Sanhedrin

Was R. Meir indeed ordained by R. Judah b. Baba? Did not Rabbah b. Bar Hannah say in R. Johanan's name: He who asserts that R. Meir was not ordained by R. Akiba is certainly in error? — R. Akiba had indeed ordained him, but the ordination was not acceptable;  while R. Judah b. Baba's later ordination, on the other hand, was accepted. R. Joshua b. Levi said: There is no ordination outside Palestine. What is to be understood by, 'There is no ordination'? Shall we assert that they  have no authority at all to adjudicate cases of Kenas  outside Palestine?  But have we not learnt: The Sanhedrin has competence both within and without Palestine! — This must therefore mean that ordination cannot be conferred outside Palestine. It is obvious, that if the ordainers are outside Palestine and those to be ordained in Palestine, [then] surely as has been said, they cannot be ordained. But what if the ordainers are in Palestine, and those to be ordained outside? — Come and hear: [It is related] of R. Johanan that he was grieved when R. Shaman b. Abba was not with them [in Palestine] to receive his ordination. [Again it is related of] R. Simeon b. Zirud and another who was with him, viz., R. Jonathan b. Akmai, or according to others [who invert the order,] R. Jonathan b. Akmai and another who was with him, viz., R. Simeon, b. Zirud,  that the one who was with them was ordained, and the other, who was not, was not ordained. R. Johanan was very anxious to ordain R. Hanina and R. Oshaia, but his hope could not be realised,  and it grieved him very much. They said to him: Master, you need not grieve, for we are descendants of the house of Eli.  For R. Samuel b. Nahman, quoting R. Jonathan, said: Whence do we learn that none of the house of Eli are destined to be ordained? — From the verse, And there shall be no zaken  [old man] in thy house for ever.  What does the word 'zaken' mean [here]? Shall we say, literally, 'an old man', but it is written [immediately after], and all the increase of thy house shall die [young] men! — It must therefore refer to ordination. R. Zira used to hide himself to avoid ordination, because R. Eleazar had said: Remain always obscure,  and [so] live.  But later, having heard yet another saying of R. Eleazar, viz., One does not attain greatness unless all his sins are forgiven,  he himself strove [to obtain it]. When they ordained him, they  sang before him, 'Neither paint nor rouge nor [hair-]dye, yet radiating charm.' When the Rabbis ordained R. Ammi and R. Assi, they sang thus of them: Only such men, only such men ordain ye for us, but ordain not for us any of the 'sarmitin' and 'sarmisin', or as some say, 'hamisin' or 'termisin'. When R. Abbahu arrived at the Emperor's Court  from College, the ladies of the court went out to receive him and sang to him: Great man of thy people, leader of thy nation, lantern of light, thy coming be blessed with peace. BREAKING THE HEIFER'S NECK IS BY THREE. Our Rabbis taught: And thy Elders and thy judges shall come forth.  'Elders' [indicates] two; [similarly,] 'judges', two. And as a court must not be evenly-balanced, another is added; hence there are five: this is R. Judah's view. R. Simeon says: 'Elders' indicates two, and as a court cannot consist of an even member, another is added, making three in all. Now, according to R. Simeon, what purpose is served by the words 'thy judges'? — It is needed, in his view, to indicate the necessity of choosing the most distinguished of 'thy judges'.  And R. Judah?  — [He deduces it] from the pronominal suffix [appended] to Zaken.  And R. Simeon? — [He maintains:] Had 'elders' [alone] been written,  I might have said that it refers to [any] old men of the street.  Hence the Torah says: 'thy elders'.  Yet had 'thy elders' [alone] been written, I might have said that it refers to [the members of] the minor Sanhedrin. Therefore Scripture wrote, 'thy judges', to indicate that the reference is to the most distinguished of 'thy judges'.  And R. Judah?  — He derives this  from a comparison of the word elders [as used here]  and in the verse, And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands [on the head of the bullock].  Just as there, the most distinguished of the congregation  [are necessary],  so here, too, the most distinguished of thy elders [are required]. But if this deduction be made, let us infer everything from that passage!  and what need then is there for 'thy elders' and 'and thy judges'? — But [we should say: In R. Judah's opinion,] the [superfluous] waw [and] of, and thy judges, intimates the number.  And R. Simeon  — He does not employ the conjunction 'waw' for interpretative purposes. But according to this line of argument, we might further deduce from the clauses, and they shall come forth, and, and they shall measure — each indicating two — that nine should be required, in R. Judah's opinion, and seven in R. Simeon's? — But these clauses are necessary, even as it has been taught: And they shall come forth, [meaning,] they, and not their deputies. And they shall measure; in all circumstances, even when the corpse is found