Sanhedrin 2

Welcome to Tractate Sanhedrin. A sanhedrin is an enlarged court of 23 judges or, in the case of a great sanhedrin, 71 judges. Over the next 112 pages, we are going to be looking at the most serious cases in Jewish law which are tried by these larger courts. Notably, these include capital cases in which, if the accused is found guilty, they are stoned, burned, decapitated or strangled — the method of execution depending on the crime. We’ll find out exactly how those executions were performed and gather clues about how often. We’ll look at unusual crimes with seemingly outsized punishments that troubled the rabbis, like the Torah’s prescription that a stubborn and rebellious son should be stoned to death. We’ll also consider the famous (and short) list of crimes that are so heinous Jews are expected to submit to death rather than commit them. After all this morbid discussion, we’ll wrap up with a rabbinic discussion about the World to Come: who can enter and what they might expect to discover there.

Before we jump into this lurid material, Tractate Sanhedrin begins with more practical information. We will study courtroom procedures and how they differ in criminal and civil cases. At an even more basic level, we will learn about the composition of the court and who will be rendering the final judgment. That’s where our tractate opens, with a long mishnah that explains how many judges are needed for each kind of case. We will look at part of it here, but cannot cover it all so please see the daf for the full mishnah:

Cases of monetary law are adjudicated by three judges. Robbery and personal injury are also adjudicated by three judges. Cases incurring a penalty of full damage or half damage or double damage or even four or five times the principal in damages are all adjudicated by three judges.

Monetary cases, as well as simple robbery and personal injury cases, do not require a sanhedrin of 23 judges. But notice they are not judged by a single person — three is considered the number best suited to bring these suits to a just resolution. Similarly, the mishnah continues, one who has sex with a virgin and thereby reduces her bride price is tried in a court of three judges. Same goes for a man who accuses his wife of deceiving him about her virginal status upon marriage (thereby exacting a larger bride price). That is, unless the wife is accused of having had sex with one man while married to another, in which case it becomes a case of adultery, a capital offense, and is adjudicated by 23 judges. 

Let’s jump ahead to more cases tried by a sanhedrin:

Cases of capital law are judged by 23 judges. An animal that copulated with a person and an animal that was the object of bestiality are judged by 23 judges, as it is stated: “And if a woman approaches any animal to lie with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal,” (Leviticus 20:16) and it states: “And if a man lies with an animal, he shall be put to death and you shall kill the animal.” (Leviticus 20:15).

All capital cases — those in which the punishment is execution — are tried by 23 judges. The mishnah then considers a potential gray area: If an animal is punished by execution, does the animals stand trial? In some cases, yes — also in front of a sanhedrin.

As we progress through the tractate, we’ll look at more examples of capital crimes, but let’s conclude today by considering those cases which require the largest court of all, the great sanhedrin:

Cases involving an entire tribe that sinned or a false prophet or a high priest (who transgressed a prohibition that carries a possible death sentence) are only judged on the basis of a court of 71 judges. And the king may bring the nation out to an optional war only on the basis of a court of 71 judges … A city may be designated as an idolatrous city only in accordance with the ruling of a court of 71 judges …

What these disparate kinds of cases have in common is that the outcome of the trial affects not a single person or family but an entire community — sometimes the whole nation. This is when the Jewish people need their largest court, because the court’s decision will be monumental.

Clearly, rabbinic society required many judges to operate smoothly. Considering the elitist bent we find in so many rabbinic texts, we might expect judges to be rabbis or professionally trained in some way. But, as we also learn in the Gemara that follows the mishnah on this very first page, ordinary people could also fill the role. More surprises abound as we move forward. Welcome to Tractate Sanhedrin.

Read all of Sanhedrin 2 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on December 19, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.