Rosh Hashanah 8b — the Talmud in English

Which festival is it ![](pamud.bmp "

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that the new moon

the moon

is concealed on it?

That is, which festival falls on the New Moon, when, at the time of the conjunction, the moon is concealed, and even if it appears on it, it is very small and is not seen well?

You must say: this is Rosh Hashana,

which is the only festival that falls on the New Moon.

And it is written

in the following verse:

“For it is a statute for Israel, the judgment of the God of Jacob.”

For the God of Jacob sits in judgment on it.

From here [we learn] that Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment.

And incidentally, since we brought the verse “For it is a statute for Israel,” the Gemara brings additional beraitot that expound this verse in connection with judgment, that the Holy One, blessed be He, judges the world:

The Sages taught:

It is stated: “Blow on the New Moon a shofar.

For it is a statute for Israel, the judgment of the God of Jacob.”

“It is a statute for Israel,” for the court of Israel establishes in it the statute [mitzva] of sanctifying the New Moon.

The verse teaches

that

the court above does not enter into judgment unless the court below has sanctified the New Moon.

And so the verse said: If Israel established the New Moon, then there will be the judgment that the God of Jacob carries out.

Another beraita was taught,

another beraita that explains the verse in a different manner:

“For it is a statute for Israel,”

for Rosh Hashana is the day on which the Holy One, blessed be He, judges Israel.

I have only

learned from here that Rosh Hashana is a day of judgment

for Israel

alone.

But that Rosh Hashana is a day of judgment also

for the nations of the world—

from where

do we know this?

The verse teaches [that is why it is stated]:

“the judgment of the God of Jacob,”

which implies that there is judgment for everyone.

If so,

that there is judgment for everyone—

what does “For it is a statute for Israel

it” teach?

The verse teaches

that

Israel enters first into judgment,

before the other nations.

And this matter is

like

the statement

of Rav Hisda.

For Rav Hisda said:

When the Holy One, blessed be He, judges

a king and the community,

then

the king enters first into judgment.

As it is stated,

by King Solomon [I Kings 8:29]:

“To execute

the judgment of His servant [and Solomon intended himself],

[and Solomon intended himself by this], and

and the judgment of His people

Israel.” The verse mentioned the judgment of His servant of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is King Solomon, before the judgment of the rest of the people.

And the people of Israel in relation to the other nations—they are like a king in relation to the people.

And we explain:

What is the reason?

What is the reason that the king precedes the rest of the people?

If you wish, say: It is not proper conduct for the king to stand outside.

It is not proper conduct that the king should wait outside.

And if you wish, say:

The king enters first

because of

the increase of wrath,

before the wrath of the Holy One, blessed be He, increases on account of the sins of the community.

We learned in the Mishna: On the first of Tishrei is the New Year for years

and for Sabbatical years.

And we raise an objection concerning it:

From where

do we know that the Sabbatical year begins on the first of Tishrei?

For it is written [Leviticus 25]:

“And in the seventh year there shall be a complete rest for the land.”

And it derives,

and we learn the year mentioned here by a

“year”—

“year” gezera shava from Tishrei.

For it is written [Deuteronomy 11]:

“From the beginning of the year,”

and we explained above [at the end of page 8a] that this year begins in Tishrei.

And we object:

And let it derive,

why should we not learn by a gezera shava

“year—

“year” from

month

of Nisan?

For it is written [Exodus 12:2]: “This month [Nisan] shall be for you the beginning of months,

it is the first for you among the months of the year!”

And we answer:

They derive

by a gezera shava

“year”

in the Sabbatical year,

which does not have

“months” mentioned

with it, from “year”

that begins in Tishrei,

which does not have

months mentioned

with it.

And they do not derive

a gezera shava

“year”

in the Sabbatical year,

which does not have

months mentioned

with it, from

from

“year”

that begins in Nisan,

which has months with it.

As it is stated in it: “among the months of the year.”

We learned in the Mishna: On the first of Tishrei is the New Year for years,

and for Jubilee years.

And we object: Is it so that for

Jubilee years—

it is on the first of Tishrei

the New Year?

But

Jubilee years—

it is on the tenth of Tishrei

the New Year!

For it is written [Leviticus 25], concerning the Jubilee:

“On the Day of Atonement you shall sound a shofar throughout your land,

and you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”!

And we answer:

Whose is this,

according to whose view was our Mishna taught?—It is according to the view of

Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka!

For it was taught:

This that the verse said [there]:

“And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”—

what does it teach,

what does it come to teach us?

But this law of sanctifying the fiftieth year was already stated at the beginning of the passage [verse 8], as it is stated:

“And you shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years. And you shall sound a shofar blast in the seventh month [following the forty-nine years], on the tenth of the month.”

And it is self-evident that this is in the fiftieth year!

Since it is stated “On the Day of Atonement

you shall sound a shofar throughout your land.”

One might have thought that the fiftieth year would not be sanctified

until the fiftieth year,

except from the Day of Atonement onward.

The verse teaches [that is why it is stated]:

“And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year.”

The verse teaches

that

the

fiftieth year

is sanctified continuously from its beginning.

From here Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, said: From Rosh Hashana until the Day of Atonement

indeed

they did not

yet

go free, the slaves, to their homes,

for they had not yet sounded the shofar [and it is stated: “You shall sound a shofar,” and only afterward it is stated: “And you shall proclaim liberty”].

But

however, already

not

were they

enslaved to their masters [for the fiftieth year had already entered].

[since the fiftieth year had already begun].

Rather,

the slaves were then

eating and drinking, rejoicing, and with their crowns on their heads.

When the Day of Atonement arrived—

the court sounded the shofar.

And then,

the slaves went free to their homes, and

the

fields returned to their owners.

And from now there is a difficulty according to the position of the Sages, who hold that the Jubilee year begins on the Day of Atonement: Why did the verse repeat and say, “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”? For it is self-evident that it concerns the fiftieth year, as it is stated, “And you shall count for yourself forty-nine years, and you shall sound a shofar.”

And we answer:

But the Sages

hold that the verse comes to emphasize that only

years do you sanctify,

for when the fiftieth year entered, it is a mitzva for the court to say, “The year is sanctified.”

But you do not sanctify

any

months.

And this means that, according to the Sages, the court merely clarifies when the month will be renewed, but the court does not need to say anything. And the month is sanctified by itself, according to the course of the moon.

The Gemara brings another beraita connected with the dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka:

Another beraita was taught,

we learned in another beraita:

“It is a Jubilee”—

what does it teach!?

What does this verse come to teach us?

Since it is stated, “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year,”

and from here [we learn] that the Jubilee year is sanctified from its beginning, according to Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka.

One might have thought: Just as it is sanctified continuously from its beginning

before the Day of Atonement,

so it is sanctified continuously at its end

until the Day of Atonement following the Jubilee.

And do not wonder

how we raise the possibility that the Jubilee year should continue also into the fifty-first year until the Day of Atonement,

for one adds from the ordinary to the sacred.

The verse teaches,

that is why it is stated

“It is a Jubilee—

the fiftieth year.”

And the word “it” excludes: only

the fiftieth year do you sanctify, and you do not sanctify

the

fifty-first year

at all.

And this exposition is needed according to Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, who holds that the Jubilee year is sanctified from its beginning [and according to this, there was room to learn that even at its end the Jubilee continues until the Day of Atonement].

But according to the Sages, that the Jubilee does not begin until the Day of Atonement, there is no need to teach us that the Jubilee does not continue until the Day of Atonement.

And now there is a difficulty: According to the Sages, why is it stated in the verse, “It is a Jubilee”?