Sanhedrin 11

במזומנין לה מעשה ברבן גמליאל שאמר ׳השכימו לי שבעה לעלייה׳ השכים ומצא שמונה אמר ׳מי הוא שעלה שלא ברשות ירד׳

by those who were invited by the Nasi, the president of the Great Sanhedrin, for that purpose. There was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel, who said to the Sages: Bring me seven of the Sages early tomorrow morning to the loft designated for convening a court to intercalate the year. He went to the loft early the next morning and found eight Sages there. Rabban Gamliel said: Who is it who ascended to the loft without permission? He must descend immediately.

עמד שמואל הקטן ואמר ׳אני הוא שעליתי שלא ברשות ולא לעבר השנה עליתי אלא ללמוד הלכה למעשה הוצרכתי׳ אמר לו ׳שב בני שב ראויות כל השנים כולן להתעבר על ידך׳ אלא אמרו חכמים ׳אין מעברין את השנה אלא במזומנין לה׳ ולא שמואל הקטן הוה אלא איניש אחרינא ומחמת כיסופא הוא דעבד

Shmuel HaKatan stood up and said: I am he who ascended without permission; and I did not ascend to participate and be one of those to intercalate the year, but rather I needed to observe in order to learn the practical halakha. Rabban Gamliel said to him: Sit, my son, sit. It would be fitting for all of the years to be intercalated by you, as you are truly worthy. But the Sages said: The year may be intercalated only by those who were invited for that purpose. The Gemara notes: And it was not actually Shmuel HaKatan who had come uninvited, but another person. And due to the embarrassment of the other, Shmuel HaKatan did this, so that no one would know who had come uninvited.

כי הא דיתיב רבי וקא דריש והריח ריח שום אמר מי שאכל שום יצא עמד רבי חייא ויצא עמדו כולן ויצאו בשחר מצאו רבי שמעון ברבי לרבי חייא אמר ליה אתה הוא שציערת לאבא אמר לו לא תהא כזאת בישראל

The Gemara relates that the story about Shmuel HaKatan is similar to an incident that occurred when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was sitting and teaching, and he smelled the odor of garlic. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was very sensitive and could not tolerate this odor. He said: Whoever ate garlic should leave. Rabbi Ḥiyya stood up and left. Out of respect for Rabbi Ḥiyya, all of those in attendance stood up and left. The next day, in the morning, Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, found Rabbi Ḥiyya, and he said to him: Are you the one who disturbed my father by coming to the lecture with the foul smell of garlic? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: There should not be such behavior among the Jewish people. I would not do such a thing, but I assumed the blame and left so that the one who did so would not be embarrassed.

ורבי חייא מהיכא גמיר לה מרבי מאיר דתניא מעשה באשה אחת שבאתה לבית מדרשו של רבי מאיר אמרה לו ׳רבי אחד מכם קדשני בביאה׳ עמד רבי מאיר וכתב לה גט כריתות ונתן לה עמדו כתבו כולם ונתנו לה

And from where did Rabbi Ḥiyya learn that characteristic of being willing to implicate himself in order to save someone else from being embarrassed? He learned it from Rabbi Meir, as it is taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving a certain woman who came to the study hall of Rabbi Meir. She said to him: My teacher, one of you, i.e., one of the men studying in this study hall, betrothed me through intercourse. The woman came to Rabbi Meir to appeal for help in identifying the man, so that he would either marry her or grant her a divorce. As he himself was also among those who studied in the study hall, Rabbi Meir arose and wrote her a bill of divorce, and he gave it to her. Following his example, all those in the study hall arose and wrote bills of divorce and gave them to her. In this manner, the right man also gave her a divorce, freeing her to marry someone else.

ורבי מאיר מהיכא גמיר לה משמואל הקטן ושמואל הקטן מהיכא גמיר לה משכניה בן יחיאל דכתיב ויען שכניה בן יחיאל מבני עילם ויאמר לעזרא אנחנו מעלנו באלהינו ונשב נשים נכריות מעמי הארץ ועתה יש מקוה לישראל על זאת

And from where did Rabbi Meir learn that characteristic? From Shmuel HaKatan, in the incident outlined above. And from where did Shmuel HaKatan learn it? From Shecaniah ben Jehiel, as it is written: “And Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra: We have broken faith with our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this” (Ezra 10:2). And although he confessed, Shecaniah is not listed among those who took foreign wives (Ezra 10:18–44). Evidently, he confessed only to spare the others from public embarrassment.

ושכניה בן יחיאל מהיכא גמר לה מיהושע דכתיב ויאמר ה׳ אל יהושע קם לך למה זה אתה נפל על פניך חטא ישראל אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם מי חטא אמר לו וכי דילטור אני לך הטל גורלות ואיבעית אימא ממשה דכתיב עד אנה מאנתם

The Gemara continues: And from where did Shecaniah ben Jehiel learn it? From an incident involving Joshua, as it is written: “And the Lord said to Joshua: Get yourself up; why do you fall upon your face? Israel has sinned” (Joshua 7:10–11). Joshua said before Him: Master of the Universe, who sinned? God said to him: And am I your informer? Rather, cast lots to determine who is guilty. In this way, God did not directly disclose the identity of the sinner to Joshua. And if you wish, say instead that Shecaniah ben Jehiel learned this from an incident involving Moses, as it is written: “And the Lord said to Moses: How long do you refuse to keep My mitzvot and My laws?” (Exodus 16:28). Although only a small number of people attempted to collect the manna on Shabbat, God spoke as though the entire nation were guilty, so as not to directly expose the guilty.

תנו רבנן משמתו נביאים האחרונים חגי זכריה ומלאכי נסתלקה רוח הקודש מישראל ואף על פי כן היו משתמשין בבת קול פעם אחת היו מסובין בעליית בית גוריה ביריחו ונתנה עליהם בת קול מן השמים ׳יש כאן אחד שראוי שתשרה עליו שכינה כמשה רבינו אלא שאין דורו זכאי לכך׳ נתנו חכמים את עיניהם בהלל הזקן וכשמת אמרו עליו ׳הי חסיד הי עניו תלמידו של עזרא׳

§ Since Shmuel HaKatan and his great piety were mentioned, the Gemara now relates several incidents that shed additional light on his personality. The Sages taught: After the last of the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, died, the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people. But nevertheless, they were still utilizing a Divine Voice, which they heard as a kind of echo of prophecy. One time, a group of Sages were reclining in the loft of the house of Gurya in Jericho, and a Divine Voice was bestowed upon them from Heaven, saying: There is one here who is fit for the Divine Presence to rest upon him as it rested upon Moses our teacher, but his generation is not deserving of this distinction. The Sages set their eyes upon Hillel the Elder, trusting that he was the one indicated by the Divine Voice. And when he died, the Sages said about him: Alas, the pious man, alas, the humble man, a disciple of Ezra.

שוב פעם אחת היו מסובין בעליה ביבנה ונתנה עליהם בת קול מן השמים ׳יש כאן אחד שראוי שתשרה עליו שכינה אלא שאין דורו זכאי לכך׳ נתנו חכמים את עיניהם בשמואל הקטן וכשמת אמרו עליו ׳הי חסיד הי עניו תלמידו של הלל׳ אף הוא אמר בשעת מיתתו שמעון וישמעאל לחרבא וחברוהי לקטלא ושאר עמא לביזא ועקן סגיאן עתידן למיתי על עלמא

The baraita continues: Another time, a group of Sages were reclining in the loft in Yavne, and a Divine Voice was bestowed upon them from Heaven, saying: There is one here who is fit for the Divine Presence to rest upon him in prophecy, but his generation is not deserving of this distinction. The Sages set their eyes upon Shmuel HaKatan. And when he died, the Sages said about him: Alas, the pious man, alas, the humble man, a disciple of Hillel. Additionally, he said at the time of his death, under the influence of the Divine Spirit: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, the Nasi of the Great Sanhedrin, and Rabbi Yishmael, the High Priest, will die by the sword, and their friends will die by other executions, and the rest of the nation will be despoiled, and great troubles will ultimately come upon the world.

ועל יהודה בן בבא בקשו לומר כן אלא שנטרפה שעה שאין מספידין על הרוגי מלכות

And they also wished to say thus: Alas, the pious man, alas, the humble man, about Yehuda ben Bava, in their eulogy for him, but the hour was torn, i.e., the opportunity was lost, as one does not eulogize those executed by the government. As will be explained (14a), Yehuda ben Bava was executed by the government.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנה אלא אם כן ירצה נשיא ומעשה ברבן גמליאל שהלך ליטול רשות אצל הגמון אחד שבסוריא ושהה לבוא ועיברו את השנה על מנת שירצה רבן גמליאל וכשבא רבן גמליאל ואמר ׳רוצה אני׳ נמצאת שנה מעוברת

§ The Gemara returns to the discussion about intercalation of the year. The Sages taught: The year may be intercalated only if the Nasi of the Sanhedrin wants to intercalate it. And there was once an incident involving Rabban Gamliel, who went to ask permission for some communal matter from an officer [hegmon] in Syria, and he tarried in returning until after it was too late to intercalate the year. And because they did not know what his opinion on the matter was, they intercalated the year on the condition that Rabban Gamliel would want to do so. And when Rabban Gamliel came back and said: I want to intercalate the year, the year was found to be retroactively intercalated.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנה אלא אם כן היתה צריכה מפני הדרכים ומפני הגשרים ומפני תנורי פסחים ומפני גליות ישראל שנעקרו ממקומן ועדיין לא הגיעו אבל לא מפני השלג ולא מפני הצינה ולא מפני גליות ישראל שלא עקרו ממקומן

The Sages taught: The year may be intercalated only if it is necessary due to damage to the roads, if the rain has damaged them in such a way that they are inaccessible for those ascending to Jerusalem for Passover; or due to the bridges that are likewise in disrepair; or due to the ovens for the Paschal offerings that are damaged and unfit for roasting the offerings; or due to the Diaspora Jews who have left their homes and still have not arrived due to delays in travel. But the year may not be intercalated due to the snow, and not due to the cold, and not due to the Diaspora Jews who have not yet left from their homes, even if they no longer have enough time to reach Jerusalem for the Festival.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנה לא מפני הגדיים ולא מפני הטלאים ולא מפני הגוזלות שלא פירחו אבל עושין אותן סעד לשנה כיצד רבי ינאי אומר משום רבן שמעון בן גמליאל ׳מהודעין אנחנא לכון דגוזלייא רכיכין ואימריא דערקין וזימנא דאביבא לא מטא ושפרת מילתא באנפאי ואוסיפית על שתא דא תלתין יומין׳

The Sages taught: The year may not be intercalated due to the young goats and not due to the lambs, to allow them to grow larger before they are to be sacrificed as Paschal offerings; and not due to the fledgling doves who have not yet developed sufficiently to fly, so that there won’t be enough of them to supply all those who wish to bring bird offerings at the Festival. But all these considerations may be made supporting factors in the decision to intercalate the year. The Gemara asks: How so? Rabbi Yannai says in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, i.e., this is the language Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel used in his declaration of the intercalation: We are notifying you that the fledglings are tender, and that the lambs are thin [de’arkin], and time for the spring has not yet arrived. And consequently, the matter is good in my eyes, and I have therefore added thirty days onto this year.

מיתיבי כמה עיבור השנה שלשים יום רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר חדש אמר רב פפא רצו חדש רצו שלשים יום

The Gemara raises an objection to the report that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds the intercalated month is thirty days long. It is taught in a baraita: How long is the additional month in an intercalated leap year? The Rabbis say: Thirty days. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: A standard month, which is twenty-nine days long. What, then, does Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel hold? Rav Pappa said: Rabban Gamliel holds that if the court wants, it may add a standard month, and if it wants, it may add a month of thirty days.

תא חזי מאי איכא בין

Concerning the declaration of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, the Gemara observes: Come and see what difference there is between

תקיפאי קדמאי לעינוותני בתראי

the earlier, stern authorities and the later, humble authorities, for although Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was known as particularly humble, his proclamation was written with less modesty than that of his father, Rabban Gamliel, who was known to be particularly stern.

דתניא מעשה ברבן גמליאל שהיה יושב על גב מעלה בהר הבית והיה יוחנן סופר הלז עומד לפניו ושלש איגרות חתוכות לפניו מונחות

As it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:6): There was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel, who was sitting on a step on the Temple Mount, and Yoḥanan, that scribe, was standing before him, and three blank documents cut from parchment and ready for writing were set before him.

אמר לו טול איגרתא חדא וכתוב ׳לאחנא בני גלילאה עילאה ולאחנא בני גלילאה תתאה שלומכון יסגא מהודעין אנחנא לכון דזמן ביעורא מטא לאפרושי מעשרא ממעטנא דזיתא׳ וטול איגרתא חדא וכתוב ׳לאחנא בני דרומא שלומכון יסגא מהודעין אנחנא לכון דזמן ביעורא מטא לאפרושי מעשרא מעומרי שיבליא׳

Rabban Gamliel said to the scribe: Take one document, and write: To our brothers, the people of the Upper Galilee, and to our brothers, the people of the Lower Galilee, may your peace increase. We are informing you that the time has come for eradication of tithes that had been separated from produce but not yet given to their designated recipients, as is to be done in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical-Year cycle, to separate the tithe from the vat of olives, because most of the local olives were grown in the Galilee. Rabban Gamliel continued, instructing the scribe: And take one document, and write: To our brothers, the people of the South, meaning the area of Judea and its environs, may your peace increase. We are informing you that the time has come for eradication, to separate the tithe from the mounds of stalks of grains, because most of the local grain was grown in the Judea region.

וטול איגרתא חדא וכתוב ׳לאחנא בני גלוותא בבבל ולאחנא דבמדי ולשאר כל גלוותא דישראל שלומכון יסגא לעלם מהודעין אנחנא לכון דגוזליא רכיכין ואימריא ערקין וזמנא דאביבא לא מטא ושפרא מילתא באנפאי ובאנפי חביריי ואוסיפית על שתא דא יומין תלתין׳ דילמא בתר דעברוהו

Rabban Gamliel continued to instruct the scribe: And take one document, and write: To our brothers, the people of the Diaspora in Babylonia, and to our brothers who are in Medea, and to the rest of the entire Jewish Diaspora, may your peace increase forever. We are informing you that the fledglings are tender, and the lambs are thin, and time for the spring has not come. And consequently, the matter is good before me and before my colleagues, i.e., in our estimation, and I have consequently added thirty days to this year. The third letter indicates that evidently Rabban Gamliel included others in his decision. The Gemara rejects this, and explains: Perhaps this incident occurred after they deposed Rabban Gamliel from his position as Nasi. When he was reinstated, he shared his office with Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. Therefore, he wrote the decision in the name of his colleagues as well.

תנו רבנן על שלשה דברים מעברין את השנה על האביב ועל פירות האילן ועל התקופה על שנים מהן מעברין ועל אחד מהן אין מעברין

§ The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:2): The court may intercalate the year for three matters: For the ripening of the grain, if it is not yet time for the barley to ripen; for the fruit of the trees, if they have not yet ripened; and for the equinox, i.e., to ensure that the autumnal equinox will precede Sukkot. If two of these concerns apply, the court intercalates the year even if the third factor does not apply; but for only one of them the court does not intercalate the year.

ובזמן שאביב אחד מהן הכל שמחין רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר על התקופה איבעיא להו על התקופה שמחין או על התקופה מעברין תיקו

The baraita continues: And when the ripening of the grain is one of the concerns, everyone is happy. Since the grain is not yet ripe, the people do not mind waiting an extra month for Nisan. If the grain is already ripe, however, the extra month would simply prolong the period during which the grain may not be eaten due to the prohibition of the new crop, as the new crop may be harvested and eaten only after the sacrifice of the omer offering on the sixteenth of Nisan (see Leviticus 23:14). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For the equinox. The Gemara seeks to clarify this statement: A dilemma was raised before the Sages. When he said: For the equinox, did he mean this is the reason that everyone is happy, or did he mean that only for the equinox may the court intercalate the year? The dilemma shall stand unresolved.

תנו רבנן על שלשה ארצות מעברין את השנה יהודה ועבר הירדן והגליל על שתים מהן מעברין ועל אחת מהן אין מעברין ובזמן שיהודה אחת מהן הכל שמחין שאין עומר בא אלא מיהודה

The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:2): The court may intercalate the year for three regional lands of Eretz Yisrael, meaning that the court considers the agricultural situation in three regions: Judea, and Transjordan, and the Galilee. If there is a concern about two of them, the court intercalates the year even if the third region does not need it, but if there is a concern about only one of them the court does not intercalate the year. And when Judea is one of them, everyone is happy, because the omer offering comes only from Judea. If the court therefore ensures that the crops in Judea ripen just before the omer is brought, the crops will certainly be ripe in the other regions as well, and there will be no complications with the prohibition of the new crop.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנים אלא ביהודה ואם עיברוה בגליל מעוברת העיד חנניה איש אונו אם עיברוה בגליל אינה מעוברת אמר רבי יהודה בריה דרבי שמעון בן פזי מאי טעמא דחנניה איש אונו אמר קרא לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה כל דרישה שאתה דורש לא יהיו אלא בשכנו של מקום

§ The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:2): The court may intercalate the years only when located in Judea. And if they intercalated it when located in the Galilee, the year is nevertheless intercalated. Ḥananya of Ono testified: Even if the court already formally intercalated the year when located in the Galilee, it is not intercalated. Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, says: What is the reasoning of Ḥananya of Ono? The verse states: “But to the place that the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His abode shall you seek, and there you shall come” (Deuteronomy 12:5). This is interpreted as: Every pursuit that you shall pursue in the area of halakha must be only in the abode of the Omnipresent, in close proximity to Jerusalem, i.e., in Judea.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנה אלא ביום ואם עיברוה בלילה אינה מעוברת ואין מקדשין את החדש אלא ביום ואם קידשוהו בלילה אינו מקודש אמר רב אבא מאי קרא תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו איזהו חג שהחדש מתכסה בו הוי אומר זה ראש השנה וכתיב כי חק לישראל הוא משפט לאלהי יעקב מה משפט ביום אף קידוש החדש ביום

The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:7): The court may intercalate the year only during the day; and if the court intercalated it at night, it is not intercalated. And the court may sanctify the month only during the day; and if the court sanctified it at night, it is not sanctified. Rav Abba says: What is the verse from which this halakha is derived? “Sound the shofar at the New Moon, at the concealed time for our Festival day” (Psalms 81:4). On which Festival is the new moon concealed? You must say it is Rosh HaShana, which occurs on the first of the month, before the moon is visible, whereas the moon is visible during the other Festivals, which occur later in the month. And it is written in the next verse: “For it is a statute for Israel, a judgment of the God of Jacob” (Psalms 81:5). Just as all civil judgment is done during the day, so too is the sanctification of Rosh HaShana, and the sanctification of the month in general, done during the day.

תנו רבנן אין מעברין את השנה

The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 2:5): The court does not intercalate the year