The designated Patriarch requires a kid. [Designated means that specifically designted judges can intercalate a month. Patriarch reminds us that we cannot intercalate unless the Patriarch agrees. Reguires reminds us that only intercalate when it is required. And Goat reminds us that we do not intercalate a month for the sake of young goats.]
We learned in a b'raita: We do not intercalate the year [i.e., add a month] except through judges designated for that purpose [Rashi: they were designated in advance by the Partriarch]. There was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel in which he said "Awaken seven (judges) early for me [to meet me] on the upper story [where the court usually convened]." He got up (the next morning) and found eight. He said "Whoever came here without permission should go down [i.e., leave]." Shmuel haKatan ["Little Shmuel"] stood and said "I am the one who came without permission, but not to intercalat1e the month [i.e., not to participate in the deliberations], but to learn the practical halakhot. He [Rabban Gamliel] said: "Sit, my son, sit. All the years are worthy of being intercalated by you, but the Sages said that we intercalate only with designated judges.
And it was not Shmuel haKatan (who came uninvited), but someone else, and he [Shmuel haKatan] did this to avoid embarrassment (of the person who really had not been designated).
[(Yerushalmi Sotah 9:13): Why was he called `Little Shmuel'? Because he habitually belittled himself. Others say that he was a bit lower in stature than the prophet Shmuel."]
[This superficially simple account raises many questions. If Rabban Gamliel was responsible for designating judges, why did he not know the identity of the uninvited scholar? And if Shmuel haKatan was indeed one of the designated judges, and didn't participate in the deliberations, then there would have been only six designated judges rather than the required seven. HaMeiri suggests that Rabban Gamliel was aware of this, citing the Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 1:2), where it is stated that the judges postponed the issue of intercalation to another session and discussed other matters instead.]
This [the account of how Shmuel haKatan said that he was not one of the assigned judges in order to protect the real miscreant from embarrassment] is like what occured when Rabbi was sitting and teaching, and he smelled garlic. He said: "Whoever ate garlic, leave!" R. Hiyya stood and left; all the other students then stood and left. The next morning, R. Shimon b. Rabbi found R. Hiyya and said: "Was it you who bothered my father?" He [R. Hiyya] answered : "Such a thing should never happen in Israel [Rashi adds the phrase "Heaven forfend", which is included elsewhere in this formula of denial, and explains that R. Hiyya knew that the other students would also leave, thus saving the garlic-eater from embarrassment].
And where did R. Hiyya learn [that this was appropriate]? From R. Meir, for we learned in a b'raita: There was an incident involving a woman who came to R. Meir's study hall, and said: "My teacher, one of you betrothed me through cohabitation.
[According to Jewish law, betrothal, the first step in marriage, can take place if a man and woman cohabit for the express purpose of establishing the betrothal. Betrothal by cohabitation was frowned upon by the rabbis, but is biblically valid. If the status of betrothal is not followed by full marriage, the betrothal must be dissolved by divorce. The woman could not identify the man with whom she had cohabited, but wanted either the full marriage or the divorce.]
R. Meir rose and wrote her a bill of divorce, and gave it to her. The students then rose and all wrote bills of divorce and gave them to her. [Thus, she indeed received the bill of divorce from the man who had betrothed her, but that man's identity remained protected.]
And where did R. Meir learn [that this was appropriate]? From Shmuel haKatan (as above). And where did Shmuel haKatan learn this? From Shechaniah b. Yechiel, as it is written (Ezra 10:2): "And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra: 'We have broken faith with our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing." [Rashi: Shecaniah himself had not intermarried, but confessed in order to avoid embarrassing those who had.]
And where did Secaniah learn to do this? From Joshua, as it is written (Josh 7:10-11): "And the Lord said unto Joshua: 'Get thee up; wherefore, now, art thou fallen upon thy face. Israel hath sinned." [The Israelites had suffered unexpected casualties at the battle of Ai. God told Joshua that His protection had been removed because one person, Achan, had sinned by taking spoils of war from Jericho. Thus, God chose not to identify the one sinner.]
He [Joshua] said before [God]: Master of the Universe, who has sinned? He [God] said to him: Am I a gossip? Cast lots [to identify the sinner].
Or, if you prefer, [Shecaniah learned this from] Moses, as it is written (Ex 16:28): "[And the Lord said unto Moses:] How long refuse ye to keep My commandments?" [Rashi: Only two people violated the law against attempting to collect the manna on Shabbat, yet God castigated the entire people.]
The rabbis learned in a b'raita: When the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Divine Spirit left Israel. Even so, they would rely on a Bat Kol (literally, an echo, that is, an indirect form of Divine Communication).
Once they [the rabbis] were sitting in the upper story of Guryah's house in Jericho, and a Bat Kol came from Heaven asking "Is there anyone here who merits that the Shekhinah [Holy Presence] shall rest upn him as it did on Moses our teacher, except that this generation does not merit this?" The sages looked to Hillel the Elder [whom they thought did indeed merit the Divine Presence]. When he died, they said of him "Woe, how pious; Woe how humble. He was a disciple of Ezra the Scribe."
Another time, they were sitting in the upper storey at Yavneh, and a Bat Kol came from Heaven asking "Is there anyone here who merits that the Shekhinah [Holy Presence] shall rest upon him, except that this generation does not merit this?" The sages looked to Shmuel haKatan. When he died, they said of him "Woe, how pious; Woe how humble. He was a disciple of Hillel." In fact, he said at the time of his death "Shimon and Yishmael will die by the sword, and their comrades will die by other means, and the rest of the nation will be despoiled, and terrible tragedies will befall the world."
[Rashi: Shmuel HaKatan's deathbed prophesy showed that the Divine Presence indeed rested on him; he accurately predicted that R. Shimon b. Gamliel {the Patriarch} and R. Yishmael {the High Priest} would die by the sword at the hands of the Romans, and that their comrades {e.g., R. Akiva, R. Hanina b. Teradyon] would be killed by other means. Their deaths are recounted in the "Ten Killed by the Government" section of the Yom Kippur liturgy, although they did were not murdered at the same time.]
And they wanted to say the same thing about Yehuda b. Bava, but they did not have the opportunity to do so, because we do not eulogize people killed by the government. [Rashi: Such people were buried immediately, without extensive eulogies, because of fear of government interference.]
The rabbis learned in a b'raita: We do not intercalate the year unless the Nasi [Patriarch] agrees. There was an incident in which Rabban Gamliel went to get permission [Rashi: for some communal matter] from a ruler in Syria, and his return was delayed, and they [the rabbis intercalated the year on the condition that Rabban Gamliel would agree. When he returned, and Rabban Gamliel said that he agreed, the year was (confirmed to be) a leap year.
The rabbis learned in a b'raita: We do not intercalate the year unless it was necessary because of the roads and bridges [if the roads and bridges had been damaged by the winter rains, people would not be able to go to the Temple in Jerusalem] or because of the Paschal ovens [used for roasting the Paschal lamb -- the ovens might need extra time to dry out after the rainy winter season] or because of the Diaspora Jews who had not yet arrived [Jews who had started their pilgrimage, but whose arrival in Jerusalem for Passover had been delayed].
But not because of snow or cold weather [which would not hinder travel] or for Disapora Jews who had not yet left their homes [for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem].
The rabbis taught in a b'raita: We do not intercalate because of the kids and not for the lambs. [Rashi: The Paschal sacrifice required a goat or sheep that was less than a year old {i.e., had been born after the previous Passover}. Since the sacrifice was brought by and eaten by entire families, it would be better if the kids or lambs had an extra month of growth.]
And not for fledgling doves [Rashi: A variety of sacrifices required birds that were mature enough to fly. And many people who were required to bring such sacrifices {e.g., women who had given birth} delayed until they went to the Temple for Passover. If many of the doves were too young to fly, we might be tempted to declare a leap year, thus allowing an extra month of growth. The b'raita tells us that this was not a sufficient reason, given that pigeons that were too young to fly could also be brought as sacrifices.]
But we do consider these as supplementary reasons [for intercalation]. How? R. Yannai said in the name of Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel: We hereby announce to you that the doves are too immature and the lambs are too thin, and spring [the ripening of the grains] has not yet arrived, and it seems proper to me to add thirty days to the year. [Any one of these reasons by themselves would be insufficient, but the combination did indeed justify intercalation.]
They asked: How many days are intercalated? Thirty; Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel says a month [i.e., 29 days, an apparent contradiction].
Rav Papa said: [Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel meant to say that] of they want to they can add a month, and if they want to they can add thirty days.
Come see what a difference there is between the proud ones of earlier generations [Rabban Gamliel] and the humble ones of later generations [his son, Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel]:
We learned in a b'raita: Rabban Gamliel was sitting on a step on the Temple Mount, and Yohanan the scribe was standing in front of him with three prepared scrolls before him. He [Rabban Gamliel] said: Take one scroll and write "To our brothers in the Upper Galilee and to our brothers in the Lower Galilee: May your peace increase; we hereby inform you that the time has come for the removal of the tithes and to separate the tithes from the olive vats." And take one scroll and write: "To our brethren in the south: May your peace increase; we hereby inform you that the time for removal of the tithes has arrived, as has the time to separate the tithes from the sheaves of grain." And take one scroll and write: "To our brethren in the Babylonian Exile and in Media, and all the other diasporas of Israel: May your peace increase forever; we hereby inform you that the doves are immature and the sheep are thin, and spring time has not arrived, and it is appropriate, in my opinion and the opinion of my colleagues, to add thirty days to the year."
["Removal of the tithes" refers to the fact that, in non-Sabbatical years, the tithes must be appropriately handled by a deadline before Passover. The special message to the Diaspora Jews was to tell them that a leap year was being declared, which would affect the dates on which Passover was observed.]
[Rabban Gamliel was known as an overbearing Patriarch, often intolerant to his colleagues. Yet, when it came time to prepare the scrolls, he invoked the opinions of his colleagues. His son, Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel [see the beginning of this text] wrote a similar message without mentioning his colleagues' concurring opinions. Thus, even the "proud" Rabban Gamliel seems more humble than his "humble" son. Scholars criticized for pride in one generation seem more humble than those known for humility in a later generation!]
[The gemara rejects this instance as evidence for generalizing about the humility of those in Rabban Gamliel's generation:]
Perhaps this was after he was removed from his office. [Rashi: Rabban Gamliel was removed from the Patriarchate because of his intolerance. Perhaps this accounted for his humility, and we cannot assume that all scholars of his generation were equally humble. Tosafot suggests that the "colleague" to whom Rabban Gamliel referred to was his co-Patriarch, R. Elazar b. Azariah. The circumstances of Rabban Gamliel's removal from office, his replacement by R. Elazar b. Azariah and his eventual restoration to office as co-Patriarch with the latter, are described on Berakhot 27b-28a.]
[We end at the two dots on the nineteenth line from the top of 11b.]