Rosh Hashanah 25: גוחאדז"ט "Goodnight Moon"!

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Although this is the first mishnah of a new chapter, it is really the last mishnah to deal with the sanctification of the new month. It contains a few final rules governing how the court decides that the new month should be declared.

If the court and all of Israel saw it, if the witnesses were examined and there was no time left to say “Sanctified” before it grew dark, then the month is impregnated (it has thirty.

In this case, it was abundantly clear that the new month had arrived, but the court was not able to convene and sanctify it before it grew dark and the thirtieth day of the previous month was over. The mishnah rules that since the court did not have time to declare the new month sanctified, it is not sanctified and Rosh Chodesh will have to wait for the next day. We should note that again we see here the ideology that the court, that is humans, are what create the reality of the new month, and not the astronomical phenomenon itself.

We return to that moment that occurred over in Hebrew year 4119 (358/9 CE), considered by many to be the inauguration by Hillel II (Hillel ben R’ Yehuda) of the Fixed Hebrew Calendar, in use to this day and the work of Richarf Fielder in reconstructing the astronomical skies of that day.

Rosh Hashanah 24: Aniconism

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The Mishna relates that Rabban Gamliel had models of the moon in various positions in his study, which he would show to the people coming to testify.

The Gemara questions how Rabban Gamliel was allowed to fashion these devices, when the baraita interprets the passage (Shemot 20:20) that forbids the creation of idols and graven images to refer specifically to heavenly objects like the sun, moon, stars and constellations.

The answer offered by the Gemara is a difficult one – that Rabban Gamliel did not make the models himself; they were made by others. Tosafot and other rishonim argue that it is forbidden for Jews to have non-Jews perform tasks for them that are Biblically forbidden, which would seem to be the case here. A number of explanations are offered:

We explore the cultural and historical notions of aniconism and the struggle with religious imagery and depictions of the divine in other traditions.

Rosh Hashanah 23: Harvesting Coral

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The Mishna says that they brought beams of erez – cedar for the torches used for the bonfire. Rav Yehudah says there are four types of erez tree: erez, katrom, oil tree, and brosh. The Gemora cites three possibilities for the katrom tree: Rav says it is idra, Rabbi Shaila's bais medrash taught it is mavliga, while some say it is gulmish.

When Rav Dimi came, he said that three more species were added later: alon, almon, and almug trees, which are, respectively, botmim, balutim, kesisa- coral or coral wood.

Apropos the daf cites a relevant verse from Isa 33:21

כא כִּי אִם-שָׁם אַדִּיר יְהוָה, לָנוּ, מְקוֹם-נְהָרִים יְאֹרִים, רַחֲבֵי יָדָיִם; בַּל-תֵּלֶךְ בּוֹ אֳנִי-שַׁיִט, וְצִי אַדִּיר לֹא יַעַבְרֶנּוּ.

21 But there the LORD will be with us in majesty, in a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

What is this tzi adir? Rav said: This is a great ship [burnei] used to collect coral from the sea. Rashi identifies this as a dromon ship...from Greek δρόμων, dromōn, "runner")

We explore these ancient ships that harvested coral and the uses and abuses of this precious life form.

Rosh Hashanah 22: Witness Invalidation

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Our daf also quotes in full a Mishnah that appears in Massechet Sanhedrin (24b) that lists people who will not be accepted as witnesses in a Jewish court, because they are involved in monetary shenanigans that are forbidden by the Sages.

These people include dice players, money lenders who take interest, people who gamble on pigeon races, and those who market produce from the Sabbatical year.

We explore the Halachic legal system of courts with reference to modern Israeli judicial system,

Then meditate on Kafka's deconstruction of the modern state and its use and abuse of power through the courts.

Rosh Hashanah 21: The Elusive 50th Gate

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When the Temple stood, it was essential for the kohanim in the Mikdash to know whether the new month began on the 30th day or the 31st day after the previous Rosh Chodesh, so that they would know when they had to bring the special Mussaf sacrifice for Rosh Chodesh. This was so important that the Sages taught that it would be permissible for witnesses who saw the new moon to travel to the Temple to testify even if it was Shabbat and their travel would involve chillul Shabbat.

After the destruction of the Temple, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai ruled that this chillul Shabbat should only be limited to situations when it served an essential purpose.

Without the Temple sacrifices, it was deemed essential only for the months of Nissan and Tishrei, when it was necessary to establish the date of the holidays of Pesach, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.In the next Mishnah we are told of The rabbis go on to discuss Kohelet, King Solomon, who strived to be like Moses. He was the leader who decided that two witnesses were required to put someone to death. One witness was not enough to justify such a severe punishment.

Leaders must be lonely. They are surrounded by people who want to keep them happy. To find role models, they have to look to those who have been successful leaders in the past. Moses is the consummate leader; an obvious choice for King Solomon. But how would a king decide how to adapt that leadership model to his own reign? If Moses was not allowed to have the wisdom of G-d "the fiftieth gate", how should King Solomon use that information to become a better leader?

Just like Moses did not have this (50th Gate of ) wisdom of G-d, neither could one witness have reliable enough information to justify someone's death.

We explore this idea of the 50th gate of wisdom and its Kabbalistic intonations.

Rosh Hashanah 20: Dark Side of the Moon

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The Jewish calendar today is set based on calculations made by Hillel II in the time of the Gemara. Each month has either 29 or 30 days, so that over time, the months will stay in sync with the moon. As we have learned, during Talmudic times, the new month was based on testimony received from witnesses who saw the new moon, although the Sages who declared the new month had a fair amount of latitude to choose to postpone the announcement if they felt it necessary for one reason or another.

Rabbeinu Chananel and the Geonim point out that a decision on establishing the new month was dependent on a number of issues, some of which were well known, but others were known only to a small group of Sages who participated in sod ha-ibur – the closed assembly that actually made the final decision on this matter.

We explore the history of the lunar calendar from inner biblical analysis with Prof Sacha Stern to an astronomical historical comparison with other intercalating traditions by Prof Ari Belenkiy.

Rosh Hashanah 19: Megillat Ta'anit

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Megilat Ta’anit is a little known collection of statements about minor holidays and fasts that commemorate events which took place during the Second Temple period. On the minor holidays, fasting and eulogies were forbidden. Most of the events that are commemorated are from the period of the Hasmonean monarchy – a prime example being the story of Hanukkah – although there are also events from earlier and later periods included, as well.

The discussion in our daf revolves around the question of whether the commemorative days that appear in Megillat Ta’anit are still significant, or whether batlah Megilat Ta’anit – it has become null and void.

We explore the scholarly works investigating this ancient text first published in Mantua 1514.

Rosh Hashanah 18: Judging The Tzibur (Covid)

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In answer to the question posed by our daf as to how the same day can be both a day of fasting and a day of joy, Rav Papa explains that there are three possible scenarios that exist, which depend on the situation of the Jewish people in the world.

If there is shalom – peace – then these are days of celebration and happiness

If there is shemad (or, according to some readings gezerat malkhut) – oppression – then these are days of fasting

If there is neither shalom nor shemad, then it is up to the people to decide whether or not they will fast.

There is discussion about private vs communal judgment which leads us to examine the theological ramifications of communal suffering such as in a pandemic.

Rosh Hashanah 17: The Sinners of Israel

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Most of our daf deals with issues of teshuva (repentance) and kappara (forgiveness). We find Rabbi Yochanan introducing the 13 attributes of mercy presented by God to Moshe on Mount Sinai following the sin of the Golden Calf (Ex 34:6) as a formula taught by God that guarantees forgiveness.

A braisa is cited regarding the judgments of two different types of sinful people. Those that sin with their body will go down to Gehinom and will be punished there for twelve months. After twelve months, their body is destroyed, their souls get burned and a wind scatters their remains under the feet of the righteous.

One who has more transgressions than mitzvos and has committed a sin that is in the category of the rebellious sins will not have any cure. One who has precisely the same amount of transgressions as mitzvos, and included in his transgressions is a sin that is in the category of the rebellious sins, must be judged in Gehinom for a short time.

We explore sin and forgiveness from theological, psychological and hassidic perspectives.

Rosh Hashanah 16: Confusing The Satan

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The Gemara earlier (10b) quotes the dispute between Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua with regard to whether the world was created on the first of Tishrei (the day on which Adam ha'Rishon was created) or whether it was created on the first of Nisan. If the world was created (and Adam ha'Rishon was granted atonement for his sin) on the first of Tishrei as Rebbi Eliezer maintains, it is clear why the inhabitants of the world are called to task on that day every year (see Vayikra Rabah 29:1). However, if the world was created in Nisan as Rebbi Yehoshua maintains, then why was the first of Tishrei designated as the Day of Judgment for the year's deeds?

One of the most enigmatic reasons given for blowing the shofar is to confuse the Satan. How foolish can Soton benot to realize after thousands of years that the preliminary sounding of the shofar is only a ruse?

We struggle with a number of interpretations.

Rosh Hashanah 15: RH For Etrogim

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As we have learned on the previous dapim, there are several different dates on the calendar that distinguish one agricultural year from another. This is significant in establishing when tithes are taken, since every individual year’s harvest must have terumot and ma’asrot taken separately.

We have seen that the Mishnah (2a) teaches that the first day of Tishrei is the date of the new year for vegetables, while the new year for fruits begins in Shevat when most of the year’s rains have already fallen.

Our daf ends the rabbis' debates regarding our last Mishna on the many different New Years. Their discussions have allowed us to better understand halachot surrounding planting ,harvesting, tithing, and how we work with anomalies like the Sabbatical year and plants that take three years to produce ripe fruit.

The etrog continues to be used to elucidate our rabbis' arguments.

As it produces valuable fruit and it is a short tree; because it grows a fruit used for ritual purposes, the rabbis use this tree to explain their dilemmas. One of these regards tithing: if a fruit is planted or begins to grow in the sixth year of the sabbatical cycle and then it is ripe in the seventh year, can it be used and tithed in the seventh year? What if it grows through the seventh year but ripens in the eighth? These questions allow our rrabbis to discuss some of the particularities of the Sabbatical year and of tithing.

Rav Yannaii's inquiry as to whether Tu Bishvat occurs during the (season) lunar or (month) solar cycle allows us to explore further a fundamental cosmic difference and ambiguity of this festival and its halachic impact.

Rosh Hashanah 14: Arbor Day

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The Mishnah (2a) states that the Rosh Hashanah for trees is the first of Shevat according to Beis Shamai, and the fifteenth of Shevat according to Beis Hillel. The Gemara seeks a source for Shevat as the new year for trees, and it answers that since most of the rain of the year has already fallen by this time it is considered the end of the year for trees. Even though the winter season is not yet over and more rain may still fall, since a majority of the winter season has passed this date is considered the end of the year for trees.

The Gemara's intention is unclear. It is true that once most of the year's rain has fallen the trees begin to blossom. Why, though, does that render Shevat the Rosh Hashanah for trees? Why does the time of blossoming determine the date of the new year for trees?

The Gemora cites an incident with Rabbi Akiva that he picked esrogim from a tree on the first of Shevat. He separated ma’aser sheini as if it was the second year of the Shemitah cycle and he also separated ma’aser oni as if it was the third year of the Shemitah cycle. Rabbi Akiva was being strict regarding the halachos of separating ma’aser from the fruits of the tree. The commentators ask that separating ma’aser from fruits is only Rabbinic and the principle is that when there is a doubt on a Rabbinic law, one has a right to be lenient. Why did Rabbi Akiva choose to be strict?

We continue our exploration into the ecological implications of tree preservation.

Rosh Hashanah 13: The First Omer Offering

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Our Daf states that the Jewish people brought the Korban ha'Omer as soon as they entered Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara questions how they were able to grow grain for the Korban in such a short amount of time. From the time they entered the land until the time of the Korban ha'Omer was a period of just five days.

They could not have bought the barley from the inhabitants of the land, because the Korban ha'Omer must be brought from barley that ripened in the possession of Jews.

The Gemara proves from here that barley is able to ripen within a very short amount of time, the amount of time that passed from when the Jews entered Eretz Yisrael and became field-owners until the time they harvested the barley for the Omer five days later.

We explore the Mitzvah of Omer offering and its relationship to Sefiras Ha'Omer.

Rosh Hashanah 12: Boiling Waters

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The Gemara asks further: Granted, according to Rabbi Yehoshua, who holds that the flood began in the month of Iyyar, this is what it means that He changed the acts of Creation with a flood, as rain does not usually fall in Iyyar. But according to Rabbi Eliezer, who holds that the flood began in Marḥeshvan, what did He change?

Rav Ḥisda said: They sinned with boiling heat, and they were punished with boiling heat; they sinned with the boiling heat of the sin of forbidden sexual relations, and they were punished with the boiling heat of scalding waters. This is derived from a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to the flood: “And the waters abated” (Genesis 8:1), and it is written elsewhere, with regard to King Ahasuerus: “And the heated anger of the king abated” (Esther 7:10), which implies that the word “abated” means cooled. This indicates that at first the waters of the flood had been scalding hot.

We explore the traditions surrounding the flood and the boiling waters...

Rosh Hashanah 11: Auspicious Nissan

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Rav Yehudah says that one who sees blossoming fruit trees during the month of Nisan recites a special blessing. What conditions are necessary in order to recite this blessing?

(a) The HILCHOS KETANOS (2:28), cited by the BE'ER HEITEV (OC 226:1), rules that one recites this blessing only for a tree that bears edible fruit.

(b) Although the Gemara says that one recites the blessing when he sees the tree during the month of Nisan, the RITVA writes that the blessing is not limited specifically to Nisan. One may recite a blessing when he sees a blossoming fruit tree at the beginning of the season in which trees blossom in that particular region, such as in the month of Tishrei in the southern hemisphere.

(c) The Acharonim accept this ruling (MACHATZIS HA'SHEKEL). (However, the BIRKEI YOSEF writes that based on Kabalistic reasons one should recite the blessing specifically during the month of Nisan.) Why does the Gemara say that the blessing should be recited during the month of Nisan? Perhaps the Gemara means that one should not recite the blessing for trees that blossom early, but only for trees that blossom in the season in which most trees blossom.

We explore those "kabbalistic reasons"...

Rosh Hashanah 10: Tu Bishvat

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The years of a tree are also counted from the first of Tishrei. Why is it important to know how old a tree is? - Because for the first three years the fruit of the tree are called "orlah" and cannot be eaten, so we need to know when to count the first year. As it turns out, if the tree is planted at least 30 days before Rosh Hashanah, this is already considered the first full year of its life. Even so, after the the third Rosh Hashanah, the fruit are not permitted immediately, but only after the fifteenth of Shvat, also known as "Tu B'Shvat."

We explore this unusual festival and its sources.

Rosh Hashanah 9: Eating on 9th Tishrei

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The Gemara records a Beraisa in which Rebbi Akiva derives the requirement of Tosefes Kedushah (the requirement to refrain from plowing and harvesting, Charishah and Ketzirah, before the Shemitah year begins) from the verse, "b'Charish uv'Katzir Tishbos" -- "You shall rest from plowing and harvesting" (Shemos 34:21).

Rebbi Yishmael disagrees with Rebbi Akiva and derives the requirement to add to a sanctified time from the verse which teaches the Mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur: "You shall afflict yourselves on the ninth of the month in the evening, from evening to evening, you shall rest on your day of rest" (Vayikra 23:32). Rebbi Yishmael points out that the verse first says to fast "on the ninth of the month," and then it says "in the evening," which means the tenth.

Rebbi Yishmael understands that the verse means that one must add some time to the sanctity of Yom Kippur from the preceding day. Similarly, the other apparently extra phrases ("you shall rest" and "on your day of rest") teach that one must add to Shabbos and to other sanctified times, such as Yom Tov and the Shemitah year.

Another teaching that is derived from this pasuk is presented by Hiyya bar Rav mi-Difti, who interprets the passage as teaching that someone who eats and drinks on erev Yom Kippur is credited as though he had fasted on both the ninth and the tenth days of Tishrei. This is generally understood to mean that there is a special mitzvah to eat on the day before Yom Kippur.

Several explanations are given for this law. Rashi and the Me’iri suggest that since there is a mitzvah to fast on the tenth, someone who spends the day before preparing for that mitzvah is given credit for the preparation. The Eliya Rabbah (Rav Eliyahu Shapira’s gloss on the Shulchan Arukh) suggests otherwise.

We explore the idea of eating on the 9th as a mitzvah in itself.

Rosh Hashanah 8: Yovel vs Sh'mitta

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One would expect that the yovel year, much like the seven shemitta cycles that precede it, would begin on Rosh Hashana, the first of Tishrei. However, the Torah clearly tells us that the unique laws of yovel begin on the tenth of that month, on Yom Kippur. The shofar is ordinarily associated with Rosh Hashana, and the unique prayers of the day are arranged around it. However, when it comes to yovel, the shofar blast proclaiming a return of man to his estate and to his family is sounded on Yom Kippur. Why?

The Rambam (Hilkhot Shemitta Ve-yovel 10:14) explains:

From Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur servants were not sent to their homes nor were they subjugated to their masters, and fields did not return to their owners. Rather, the servants would eat, drink and celebrate, with crowns upon their heads. When Yom Kippur came the Court would sound the shofar, the servants were sent to their houses and the fields returned to their owners.

We explore multiple voices in this discrepancy between the onset of shmitta vs yovel.

Rosh Hashanah 7: Nissan or Tishrei?

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In the Torah , the beginning of the year was clearly set at the first of Nisan, in the context of a description of the first Passover. “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you” (Exodus 12:1-2). This new year celebrated the creation of the Jewish nation through the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt. Nisan, as the first of the months, coincided with the beginning of Jewish national history.

But it is surprising that the Torah made no mention of a new year at 1 Tishrei, which today is so central to the Jewish religious experience. The Torah’s reference to 1 Tishrei is sparse altogether, describing a holiday characterized primarily by the blowing of a shofar . “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall bring an offering by fire to the Lord.” The name “Rosh Hashanah” is not mentioned, nor is there a reference to its function as a day of judgment and anniversary of the world’s creation.

Yet by the period of the Mishnah at the beginning of the second century, the outlines of today’s Rosh Hashanah holiday are clear; and discussions about the prayers of Rosh Hashanah appear as early as the teachings of the schools of Hillel and Shammai, which date to the first century CE.

We explore the historical textual and (Rav Kook) mystical implications of 2 rosh hashana's.

Rosh Hashanah 6: Halachik Coercion

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Our Daf cited a Baraisa in which the word ועשית was expounded to teach that the Beis Din is empowered to force a person to carry through and honor his verbal commitment to bring an offering.

The Gemara challenged this insight by showing that this same lesson is apparently learned from a different verse altogether. יקריב teaches that a person can be compelled to fulfill his responsibilities. The Gemara resolves this problem by demonstrating that the two verses actually teach two distinct cases of Beis Din intervening to compel a person to fulfill his pledge.

We explore the notion of Halachic coercion and an analysis of vaccine mandates from such a perspective.