Rosh Hashanah 16a — the Talmud in English

MISHNA:

In the previous Mishna we learned that the first of Tishrei is the New Year for years, and incidentally all four New Years were taught in the Mishna.

Our Mishna explains what is the judgment with which the Holy One, blessed is He, judges the world on the New Year. And incidentally, four times at which the world is judged were taught in the Mishna:

At four periods

[times] of the year

the world is judged:

1.

On Passover

the world is judged

concerning the grain,

how much will grow in this year.

2.

On Shavuot

[the Feast of Weeks] the world is judged

concerning the fruit of the tree,

how much fruit will grow in this year.

3.

On the New Year—

all who come into the world pass before Him,

before the Holy One, blessed is He,

like the children of maron

like sheep [and the Gemara will explain the intention of the words of the Mishna].

As it is stated

[Psalms 33]:

“The One who forms,

sees

together,

in one survey,

their hearts,

и Он понимает все их дела» [это также будет разъяснено в Гемаре].

and He is

“the One who understands all their deeds”

[and this too will be explained in the Gemara].

4.

And on the Festival

of Sukkot

they are judged concerning the water—

concerning the rains that will fall in this year.

GEMARA:

We learned in the Mishna: On Passover [they are judged] concerning the grain.

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

Which grain?

Which grain is being discussed here?

If you say this grain that is standing,

if we say that it is referring to grain standing attached in the fields, and now, during the period of Passover, ready to be harvested, then one must ask:

All these events that have passed over it—

when were they judged!?

All the events that have happened to the grain until now—when were they judged?

Rather,

necessarily, the judgment is concerning

grain that is sown,

which is destined to be sown in the coming month of Cheshvan.

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

Does this mean that it is judged by one judgment!?

Can it be said that the grain is judged only once a year, on Passover alone?

But it was taught: Grain in which an accidental loss occurred,

a loss that comes from Heaven, such as hail or blight,

or

in which

an unavoidable accident occurred,

a loss caused by a person.

If the loss occurred

before Passover,

necessarily it had already been

judged

concerning this loss

in the past,

before it was sown, on the Passover of the previous year.

And if the loss occurred

after Passover,

necessarily it is

judged for the future,

on the Passover after its sowing, that is, on the most recent Passover.

And likewise,

a person in whom an accidental loss occurred,

damage at the hands of Heaven,

or an unavoidable accident

at the hands of a person, if the matter occurred

before Yom Kippur,

it is known that he was

judged in the past: on the previous Yom Kippur the damage was decreed upon him.

And if the matter occurred

after

Yom Kippur,

it is known that he is

judged for the future,

on the Yom Kippur that had just passed [at the recent time].

Rava said,

he answered:

Rava:

Indeed,

learn from this

from the words of the baraita that

it is judged by two judgments.

The grain is judged by two judgments: one judgment on the Passover before its sowing, and a second judgment on the Passover close to the time of its harvesting.

And this is the intention of our Mishna: On Passover the world is judged concerning the grain, both concerning grain that is ready to be harvested and concerning grain that is ready to be sown in Cheshvan.

There are two types of grain: seeds called “late,” which are delayed in ripening for a long time, and these are sown in the month of Cheshvan so that they will have enough time to grow until Nisan or Iyar; these are wheat and buckwheat.

And there are “early” seeds, which ripen quickly. They are sown close to Nisan, and they have enough time to grow until Nisan or Iyar.

Abaye said:

Since we have said that on Passover the world is judged both concerning grain that has already grown and concerning grain that is ready to be harvested,

therefore, when a person sees that the late-sown seed is successful,

when a person sees that the late seeds sown in Cheshvan are successful and growing well, this is a sign that on the previous Passover the judgment of the grain was decreed favorably.

Therefore,

let him hurry and sow the early seed, for before the time of its judgment arrives—

it has already risen!

Let him hasten in sowing the early seeds [which are customarily sown close to Nisan], and sow them as early as possible, so that by the time the next Passover arrives, they will already have had enough time to grow somewhat; and even if in the following year a difficult judgment is decreed concerning the grain, nevertheless grain that has already grown somewhat is not spoiled quickly.

The Gemara seeks to clarify which tannaitic authority taught our Mishna, that at four periods the world is judged:

And we raise an objection:

Whose is our Mishna?

Who is the tannaitic authority who taught our Mishna? For it must be proved that

it is not Rabbi Meir,

it

and not Rabbi Yehuda, nor Rabbi Yosei, nor Rabbi Natan.

As follows:

For it was taught: Everything

[a person, grain, fruit of the tree, and water]

is judged on the New Year.

And their verdict—

is sealed on Yom Kippur, the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Everything is judged on the New Year.

And their verdict—

each and every one is sealed at its time,

the time designated for it:

On Passover—

it is sealed

concerning the grain.

On Shavuot—

it is sealed

concerning the fruit of the tree.

On the Festival

of Sukkot—

they are judged concerning the water.

And a person is judged on the New Year, and his verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Yosei says: A person is judged every day

and day.

As it is stated

[Job 7]:

“And You inspect him every morning.”

You, O Lord, judge a person each and every morning.

Rabbi Natan says: A person is judged every hour

[time].

As it is stated

[later in the verse]:

“For moments You test him.”

The verse teaches that at every moment the Holy One, blessed is He, examines and judges a person.

The Gemara seeks to reconcile the words of our Mishna:

And if you would say,

and if you say that

indeed

our Mishna is according to

Rabbi Yehuda. And when our Mishna teaches,

and what we learned in our Mishna, “At four periods the world is judged,” its intention is

concerning the verdict,

that the judgment is sealed at those periods.

It is impossible to reconcile it in this way. For:

If so,

if indeed this is so, that our Mishna was taught according to Rabbi Yehuda, and the intention of the Mishna is not the judgment but the verdict—

it is difficult concerning “a person”!

For in our Mishna we learned that a person is judged on the New Year; but if the intention of the Mishna is the verdict, Rabbi Yehuda says that a person’s verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur!

He said,

he answered:

This tannaitic authority

of our Mishna

is the tannaitic authority of the house of

the study hall of

Rabbi Yishmael!

For the tannaitic authority of the house of Rabbi Yishmael taught: At four periods the world is judged:

1.

On Passover, concerning the grain.

2.

On Shavuot, concerning the fruit of the tree.

3.

On the Festival

of Sukkot

they are judged concerning the water.

4.

And a person is judged on the New Year.

And his verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur.

And when our Mishna teaches,

and what we learned in our Mishna, “the world is judged,” it is referring to

the beginning of the judgment.

And the Gemara explains the reasoning of Rabbi Yosei, who said that a person is judged every day:

Rav Hisda said: What is the reason of Rabbi Yosei?

And even before the Gemara finishes bringing Rav Hisda’s words, it immediately wonders: there is no need to explain what the reason of Rabbi Yosei is, since his reason is

as he says

himself, that

his reason

is because it is stated,

“And You inspect him every morning”!

And we explain the words of Rav Hisda:

We, this is what we are saying,

this is how we raised the difficulty:

Why did he not say

Rabbi Yosei

like Rabbi Natan,

that a person is judged every hour, for it is stated, “For moments You test him”?

And necessarily, the reason of Rabbi Yosei is that

“testing”

is not a complete judgment, but

merely an examination,

that the Holy One, blessed is He, examines a person’s deeds!

And if so, this is difficult: after all,

“inspection” too—

is merely an examination!

Even the inspection mentioned in the verse [“And You inspect him every morning”] is not a complete judgment, but only an examination of a person’s deeds!

And why did Rabbi Yosei say that a person is judged every day?

Rather,

therefore,

Rav Hisda said

another reason:

The reason of Rabbi Yosei

is that he learned this matter

from here,

from this verse, which is stated in Solomon’s prayer [I Kings 8]:

“To execute judgment upon His servant

[King Solomon]

and the judgment of His people Israel, each day’s matter on its day.”

From here it follows that a person is judged every day.

And incidentally, since we brought the verse “to execute judgment upon His servant,” it brings another statement of Rav Hisda, who learned another matter from here:

And Rav Hisda said: A king and the public,

who come before the Lord for judgment,

the king enters first for judgment.

As it is stated: “To execute judgment upon His servant”

[King Solomon],

and afterward

and afterward it says

“and the judgment of His people Israel.”

And it is implied by the order of the verse that the king is judged before the rest of the people.

What is the reason,

what is the reason for this matter?

If you wish, say,

if you wish, you can say:

It is not proper conduct to have the king sit outside. It is not proper conduct that the king should wait for the people outside the place of judgment.

It is not proper conduct for a king to wait for the people outside the place of judgment.

And if you wish, say,

the king enters for judgment

before anger increases,

before

wrath

increases because of the sins of the people.

Rav Yosef said: According to whom do we pray nowadays for the weak and the sick,

according to which of the tannaitic authorities do we act today, when we pray every day for the healing of Torah scholars [who are weak] and for the sick to recover?

According to whom—

according to Rabbi Yosei,

that a person is judged every day.

And if you wish, say: indeed,

we hold

according to the Sages.

And

even so, we pray for the sick day after day,

in accordance with Rabbi Yitzḥak:

For Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Crying out is effective

[prayer]

for a person, both before the verdict and after the verdict.

For prayer has the power to tear up the verdict.

The Gemara now brings a baraita explaining from where the Sages learned that the world is judged at the four periods taught in our Mishna:

It was taught: Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Akiva:

1.

Why did the Torah say: Bring the omer on Passover!?

And as it is stated in Leviticus [chapter 23]: “And he shall wave the omer. On the day after the rest day [the first Festival day of Passover] the priest shall wave it.”

Because Passover is the time

of the judgment concerning the

grain.

Therefore

the Holy One, blessed is He, said

to Israel:

Bring before Me the omer on Passover

from the grain,

so that it may be blessed for you,

the

grain in the fields.

2.

And why did the Torah say: Bring the two loaves on Shavuot?

And as it is stated: “And you shall offer a new meal-offering to the Lord, two waved loaves. And you shall proclaim on that very day a holy convocation,” that is, the Festival of Shavuot [Leviticus 23].

Because Shavuot is the time

of the judgment concerning

the fruit of the tree.

Therefore,

the Holy One, blessed is He, said

to Israel:

Bring before Me the two loaves on Shavuot,

for they permit the bringing of first fruits from the fruit of the tree,

so that the fruit of the tree may be blessed for you.

3.

And why did the Torah say

[a halakha given to Moses from Sinai]:

Pour water during the Festival

of Sukkot on the altar?

Because the Festival—

is the time of the rain of the year.

Therefore,

the Holy One, blessed is He, said

to Israel:

Pour water before Me during the Festival, so that the rain of the year may be blessed for you.

4.

And

the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Israel:

Recite before Me on the New Year

verses of

Kingships,

in which the enthronement of the Lord is mentioned, and verses of

Remembrances,

in which it is mentioned that the Lord remembers and inspects everything,

and

verses of

Shofarot,

in which the sounding of the shofar is mentioned:

Kingships—

so that you will enthrone Me over yourselves,

so that you accept upon yourselves the yoke of My kingship.

Remembrances—

so that your remembrance will rise before Me

in judgment

for good.

And with what

will your remembrance rise for good?

With the shofar.

And since the Gemara said that the shofar causes the remembrance of Israel to rise favorably in judgment, it brings a statement connected with this:

Rabbi Abbahu said: Why do they sound a shofar of a ram,

and not a shofar of another living creature?

Because

the Holy One, blessed is He, said

to Israel:

Sound before Me a shofar of a ram, so that I will remember for you the binding of Isaac, son of Abraham,

in whose place a ram was slaughtered,

and

then

I will consider it for you as though you had bound

yourselves

yourselves

as a sacrifice

before Me.

And the Gemara brings another statement connected to the matter:

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Why do they blow on Rosh Hashanah?

And immediately the Gemara is astonished:

Why do they blow?!

But is this a question?! Behold,

the Merciful One said

[in the Torah]

Blow!

Rather,

this is what Rabbi Yitzḥak asked:

Why do they sound a terua

on a shofar? And again the Gemara is astonished: Why

do they sound a terua?!

But is this a question?! Behold,

the Merciful One said

[Leviticus 23]:

“a remembrance of terua,”

and from here it follows that they sound a terua!

Rather,

this is what Rabbi Yitzḥak asked:

Why do they blow and sound a terua

before the Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah,

when they

[the congregation]

are sitting.