The Great Sanhedrin was composed of seventy-one [judges], and a lesser one of twenty-three. From where [do we know] that the great one was seventy-one? Because it says: Gather to me seventy men from the leaders of Israel, and Moses [pre-sided] over them; hence, seventy-one. R’ Yehudah says: Seventy. And from where [do we know] that a lesser one is com-prised of twenty-three? Because it says: And the congregation shall judge ... and the congregation shall save —- a congrega-tion which judges and a congregation which saves; we thus arrive at twenty. And from where [do we know] that a congregation consists of ten? Because it says: Until when, this evil congregation? —- which excludes Joshua and Caleb. And from where do we [know to] include another three? From the implication of that which it says: Do not follow a majority to convict, I may infer that I should follow them to exonerate. If so, why does it say: according to the majority [the matter] shall be de-cided? [This teaches that] the decision to convict is unlike the decision to exonerate. The decision to exonerate turns on the vote of one; [while] the decision to convict [must] turn on the vote of two. But since no court may consist of an even number, we must add another, for a total of twenty-three.  How many must be in a town to warrant a sanhedrin? One hundred and twenty. R’ Nechemiah says: Two hundred and thirty, corresponding to the officers of the tens.

The Kohen Gadol may judge and be judged. He may testify, and he may be testified against. He may perform chalitzah, and chalitzah may be performed with his wife, and yibum may be performed with his wife. However, he may not perform yibum, because he is forbidden to [marry] a widow. [If] someone [close] to him dies, he may not follow the bier; rather, [once] they pass from view, he may appear; [where] they appear, he must remain concealed from view; and goes with them until the entrance to the town; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. R’ Yehudah says: He does not leave the Temple, as it is stated: And from the Temple, he shall not depart. When he comforts others, it is customary for all the people to pass along one after an-other, and the appointed one places him between himself and the people. When he is comforted by others, all the people say to him, “We are your atonement,” and he says to them, “May you be blessed from Heaven.” When they feed him the mourner’s meal, all the people sit on the ground and he sits on a stool.