תלמוד על סנהדרין 4:1

From where that “congregation” means ten people¹⁰⁶The discussion here is to prove that for a public invocation of the Name one needs a congregation of at least ten adult males. The relevant verses are Lev. 19:2 “Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel and tell them: conduct yourselves in holiness because I, The Eternal, your God, Am Holy” and Lev. 22:32 “I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel.” The same discussion is reported Megillah 4:4, Sanhedrin 1:4. The parallel discussion in the Babli, Megillah 23a, in the name of the first generation Rebbi Ḥiyya, is based on the second verse and is intelligible only if it is understood as reference to the derivation in the Yerushalmi.? Rebbi Abba and Rebbi Yasa in the name of Rebbi Yoḥanan: It is said here “congregation” and it says there¹⁰⁷“Here” refers to Lev. 19:2, “there” to Num. 14:27: “How long for this evil congregation”, speaking of the ten spies who argued against entering the Land. There were twelve spies in all; Joshua and Caleb were in the opposition; accordingly there were ten evil persons who formed the congregation. “congregation”. Since “congregation” mentioned there means ten, so also “congregation” mentioned here must mean ten. Rebbi Simon said, it is said here “in the midst” and it is said there “in the midst” (Gen. 42:5): “The sons of Israel came to buy grain in the midst of those who came.” Since “in the midst” said there means ten, so also here it must mean ten. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said to him, if you deduce from “in the midst”, there are too many of them¹⁰⁸In particular, in Lev. 22:32, “in the midst” must mean 600’000 adult males. In the Babli, Lev. 22:32 is used to establish a formal parallel, known as gezerah shawah, between this verse and the one from Genesis. The latter verse is then used to arrive at the number ten (since of the twelve tribes, Joseph and Benjamin were missing). From the Babli it seems that there was a tradition linking the two verses (since in its opinion, gezerah shawah must be based on a tradition) and, therefore, R. Simon is forced to quote a verse that in itself seems to be less adequate than the one used before.. But it is said here “the children of Israel” and it is said there “the children of Israel.” Since “children of Israel” said there means ten, so here it also must mean ten.