Sanhedrin 36

ההורג כהן גדול או כהן גדול שהרג את הנפש אינו יוצא משם לעולם אימא לא ליגלי קמ"ל ואימא הכי נמי אמר קרא (דברים יט, ג) לנוס שמה כל רוצח אפי' כ"ג במשמע:

One who killed the High Priest [unintentionally] or the High Priest who [so] killed a person, may never come forth from his place of exile.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That is, if there was no High Priest at the time when he was exiled. V. Mak. 11b. ');">¹</span> Hence I would say that he should not be exiled. He therefore informs us [that he is]. But perhaps it is indeed so?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That he should actually be exempt from exile. ');">²</span>

עובר על עשה ועל לא תעשה: לא סגי דלא עבר הכי קאמר אם עבר על עשה ועל לא תעשה הרי הוא כהדיוט לכל דבריו

— Scripture states, Every man slayer may flee thither,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XIX, 3. ');">³</span> implying even the High Priest.

פשיטא סלקא דעתך אמינא הואיל ותנן אין דנין לא את השבט ולא את נביא השקר ולא את כהן גדול אלא על פי ב"ד של שבעים ואחד ואמר רב אדא בר אהבה (שמות יח, כב) כל הדבר הגדול יביאו אליך דבריו של גדול אימא כל דבריו של גדול קמ"ל

'He transgresses positive and negative commandments.' But is he bound<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'Is there no way', 'is it impossible that he should not transgress'? ');">⁴</span> to transgress?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'He transgresses etc.' implies that he must transgress. ');">⁵</span>

ואימא הכי נמי מי כתיב דברי גדול הדבר הגדול כתיב דבר גדול ממש:

— What it means is: If he transgressed a positive or a negative commandment, he is in every respect [equal to] a <i>hedyot</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Tosef. Sanh. IV. ');">⁶</span> But is this not obvious? — [No,] I might think, since we learnt: 'A whole tribe, a false prophet or a high priest are not to be judged except by a court of seventy one';<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra 2a. ');">⁷</span>

מעיד ומעידין אותו: מעיד והתניא (דברים כב, א) והתעלמת פעמים שאתה מתעלם ופעמים שאי אתה מתעלם הא כיצד

and R. Adda b. Ahabah said: [This is deduced from the verse,] Every great matter they shall bring unto thee,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XVIII, 22. ');">⁸</span> meaning, 'the matters of a great man':<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the High Priest, v supra 16b. ');">⁹</span>

כהן והוא בבית הקברות זקן ואינה לפי כבודו או שהיתה מלאכה שלו מרובה משל חבירו לכך נאמר והתעלמת

— therefore (I might think) all matters of a great man [involve trial by the Great Sanhedrin]; the Tanna therefore teaches us [otherwise].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That through transgression he becomes a mere hedyot and is tried by three. ');">¹⁰</span> But perhaps it is so?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' May not the interpretation of the matters of a great man apply to this also? ');">¹¹</span>

אמר רב יוסף מעיד למלך והתנן לא דן ולא דנין אותו לא מעיד ולא מעידין אותו אלא א"ר זירא מעיד לבן מלך בן מלך הדיוט הוא

— Is it actually written, 'matters of a great [man]'? What it states is: 'The great matter', i.e., the really important matter.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., one involving capital punishment. ');">¹²</span> HE MAY TESTIFY AND BE TESTIFIED AGAINST. He may testify? But has it not been taught: And hide thyself from them;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXII, 4, in reference to the return of lost objects. ');">¹³</span>

אלא מעיד בפני המלך והא אין מושיבין מלך בסנהדרין משום יקרא דכהן גדול אתא ויתיב מקבלי ניהלי לסהדותיה קאי הוא ואזיל ומעיינינא ליה אנן בדיניה

there are times when thou mayest hide thyself<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e. refrain from carrying out the duty of returning the find. ');">¹⁴</span> and there are times when thou mayest not. How so?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When is one permitted to retreat? ');">¹⁵</span>

גופא אין מושיבין מלך בסנהדרין ולא מלך וכהן גדול בעיבור שנה מלך בסנהדרין דכתיב (שמות כג, ב) לא תענה על ריב לא תענה על רב

— [E.g., when the finder is] a Kohen and it [sc. the object found] is in a grave-yard;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 18, n. 7. ');">¹⁶</span> or an old man, and it is undignified for him;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To pick up the object. ');">¹⁷</span>

לא מלך וכהן גדול בעיבור שנה מלך משום אפסניא כהן גדול משום צינה

or when his work is of greater value than his neighbour's [loss]: in such cases Scripture says, And hide thyself.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Thus a man's dignity abrogates the injunction, Thou mayest not hide thyself'; in the same way, the duty of bearing testimony (v. Lev. V, 1) should be abrogated in favor of a High Priest, since it is not in keeping with his exalted office. ');">¹⁸</span> — said R. Joseph: He may be a witness for the king.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e. in a case where the king is one of the litigants. ');">¹⁹</span>

א"ר פפא ש"מ שתא בתר ירחא אזיל איני והא הנך ג' רועי בקר דהוו קיימי ושמעינהו רבנן דקאמרי

But have we not learnt: HE [THE KING] MAY NEITHER JUDGE NOR BE JUDGED; TESTIFY NOR BE TESTIFIED AGAINST? — But, said R. Zera: He may be a witness for the king's son. But the king's son is a commoner!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence even so it is still undignified for the High Priest to testify. ');">²⁰</span> — Rather [say thus]: He may testify in the presence of the king.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., when the king is a member of the Sanhedrin. ');">²¹</span>

חד אמר אם בכיר ולקיש כחדא יינץ דין הוא אדר ואם לאו לית דין אדר וחד אמר אם תור בצפר בתלג ימות ובטיהרא בטול תאינה ידמוך ישלח משכיה דין הוא אדר ואם לאו לית דין אדר וחד אמר אם קידום תקיף לחדא יהא יפח בלועך נפיק לקיבליה דין הוא אדר ואם לאו לית דין אדר ועברוה רבנן לההיא שתא

But surely the king may not be given a seat on the Sanhedrin! — For the sake of the High Priest's dignity, he comes and sits down until his evidence is received, after which he leaves and then we deliberate on his<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The king's son's (Rashi). ');">²²</span> case.

ותסברא רבנן ארעוותא סמוך אלא רבנן אחושבנייהו סמוך ורועי בקר איסתיועי הוא דאיסתייעא מילתייהו:

The text [states]: 'The king may not be given a seat on the Sanhedrin;' nor may the king or the High Priest be members of the board for the intercalation of the year. 'The king [may not be given a seat] in the Sanhedrin,' — because it is written, Thou shalt not speak 'al rib [in a case].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXIII, 2. [H] rib is here written defectively, i.e., without a yod, hence can be read rab, 'master' or 'chief'. ');">²³</span>

חולץ וחולצין כו': קא פסיק ותני לא שנא מן האירוסין ולא שנא מן הנישואין בשלמא מן הנישואין הוי עשה ולא תעשה

[meaning], thou shalt not speak against the rab [chief of the judges].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e. if the king were a member of the Sanhedrin, other members would be inclined to suppress their opinions in deference to him. ');">²⁴</span> Again. 'nor may the king or the High Priest be members of the board for the intercalation of the year.' The king, on account of 'Afsanya' [the upkeep of the army];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [G] from [G] wages. As it would be to his interest sometimes to intercalate and sometimes not to intercalate the year. according as the payment of the army is by the year or by the month. ');">²⁵</span> the High Priest, because of the [autumnal] cold.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since he might be biassed against intercalation which, by placing the Day of Atonement later in the autumn, would make the several ritual baths which he has to take on that day (five immersions in all) rather cold. V. Yoma 31b. ');">²⁶</span> R. Papa said: This<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The objection to the High Priest's taking part in the intercalation of the year. ');">²⁷</span> proves that the seasons of the year fall in with the normal lunar months.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., when the year is intercalated, the weather in Tishri is the equivalent of that of Marcheshvan in an ordinary year. ');">²⁸</span> But is it so? Were there not three cowherds who were standing conversing, and who were overheard by some Rabbis. One of them said: If the early and late sowing<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the wheat sown earlier and the barley that was sown later (Rashi). ');">²⁹</span> sprout together, the month is Adar; if not, it is not Adar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' But Shewat. ');">³⁰</span> The second said: If in the morning frost is severe enough to injure<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'kill'. ');">³¹</span> an ox, and at mid-day the ox lies in the shade of the fig-tree and scratches its hide,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Through the heat. ');">³²</span> then it is Adar, if not, it is not Adar. And the third said: When a strong east wind is blowing and your breath can prevail against it, the month is Adar; if not, it is not Adar. Thereupon the Rabbis intercalated the year?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Thus we see that the purpose of intercalation is to readjust the seasons, and the second Adar then has the climate of the first Adar in normal years, therefore Tishri will have its usual degree of heat in an intercalated year. ');">³³</span> — Is it then logical for you to assume that the Rabbis intercalated the year by a simple reliance upon cowherds? But they relied on their own calculations, and the cowherds [merely] corroborated their proposed action.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In case, therefore, intercalation has been prompted by a reason other than the readjusting of the seasons, the weather will vary according to the months. ');">³⁴</span> HE MAY PERFORM <i>HALIZAH</i>. The Tanna teaches this<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That the High Priest may not perform Yibbum. ');">³⁵</span> categorically. irrespective of whether [his sister-in-law was widowed] after <i>nesu'in</i> or only after erusin.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos. A widow after erusin is still a virgin. ');">³⁶</span> Now, as for a widow after nesu'in, it is correct, since he is interdicted by a positive and a negative command;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' a) A virgin of his people he shall take to wife, Lev.XXI, 14; b) A widow he shall not take. ibid. ');">³⁷</span>