Sadducees

The Sadducees say: We denounce you, Pharisees! For you say that holy Scriptures render the hands impure, but the books of Homer [literally: Hameiras, i.e. secular books] do not render the hands impure. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said "And is this alone all we have [to object to] over Pharisees? For they also say that the bones of a donkey are pure, but the bones of Yochanan the high priest are impure." They [the Sadducees] said to him, "In accordance with their love is their impurity, so that one does not fashion the bones of his father or his mother into spoons." He said to them, "So too regarding the sacred Scriptures; in accordance with their love is their impurity; and the books Homer, which are not beloved, do not render the hands impure."

The Sadducees say: We denounce you, Pharisees, for you declare pure the stream [which flows when a liquid is poured from a clean vessel into an unclean one]! The Pharisees say: We denounce you, Sadducees, for you declare pure a channel of water which flows from a cemetery! The Sadducees say: We denounce you, Pharisees, for you say, if my ox or my donkey cause any damage, I am liable [to compensate], but if my manservant or maidservant cause any damage, I am exempt [from compensating]! Just as with regard to my ox and my donkey, with which I am not obligated to perform any mitzvot, and I am thereby [still] liable [to compensate] for damages, does it not follow with regard to my manservant or maidservant, with whom I am obligated to perform mitzvot, that I should be liable [to compensate] for damages [which they cause]?! They [the Pharisees] said to them, "No. If [i.e. just because] you stated this [law] with regard to my ox or my donkey, which do not have cognitive capabilities, would you say this with regard to my manservant or maidservant who do have cognitive capabilities?!" For [if that logical leap is made], if I offend [one of] them, he may go and set fire to another's [grain] pile, and I will be liable to pay for damages!"

A Galilean Sadducee said, "I denounce you, Pharisees, for you inscribe [the name of] the sovereign alongside [the name of] Moshe on a bill of divorce! The Pharisees say: We denounce you, Galilean Sadducee, for you inscribe [the name of] the sovereign alongside the [Divine] Name on the [same] page! And not only that, but you inscribe [the name of] the sovereign on the top, and the [Divine] Name on the bottom, as the verse states, (Exodus 5:2) "And Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord that I should hearken to his voice to release Israel?'" And what did he says when he was smitten by [by the plagues]? (Exodus 9:11) "The Lord is the Righteous One."

When Shavuot occurs on Friday, Beit Shammai says that the day of slaughter [for its burnt offerings] is after Shabbat [i.e., on Sunday]. And Beit Hillel says, that the day after Shabbat is not the day for slaughter [rather it is Friday], but agrees that if Shavuot occurs on Shabbat, the next day [Sunday] is the day of slaughter. And the High Priest does not wear his vestments [on a day to which slaughter is postponed], and one may eulogize and fast, so as not to give credence to the words of those [the Sadduccees] that say Shavuot occurs the day after Shabbat.

How would they do [the reaping of the omer]? The agents of the court would go out on the eve of the holiday and they would make them into bundles while they were still attached to the ground so that they would be easy to cut. And all cities that were near there would come so that it would be cut with a great fanfare. Once it got dark, [the reaper] would say to them, "Has the sun set?" and they would answer "Yes!". Has the sun set? and they would answer "Yes!" "With this a sickle?" and they would answer "Yes!", "With this a sickle?" and they would answer "Yes!" "Into this a basket?", and they would answer "Yes!", "Into this a basket?" and they would answer "Yes!" On Shabbat, he would say to them, "Is it Shabbat?" and they would answer "Yes!", "Is it Shabbat?" and they would answer "Yes!" "Shall I reap?" and they would answer "Reap!" "Shall I reap?" and they would answer "Reap!" Three times for each question and they would answer, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Why so much? To prove wrong the Baitusim [a sect akin to the Sadducees, who rejected the Oral Torah] who would say that the omer was only reaped on [the day] after [the first day of the Pesach] holiday.

§ Apropos the dispute between the Sadducees and the Sages, it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda ben Tabbai says in the form of an oath: I will not see the future consolation of the Jewish people if I did not as a member of the court kill a single conspiring witness, in order to eradicate this reasoning from the hearts of the Sadducees, who would say: The conspiring witnesses are executed only if they are rendered conspiring witnesses after the accused will be killed. Rabbi Yehuda ben Tabbai killed the conspiring witness while the accused remained alive.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: That which is hidden is hidden, and that which is revealed is revealed, but in Heaven everything is known, and the great court in Heaven will exact payment from those who wear the cloak of the righteous but are in fact unworthy. The Gemara relates: King Yannai said to his wife before he died: Do not be afraid of the Pharisees [perushin], and neither should you fear from those who are not Pharisees, i.e., the Sadducees; rather, beware of the hypocrites who appear like Pharisees, as their actions are like the act of the wicked Zimri and they request a reward like that of the righteous Pinehas (see Numbers, chapter 25).

The Gemara asks: What is the reason that they were so stringent with regard to the purity of the heifer? The Gemara explains: It is since a priest who immersed that day is fit for service and may perform the ritual of the heifer after immersion, even before sunset, as we learned in a mishna: They would intentionally render the priest who burns the heifer ritually impure and immerse him immediately, to remove a misconception from the hearts of the Sadducees by means of a public display of disregard for their ruling. As the Sadducees would say: Only by those for whom the sun set was the heifer ritual performed. The Sadducees believed that it is prohibited for priests who began the purification process with immersion during that day to burn the red heifer until sunset, when the purification process is completed.

Atzereth (i.e., Shavuoth) which falls out on Sabbath eve — the day of its slaughtering is after Shabbath [i.e., The day of the slaughtering of the burnt-offering of "seeing" of yom tov is after Shabbath. For it is slaughtered neither on yom tov nor on Shabbath. And "payment" (of the offering) obtains with Shavuoth all seven days, as it does with Pesach and with Succoth.] And Beth Hillel say: There is no day of slaughtering after Shabbath [i.e., It does not require a "day of slaughtering," for it is permitted to slaughter it on yom tov. Beth Hillel are consistent with their ruling that it is permitted to bring peace-offerings and burnt-offerings on yom tov. The tanna apprises us here that even if it is impossible to do so the next day, as when Shavuoth falls out on Sabbath eve — even in such an instance Beth Shammai hold that a burnt-offering of "seeing" is not sacrificed on yom tov, and it is pushed off until after Shabbath.] And both agree that if Shavuoth falls out on Shabbath, the day of slaughtering is after Shabbath. And the high-priest does not clothe himself in [his festive] garments [on the "day of slaughtering" of Shavuoth after Shabbath, not adorning himself on that day so that all realize it is not yom tov. And eulogy and fasting are permitted on that day, so as not to substantiate the words of those who say that Shavuoth comes after Shabbath. [For the Sadducees said that Shavuoth is always after Shabbath, it being written (Leviticus 23:15): "And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Sabbath," which they interpreted as the Sabbath of creation, so that Shavuoth would always fall out on a Sunday.]

MISHNA: If the members of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem are not familiar with that one who saw the new moon, i.e., that he is a valid witness, the members of his local court of twenty-three send another with him to testify about him. The mishna adds: Initially, the court would accept testimony to determine the start of the month from any person, as all are presumed to be qualified witnesses, absent any disqualifying factors. However, when the Boethusians, a sect whose members had their own opinions with regard to the establishment of the Festivals, corrupted the process by sending false witnesses to testify about the new moon, the Sages instituted that they would accept this testimony only from those men familiar to the Sanhedrin as valid witnesses.