Sanhedrin 21 - January 7, 7 Tevet

Today's daf is sponsored by the Greenstone family in honor of Adina Haggege and Amy Fredj's birthdays!  The Gemara discusses the rights and obligations of kings: A king has the right to take half of all war spoils, which is derived from the kohen gadol's portion of the showbread. Regarding the number of wives permitted to a king, Tanna Kama rules a maximum of 18 wives. Rabbi Yehuda says there is no numerical limit, only restricted if the wives turn his heart from God. Rabbi Shimon holds that even one wife is forbidden if she turns his heart from God, and even if they are righteous, the king is still limited to 18. This creates an apparent contradiction in their approaches to deriving laws from reasoning, as here Rabbi Yehuda follows reasoning behind the commandment while Rabbi Shimon doesn't, while in other places, Rabbi Shimon typically follows reasoning while Rabbi Yehuda doesn't. The number 18 comes from verses about King David (Samuel II 3:2-5), though some sources derive 24 or 48. The Gemara identifies Egla as Michal, creating a difficulty since Michal is known to have been childless while Egla is mentioned with a child. King David had 400 children from captive women who served as warriors in his army. His daughter Tamar, who was from a captive woman, was tragically assaulted by Amnon, which led to the institution of new protective laws. The Gemara discusses Amnon's tactics and his subsequent hatred of Tamar, followed by the laws that were established to protect women from such assaults. The king may only keep horses, gold, and silver needed for royal and military duties. The Torah generally avoids giving reasons for commandments because when reasons were given for royal laws, King Solomon misinterpreted them, thinking he could circumvent the commandments while adhering to their reasoning. The king requires specially written Torah scrolls for his use, which must be prepared specifically for him. How many? for what purpose?