{"collection":"Texts of Judaism","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_jud_bata_bata15_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_jud_bata_bata15_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_jud_bata_bata15_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/jud/bata/bata15.htm","summary":"This is a translated selection from the Babylonian Talmud (the 1944 edition by Leo Auerbach), a foundational text of rabbinic Judaism comprising both the Mishnah (codified oral law) and Gemara (rabbinical analysis and debate). The excerpts focus on Jewish jurisprudence: how courts are constituted, what size tribunal governs different categories of cases (from three judges for monetary disputes to seventy-one for capital cases or declarations of war), and the special legal standing of the High Priest and King. A notably distinctive feature is the Talmud's characteristic dialectical method \u2014 rulings are immediately subjected to counter-argument, reductio ad absurdum, and precedent, as when Rabbi Abahu lampoons an overly strict majority-vote interpretation by showing it would bloat the Sanhedrin to 141 members. The text also includes memorable narrative illustrations of legal principles in action, such as the story of Simon ben Shetah confronting King Yanai in court (resulting in divine punishment and the rule that kings stand outside judicial reach), and Samuel the Little falsely claiming to be an uninvited guest to spare a colleague embarrassment. Readers interested in the origins of Western legal reasoning, the mechanics of rabbinic argumentation, or the intersection of religious authority and civil law will find this a richly concrete window into that tradition.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"The Babylonian Talmud in Selection: Nezikin (Law): Law of Procedure (Tractate Sanhedrin)","tradition":"Texts of Judaism","translated_text":null,"word_count":8494}