Sanhedrin Daf 42 - Kiddush Levana, Sekilah Outside of Three Machanos
Summary
- The shiur presents the sugya on kiddush levana as kabbalat p’nei Shechinah, detailing posture, location, orientation, and the nusach, with Rishonim and Acharonim explaining practices like standing, leaning, outdoor recitation, and facing the Mikdash; it analyzes women’s obligation through Magen Avraham, של״ה, and חכמת שלמה, and compares berachot like havdalah and birkat ha’ilanot. It presents Rav Yehuda’s nusach and the girsa’ot of po’alei emet versus po’el emet, then expounds “u’v’tachbulot” as requiring chavilot of Mishnah, with Rav Yosef applying “v’rav tevuot b’koach shor” to himself. It rules on testimony discrepancies about time around sunrise, delineates the elevation of a talmid who is melamed z’chut, restricts wine for dayanim in dinei nefashot, addresses stalemates and whether to add dayanim, and defines “נזדקן הדין” either as קש דינא or חכם דינא, with Rambam ruling like קש דינא and Kesef Mishneh questioning. It opens Perek 6 with sekilah procedures, describes Beit haSekilah outside Beit Din and ultimately outside three machanot with recall mechanisms for new z’chut, and derives the location from מקלל via פרים הנשרפים rather than from שחוטי חוץ because מכשיר ממכשיר עדיף.
- Rabbi Acha bar Chanina in the name of Rabbi Asi in the name of Rabbi Yochanan states that reciting the blessing on the month in its time equals greeting the Shechinah, derived from “hachodesh hazeh” and “zeh Keli v’anvehu.” Tanna deBei Rabbi Yishmael states that if Israel merit only to greet their Father in Heaven monthly, that suffices. Abaye states הלכך נמרינהו מעומד, establishing standing as the posture for this encounter.
- Mari bar Mar Zutra “mikhtafi u’mevarchi” receives multiple explanations: Aderet explains leaning due to frailty as a bedi’eved standing; אור זרוע attributes being carried on shoulders מרוב שמחה; Meiri describes קופצים ומברכין; Rabbeinu Manoach explains being lifted to see the moon; others describe shoulder-to-shoulder as derech kavod. Rema (תכ"ו סעיף ד') rules not to recite תחת הגג, with מהרי"ל attributing it to מקום טהרה concerns and Igrot Moshe (אגרות משה אורח חיים חלק א' סימן קמ"ד) emphasizing the unique kabbalat p’nei Shechinah standard; Bach explains that derech kavod demands going out to greet a chashuv guest. The practice of standing aligns with this kavod, even when chairs are available.
- Rambam (Hilchot Berachot 10:17) rules to recite standing and allows recitation until day sixteen if the first night is missed; many infer that standing applies when reciting on the first night, which is not our minhag, and Rav Moshe explains that Shulchan Aruch’s omission of me’umad follows Rambam. Poskim direct one to face mizrach for this encounter with Hashem as in Shemoneh Esreh; Rav Shlomo Stern notes that the direction is toward the Makom HaMikdash based on one’s location.
- Rav Achi reports that in Eretz Yisrael they said “Baruch mechadesh chadashim,” and Rav Ashi dismisses such a minimal nusach as too simplistic. Magen Avraham reads “nashi didan” as amei ha’aretz and, citing של״ה, exempts women as a mitzvat aseh shehazman gerama and adds “hem gar’mu pegam halevanah,” while חכמת שלמה argues that *kiddush levana* is not zman gerama because the act depends on a happening rather than a calendrical assignment, analogizing to Ramban (Kiddushin 34) on sefirat ha’omer when it is derabbanan. Magen Avraham further argues, from havdalah (סימן רצ״ו), that when the entire mitzvah is the berachah, women do not volunteer even according to Rema; the shiur weighs birkat ha’ilanot as event-based and possibly tied to birkot ha’nehenin, in which women are obligated.
- Rav Yehuda presents the nusach: “Baruch asher b’ma’amaro bara shchakim… v’livanah amar shetit’chadesh… baruch Atah Hashem mechadesh chadashim,” describing the celestial order as reliable agents and the moon’s renewal as a sign for Israel’s renewal. Rashi explains פועלי אמת as the constellations not deviating from their order, while Tosafot cite a girsa of פועל אמת referring to Hashem, who with emet and din diminished the moon, aligning the flow to “v’lalvanah amar shetit’chadesh.”
- Rabbi Acha bar Chanina in the name of Rabbi Yochanan states that the true combat of Torah belongs to one who holds chavilot of Mishnah. Maharsha interprets תחבולות as chavilot by linguistic analysis, and Rav Yosef applies “v’rav tevuot b’koach shor” to himself as a Sinai, linking Yosef to shor and the role of marrei chitya.
- The Mishnah tolerates a gap between “two hours” and “three hours,” but Rav Shimi bar Ashi invalidates testimony when one says before sunrise and the other after sunrise. The Gemara extends invalidation to “kodem hanetz” versus “toch hanetz,” rejecting the possibility that one saw only rays.
- A talmid who presents a z’chut ascends; Abaye reads the Mishnah to mean that if there is mamash in his words he remains permanently, and if not he remains only that day. When a z’chut is found, the process reopens, votes can change, and if a conviction is possible, proceedings pause overnight with dayanim refraining from wine and limiting food.
- Rabbi Acha bar Chanina expounds “v’laroznim ei shachar” to prohibit intoxication for those engaged in the world’s secret, namely *dinei nefashot*. Tosafot distinguish that “shatui revi’it yayin al yoreh” applies to hora’ah of issur v’heter, while *dinei mamonot* do not carry the same restriction. The shiur notes broader halachic discussions on quantities for tefillah and their relationship to birkat ha’mazon.
- If no z’chut emerges and the court deadlocks, Rav Acha and Rabbi Yochanan state “potrin oto,” as a stalemate cannot convict. Abaye explains that the process of adding dayanim and re-arguing prevents “yotz’in mi’Beit Din me’uravvin,” avoiding the appearance of unresolved confusion, while an “ika de’amrei” presents Rabbi Yosi as opposing adding dayanim at all, treating the initial Beit Din as final in deadlock.
- A baraita states that the gadol she’badayyanim says “נזדקן הדין,” and the sugya explores two meanings: קש דינא (keep the case open) or חכם דינא (case concluded with confident wisdom). Rav Huna bar Menoach in the name of Rav Acha bar R. Ika limits the phrase to *dinei nefashot* as קש דינא, while Rav Ashi maintains the text for *dinei mamonot* as חכם דינא, resolving concerns of self-praise by framing it as responsibility resting on the gadol. Rambam (Hilchot Sanhedrin 9) rules נזדקן הדין as קש דינא for *dinei nefashot*, and Kesef Mishneh questions preferring this over Rav Ashi, who is batra and avoids emending the baraita.
- The perek begins with sekilah, either as the most severe or as the most detailed and proximate to the earlier avodah zarah context. The Mishnah states nigmar hadin and they take him out to be stoned, with Beit haSekilah outside Beit Din, a flag-bearer at the court door, and a mounted runner to halt the execution if anyone presents a z’chut. Even the condemned who claims “yesh li lilmod al atzmi z’chut” returns ארבע וחמש פעמים ובלבד שיש ממש בדבריו, and Rambam in his perush explains that “four or five” is lo davka when each claim has mamash.
- The sugya states that Beit haSekilah is chutz l’shalosh machanot, despite the Mishnah’s “chutz l’Beit Din,” because even if Beit Din sits beyond the camps, the execution site still remains at a distance. The reasons include avoiding the appearance of murderous zeal—“ki’heichi d’lo michzi Beit Din rotz’chin”—and preserving time for potential rescue.
- “Hotze et hamekalel el michutz lamachaneh” teaches outside three machanot by gezeirah shavah to פרים הנשרפים, where “michutz lamachaneh” repeats to add Machaneh Shechinah, Machaneh Leviyah, and Machaneh Yisrael through the par Kohen Mashiach, par ha’e’lem davar shel tzibbur, and deshen loci. The chain proceeds: par Kohen Mashiach is chutz l’shtei machanot via the extra “michutz lamachaneh” by par ha’eidah, and deshen’s “michutz lamachaneh” adds the third, yielding the template for the mekallel’s sekilah outside three machanot.
- The Gemara considers learning from shechutei chutz (which is only chutz l’machaneh achas) but prefers פרים הנשרפים because of four points of affinity: lashon hotza’ah, “el michutz lamachaneh,” both are machshir, and both are mechaper. The counter-list for shechutei chutz—adam, chotei, b’neshamah, and pigul—is outweighed by the decisive factor “machshir mimachshir adif,” fixing the derivation that Beit haSekilah is outside all three machanot.
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