Sanhedrin

AND THREE ROWS OF SCHOLARS SAT  IN FRONT OF THEM; EACH KNOWING HIS OWN PLACE.  IN CASE IT WAS NECESSARY TO ORDAIN [ANOTHER JUDGE],  HE WAS APPOINTED FROM THE FIRST [ROW] IN WHICH CASE ONE OF THE SECOND [ROW] MOVED UP TO THE FIRST, ONE OF THE THIRD TO THE SECOND, AND A MEMBER OF THE ASSEMBLED [AUDIENCE]  WAS SELECTED AND SEATED IN THE THIRD [ROW]. HE  DID NOT SIT IN THE PLACE VACATED BY THE FIRST  BUT IN THE PLACE SUITABLE FOR HIM. GEMARA. Whence is this derived? — R. Aha Haninah said: Scripture states, Thy navel is like a round goblet ['aggan ha-Sahar] wherein no mingled wine is wanting.  'Thy navel' — that is the Sanhedrin. Why was it called 'navel'? — Because it sat at the navel-point  of the world. [Why] 'aggan?  — Because it protects [meggin] the whole world. [Why] ha-Sahar? — Because it was moon-shaped.  [Why] in which no mingled wine is wanting? — I.e., if one of them had to leave, it had to be ascertained if twenty-three, corresponding to the number of the minor Sanhedrin, were left,  in which case he might go out; if not, he might not depart. Thy belly is like a heap of wheat:  Just as all benefit from a heap of wheat, so do all benefit from the deliberations of the Sanhedrin. Set about with lilies:  Even through a hedge of lilies they would make no breach.  In this connexion there is the story of a Min  who said to R. Kahana: Ye maintain that a menstruant woman is permitted yihud [privacy] with her husband: can fire be near tow without singeing it? He retorted: The Torah testifies this of us: Set about with lilies — even through a hedge of lilies they make no breach. Resh Lakish deduced [the same answer] from the following verse, Thy temples [rakkathek] are like a pomegranate split open!  Even the emptiest [rekanin]  among you are as full of meritorious deeds as a pomegranate [of seeds].  R. Zera deduced it from the following verse, And he smelt the smell of his raiment;  read not begadaw [his raiment] but bogedaw [his traitors]. In the neighbourhood of R. Zera there lived some lawless men. He nevertheless showed them friendship in order to lead them to repent; but the Rabbis were annoyed [at his action]. When R. Zera's soul went to rest,  they said: Until now we had the burnt man with the dwarfed legs  to implore Divine mercy for us; who will do so now? Thereupon they felt remorse in their hearts and repented. THREE ROWS Abaye said: We may infer from this  that when one moves they all move.  But can he  not object to them: Until now I used to sit at the head,  whilst now ye place me at the tail!  Said Abaye: They can answer him thus: Better a tail to lions than a head to foxes. MISHNAH. HOW WERE THE WITNESSES INSPIRED WITH AWE? WITNESSES IN CAPITAL CHARGES  WERE BROUGHT IN AND INTIMIDATED [THUS]: PERHAPS WHAT YE SAY IS BASED ONLY ON CONJECTURE,  OR HEARSAY,  OR IS EVIDENCE FROM THE MOUTH OF ANOTHER WITNESS,  OR EVEN FROM THE MOUTH OF A TRUSTWORTHY PERSON:  PERHAPS YE ARE UNAWARE THAT ULTIMATELY WE SHALL SCRUTINIZE YOUR EVIDENCE BY CROSS EXAMINATION AND INQUIRY? KNOW THEN THAT CAPITAL CASES ARE NOT LIKE MONETARY CASES. IN CIVIL SUITS, ONE CAN MAKE MONETARY RESTITUTION  AND THEREBY EFFECT HIS ATONEMENT; BUT IN CAPITAL CASES HE IS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS BLOOD [sc. THE ACCUSED'S] AND THE BLOOD OF HIS [POTENTIAL] DESCENDANTS UNTIL THE END OF TIME,  FOR THUS WE FIND IN THE CASE OF CAIN, WHO KILLED HIS BROTHER, THAT IT IS WRITTEN: THE BLOODS OF THY BROTHER CRY UNTO ME:  NOT THE BLOOD OF THY BROTHER, BUT THE BLOODS OF THY BROTHER, IS SAID — i.e., HIS BLOOD AND THE BLOOD OF HIS [POTENTIAL] DESCENDANTS. (ALTERNATIVELY, THE BLOODS OF THY BROTHER, TEACHES THAT HIS BLOOD WAS SPLASHED OVER TREES AND STONES.)  FOR THIS REASON WAS MAN CREATED ALONE, TO TEACH THEE THAT WHOSOEVER DESTROYS A SINGLE SOUL OF ISRAEL,  SCRIPTURE IMPUTES [GUILT] TO HIM AS THOUGH HE HAD DESTROYED A COMPLETE WORLD; AND WHOSOEVER PRESERVES A SINGLE SOUL OF ISRAEL, SCRIPTURE ASCRIBES [MERIT] TO HIM AS THOUGH HE HAD PRESERVED A COMPLETE WORLD.  FURTHERMORE, [HE WAS CREATED ALONE] FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE AMONG MEN, THAT ONE MIGHT NOT SAY TO HIS FELLOW, 'MY FATHER WAS GREATER THAN THINE, AND THAT THE MINIM  MIGHT NOT SAY, THERE ARE MANY RULING POWERS IN HEAVEN; AGAIN, TO PROCLAIM THE GREATNESS OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE: FOR IF A MAN STRIKES MANY COINS FROM ONE MOULD, THEY ALL RESEMBLE ONE ANOTHER, BUT THE SUPREME KING OF KINGS,  THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, FASHIONED EVERY MAN IN THE STAMP OP THE FIRST MAN, AND YET NOT ONE OF THEM RESEMBLES HIS FELLOW. THEREFORE EVERY SINGLE PERSON IS OBLIGED TO SAY: THE WORLD WAS CREATED FOR MY SAKE. PERHAPS YE WILL SAY: