Rosh Hashanah 8b (ח:) — the Talmud in English

Which is the festival

that the new moon

the moon

is concealed on?

That is, which festival falls on Rosh Hodesh, when, at the time of the conjunction, the moon is concealed; and even if it appears on that day, it is very small and is not clearly visible?

You must say that this is Rosh HaShana,

which is the only festival that falls on Rosh Hodesh.

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 that day.

From here it follows that Rosh HaShana is the Day of Judgment.

And since we have cited 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: “Sound the shofar on the new moon.

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

“It is a statute for Israel”: The Jewish court establishes in this month the statute [the mitzva] of sanctifying the new moon.

The verse teaches

that

the heavenly court does not enter into judgment unless the earthly court has sanctified the new moon.

Thus the verse says: If Israel established the new moon, then the judgment carried out by the God of Jacob takes place.

It was taught in another beraita,

another beraita that interprets the verse differently:

“For it is a statute for Israel,”

meaning that Rosh HaShana is the day on which the Holy One, blessed be He, judges Israel.

I have derived

from here that Rosh HaShana is a day of judgment

only for Israel,

alone.

But that Rosh HaShana is also a day of judgment

for the nations of the world—

from where

do we derive this?

The verse states [that is why it says]:

“The judgment of the God of Jacob,”

which indicates that there is judgment for everyone.

If so,

that there is judgment for everyone,

what is the verse teaching by saying, “For it is a statute for Israel

is”?

The verse teaches

that

Israel enters judgment first,

before the other nations.

And this is

similar

to

the statement of Rav Ḥisda.

For Rav Ḥisda said:

When the Holy One, blessed be He, judges

a king and the community,

then

the king enters judgment first.

As it is stated,

by King Solomon [I Kings 8:29]: “

To carry out

the judgment of His servant [

and Solomon intended himself],

and the judgment of His people

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

And Israel, in relation to the other nations, is 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 etiquette for the king to wait outside.

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

And if you wish, say:

The king enters first

in order that

the divine wrath not increase,

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

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

and for Sabbatical years.

And we raise a question 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 sabbath of complete rest for the land.”

And we derive by verbal analogy,

learning the year mentioned here through a verbal analogy,

“year”—

“year” from Tishrei.

For it is written [Deuteronomy 11]:

“From the beginning of the year,”

and we explained above [at the end of the first side] that this year begins in Tishrei.

And we raise an objection:

Let us derive,

why should we not learn through a verbal analogy

“year—

year” from

the 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:

We derive

through a verbal analogy

“year”

in the context of the Sabbatical year,

which does not have

the word

“months” mentioned with it, from “year”

that begins in Tishrei,

which does not have

the word

“months” mentioned with it.

But we do not derive

a verbal analogy

“year”

in the context of the Sabbatical year

which does not have

the word

“months” mentioned with it, from

from

“year”

that begins in Nisan,

which does have the word “months”

mentioned with it, as it is stated there: “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 raise an objection: Is it indeed for

Jubilee years that

the New Year is on the first of Tishrei?

?

But

Jubilee years—

their New Year is on the tenth of Tishrei!

!

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

“On Yom Kippur you shall sound the shofar throughout your land,

and you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”!

And we answer:

Whose opinion is this

according to which our Mishna was taught? It is the opinion of

Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka!

For it was taught:

The verse states [there]:

“And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”—

what does it come to teach,

what does it intend 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 written: “

You shall count for yourself seven cycles of years, seven times seven years, forty-nine years. And you shall sound the shofar of terua in the seventh month [following the forty-nine years], on the tenth of the month.”

And it is obvious that this refers to the fiftieth year!

Since it is stated, “On Yom Kippur

you shall sound the shofar throughout your land.”

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

until the fiftieth year

from Yom Kippur onward.

The verse states [that is why it says]:

“And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year.”

The verse teaches

that

the

fiftieth year

is sanctified continuously from its beginning.

From here Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka, said: From Rosh HaShana until Yom Kippur,

although

the

slaves

were not yet released to their homes,

since the shofar had not yet been sounded [and it says: “You shall sound the shofar,” and only afterward does it say: “You shall proclaim liberty”].

But

by that point they

no longer

were

subject to their masters [

since the fiftieth year had already begun].

Rather,

the slaves were then

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

Once Yom Kippur arrived—

the court sounded the shofar.

And then

the slaves were released to their homes, and

the

fields returned to their owners.

This now poses a difficulty for the opinion of the Sages, who maintain that the Jubilee year begins on Yom Kippur: Why did the verse repeat and say, “And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year”? It is obvious that it refers to the fiftieth year, as it is stated: “You shall count for yourself forty-nine years, and you shall sound the shofar.”

And we answer:

But the Sages

maintain that the verse comes to emphasize that only

years do you sanctify,

so that when the fiftieth year begins, it is a mitzva for the court to say: “The year is sanctified.”

But you do not sanctify

any

months.

That is, according to the Sages, the court merely determines when the month will renew, but the court need not say anything. The month is sanctified automatically, according to the moon’s course.

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

It was taught in another beraita,

we learned in another beraita:

“It is a Jubilee year”—

what does it come to teach?!

What does this verse come to teach?

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

which indicates that the Jubilee year is sanctified from its beginning, according to Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka.

One might have thought that just as it is sanctified continuously from its beginning

before Yom Kippur,

so it is sanctified continuously at its end

until Yom Kippur following the Jubilee year.

And do not be surprised

at how we could entertain the possibility that the Jubilee year continues into the fifty-first year until Yom Kippur,

for one adds from the profane to the sacred.

The verse states,

that is why it says

“It is a Jubilee year—

the fiftieth year.”

The word “it” excludes this possibility, indicating that only

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

the

fifty-first year

at all.

This exposition is necessary according to Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka, who maintains that the Jubilee year is sanctified from its beginning [and according to this, one could have derived that at its end as well, the Jubilee continues until Yom Kippur].

But according to the Sages, who maintain that the Jubilee does not begin until Yom Kippur, there is no need to teach us that the Jubilee does not continue until Yom Kippur.

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