Study Sanhedrin folio 11A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
by those who were invited by the Nasi, the president of the Great Sanhedrin, for that purpose. There was an incident involving Rabban Gamliel, who said to the rabbis: Bring me 7 of the rabbis early tomorrow morning to the loft designated for convening a court to intercalate the year. He went to the
Shmuel HaKatan stood up and said: I am he who ascended without permission; and I did not ascend to participate and be one of those to intercalate the year, but rather I needed to observe in order to learn the practical halakha. Rabban Gamliel said to him: Sit, my son, sit. It would be fitting for a
The Talmud relates that the story about Shmuel HaKatan is similar to an incident that occurred when R' Yehuda HaNasi was sitting and teaching, and he smelled the odor of garlic. R' Yehuda HaNasi was very sensitive and could not tolerate this odor. He said: Whoever ate garlic should leave. R' Ḥiyya
And from where did R' Ḥiyya learn that characteristic of being willing to implicate himself in order to save someone else from being embarrassed? He learned it from R' Meir, as it is taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving a certain woman who came to the study hall of R' Meir. She said
And from where did R' Meir learn that characteristic? From Shmuel HaKatan, in the incident outlined above. And from where did Shmuel HaKatan learn it? From Shecaniah ben Jehiel, as it is written: “And Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra: We have broken f