רבי שמעון בן הסגן

Rabbi Shimon ben HaSegan was a tanna whose name reflects his connection to the Temple service — his teachings center on the workings of the Beit HaMikdash and its offerings. In several places his rulings are brought by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who states them in his name.

In Shekalim he describes the parochet (the curtain) in fine detail: its thickness of a handbreadth, its weaving on seventy-two strands with twenty-four threads to each strand, and its measurements — a level of precision that points to firsthand familiarity with the Temple’s furnishings. In matters of the festival offerings, he holds (as cited by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel) that the eating of certain consecrated breads overrides Yom Tov but not a fast day; this view appears in Menachot and is taken up in the discussion in Pesachim. His teachings thus appear chiefly in the tractates dealing with the Temple and the offerings, where his words on the lechem hapanim and the two loaves are also recorded.