Mesorat%20hashas for Sotah 88:19

אי גמר לגמרה לכולה מילתא מהתם זקניך ושופטיך למה לי אלא וי"ו ושופטיך למנינא ורבי שמעון

<b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. [THE DECLARATION OVER] THE HEIFER WHOSE NECK IS TO BE BROKEN MUST BE IN THE HOLY TONGUE; AS IT IS SAID, IF ONE BE FOUND SLAIN IN THE EARTH&nbsp;… THEN THY ELDERS AND THY JUDGES SHALL COME FORTH.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXI, 1ff. ');">¹⁷</span> THREE USED TO GO FORTH FROM THE SUPREME COURT IN JERUSALEM; R. JUDAH SAYS: FIVE, AS IT IS STATED, THY ELDERS, I.E., TWO, 'AND THY JUDGES' I.E., TWO, AND SINCE A COURT OF JUSTICE CANNOT CONSIST OF AN EVEN NUMBER, THEY ADD ONE MORE. IF [THE CORPSE] WAS FOUND HIDDEN IN A HEAP OF STONES, OR HANGING ON A TREE, OR FLOATING UPON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, THEY DO NOT BREAK [A HEIFER'S NECK]. BECAUSE IT IS STATED, 'IN THE EARTH' — AND NOT HIDDEN IN A HEAP OF STONES, NOR HANGING ON A TREE IN A FIELD, NOR FLOATING UPON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. IF IT WAS FOUND NEAR TO THE FRONTIER, OR A CITY THE MAJORITY OF WHOSE INHABITANTS WERE HEATHENS, OR A CITY IN WHICH THERE IS NO COURT OF JUSTICE, THEY DO NOT BREAK [A HEIFER'S NECK]. THEY ONLY MEASURE<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The distance between the corpse and the nearest city (ibid. 2). ');">¹⁸</span> THE DISTANCE TO A CITY IN WHICH THERE IS A COURT OF JUSTICE. <b><i>GEMARA</i></b>. How does [the author of the Mishnah] prove his point?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That the declaration must be in Hebrew. The verse adduced affords no proof. ');">¹⁹</span> — R. Abbahu said: This is what he intends: It is stated: And they shall answer and say<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 7. ');">²⁰</span> and elsewhere it is stated: And the Levites shall answer and say etc.,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XXVII, 14. ');">²¹</span> as the answering mentioned in this latter passage was in the holy tongue, so here also it was in the holy tongue, and as to the procedure in the ceremony of the heifer whose neck was to be broken — IF ONE BE FOUND SLAIN IN THE EARTH&nbsp;… THEN THY ELDERS AND THY JUDGES SHALL COME FORTH. THREE USED TO GO FORTH FROM THE SUPREME COURT IN JERUSALEM; R. JUDAH SAYS: FIVE etc. Our<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On the whole passage, v. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) pp. 66ff. ');">²²</span> Rabbis taught: 'Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth' — 'thy elders', i.e., two, 'and thy judges', i.e., two, and since a Court of justice cannot consist of an even number, they add one more; hence there were five. Such is the statement of R. Judah; but R. Simeon says: 'Thy elders', i.e., two, and since a Court of Justice cannot consist of an even number, they add one more; hence there were three. But for R. Simeon also it is written 'and thy judges'! — He requires that for [the teaching that they must be] the most distinguished of thy judges. And [where does] R. Judah [derive the teaching that they must be the most distinguished]? — It follows from 'thy' in 'thy elders'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It would have been sufficient for the text to read: Then elders shall go forth. ');">²³</span> [How does] R. Simeon [meet this argument]? — If the All-Merciful had only written 'elders', I might have thought that even old men from the market-place [would suffice]; therefore the All-Merciful wrote 'thy elders'. If, further, the All-Merciful had only written 'thy elders', I might have thought that even [members of] a minor Sanhedrin<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Consisting of twenty-three members, and not the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem of seventy-one members. ');">²⁴</span> [would suffice]; therefore the All-Merciful wrote 'and thy judges' i.e., the most distinguished of thy judges. [Where does] R. Judah [derive the teaching that they must be members of the Supreme Court]? — He draws an analogy between the use of the word 'elders' here and in the phrase the elders of the Congregation;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., in Lev. IV, 15. ');">²⁵</span> as it there denotes the most distinguished men of the congregation so here also it denotes the most distinguished men of the congregation. If he makes a deduction, then let him deduce the whole from there and what is the necessity of 'and thy judges'!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In Sanh. 3b it is argued that Lev. IV, 15 must be interpreted in the sense that five elders are required; that being so, why does not R. Judah use that argument and not 'and thy judges' for his opinion that five are necessary? ');">²⁶</span> — But the 'and' in 'and thy judges' [denotes that the phrase is to be used] for obtaining the requisite number. [How does] R. Simeon [meet this argument]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since he only requires three. ');">²⁷</span>

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