Baby light my fire TB Sanhedrin 32

Today we began the fourth chapter of our massekhet with daf TB Sanhedrin 32. The Mishnah delineates the differences and similarities between civil cases and capital cases. As usual the Gemara goes off on a tangent unrelated to court cases concerning brit milah and weddings .

Have you ever been to a Jewish wedding where candles are carried down the aisle? Even if you haven’t, I’m sure you seen the scene in the movies Fiddler on the Roof (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLLEBAQLZ3Q)  and Yentl (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au9pGQ9AuUs&t=111s). The origin of this custom is found on today’s daf.

“If one produces the sound of a millstone in the city called Burni, this is tantamount to announcing: Week of the son, week of the son, i.e., there will be a circumcision. If one displays the light of a lamp in the city called Beror Ḥayil, this is tantamount to announcing: There is a wedding feast there, there is a wedding feast there.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashi ד"ה שְׁבוּעַ הַבֵּן, שְׁבוּעַ הַבֵּן explains that these customs began during the Hadrianic persecution when Rome forbade the observance of Judaism. The sound of the millstone and the light of the labs was a way of secretly informing the population that a celebration is going to take place. Tosefot ד"ה קוֹל רֵיחַיִם בְּבוּרְנִי quotes Jeremiah as proves that these were ancient means of informing the population. “And I will banish from them the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride, and the sound of the mill and the light of the lamp.” (25:10)

Some have suggested that medicinal herbs were ground in preparation for the brit milah. The Jerusalem Talmud records that the tradition of lighting lights at a wedding remains in force even though the Hadrianic persecution laws were annulled.