Rosh Hashanah 25a — the Talmud in English

And

in

the evening

we saw it

in the west.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri said: They are false witnesses,

for it is impossible that within twelve hours the moon should move so far.

When they came to Yavneh, Rabban Gamaliel accepted them.

And its reason will be explained below.

And another

incident:

two came and said, “We saw it”

at its proper time,

on the thirtieth day,

but on the night of its intercalation it was not seen, and Rabban Gamaliel accepted them.

Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinos said: They are false witnesses,

for

how can they testify about a woman that she gave birth, and the next day her belly is between her teeth!?

That is, how is it possible that after the conjunction and the renewal of the moon, the moon should again become hidden from our sight?

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: I see your words.

And that month was Tishrei. Thus Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Yehoshua disagreed about when Yom Kippur occurred.

Rabban Gamaliel sent

the Nasi

to Rabbi Yehoshua: I decree upon you that you come to me with your staff and your money

and carry them in your hand

on the day of Yom Kippur that falls according to your reckoning.

Rabbi Akiva went and found

Rabbi Yehoshua while he was

distressed [

saddened], because the Nasi had decreed that he profane Yom Kippur.

He said to him: I have something to learn, that everything Rabban Gamaliel did is valid,

for this is the law even if he made a mistake.

As it is stated [

Leviticus 23]:

“These are the appointed times of the Lord, proclamations of

holiness that you shall proclaim.”

It says, “that you shall proclaim”; from here that the appointed times depend upon the proclamation of the court.

Whether

they sanctified them

at their proper time or whether not at their proper time—

I have only these appointed times.

He came

Rabbi Yehoshua

to Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinos,

whose reckoning was equal to Rabbi Yehoshua’s reckoning [as above].

He said to him

Rabbi Dosa:

If we come to judge after the court of Rabban Gamaliel,

whether it judged properly, then

we must judge after every court and court that has stood from the days of Moses until now.

Rather, we do not need to judge after the court:

As it is stated [

Exodus 24]:

“And Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended.” And why were the names of the elders not specified?

Rather,

the verse came

to teach that every three and three who stood [

who became]

a court over Israel—

behold, it is like the court of Moses!

For if a person came to judge after the court in his days and said: “Is this court indeed like Moses and Aaron and Eldad and Medad, whose names were specified?!”

They say to him: Perhaps it is as important as three of the other seventy elders whose names were not specified.

Rabbi Yehoshua took

his

staff and his money in his hand, and went to Yavneh, to Rabban Gamaliel, on the day on which Yom Kippur fell according to his reckoning.

Rabban Gamaliel stood and kissed him on his head.

He said to him: Come in peace, “my master” and “my student.”

You are

my master

in wisdom,

and my student, for you accepted my words.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: It happened that two came and said, “We saw it in the morning in the east and in the evening in the west.” Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri said: They are false witnesses. When they came to Yavneh, Rabban Gamaliel accepted them.

It was taught: Rabban Gamaliel said to the Sages: This is what I have received as a tradition from the house of my grandfather: Sometimes the moon comes

by

a

long

path and does not pass within twelve hours from east to west.

And sometimes it comes by a short path,

and passes from east to west within twelve hours.

Rabbi Yohanan said: What is the reason of “the house of Rabbi,”

the house of his grandfather, who hold that the moon comes by a short path?

For it is written [

Psalms 104]:

“He made

[the Almighty]

the moon for appointed times; the sun knows its setting.”

Only

the sun knows

with certainty

its setting,

for the path of the sun is fixed and precise.

But

the moon—

it does not know its setting.

And this is the meaning of the verse: “He made the moon for appointed times.” “Appointed times” means occasions: sometimes it sets here and sometimes there, and its place is not fixed. But the sun knows its setting with certainty [according to Rabbenu Hananel].

Rabbi Hiyya saw the moon, which was standing on the morning of the twenty-ninth.

Rabbi Hiyya saw the moon from the cycle of the previous month, which was visible in the sky on the morning of the twenty-ninth day of the month.

He took a clod,

a lump of earth,

and threw it at it,

he threw it toward it, and

said:

Tonight—

we need to sanctify the month through you.

We want to make this evening the festival of Rosh Hashanah and make the month of Elul deficient, so that Yom Kippur will not be adjacent to Shabbat [because of the ordinance concerning vegetables and the dead, as above, 20a]. And we intend to intimidate the witnesses into saying tomorrow that they saw the renewal of the moon [as above there].

And

if

you—

were to remain here!?

And you are still here now!?

Go, hide!

Go and conceal yourself before nightfall! For if the moon of the previous month is seen at night, they do not sanctify the new month on the following day [as above there].

And it went and hid—

the moon went and became concealed.

Rabbi said to Rabbi Hiyya:

Since the moon from the cycle of the previous month was seen today,

go to Ein Tav and sanctify the month.

Go to the place called Ein Tav and sanctify the month there, but do not sanctify it in our city, since the inhabitants of the city saw the moon of the past month today and will complain that we are sanctifying the new month tomorrow.

And send me

by means of a messenger

a sign,

so that I will know that you sanctified the new month—

“David, king of Israel, is alive and enduring.”

And through this I will know that you sanctified the new month. And he chose this sign because David is compared to the moon, as it is stated concerning him [Psalms 89]: “His throne shall be as the sun before Me, like the moon, established forever.”

The Sages taught: Once the sky became covered with clouds, and the appearance of the moon was seen on the twenty-ninth of the month.

They thought

that

the people

that

today was the new moon, and the court sought to sanctify it.

Rabban Gamaliel said to them: This is what I have received as a tradition from the house of my grandfather: The renewal of the moon is no less than twenty-nine and a half days [twelve

hours, which are half a day],

and two-thirds of an hour, and seventy-three parts [

out of the 1,080 parts of an hour that there are in an hour].

And on that day

on which this incident occurred,

the mother of ben Zaza died, and Rabban Gamaliel delivered a great eulogy for her.

And

not because

she was

worthy of it

did he deliver such a eulogy.

Rather, so that the people would know that the court had not sanctified the month,

for the new moon is a day on which eulogizing is forbidden.

And from the fact that Rabban Gamaliel delivered a eulogy on that day, everyone would understand that they had not sanctified the new month.

We learned in the Mishna: Rabban Gamaliel sent [to Rabbi Yehoshua]: I decree upon you that you come to me with your staff and your money on the day of Yom Kippur that falls according to your reckoning.

Rabbi Akiva went and found him distressed.

Etc.

They raised a question before them

The members of the academy asked a question:

Who

was the one who was

distressed?

Was

Rabbi Akiva

the one who was

distressed

over what had been decreed upon Rabbi Yehoshua?

Or was Rabbi Yehoshua distressed

over the decree that had been decreed upon himself?

Come and hear

a proof to resolve the uncertainty:

For it was taught: Rabbi Akiva went and found Rabbi Yehoshua distressed.

He said to him

Rabbi Akiva to Rabbi Yehoshua, his teacher:

My master! Why are you distressed?

He said to him

Rabbi Yehoshua:

Akiva! It would be fitting for him to fall ill for twelve months [

he spoke about himself in the third person, as though distancing a curse from himself; it would have been preferable for me to be ill for twelve months],

and let him not decree upon him [

me]

this decree!

Rabbi Akiva said to him:

Rabbi Akiva:

My master,

may you

permit me to say before you one thing that you taught me?

He said to him

Rabbi Yehoshua:

Say!

He said to him: Behold, the verse

says

“proclaims”

concerning the appointed times, three times, “which you shall proclaim.”

And “them” is written defectively, without a vav.

“You,” “you,” “you”—

three times.

In order to say:

a.

“You,” even if

you are

unwitting,

and mistakenly think that it is proper to intercalate the month.

b.

“You,” even if

you are

deliberate.

c.

“You,” even if

you are

misled,

by false witnesses.

And

in these words he said to him

Rabbi Yehoshua to Rabbi Akiva:

Akiva! You have comforted me; you have comforted me.

We learned in the Mishna:

He came to Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinos.

He said to him: If we come to judge after the court of Rabban Gamaliel. As it is stated: “And Moses and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended.” And why were the names of the elders not specified? Etc.

The Sages taught: Why were the names of these elders not specified?

In order

that no person should say

about the judges of his generation: Is

so-and-so

the judge

like Moses and Aaron? Is

so-and-so

the judge

like Nadab and Abihu? Is

so-and-so

the judge

like Eldad and Medad?

Therefore the names of the other elders were not mentioned, so that they could answer him: Perhaps they are as important as three of the judges whose names were not mentioned.

And

as proof of this, for the verse

says:

“And Samuel said to the people: The Lord, who performed

miracles for you,

through Moses and Aaron [

by means of Moses and Aaron].”

And it says,

the verse in the continuation of that same matter:

“And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel [

Samuel said this about himself].”

Thus Scripture enumerates six elders: Jerubbaal, Bedan, and Jephthah, together with Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.

And who are Jerubbaal, Bedan, and Jephthah who were mentioned in this verse?

Jerubbaal—

this is

the judge

Gideon.

And why was

his name

called Jerubbaal?

Because

he made a quarrel with the Baal,

for he demolished the altar of the Baal, as explained in Judges [6:28–32].

Bedan—

this is Samson.

And why was his name called Bedan?

Because he came [

who came]

from Dan.

Jephthah—

as its plain meaning.

And these three were mentioned together with Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.