Rosh Hashanah 23b — the Talmud in English

This is Biram.

We learned in the Mishna: “And from Beit Baltin they did not move until he saw the entire Diaspora before him like a bonfire.”

And we explain:

What is ‘the Diaspora’?

Rav Yosef said: This is Pumbedita.

What is ‘like a bonfire’?

A tanna

in a beraita:

Each and every one takes a torch in his hand and goes up to the roof of his house.

It was taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Even Harim and Kayer, and Geder and its surrounding towns,

would kindle signal fires at the tops of the mountains adjacent to them.

And where were those cities?

There are those who say [A translation: there are those who say]:

there were

They stood in between.

They were between the cities mentioned in the Mishna.

There are those who say [A translation: and there are those who say]:

they were

They stood on that side of the Land of Israel.

They stood on another side of the Land of Israel. And from two sides of the Land of Israel there is a road by which one reaches Babylonia [north and east].

One master counted this side, and one master counted that side.

The tanna who taught our Mishna counted the cities facing Babylonia from one side. And Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar counted the cities facing Babylonia from the second 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 much did they amount to,

how much in total was the length of the roads—

thirty-two 32

parasangs!

And

yet

nowadays many

parasangs

there are!

But surely in our times the measure of the road between Jerusalem and the last city is much longer!

Abaye said: Their roads have become completely blocked up.

The roads between the mountains have become blocked in our times, and those traveling on the road must go around; therefore the road becomes longer.

As it is written [Hosea 2]:

[Hosea 2]:

“Therefore, behold, I am fencing in your road with thorns.”

I am fencing in your roads with thorns.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: From here

from this verse:

as it is written [Lamentations 3]:

[Lamentations 3]:

“He has made my paths crooked.”

He has made my roads crooked.

Mishna:

There was a large courtyard in Jerusalem, and Beit Ya'azek was its name.

And there all the witnesses

who came to testify concerning the month on Shabbat

would gather.

And the court

would

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

in that courtyard,

so that they would be accustomed to coming.

At first, they would not move from there

the witnesses

the entire day.

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

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

And not only these

did Rabban Gamliel permit them to go beyond four cubits, even though they had gone beyond the teḥum,

but even a midwife

a midwife,

who comes

on Shabbat from outside the teḥum

to deliver, and

likewise

one who comes

on Shabbat from outside the teḥum in order

to save from a fire and from enemy troops,

enemy soldiers,

and from a river

that has overflowed its banks,

and from a collapse—

these are like the inhabitants of the city

who came to it in order to save.

And

even after they had saved,

they have two thousand

cubits

in every direction

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

Gemara:

They raised a dilemma before them:

whether

did we learn “Beit Ya'azek,” or did we learn “Beit Yazek”?

And the Gemara explains the question:

Whether

“Beit Ya'azek” is what we learned,

that they called the courtyard this because of its virtue, and “Ya'azek”

is an expression of praise,

an expression expressing a good matter.

As it is written [Isaiah 5]: “A vineyard was my beloved’s on a fertile hill,

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

‘and he fenced it and cleared it of stones.’”

He fenced it and cleared [removed] its stones from it.

Or perhaps [A translation: perhaps]

the correct reading is

“Beit Yazek” is what we learned,

that they called the courtyard this because of the distress of the witnesses, since they were forbidden to leave there all day. And “Yazek”

is an expression of distress.

As it is written [Jeremiah 40]:

[Jeremiah 40]:

“And he was bound in chains.”

And the witnesses too, who cannot leave, are as though 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 coming.”

And from here, the witnesses were not distressed there, and “Beit Ya'azek” is what we learned.

And we reject this:

Perhaps they did both things to them.

Perhaps both matters applied to them: on the one hand, they were distressed as though bound, and on the other hand, they enjoyed coming for the meals.

Mishna:

Our Mishna deals with the order of examining the witnesses who testify concerning the renewal of the moon.

And we will preface several pieces of information for understanding our Mishna and the sugya of the Gemara:

A. The order of the sun’s movement: the sun rises in the northeast of the sky’s horizon, and from there it passes to the east, and continues through the south, toward the west, and at the end of the day it sets in the northwest.

And in the winter season its movement is reduced, as explained in the Gemara.

B. The light of the moon is the reflection of the rays of sunlight that shines upon the moon.

The moon is round like a sphere, and always one half is illuminated while the other half is always dark.

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

But at the beginning of the month, only a small part of the illuminated half is visible to us, while most of it is hidden from our eyes; rather, mainly its dark part is turned toward us, and we see only its edges.

C. When the sun and the moon stand opposite one another, so that the moon is between the earth and the sun, the sun illuminates the half of the moon hidden from our eyes, in a completely straight line, and therefore no light of the moon reaches us at all. This moment is the moment of the molad.

And once the moon moves slightly, and it stands at a slight angle to the sun, a little of the illuminated surface of the moon becomes visible to us.

D. “The horns of the moon”: at the beginning and at the end of the month, the moon appears as a half-circle with horns. The moon’s horns are the light of the sun’s rays reflected to us from the lower edges of the moon’s illuminated side, and from this it follows that it is never possible for the moon’s horns to face toward the sun, but only toward the opposite side. For the moon’s “defect,” which is the dark side of the moon, is always turned toward the side opposite the sun, and not toward it.

How do they examine the witnesses?

They examine the first pair that came

first.

And they bring in the eldest [A translation: the important one]

of them,

among them, and they say to him: Say, how did you see the moon?

A. Was it

before the sun or after the sun?

Was it preceding the sun in the order of its orbit, so that the sun was advancing toward the direction of the moon?

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

B. Was it

to its north

of the sun,

or to its south?

C.

How high was

the moon

above

the earth, according to your estimation?

D.

And toward where was it inclined,

whether the moon’s horns faced north or south?

E.

And how wide was

the moon

?

If

the witness

said

that the moon was

before the sun—

he said nothing [this is explained in the Gemara].

[as explained in the Gemara].

And afterward,

after they finished examining the greater of the witnesses,

they would bring in

the

second witness, and examine

also

him.

And

if their words were found to correspond—

their testimony stands.

And all the other pairs,

the court

would ask them the main points of the matters

only. For it had already become clear through the first pair that it was possible to sanctify the month, and therefore they accepted their testimony without a thorough examination.

And

not

because

they were needed,

they accepted the testimony of the other witnesses.

Rather,

they did this

so that they would not leave disappointed,

because they had made the effort and come for nothing.

And the Sages took care that they would not leave disappointed,

so that they would be accustomed to coming.

Gemara:

At the beginning of the month, close to the time of the moon’s renewal, it appears very thin and cannot be seen during the daytime, when the light is abundant, but only close to sunset. At that time the sun turns from the south and enters the west, and travels there until the edge of the north, which in the northwestern corner is the place of its setting.

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

And since we have explained that the moon is seen only close to sunset, when the sun is on the western side and turns northward, “before the sun” is north, since the sun is then turning there, whereas “after the sun” is south.

And therefore we challenge: They asked the witnesses two questions: [A] How did you see the moon—before the sun or after the sun? [B] To its north or to its south?

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

B] To its north or to its south?

And it is difficult:

“Before the sun”—that is “to its north.”

“After the sun”—that is “to its south.”

So it is one question!?

And we answer:

Abaye said:

The first question in the Mishna does not refer to the place where the moon stands, but to which direction its horns are inclined.

And this is what they asked the witnesses: Was

its defect,

its dark side,

before the sun,

facing toward the sun,

or

was its defect facing

after the sun,

so that the illuminated side of the moon faced the sun, and the dark side faced the opposite direction?

And therefore we learned in the final clause:

“If he said, ‘Before the sun’” \-

“he said nothing.”

For the moon’s horns never face the sun.

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

the meaning of the verse [Job 25]:

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

is to say:

The sun has never seen

the

defect of the

moon,

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

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

And

likewise, the sun has

never

seen the

defect of the rainbow.

And Rabbi Yohanan explains:

Why does the sun not see the

defect of the

moon

moon?

Because

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

Why does the sun not see

And why does the sun not see the

defect of the rainbow?

So that they would not say,

so that they would not say,

the worshipers of the sun: