Rosh Hashanah 31B

ומיבנה לאושא, ומאושא ליבנה, ומיבנה לאושא, ומאושא לשפרעם, ומשפרעם לבית שערים, ומבית שערים לצפורי, ומצפורי לטבריא. וטבריא עמוקה מכולן, שנאמר: ״ושפלת מארץ תדברי״.

and from Yavne to Usha; and from Usha it returned to Yavne; and from Yavne it went back to Usha; and from Usha to Shefaram; and from Shefaram to Beit She’arim; and from Beit She’arim to Tzippori; and from Tzippori to Tiberias. And Tiberias is lower than all of them, as it is in the Jordan Valley. A verse alludes to these movements, as it is stated: “And brought down, you should speak out of the ground” (Isaiah 29:4).

רבי אלעזר אומר: שש גלות, שנאמר: ״כי השח יושבי מרום קריה נשגבה ישפילנה ישפילה עד ארץ יגיענה עד עפר״. אמר רבי יוחנן: ומשם עתידין ליגאל, שנאמר: ״התנערי מעפר קומי שבי״.

R' Elazar says: There are 6 exiles, if you count only the places, not the number of journeys, and a different verse alludes to this, as it is stated: “For He has brought down those who reside high, the lofty city laying it low, laying it low, to the ground, bringing it to the dust” (Isaiah 26:5). This verse mentions 6 expressions of lowering: Brought down, laying it low, laying it low, to the ground, bringing it, and to the dust. R' Yoḥanan said: And from there, i.e., from their lowest place of descent, they are destined to be redeemed in the future, as it is stated: “Shake yourself from the dust, arise, sit, Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:2).

מתני׳ אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה: ועוד זאת התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי, שאפילו ראש בית דין בכל מקום, שלא יהו העדים הולכין אלא למקום הועד.

Mishnah: R' Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: And this, too, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai instituted, that even if the head of the court of 71 is in any other place, not where the Great Sanhedrin is in session, the witnesses should nevertheless go only to the place where the Great Sanhedrin gathers to deliver testimony to determine the start of the month. Although the date of the month is dependent on the head of the Great Sanhedrin, as it is he who declares that the month is sanctified (see 24a), nevertheless, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai instituted that the members of the Great Sanhedrin may sanctify the month in the absence of the head of the court.