Arakhin 9b — the Talmud in English

And we explain their reasoning:

With regard to what do they disagree? With regard to the

month

of intercalation

of

a year,

how is it made?

For it was taught: How many

days are there in the

month of intercalation of a year? Thirty.

That is, specifically a full month.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: A month

is of any length, sometimes full and sometimes deficient. And Rav Huna holds in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, and therefore it is possible for there to be eight full months, for example, when the preceding year was an intercalated year and the month of intercalation was twenty-nine days, as explained above. But Ulla holds in accordance with the first tanna, that the month of intercalation is always full, and therefore it is not possible for there to be eight full months, since in that case the molad would precede Rosh Hashanah by two days. And according to him, it is impossible to explain as according to Rav Huna, that the preceding year was an intercalated year, since the preceding Rosh Hashanah was not advanced because of this; on the contrary, it was delayed, since the month of intercalation is full.

It was objected: Shavuot can fall only on the day

of the week in which the day of

the waving

of the omer falls, that is, the day after Pesach. For the first week of the count of the fifty days begins on it. On the forty-ninth day, seven weeks are completed, and on the fiftieth day, which is Shavuot, the eighth week begins. [And as the fixed mnemonic that we have: alef-tav, bet-shin, and so on. The bet of Pesach is like the shin of Shavuot].

And Rosh Hashanah can fall only either on the day

of the week in which the day of

the waving

that preceded it falls,

or on the night

of the

intercalation

of Nisan, which is the first of Iyar. [And it is called this because the thirty-first day of Nisan is called the intercalation of Nisan, since through its being the first of Iyar, Nisan becomes intercalated; and “the night of its intercalation” means the night of the first of Iyar.] And it is always on the third day of Pesach, and its mnemonic is ג"ר: the gimel of Pesach, the resh of Rosh Hashanah].

And we challenge:

Granted, according to Ulla, who says that we make eight deficient months,

but eight

full months we do not make, [and in an ordinary year we make one full and one deficient. And in a year in which there are eight deficient months, two additional deficient months are made, one among the winter months and one among the summer months].

[in an ordinary year, one month is made full and the next deficient. In a year with eight deficient months, two additional months are deficient, one among the winter months and one among the summer months.]

It is possible

to find the case of the beraita. For when

both [for example, Kislev and Sivan, which in an ordinary year are full] are

[for example, Kislev and Sivan, which in an ordinary year are full] are

deficient,

Rosh Hashanah will fall

on the day of the waving

that preceded it, since the four summer months are deficient.

And in a year

of one full and one deficient,

Rosh Hashanah will fall

on the night

of the day of

the intercalation

of Nisan, which is the first of Iyar, since only three of the summer months are deficient.

But according to Rav Huna, who says that we make

also eight

full months,

it is difficult.

For sometimes it is possible to find

that Rosh Hashanah falls

on the night following the night of its intercalation,

that is, on the day on which the second of Iyar falls, for example, when the four summer months are full, in which case Rosh Hashanah is delayed by one additional day.

And we answer:

Rav Huna could say to you: And according to Ulla, is it satisfactory?

For according to his view too, it is difficult:

Eight

full months

it is that we do not make; but seven

full months

we do make,

and that additional full month is either one of the summer months or one of the winter months.

Sometimes we do not make it in the winter

but

we make it in the summer,

,

and the four summer months are again found to be full. If so, even according to Ulla we can find Rosh Hashanah

that it is on the night following the night of its intercalation! But this

beraita

is according to whom?

It must be according to the view of

Others. For it was taught: Others say: There is no difference between this Shavuot

and

the Shavuot

after it,

and there is no difference between Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Hashanah

that follows it

except for four days

of a week

alone. [For an ordinary year, consisting of six deficient and six full months, totals three hundred and fifty-four days: fifty complete weeks and four additional days].

[This is because an ordinary year, with six deficient and six full months, totals 354 days: fifty complete weeks and four additional days.]

And if it was an intercalated year,

there are between them

five

days. [For then seven deficient and six full months are made, as follows. The year totals three hundred and eighty-three days, and after dividing them into complete weeks, there is an excess of five days].

It is thus explained that according to Others, the months are always made in their order, one full and one deficient, and not as the tanna in our Mishna. And the beraita is according to the view of Others, and it is understood that Rosh Hashanah falls on the night of its intercalation. And through this the difficulty is resolved both according to Rav Huna and according to Ulla.

And we challenge: How is it possible to establish the beraita according to Others?

After all, according to Others,

that Rosh Hashanah should fall

on the day of the waving is impossible to find.

For according to his view, since the months are in their order, Rosh Hashanah always falls on the day on which the third day of Pesach falls.

And we answer:

Rav Mesharsheya said: For example, it was an intercalated year,

and the

month of intercalation of the year was thirty

days

long.

Remove the summer month

[that in an ordinary year is among the full months] and make it deficient,

alongside the month

of the intercalated year that we made full, corresponding to the fact that we made Shevat and the first Adar intercalated , we make Nisan and Iyar deficient. It follows that in an intercalated year four of the summer months are deficient. And in this manner

it is possible to find

that Rosh Hashanah falls

on the day of the waving.

Rav Adda bar Ahava said to Rava:

But did

Others come to teach us a calculation?

He should have said only: “We intercalate the month only when necessary” [apart from the six intercalated months]. And from this we would automatically know that there are four days between one Shavuot and the next.

And he answered him:

This teaches us that we do not require

that there

is a mitzva to sanctify according to the sighting.

Even when witnesses who saw the new moon did not come, they sanctify the month on the night of the thirtieth, so that the preceding month will be deficient and the order of one full and one deficient will not be disrupted. And if he had said only, “We do not intercalate the month except when necessary,” we would have explained that this applies specifically when there are witnesses of sighting, and it is necessary to sanctify the month according to their testimony so that the months will be in their order, and they may not be postponed. But when witnesses did not come, we would not sanctify the month on the thirtieth day. Therefore Others stated the calculation, to teach us that they sanctify it even in this manner.

Ravina raised an objection against this:

But the fact that there are only four days between one Shavuot and the next is not constant. For the reason is that the months are made in their order, so that the year will total 354 days, corresponding to the days of twelve moladot, and twelve months will correspond to a lunar year.

But there is

one

day

added from the joining of

hours

one every three years. For twelve moladot are 354 days, eight hours, and 876 parts, and it follows that in every three years the excess hours join together to make twenty-four hours. Therefore the third year must be made 355 days, that is, with seven full months. Then there will be five days between one Shavuot and the next. And there is a further difficulty, for the excess of 876 parts per year joins together

to one

day every

thirty years.

And the thirtieth year must also be made 355 days. And even then there are five days between one Shavuot and the next.

And we answer:

Since it does not exist,

the difference of five days

in every year, it is not counted

by

Others. And he spoke only of the difference in an ordinary year.

And Shmuel too held in accordance with Rabbi Huna,

that they also make eight full months.

For Shmuel said: A lunar year is neither less than three hundred and fifty-two days nor more than three hundred and fifty-six days. How so? Both [of the months that in an ordinary year are deficient] were

made

full,

the year is three hundred and fifty

six

days, because two days were added to an ordinary year, which is 354 days.

Both [of the full months in an ordinary year] were

made

deficient,

there are three hundred and fifty

two

days, because two days were subtracted from an ordinary year.

It was objected:

We learned in a Mishna:

“I am a nazirite for the days of the sun;” he counts his naziriteship for three hundred and sixty-five days, corresponding to the number of days

of a

solar year.

And if he said,

“For the days of the moon,” he counts his naziriteship for three hundred and fifty-four days, corresponding to the number of days

of a

lunar year.

And it is difficult:

If it is so

according to Shmuel and Rav Huna, who also make eight full months,

sometimes it is possible to find

three hundred and fifty

six.

Why, then, did they take specifically 354 days? And we answer:

With vows, one follows the language of people,

which is according to

most years,

in which the months are in their order.

And Rabbi too held in accordance with Rav Huna,

that they make eight full months.

For it was taught: It once happened that Rabbi made nine

months

deficient

in a year,

and the molad appeared

of Tishrei

at its proper time [on the day on which Rosh Hashanah fell].

[on the day on which Rosh HaShana occurred].

And Rabbi was perplexed and said: We made nine deficient months, and the month appeared at its proper time?

The molad should properly have been delayed by three days after Rosh Hashanah, on account of the three deficient months that he had made.

Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi said before him: Perhaps it was an intercalated year,