R. Meir dit: Quand un homme subit [une punition à cause de sa transgression], que dit-il (la Shechinah), (pour ainsi dire) [c'est-à-dire, comment exprime-t-il plainte et grief à son égard?] "Kalani meroshi" [ "Ma tête pèse sur moi"], Kalani mizro'i "[" Mon bras est lourd sur moi "(comme quelqu'un qui est fatigué;)" kalani "=" Je ne suis pas "léger" "] Si le L rd est ainsi lésé sur le sang des méchants qui est répandu, à plus forte raison sur le sang des justes! Et non seulement cela [c'est-à-dire, non seulement celui qui laisse un homme exécuté pendant la nuit transgresse], mais celui qui laisse son mort ( non enterré) du jour au lendemain transgresse un commandement négatif. S'il le laissait du jour au lendemain pour son honneur, pour lui apporter un cercueil ou des linceuls, il ne transgresserait pas. Et ils ne l'enterreraient pas (celui exécuté par Beth-Din) dans les cryptes de son ancêtres, [car un malfaiteur n'est pas enterré à côté d'un homme juste], mais il y avait deux lieux de sépulture attribués à Beth-Din, un pour ceux tués par l'épée ou par étranglement, et l'autre, pour ceux qui ont été tués par lapidation ou par brûlure. [Car celui qui était susceptible d'une mort très grave n'est pas enterré à côté de celui qui était susceptible d'une mort moindre. C'est une loi reçue: deux et non quatre.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
בזמן שאדם מצטער – for retribution comes upon him for his transgression.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Introduction
Mishnah five deals with several subjects: 1) God’s sorrow at seeing one of His children die; 2) the commandment to bury all people on the day they die; 3) the process of burying the executed criminal.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
מה לשון אומרת – in which language does God’s presence bewails and laments on him?
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
R. Meir said: “When man suffers, what expression does the shechinah (God’s use? “My head is too light (a euphemism for for me, my arm is too light (a euphemism for for me.” If god is so grieved over the blood of the wicked that is shed, how much more so over the blood of the righteous! Throughout this chapter we have seen that although the Rabbis did allow executions to take place, after all the Torah talks in many places about executions, they were troubled by this punishment and went to lengths to make sure that no innocent man was ever executed. Furthermore, according to the Rabbis, execution expiates the criminal of his sin, thereby allowing him a place in the world to come. Our mishnah continues with this trend by stating God’s pain at the loss of even a criminal. According to Rabbi Meir as the execution is being carried out, God exclaims that his head and arms are too heavy to bear. We learn from this that if God mourns so greatly for the death of the wicked, all the more so will He mourn at the bloodshed of the righteous.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
קלני מראשי – my head is heavy upon me and my arm is heavy upon me as a person who is tired.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
And not only of this one [a criminal did the sages not to leave him overnight] but whosoever lets his dead lie over night transgresses a negative commandment. If he kept him over night for the sake of his honor, to procure for him a coffin or a shroud, he does not transgress. We learned in mishnah four that one is not allowed to leave the body of the executed man hanging over night. Rather the court must bury him that very day. In mishnah five we learn that not only are criminals to be buried on the same day they die but every Jew should be buried on the same day that he dies. Although most Jews do not still observe this custom, mostly due to people having to travel to make the funeral, and many funerals are delayed by a day or two, Jews in Jerusalem are still usually buried on the same day that they die. Furthermore, Jewish law prohibits the use of chemicals to preserve the body, making a quick burial all the more imperative. The mishnah adds that if the delay was for the sake of the dead person, to arrange a proper burial, then no negative commandment is transgressed.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
קלני – I am not light-headed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
And they did not bury him [the executed person] in his ancestral tomb, but two burial places were prepared by the court, one for those who were decapitated or strangled, and the other for those who were stoned or burned. In this section and in the following mishnah we return to the subject of the executed criminal. Jewish burial, and indeed many forms of ancient burial, was a two stage process. First the person was buried and allowed to lie in the ground until his flesh deteriorated. When this occurred they would collect the bones and put them into an ossuary with the bones from other deceased members of his family. According to our mishnah the initial burial of the criminal was in a special grave reserved for those executed by the court. There were two graves, one for those decapitated and strangled, and one for those burned and stoned. (These are the four types of execution mentioned in the mishnah, as we will learn in the next chapter).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
ולא זה בלבד – he transgresses the negative commandment of (Deuteronomy 21:23 – “you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury him the same day…”) if you delayed his burial.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sanhedrin
Questions for Further Thought: • What is the connection between section one and section two? In other words, why does the mishnah discuss the need for a speedy burial of non-criminals here as opposed to mishnah four?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
לא היו קוברין אותו בקברות אבותיהן – because we do not bury a wicked person next to a righteous one.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sanhedrin
שני קברות היו מתוקנין לבית דין – because we don’t bury a person who was liable for a more stringent death penalty near one who was liable for a lesser death [penalty], and the Halakha is known well by two and not by four.
