN OR TILLED, BUT IT IS PERMITTED TO CARD FLAX AND CHISEL STONES THERE. THE ELDERS OF THAT CITY THEN WASH THEIR HANDS WITH WATER IN THE PLACE WHERE THE HEIFER'S NECK WAS BROKEN AND DECLARE, OUR HANDS HAVE NOT SHED THIS BLOOD, NEITHER HAVE OUR EYES SEEN IT.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXI, 7. ');">²⁶</span> BUT CAN IT ENTER OUR MINDS THAT THE ELDERS OF A COURT OF JUSTICE ARE SHEDDERS OF BLOOD! [THE MEANING OF THEIR STATEMENT IS], HOWEVER, [THE MAN FOUND DEAD] DID NOT COME TO US [FOR HELP] AND WE DISMISSED HIM WITHOUT SUPPLYING HIM WITH FOOD, WE DID NOT SEE HIM AND LET HIM GO WITHOUT ESCORT.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [In the J. text of the Mishnah and in MS.M. the words 'without&nbsp;… food' and 'without escort' are missing, and in the Gemara there it is stated that the reference is not, as maintained by the Babylonian scholars, to the murdered person, but to the murderer. The elders, that is to say, declare that 'he did not come to us and we dismissed him or allowed him to go unpunished.'] ');">²⁷</span>

Explore halakhah for Sotah 90:20. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.