Rosh Hashanah 23a (כג.) — the Talmud in English

And if you say, let us also do so for a full month:

if you say that they should also raise torches when the preceding month was full, then

they will come

to err,

they will come to make a mistake.

They say:

they can settle the matter by asking: Is

this

month

a deficient one?

And the fact that they did not do so yesterday—

the reason that they did not raise torches yesterday—

is that it was impossible

to light them on the night of Shabbat.

Or perhaps

perhaps

it is a full month, and they acted at its proper time.

That is why they raised the torches on Saturday night, at the designated time—that is, on the evening of the thirty-first day.

And we challenge this:

Then let them do so both for a full month and for a deficient month;

let them raise torches both when the month is full and when the month is deficient,

and when the New Moon falls on Friday evening—

let them not do so at all.

And when the New Moon falls on Friday evening after a deficient month, they should not light torches at all.

And once

they knew

that we do not do so

with regard to a deficient month on

Saturday night, but we do so

with regard to a full month only on Saturday night,

for a full month,

then, since they would not raise torches on Saturday night, they would automatically

know

understand

that it is deficient.

And because the New Moon had fallen on Friday evening, they could not raise torches that evening [because it was Shabbat]!

And we answer:

Even so, they would come to err.

Even so, they would still come to make a mistake.

For

they would say:

they would say:

This—

is full.

And the reason they did not do so—

they were overcome by intoxication.

They became incapacitated through drunkenness at the Shabbat meal, and therefore did not light torches on Saturday night.

And we challenge this:

Let them do so

with regard to a month only

for a full month, and let them not do so

with regard to a month

for a deficient month at all.

Let them always raise torches only after a full month, and not after a deficient month [even when it falls on one of the other days of the week]. Then, when they sanctify the New Moon on the thirtieth day, which falls on Friday evening, and do not light on Saturday night, everyone will know that they sanctified the month that day and will not attribute the matter to drunkenness. Since they never raise torches in deficient months, they will say that this month too is deficient and will attribute it to the common occurrence [and not to the uncommon occurrence of drunkenness]!

Abaye said

to resolve this:

Because

if they were to raise torches only after an intercalated month, there would always be

a cessation of labor for the people

on Rosh HaShana—

for two days.

For when Rosh HaShana falls on the thirtieth day and they do not light that evening, the people will still not know that they sanctified the month until the following night [when they see that they do not raise torches that evening either]. Consequently, because of the uncertainty [perhaps today is Rosh HaShana], they would refrain from labor for two days.

Therefore, they instituted that torches should be raised only after a deficient month. If they sanctified Rosh HaShana on the thirtieth day, they would raise torches on the night following Rosh HaShana, and everyone would know that they had sanctified the month on the thirtieth day; the next day they would be able to perform labor. They would refrain from labor only in an intercalated month [when they also refrained from labor on the thirtieth day, out of uncertainty whether that day was a Festival].

We learned in the Mishna:

How did they raise the torches?

They would bring poles

of cedar

and so on.

Rav Yehuda said: There are four species of cedar: cedar, katrom, oil tree, and cypress

species of trees.

And what is

katrom?

Rav said: Adara.

The school of Rav Sheila said: Mavliga.

And some say,

and there are those who say:

This is gulmish.

All of these are names of trees that were known in their time.

And

what Rav Yehuda said, that there are four species of cedar,

disagrees

with the statement

of Rabba bar Rav Huna:

For Rabba bar Rav Huna said, and some of them said it in the name of Rav

this is what Rav’s students said:

There are ten species of cedar,

and some of them are mentioned in the verse.

As it is stated

in Isaiah 41:

“I will place in the wilderness: cedar, acacia, and myrtle, and oil tree

I will set in the desert cypress, plane tree, and box tree together.”

Cedar

is

arza.

Acacia

is

tornita.

Myrtle

is

asa

myrtle.

Oil tree

is

afarsema

persimmon.

Cypress

is

barata.

Plane tree

is

shaga.

Box tree

is

shorivna.

These,

all together,

are seven.

When Rav Dimi came, he said: They added to them

three more trees, which are also species of cedar:

oaks, almond trees, and coral trees.

Oaks

are

botmei.

Almond trees

are

belutei

acorns.

Coral trees

are

kasita.

Some say,

there are those who say that three other species were added:

arunim, chestnut trees, and coral trees.

Arunim

are

arei.

Chestnut trees

are

dulvei

chestnuts.

Coral trees

are

kasita.

Corals that grow on the sea floor.

And in connection with the fact that we spoke about corals, the Gemara brings an aggadic passage that discusses them:

Isaiah prophesied that a thin stream of water would eventually emerge from the Temple and ultimately expand greatly, to the extent that

“and a mighty fleet

shall not pass through it.”

What is “a mighty fleet”?

Rav said: This is a burani—

a ship

so large

that acts with strength, and therefore it is called “a mighty fleet.” Adir is an expression of strength.

How did they use it,

what was this ship intended for, and what act of strength did they perform with that ship?

They brought six thousand men for twelve months of the year,

bringing six thousand men to work throughout the twelve months of the year.

And some say,

there are those who say:

twelve thousand men for six months of the year.

They brought twelve thousand men to work for six months.

They stationed the ship at sea, in an area where corals grew, in order to uproot corals from the sea floor.

And they filled it with sand until it settled.

They filled it with sand until its bottom rested on the sea floor and its sides rose above the surface of the sea. The sea is not very deep in the area where the corals grow.

And a diver descended, tied thick flaxen ropes to the corals, and tied them to the ship.

A diver descended and attached thick flax ropes [which did not come loose easily], with one end to the corals and the other end to the ship.

And they took the sand and cast it outside,

taking the sand from the ship and throwing it out,

and as it rose, it uprooted and brought them.

As the ship rose, it uprooted the roots of the coral trees and brought the corals to itself.

And

those corals were so valuable that

one was exchanged for

two in silver.

They exchanged them for twice their weight in silver.

And the Gemara adds another statement concerning corals:

There were three prominent ports.

There were three important ports at sea:

Two belonged to the Romans,

two ports belonged to the Romans.

And one belonged to the Persians.

One port belonged to the Persians.

The Roman ones—

they would bring up kasita.

The Romans brought corals up from the sea with the aid of a diver [who descended].

The Persian one—

they would bring up pearls.

The Persians brought pearls up from the sea.

And it was called “the royal port

of Mashmaig.” The Persian port was called the royal port.

And in connection with the verse cited above, “I will place in the wilderness cedar,” the Gemara brings a homily stated concerning this verse:

Rabbi Yohanan said: Every

tree

of the acacia type that the gentiles took from Jerusalem—

the Holy One, blessed be He, will eventually return it to her.

As it is stated

in Isaiah 41:

“I will place in the wilderness cedar, acacia.”

And “wilderness” means only Jerusalem.

As it is stated

in Isaiah 64:

“Zion has become a wilderness; Jerusalem a desolation.”

And the Gemara brings another statement of Rabbi Yohanan in aggadic matters:

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Woe to the idolaters, for they have no remedy.

As it is stated [in Isaiah 60]:

are compared to a myrtle in the wilderness

[which is a myrtle, but is surrounded by wilderness],

for no one benefits from it,

as no one enjoys its fragrance.

Some say,

some say that the myrtle in the wilderness was compared to something praiseworthy:

Anyone who studies Torah and teaches it in a place where there are no Torah scholars—

is like a myrtle in the wilderness, which is precious.

The Gemara brings another aggadic statement of Rabbi Yohanan:

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Woe to the idolaters, for they have no remedy.

“Under the copper

that the Babylonians took from Israel

I will bring

in the future

gold”,

which is superior to copper

.

And under the iron I will bring silver.

And under the wood—

copper. And under the stones—

iron.”

From here it follows that in place of everything the nations took from Israel, Israel will receive something superior to it.

And if so,

in place of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues,

whom the idolaters murdered cruelly—

what will they bring!?

That is, they have no remedy.

And concerning them

those same idolaters

He says

in Joel 4:

“I will acquit

if I come to acquit the gentiles of their other sins,

I will not acquit them of their blood.”

I will not acquit them for having spilled the blood of Israel.

We learned in the Mishna:

And from where did they raise the torches

and so on,

and from Beit Baltin

and so on.

And we explain:

What is Beit Baltin?

Rav said: