Sukkah 55a (נה.) — the Talmud in English

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

They place the fats of the additional offerings of Rosh Hodesh on the upper half of the ramp in order

to know

and publicize

that Rosh Hodesh was established at its proper time.

And it is proven that this is the indication. If so, the question returns: Why do they precede the song of Rosh Hodesh, which is not frequent, to the song of Shabbat, which is frequent?

And we answer:

We make two indications,

we make two indications so that more people will notice that Rosh Hodesh was established at its proper time.

Who sees this—

sees; and who sees this—

sees.

Further,

meitivi

is raised against Rabbi Aḥa, who said that they sound the blasts for each Mussaf separately, from that

which Rava bar Shmuel taught:

One might have thought that just as they sound the blasts for Shabbat separately

when Rosh Hodesh does not occur on it,

and for Rosh Hodesh separately

when it occurs on a weekday,

so too,

when Rosh Hodesh occurs on Shabbat,

they should sound the blasts for each and every additional offering—

The verse therefore states [Numbers 10] “

And on your New Moons.”

The derivation of this verse will be explained below.

And we conclude:

A refutation of Rabbi Aḥa—

a complete refutation!

And now the Gemara explains the derivation:

What is the indication in the verse?

Abaye said: The verse states

in connection with the blasts

“

And on your New Moons”—

all the New Moons were juxtaposed to one another,

teaching us that they sound the blasts for them equally, whether they occur on a weekday or on Shabbat.

Rav Ashi said: It is written “

your New Moon,”

which is singular,

and it is written “

and on your New Moons,”

which is plural.

And which

is the one

New Moon

that is one

and has two “

heads”?

You must say that this is Rosh HaShana.

And

with regard to it

the Merciful One

said, concerning the blasts, in the singular, “

your New Moon,”

in order to teach us that only

one

blast

is

sounded for its two additional offerings.

And further, a refutation of Rabbi Aḥa follows from that which

was taught

in a beraita: The song that the Levites would recite on Sukkot, for the additional offerings,

during the intermediate days of the Festival:

On the first day, what would they recite—[Psalms 29] “

Ascribe to the Lord, sons of the mighty,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,” at the Celebration of the Drawing of the Water. And later in the psalm: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters,” alluding to the song for the water libation.

On the second day, what would they recite—[Psalms 50] “

But to the wicked God says,” which contains words of admonition for the wicked who came to the Temple courtyard to rejoice in the joy of the Festival, so that they would repent. Later, the psalm speaks of fulfilling vows involving offerings, since Sukkot is the final occasion for bringing vowed offerings [for one who made a vow before Pesaḥ and then three Festivals passed according to the order of the Festivals of the year—Pesaḥ, Shavuot, and Sukkot], so that they would not violate the prohibition of “Do not delay.”

On the third day, what would they recite—[Psalms 94] “

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers,” referring to the foreign rulers who ruled over the Jewish people during the Second Temple period; and despite the suffering caused by the rule of the “evildoers,” they came to rejoice on the Festival.

On the fourth day, what would they recite—[Psalms 94] “

Understand, you boors among the people.” Since only the final days of the Festival now remained, they would direct the people’s attention to the gifts for the poor, whose time is at the harvest [gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field], so that they would not think that they could refrain from giving them because no one sees or knows of it, for the Holy One, blessed be He, sees and knows.

On the fifth day, what would they recite—[Psalms 81] “

I removed his shoulder from the burden.” These are words of consolation: Their prayer requesting water will be heard if it is offered sincerely.

On the sixth day, what would they recite—[Psalms 82] “

All the foundations of the earth totter.” The verse speaks of the gifts for the poor, for the theft of the gifts for the poor causes destruction in the world.

And if Shabbat occurs on one of them,

when the Festival song is displaced by the song of Shabbat, and consequently each psalm is displaced to the following day—the psalm

“

All the foundations of the earth totter,”

which is the final song,

is displaced

entirely and is not recited.

Rav Safra placed a mnemonic among them

of their initial letters:

HUMBAI.

Rav Pappa

would alter the order, placing “I removed” before “Understand, you boors,” and

he placed a mnemonic among them: HOMAHBI.

And your mnemonic

for remembering Rav Safra’s mnemonic

is “

the procession of the scribes.”

This expression was commonly used for the procession of a large crowd through an alley in which there was a teacher of young children, called a “scribe”; the children and their parents would walk through this alley.

And Rav Safra’s mnemonic is HUMBAI, which resembles “the procession,” and in this way they would remember that it was Rav Safra who stated this mnemonic.

The words of the beraita, which state that on Shabbat the Festival psalm is displaced and the two are not recited, explicitly refute Rabbi Aḥa, who said that they sound the blasts for each Mussaf separately. For the blast is sounded for the song, and according to the beraita only one song is recited.

And we conclude:

A refutation of Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina, a complete refutation.

And we challenge this:

But Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina cited a verse and a Mishna

to prove his position!?

Ravina said:

There is no proof for his position from the beraita that says, “Everything follows the additional offerings,” since the beraita does not mean that they sound the blasts for each and every offering. Rather, it means only

that they lengthen the

nine

blasts

when there are two offerings, and they recite the one song after the libations of both have been offered.

The Sages of Caesarea said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa:

The intent of the beraita

is to say that they increase the number of those sounding

the trumpets when there are two offerings.

And now the Gemara explains the recitation of the additional-offering verses in the middle of the Mussaf prayer:

And we,

those of the Diaspora,

who have two days—

what do we do

when reciting the verses of the additional offerings?

On the first two days, it is obvious that they recite only the verses for the first day, and do not recite the verses for the second day, so as not to treat it as a weekday.

The question is:

Should they recite in the Diaspora, on the first day of the intermediate days of the Festival, which is the third day of the Festival, the verses for the second day, which should have been recited yesterday, and on the second day of the intermediate days of the Festival, which is the fourth day of the Festival, recite the verses for the third day? In that case, on the seventh day they would recite the verses for the sixth day, and would not recite the verses for the seventh day at all?

Or perhaps they should skip the verses for the second day entirely, and on the first day of the intermediate days of the Festival, which is the third day of the Festival, recite the verses for the third day.

Abaye said: The second day will be displaced.

Rava said: The seventh day will be displaced.

It was taught in a beraita in accordance with the opinion of Rava: If Shabbat occurs on one of them—“

All the foundations of the earth totter,”

which is the song of the final day,

will be displaced.

The same applies to the verses of the additional offering in the prayer.

Ameimar instituted in Nehardea that they skip verses.

On the first day of the intermediate days of the Festival, they recite the verses for the second and third days; and similarly on each day, they recite the verses for the preceding day and for that day itself.

Or perhaps they should skip the verses for the second day entirely and recite on the first day of the intermediate days, which is the third day of the festival, the verses for the third day.

Abaye said: The second day will be omitted.

Rava said: The seventh day will be omitted.

It was taught in a beraita in accordance with Rava’s opinion: If Shabbat occurs on one of them—

“Shall totter,”

which is the song for the final day,

will be omitted.

The same applies to the verses about the additional offering in the prayer.

Ameimar instituted in Nehardea that they skip portions.

On the first day of the intermediate days, they recite the verses for the second and third days, and so on each day they recite the verses for the preceding day and for that day.