Sanhedrin 35a

סנהדרין ל״ה ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 35a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Public executions, the source for delaying capital verdicts, why there are no capital trials on ערב שבת, and whether burying a מת מצוה overrides שבת

Overview

This amud opens with more verses about public executions. Two cases are the bodies of שאול's descendants, guarded by רצפה, and the command after בעל פעור to 'take the heads of the people.' רב explains that the leaders were not punished. They were made into many courts so the sinners could be judged quickly and God's anger would turn away. Next the גמרא asks for the source of the משנה's rule that a guilty verdict in a capital case must wait until the next day. רבי חנינא learns it from 'צדק ילין בה' and רבא learns it from 'אשרו חמוץ'. Each one uses the other's פסוק for a different lesson, including that holding back ready-to-eat צדקה overnight on a fast day is like spilling blood. The גמרא then shows why capital trials cannot start on ערב שבת: every possible schedule breaks some rule. Finally, ריש לקיש begins a קל וחומר that burying a מת מצוה should override שבת. The גמרא starts quoting a ברייתא on the נזיר verse to prove it, and the ברייתא continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. Proofרצפה guards the bodies from the start of the harvest
2. ChallengeWhy were the leaders punished when the people sinned?
3. ResolutionThe leaders were made into courts
4. QuestionWhy were many courts needed?
5. Rejectionרב חסדא limits the one-case-a-day rule
6. ResponseMany courts so God's anger would turn away quickly
7. QuestionAsking for the source of the one-day rule
8. Responseרבי חנינא's source: justice that waits overnight
9. Responseרבא's source: praise the judge who delays
10. ResponseHow רבי חנינא reads רבא's verse
11. QuestionWhat does רבא do with רבי חנינא's verse?
12. ResponseHolding back charity on a fast day
13. StatementThe charity rule applies only to ready-to-eat food
14. QuestionWhy no capital trials on ערב שבת?
15. ResponseBecause there is no workable schedule
16. RejectionOption 1: Start and finish on Friday
17. RejectionOption 2: Finish and execute on שבת
18. RejectionOption 3: Execute Saturday night
19. RejectionOption 4: Verdict on שבת, execute Sunday
20. RejectionOption 5: Start Friday, finish Sunday
21. ResolutionThe scribes' notes don't solve forgetting
22. ConclusionConclusion: It's impossible
23. Statementריש לקיש: Does burying a מת מצוה override שבת?
24. ProofA ברייתא asks why the נזיר verse lists four relatives
25. ResponseThe ברייתא describes a man going to bring his קרבן פסח or circumcise his son