תלמוד על סנהדרין 2:1

It is stated (Tosephta Berakhot 2:11): “Rebbi Judah says, if they all are standing in one row, those who are standing because of honor are obliged, those because of mourning are exempt¹³⁰In the text of the Babli (Berakhot 19b), Rashi reads: “those who come because of themselves”, not “because of honor”, but most manuscripts and old authors have “because of honor”. Also, in the Babli only the second part of the Tosephta is attributed to Rebbi Yehudah. According to Rashi, only those are obliged to read the Shema‘ who come out of curiosity whereas according to most others those who come to honor the dead and his family but do not actively console are not exempt. The Babylonian Talmud makes no comment; we have to assume that it accepts the position of R. Samuel Tosephta.. When they descend for a eulogy, those who see inside are exempt, those who do not see inside are obliged¹³¹Since they cannot be seen by the mourners, the may recite the Shema‘ for themselves without offending anybody..” It would be that what we stated: “Those who stand in the row, the innermost are exempt and the outer ones are obliged” is the last teaching¹³²The question is, what is the last teaching? We are informed that the original custom was that the mourners walk between two rows of participants who greet them with words of consolation. When competition grew in Sepphoris, it seems because people were jostling for the best positions (those who did not make it to the front rows could not be seen or heard by the mourners), Rebbi Yose decreed that the mourners should stay put and all others march by them to greet and console them. This is the case dealt with by Rebbi Judah, that there is only one row (moving, not standing). An otherwise unknown Rebbi Samuel declares that the innovation of Rebbi Jose did not stand the test of time and in his time the consolers stand and the mourners move. Rebbi Samuel’s opinion is the “last teaching”, Rebbi Yose’s “the first teaching”. In the first teaching, there are no people in outer rows, so the Mishnah automatically has to apply to the last teaching., and what is stated: “Those who are standing because of honor are obliged, those because of mourning are exempt”, is the first teaching¹³³Since the entire Tosephta is Rebbi Judah’s, it speaks of the case where there is only one row. (This argument is not applicable to the text quoted in the Babli.). And what we have stated there (Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:2): “When he¹³⁴The High Priest. When he goes out, he is accompanied by his executive officer; when he consoles mourners the executive goes first, the High Priest second, and everybody else in one orderly row after him. This is possible only in the scenario envisaged by Rebbi Yose; it is shown that the practice instituted by Rebbi Yose at Sepphoris (in the second half of the second century C. E.) is in effect an old Jerusalem practice from the time before the destruction of the Temple, as stated explicitly in Babli Sanhedrin19a, where it is noted that also under that system people quarrelled in Jerusalem. Here the copyist (or the editor) seems to have doubts whether to go with the definition of “first” and “last” as above or to call “first” the first practice reported by Rebbi Ḥanina and “last” the second one. Hence, there are two opinions about the attribution but the meaning is clear. If the uncertainty is the editor’s, then the note “Another opinion: the first” belongs to the text. If it is the scribe’s or some reader’s, then it is a gloss that has entered the text from the margin. For consistency, the hypothesis of a gloss is preferable. consoles others, all the people stand one behind the other and the executive officer becomes a partition between himself and the people”, the last teaching. (Another opinion: the first.) Rebbi Ḥanina said: Originally, all families were standing still and the mourners passed between them. When competition increased in Sepphoris, Rebbi Yose ben Ḥalaphta decreed that the families should pass by and the mourners stand still. Rebbi Samuel Tosephta¹³⁵In the Venice text, “Rebbi Simeon of the Tosephta”. The name given in the text is from the Geniza fragments (Rebbi Samuel Tosephta) and similar to the parallel in Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:2 (fol. 20a) “Rebbi Samuel of Sofephta”. Tosephta might be the region of Northern Armenia, called Thospitis by Ptolemy, which was the birthplace of Rabba Tosphaä, one of the later heads of the Academy of Sura in Babylonia. said: Matters returned to their original state.

MISHNAH: If a public way was passing through somebody’s field, he took it away and gave them [a road] to the side of his property, what he gave, he gave, but what he wanted for himself he did not get⁵⁷An unpaved public way passing between two fields cannot be changed.. A private way is four cubits wide⁵⁸In all cases where there is a right of access, the access road has to be a minimum of four cubits., a public way sixteen cubits⁵⁹Not only for civil law but also for the rules of the Sabbath.; a king’s highway⁶⁰A paved road, government built. has no limit; the way to the cemetary has no limit⁶¹A funeral procession may overflow into adjacent areas.. The place for funeral orations, the judges of Sepphoris say an area of four qab⁶²Two thirds of a bet se’ah of 2500 square cubits or 1666 2/3 square cubits..
If somebody sells a plot to another to build a grave⁶³A rock cemetery., or he contracts to build him a grave makes the cavity of the cavern four cubits by six⁶⁴4 cubits wide by 6 deep. and opens into it eight sepulchral chambers, three on each side and two at the back wall. The chambers are four cubits long, seven [handbreadths] high and six [handbreadths] wide⁶⁵Since each chamber is one cubit wide, the chambers are spaced one cubit apart and the extreme ones half a cubit from the corner.. Rebbi Simeon says, he makes the cavity of the cavern six by eight [cubits] and opens into it thirteen sepulcral chambers, four on each side, three at the back wall, one to the right of the entrance and one to its left⁶⁶This is explained in the Halakhah.. In front of the cavern he excavates a courtyard of six by six [cubits] for the bier and its carriers. He opens into it two caverns, one at each side. Rebbi Simeon says four, each to each direction of the compass⁶⁷His courtyard could not be excavated in front of the rock; it would have to be in the middle of a rock, accessible by ladders. No such construction was ever excavated.. Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, all depends on the rock⁶⁸The number of caves, of funeral chambers, their dimensions and spacing..

MISHNAH: They are not liable for hearing a sound, or expression of the lips, or the impurity of the Temple and its sancta⁸⁰As explained in the preceding Halakhah, the Court does not bring a sacrifice for a false ruling in a case subject to a sacrifice which depends on the wealth of the person. These are enumerated in Lev. 5:1–4; the Mishnah uses the biblical expressions to characterize the different categories.
“Hearing of a voice” refers to Lev.5:1: If a person sin, for he heard the sound of an imprecation when he is a witness, or saw, or knew; if he does not tell he has to bear his iniquity. If a person is asked by another to testify in his case before the court; he refuses and assents to an oath to the effect that he does not know about the case, if that was a lie he is subject to the variable reparation offering for swearing falsely.
“Expression of the lips” (v.4) refers to an oath made by a person on his own initiative but not kept since he forgot about his own oath. This also subjects the maker to the same obligation.
Improper handling of impurity because of oblivion is mentioned in vv. 2–3.. The same applies to the Prince⁸¹He is identified with the king., the words of Rebbi Yose the Galilean. Rebbi Aqiba says, the Prince is liable for all of them except the hearing of a sound since the king does not judge, nor may one judge him; he does not testify, nor may one testify against him⁸²Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:3. He extends the rules created for the non-Davidic kings to all kings..