Kesubos - Daf 105

• The two דייני גזירות and the number of batei dinim in Yerushalayim

The opening Mishnah of the thirteen perek states: שני דייני גזירות היו בירושלים – Two Judges of Gezeiros were in Yerushalayim: Admon and Chanan ben Avishalom. After the Gemara mentions that there was a third judge, it questions whether there were only three judges in Yerushalayim, for Rebbe Pinchas said in the name of Rebbe Oshaya: שלש מאות ותשעים וארבעה בתי דינין היו בירושלים – There were three hundred and ninety-four courts in Yerushalayim, which Rashi identifies as courts of twenty-three judges, כנגדן בתי כנסיות וכנגדן בתי מדרשות וכנגדן בתי סופרים – and a corresponding number of shuls, a corresponding number of batei midrashim, where Mishnah and Talmud were learned, and a corresponding number of schools, for young children. The Gemara answers that in fact, there were many judges in Yerushalayim, and when they said there were only three, אגוזרי גזירות קאמרינן – we were speaking of those that issued decrees. 

•  The power and meaning of שוחד

The Daf deals extensively with the topic of שוחד – taking bribes. Rebbe Abahu said: בא וראה כמה סמויות עיניהן של מקבלי שוחד – Come and see how blind are the eyes of those who accept a bribe. אדם חש בעיניו נותן ממון לרופא ספק מתרפא ספק אינו מתרפא – When a person has pain in his eyes, he pays a doctor to heal him, and it is a safek if he will be healed or not, והן נוטלין שוה פרוטה ומסמין עיניהן – and yet they take a bribe worth only a perutah, and blind their eyes, as the passuk states: "כי השחד יעור פקחים" – for the bribe will blind those who see. The Gemara asks: מאי טעמא דשוחדא – What is the reason for the prohibition against taking a bribe, even if the bribe was given that there should be a proper judgment and the innocent party should be ruled innocent? It answers that once a judge takes a bribe from a litigant, he feels close to him as though the litigant is himself, ואין אדם רואה חובה לעצמו – and a person does not see wrong in himself. Rashi explains that even when a person strives to be honest, a person is not inclined to find wrong in himself. מאי שוחד – שהוא חד: What is the meaning of שוחד? The word signifies that it is something (shehu) that makes the giver of the bribe and the recipient of it one (chad).

•  שוחד דברים

It was taught in a Baraisa: "ושחד לא תקח"  - And a bribe you shall not take. אינו צריך לומר שוחד ממון אלא אפילו שוחד דברים נמי אסור – It is not necessary to say that that this passuk forbids a monetary bribe, rather even a bribe of words is also forbidden, from the fact that the passuk does not say, בצע לא תקח – money you shall not take. The Gemara brings several examples of שוחד דברים – a bribe of words. When Shmuel was crossing a bridge, a certain man approached him and gave him his hand for support. When Shmuel discovered that this man was going to be tried in his Beis Din, he told him that he is passul from rendering judgment in his case. When Ameimar was sitting in judgment, a feather flew onto his head, and a certain man approached and removed it from him. When Ameimar discovered that this man had a lawsuit in his Beis Din, Ameimar said that he was passul from judging his case.