Rosh Hashanah 23b (כג:) — the Talmud in English

This is Biram.

We learned in the Mishna: And from Beit Biltin they did not move until he could see the entire Diaspora before him like a bonfire.

And we explain:

What is meant by “the Diaspora”?

Rav Yosef said: This is Pumbedita.

What is meant by “like a bonfire”?

The tanna

in a beraita taught:

Each and every person would take a torch in his hand and ascend to the roof of his house.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Hiram and Keiyyar, and Geder and its neighboring cities,

would light signal fires on the tops of the mountains adjacent to them.

And where were those cities located?

Some say

[there are those who say]:

They were situated in between.

They were between the cities mentioned in the Mishna.

Some say

[and there are those who say]:

They were situated on the other side of Eretz Yisrael.

They stood on another side of Eretz Yisrael. And from two sides of Eretz Yisrael there is a route by which one reaches Babylonia [north and east].

One master counted those on this side, and the other master counted those on that side.

The tanna who taught our Mishna counted the cities facing Babylonia from one side, while Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar counted the cities facing Babylonia from the other side.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Between each and every one

of the cities mentioned in our Mishna there was a road whose length was

eight parasangs.

And we challenge this:

How many were there altogether,

what was the total length of the roads—

thirty-two 32

parasangs!

And

yet

nowadays many more

parasangs

there are!

Is the distance in our time from Jerusalem to the last city not much longer?!

Abaye said: Their roads have become blocked up.

The roads between the mountains have become blocked in our time, and travelers must go around them; therefore, the route has become longer.

As it is written

[Hosea 2]:

“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns.”

I will fence in your ways with thorns.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: From here

from this verse:

As it is written

[Lamentations 3]:

“He has made my paths crooked.”

He has made my ways crooked.

Mishna:

There was a large courtyard in Jerusalem, and it was called Beit Ya'zek.

And all the witnesses

who came to testify concerning the new month on Shabbat

would assemble there.

And the beit din

would

examine them there, and they would prepare large meals for them

in that courtyard,

so that they would be accustomed to come.

At first, they would not move from there

the witnesses

the entire day.

Because they had arrived in Jerusalem from outside the Shabbat limit. One who goes beyond the Shabbat limit on Shabbat [two thousand cubits] may not go beyond four cubits, and the entire courtyard was considered like four cubits. And so that they would not refrain from coming to testify because they were forbidden to leave the courtyard,

Rabban Gamliel the Elder instituted that they should be permitted to walk two thousand cubits in every direction.

And not only these

did Rabban Gamliel permit to leave beyond four cubits, even though they had gone beyond the Shabbat limit,

but even a midwife

who

comes

on Shabbat from outside the limit

to deliver, and

likewise

one who comes

on Shabbat from outside the limit in order

to rescue people from a fire and from an invading army,

an enemy army,

and from a river

that has overflowed its banks,

and from a collapsed building—

these are considered like the inhabitants of the city

who came to it in order to rescue.

And

even after they have carried out the rescue,

they have two thousand

cubits

in every direction

outside the city, so that they will not refrain from coming in the future.

Gemara:

A question was raised before them:

Whether

we learned: “Beit Ya'zek,” or whether we learned: “Beit Ya'zek”?

And the Gemara explains the question:

Whether

we learned: “Beit Ya'zek,”

that they called the courtyard by this name because of its advantage, and “Ya'zek”

is an expression of praise,

an expression conveying something good.

As it is written

[Isaiah 5]: “A vineyard belonged to my beloved on a fertile hill,

and he fenced it in and cleared it of stones.”

He fenced it in and removed its stones.

Or perhaps

[perhaps]

we learned: “Beit Yezek,”

that they called the courtyard by this name because of the distress of the witnesses, who were forbidden to leave it all day. And “Yezek”

is an expression of distress.

As it is written

[Jeremiah 40]:

“And he was bound in chains.”

The witnesses, too, who could not leave, were like people bound in chains.

Abaye said: Come and hear

a proof to resolve the uncertainty, from the continuation of the Mishna:

As we learned:

They would prepare large meals for them there, so that they would be accustomed to come.

And from here it follows that the witnesses did not suffer there, and we learned “Beit Ya'zek.”

And we reject this:

Perhaps they did both things to them.

Perhaps both circumstances applied to them: On the one hand, they suffered as though bound, while on the other hand, they enjoyed coming for the meals.

Mishna:

Our Mishna discusses the procedure for interrogating witnesses who testify concerning the renewal of the moon.

We will preface this with several facts necessary for understanding our Mishna and the sugya of the Gemara:

A. The course of the sun: The sun rises in the northeast of the celestial horizon, and from there it moves eastward; it continues through the south, toward the west, and at the end of the day it sets in the northwest.

In winter, its course is narrower, as explained in the Gemara.

B. The light of the moon is the reflection of the sun’s rays, which illuminate the moon.

The moon is spherical, and one half is always illuminated while the other half is always dark.

In the middle of the month, the entire illuminated hemisphere of the moon is visible to us.

At the beginning of the month, however, only a small portion of the illuminated hemisphere is visible to us, while most of it is concealed from our eyes; rather, it is primarily its dark side that faces us, and we see only its edges.

C. When the sun and moon stand opposite one another, with the moon situated between the earth and the sun, the sun illuminates the half of the moon concealed from our eyes in a perfectly straight line; therefore, no light from the moon reaches us at all. This moment is the time of the molad.

Once the moon moves slightly and stands at a slight angle to the sun, part of the moon’s illuminated surface becomes visible to us.

D. “The horns of the moon”: At the beginning and end of the month, the moon appears as a semicircle with horns. The moon’s horns are the sunlight reflected toward us from the lower edges of the moon’s illuminated side. It follows that the horns of the moon can never face the sun, but only the opposite side. For the moon’s “defect,” which is the moon’s dark side, always faces away from the sun, and not toward it.

How do they examine the witnesses?

The first pair that came was examined

first.

And they would bring in the senior

[the distinguished one]

of them, and say to him: Tell us, how did you see the moon?

A. Whether it was

before the sun or after the sun.

Whether it preceded the sun in the order of its orbit, in which case the sun was advancing toward the direction of the moon.

Or, on the contrary, it was after the sun, in which case the sun was moving farther and farther from the place where the moon was now located [and the Gemara will explain which side is before the sun and which is after it].

B. Whether it was

to the north

of the sun

or to the south?

C.

How high

was the moon

above

the earth, according to your estimation?

D.

In which direction was it inclined,

whether the horns of the moon faced north or south?

E.

And how

wide was the moon

?

If

the witness

said

that the moon was

before the sun—

he has said nothing

[as explained in the Gemara].

And afterward,

after they had finished questioning the senior of the witnesses,

they would bring in

the

second witness and examine

him

as well.

And

if their statements were found to correspond—

their testimony was valid.

And all the other pairs,

the beit din

would ask them only the principal points

of the testimony. For it had already been established through the first pair that the new month could be sanctified, and therefore they accepted the testimony of the others without a thorough interrogation.

And

not

because

they needed them,

the other witnesses, did they accept their testimony.

Rather,

they did so

so that they would not leave disappointed,

after having taken the trouble to come for nothing.

And the Sages were concerned that they should not leave disappointed,

so that they would be accustomed to come.

Gemara:

At the beginning of the month, near the time of the moon’s renewal, it appears very thin and cannot be seen during the day, when the light is strong, but only near sunset. At that time, the sun turns from the south and enters the west, and proceeds there toward the northernmost point, which, in the northwestern corner, is the place where it sets.

The first question they asked the witnesses was: How did you see the moon, before the sun or after the sun?

Since we have explained that the moon is visible only near sunset, when the sun is in the west and turning northward, “before the sun” means north, since the sun is then turning in that direction, whereas “after the sun” means south.

Therefore, we challenge this: The witnesses were asked two questions:

[a] How did you see the moon—before the sun or after the sun?

[b] To its north or to its south?

And this is difficult:

“Before the sun” is identical to “to its north.”

“After the sun” is identical to “to its south.”

So this is only one question!?

And we answer:

Abaye said:

The first question in the Mishna does not concern the place where the moon is located, but rather the direction in which its horns are inclined.

And this is what they asked the witnesses: Whether

its defect,

its dark side, was

before the sun,

facing the sun,

or

whether its defect was facing

after the sun,

with the illuminated side of the moon facing the sun and the dark side facing the opposite direction.

And therefore we learned in the latter clause:

If he said, “Before the sun”—

he has said

nothing, since the horns of the moon never face the sun.

As Rabbi Yohanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written,

the intent of the verse [Job 25]:

“Dominion and fear are with Him; He makes peace in His heights”?

It means that

the sun has never seen

the

defect of the

moon,

the

[the dark side of the moon, which is in the direction of its horns].

And

likewise, never

has

the sun seen the

defect of a rainbow.

And Rabbi Yohanan explains:

Why does the sun not see the

defect of the

moon

?

Because

its spirit would be weakened

by this, and concerning this it is said: “He makes peace in His heights.”

And why does the sun not see the

defect of a rainbow?

So that they will not say,

so that

the sun-worshippers will not say: