Mishnah 3 in Chapter 1 of Tractate Sanhedrin continues to take us on a run through the entire Torah, detailing how many judges are required for each of the procedures that a court might conduct.
"Semichas zekeinim va'arifas eglah bishloshah" - the leaning of the elders and the breaking of the heifer's neck are done by three:
These two procedures are performed by three judges appointed from the Sanhedrin: the leaning of the hands of the elders on the communal bull brought for an unwitting transgression, and the measuring of the distance to a corpse found mysteriously dead for the purpose of the broken-necked heifer. Let us first briefly explain their context.
Par He'elem Davar:
When the High Court, the Sanhedrin, issues a lenient ruling on a matter that incurs the penalty of kares, and the majority of the Jewish people act according to their ruling, and they subsequently retract and recognize their error - each individual does not bring a sin-offering. Instead, they bring a communal sin-offering called a Par He'elem Davar (the bull brought for a matter that was hidden). Part of the procedure is the leaning, as the verse requires: "And the elders of the congregation shall lean their hands upon the head of the bull." This obligation is not placed on all the members of the Sanhedrin, but rather on only three of the judges of the Sanhedrin, according to the Tanna Kamma.
This law is highly unusual: generally, leaning is only performed on an individual offering, such as a sin-offering and a guilt-offering. There are only two communal offerings that require leaning - the Par He'elem Davar, where they lean their hands on the head of the bull and press down with all their body weight, and the scapegoat sent to Azazel, where the Kohen Gadol presses down. These are the only two, and therefore three are required for them.
Arifas Eglah:
When a person is found dead outside a city and it is not known who killed him - an obligation is placed upon the Sanhedrin to measure from the corpse to the nearest city, and the elders of that city perform the procedure that includes breaking the neck of the calf, which is the arifas eglah to which the Mishnah refers. The measuring to the nearest city is an obligation in its own right, and it is performed by three judges, as the Mishnah states here.
Source of the law and the dispute among the Tannaim:
The Tanna Kamma here, which is the view of Rabbi Shimon, derives the number of three in both cases from the verses:
For the Par He'elem Davar: "And the elders of the congregation shall lean" - the plural form is used, and the minimum of plural is two; and since a court cannot be evenly balanced, a third is required. And if you will ask, what is the relevance of a court here, as it is merely a procedure - the answer is that these three might be required to decide if the bull is disqualified due to a blemish and the like.
For the measuring of an eglah arufah: "And your elders and your judges shall go out and measure" - here too the plural form is used, meaning two; and since a court cannot be evenly balanced, we arrive at a third judge.
Rabbi Yehudah disagrees and holds that both actions are performed by five: "Shall lean" is plural - two, "the elders of" is plural - an additional two, making four; and since there cannot be an even number, a fifth is added. The same applies to the measuring: "Your elders and your judges" - two and two, making four, and because a court cannot be evenly balanced, we arrive at five.
The Rambam's Approach: Semichas Zekeinim as Ordaining a Judge:
It is interesting to note that as a matter of halachah, the Rambam rules that only three place their hands on the par he'elam davar, while measuring for the eglah arufah requires five. The reason for this is that the Rambam learned that the "semichas zekeinim" in our Mishnah does not refer to the par he'elam davar at all, but to the simple meaning of the words - the ordination of an elder, meaning the authorization of the transmission of the tradition that was practiced from the days of Moshe Rabbeinu onward.
This ordination is called semichah because originally Moshe Rabbeinu literally leaned his hands upon Yehoshua, granting him the authority to take his place and to issue rulings. In every generation since, one who was ordained would ordain his student after him to judge as a dayan. This procedure takes place in Eretz Yisrael alone, and it requires a formal oral appointment, which can be limited to certain areas or encompass all areas of Torah. Since presence in Eretz Yisrael is required, the procedure ceased at the end of the Amoraic period, in the fourth century, with the relocation of the center of the Jewish population to Bavel. Since then, semichah has not been renewed, as a continuous chain is required, and once the chain was broken, renewing it is not practical in our days.
According to the Rambam, for ordaining a judge, it is sufficient to have one person who has already received semichah and another two laymen. Rashi, on the other hand, learns that three people with semichah are required to ordain another judge. The Rambam adds a fascinating innovation: if all the sages of Eretz Yisrael agree to ordain a specific rabbi, he receives semichah anew, and in this way the chain can be started again in preparation for the coming of the Mashiach - provided that all the sages of Eretz Yisrael participate in it.
It is worth mentioning a fascinating historical event: about forty years after the Spanish Expulsion (1492), in the 16th century, the sages of Tzfas attempted to renew this procedure. All the sages of Tzfas ordained Rabbi Yaakov Beirav, and he subsequently ordained students, headed by Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch himself. However, the sages of Yerushalayim in that generation, led by Rabbi Levi ibn Chaviv, opposed the action taken in Tzfas - and it is possible that this undermined the whole matter, as the Rambam requires the participation of everyone, and they did not take part. This is the Rambam's approach in understanding "semichas zekeinim" that is done by three.
"Hachalitzah vehame'unin bishloshah" - Chalitzah and me'un are by three:
Chalitzah - when a person passes away and does not leave behind living offspring, his brother is expected to marry his widow in a procedure called yibbum. If he does not desire to do so, he may choose chalitzah instead. The word chalitzah refers to the removal of his shoe, as to "chalotz" means to remove. There are three basic stages to it:
The widow removes the shoe of the surviving brother.
She spits on the ground in front of him.
She says: "Kachah ye'aseh la'ish asher lo yivneh es beis achiv" - meaning that the living brother refuses to build a new lineage for his deceased brother.
Chalitzah requires three, and fundamentally they do not need to be ordained; simple people are sufficient, provided they know how to ensure that she says the words properly, and they function as a beis din for this matter. However, it is brought down that ideally two more are added, for a total of five present, to publicize the matter - so it will be publicly known that she is released from her bond and obligation to her yavam, and is permitted to marry anyone she desires.
Me'un, which literally means refusal, refers to a specific case: a minor girl who has not yet reached twelve years of age. As a rule, this minor cannot make acquisitions, including acquiring the status of marriage; she cannot marry and cannot receive the money of kiddushin. Had her father been alive, he could have received kiddushin for her, but if she is an orphan and her father passed away, the Sages instituted for her benefit that her mother or her brother who has reached the age of mitzvos can receive kiddushin for her, provided she agrees to it. Once she agrees, she is married before the age of twelve, and she is a married woman by rabbinic law.
Since the entire enactment was solely for her benefit, if she decides at a later stage, before reaching the age of mitzvos, that she has changed her mind and does not want this man - she rejects him. This is me'un, and retroactively she is considered as if she was never married, and she does not require a get or anything similar; everything is nullified. The Mishnah states that this me'un is done with three, like a regular beis din. In halachah, there may be another view that two witnesses are sufficient, and as long as she states this in their presence, her me'un is a valid me'un.
"Neta revai uma'aser sheni she'ein damav yedu'in bishloshah" - Fourth-year plantings and second tithe whose value is unknown are assessed by three:
Neta revai and maaser sheni are grouped together because their laws are identical, even though their subject matter is different. Neta revai refers to the crop of the fourth year: the fruits of a tree during its first three years are orlah and are strictly forbidden, whereas in the fourth year the fruits are permitted, but they must be brought up to Jerusalem and eaten there - exactly like the law of maaser sheni. After separating Terumah and maaser rishon for the kohen and the Levi respectively, one separates maaser sheni in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the Shemittah cycle (and in the other years one separates maaser ani), and brings it up to Jerusalem to eat it there in the Temple.
One who does not want to carry his neta revai or his maaser sheni all the way to Jerusalem is permitted to redeem their sanctity onto coins. The food loses its sanctity and becomes chullin, and is eaten anywhere outside of Jerusalem, while the coins are brought up to Jerusalem and used to buy food. The laws in this regard are identical for neta revai and maaser sheni. The redemption is done according to the value of the food being redeemed, and when it comes to one's own produce, he even adds a fifth.
And here the Mishnah states: "im ein damav yedu'im" - if its value is not known, meaning that the value of the produce is not known, three are required. With standard merchandise, such as grapes or wheat whose market price everyone knows, a person can redeem it himself and take coins according to the value of the produce. But if the wheat began to spoil, or the produce is unusual - old, defective, or molding - its price is not known, since it is not typically sold in stores and groceries. Therefore, one must bring a beis din of three who understand the accepted prices, and know how to determine the fair market price of second-rate produce, how much that defective wine which started to spoil will sell for in the market, and the like. The idea is that the person should not cheat the system but rather receive a fair price, and this evaluation requires a beis din of three.
From an exact reading of the Mishnah's language, which used "damav" - its value - in the singular, it emerges that neta revai requires a beis din of three in every situation, whereas maaser sheni requires this only when its value is not known. However, the Bartenura, like Rashi, had a different version of the text: "demeihem" - their value - in the plural, according to which the condition applies to both of them. This is therefore a variation in texts, and we will learn according to the approach of Rashi and the Bartenura, that this applies to both of them.
"Hekdeshos" - Consecrated property:
This refers to one who consecrates objects to the Temple for the purpose of temple maintenance: he has something that he wishes to give to the Temple - his old tennis shoes, tennis racket, and tennis ball. How much are these things worth if he wishes to redeem them and give their monetary value to the Temple? And similarly, if his neighbor consecrated his tennis racket, and now he wishes to buy it so that the money will go to the Temple - what is a fair price? The assumption is that with hekdesh, people consecrate all sorts of unusual things, like a used tennis racket, shoes, and balls, and therefore a beis din of three is required who know the price of used merchandise and can determine a fair price, so that the Temple will not be cheated.
"Ha'arachin hametaltelin bishloshah" - Valuations paid with movable property are assessed by three:
Arachin, which some pronounce as 'erchin' though this is inaccurate, refers to a section in the Torah that details a table of values for people, according to male or female and according to age. This is a simple table: a forty-year-old man, for example, has a value of fifty shekels. This is not the true value in the slave market, but rather merely a fixed price list.
A person who says "Behold, my valuation is upon me to the Temple" or "Behold, the valuation of my friend is upon me to the Temple" - and this is one of the ways to give money to the Temple - might do so, for example, after being saved from a car accident, and he seeks to give a gift to Hashem and thank Him for saving him or his son. In such a case the matter is simple, for this involves a price list written in black and white in the Torah. But if he does not have cash to pay the fifty shekels, and he gives movable property of this value - his tennis racket and tennis balls - how many tennis balls add up to the value of fifty shekels? For this, a beis din is required, for this is not a fixed matter. This is "ha'arachin hametaltelin bishloshah" - valuations paid with movable property are assessed by three: one who pays his valuation obligation with movable property needs three judges to determine the fair price.
This point must be clarified: this does not refer to one who consecrates his worth, his monetary value, to the Temple - since there the amount is determined according to his value in the slave market, and we will discuss that later.
"Rabbi Yehudah omer, echad mehen kohen" - Rabbi Yehudah says, one of them must be a kohen:
Rabbi Yehudah says, based on the verses, that when establishing this panel for assessing movable property for the purpose of paying a valuation obligation, it is mandatory that one of the members of the panel be a kohen.
And further on: "Veha'karkaos tishah vekohen" - and for land, nine and a kohen. One who redeems land to fulfill a pledge of a valuation (and there are those who learn that this refers generally to one who consecrates land and it is being redeemed) requires ten people in total to establish the fair value of the land: nine who understand land prices, and one man who is a kohen. This is derived from the verses, and the number ten is derived from the fact that the word "kohen" appears ten times in the Torah section dealing with the redemption of land.
"Ve'adam kayotzei bahen" - and a person is similar to them. The same law applies when redeeming a person, and this is what was mentioned earlier: one who consecrates his own value or that of another ("I hereby consecrate the value of my son to the Temple"), which is not a fixed valuation but rather monetary value. What is the value of a person? His value in the slave market, when sold as an economic asset - how much a person is worth as a Canaanite slave. This matter is complicated, and therefore a panel of ten is required. And why is this judged like the law of land? Because a Canaanite slave is equated to land throughout the entire Torah, and therefore, just as land requires ten, one of whom is a kohen, so too the appraisal of a person's value for the purpose of a pledge to the Temple treasury is done by ten, one of whom is a kohen.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned the number of judges required for various procedures: the laying of the hands of the elders and the breaking of the heifer's neck by three according to the Tanna Kamma and by five according to Rabbi Yehudah, as well as the Rambam's view interpreting "laying of the hands of the elders" as the ordination of a judge; chalitzah and mi'un by three; the appraisal of fourth-year plantings and Maaser Sheni whose values are unknown, consecrated items, and movable property for the payment of valuations - by three; whereas land and a person - by nine and a kohen.