Sukkah 55a — the Talmud in English

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

they place the fats of the additional offerings of the New Moon on the upper half of the ramp in order

to know

to publicize

that the New Moon had been established in its proper time.

And it is proven that this is the distinguishing sign. If so, the question returns: Why do they advance the song of the New Moon, which is not frequent, before the song of Shabbat, which is frequent?

And we answer:

We make two distinguishing signs,

we make two distinguishing signs so that more people will notice that the New Moon had been established in its proper time.

Whoever sees this—

sees it, and whoever sees that—

sees it.

Furthermore,

he raised an objection

to Rabbi Aḥa, who said that they sound the trumpet for each additional offering separately, from this:

as Rava bar Shmuel taught:

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

when the New Moon does not fall on it,

and for the New Moon separately

when it falls on a weekday,

so

when the New Moon falls on Shabbat,

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

the verse says [Numbers 10] “

And on your New Moons.”

And on your New Moons.”

And below this derivation will be explained.

And we conclude:

a refutation of Rabbi Aḥa—

a refutation!

And now the Gemara explains the derivation:

What is the derivation?

Abaye said: The verse says

with regard to the trumpet blasts, “

And on your New Moons”—

all the New Moons were equated with one another,

to teach us that they sound the trumpet for them equally, whether they fall on a weekday or on Shabbat.

Rav Ashi said: It is written “

your New Moon,”

which is in the singular,

and it is written “

and on your New Moons,”

which is in the plural.

And which

is

one

New Moon

that has two “

heads”?

You must say that this is Rosh HaShanah.

And

with regard to it

the Merciful One said

with regard to the trumpet blast in the singular, “

your New Moon,”

in order to teach us that only

one

trumpet blast

is

sounded for its two additional offerings.

Furthermore,

a refutation of Rabbi Aḥa, from that which

was taught:

the song that the Levites would recite on Sukkot, for the additional-offering sacrifices

during the intermediate days of the Festival:

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

‘

Give to the Lord, sons of the mighty,

give to the Lord glory and strength,’ at the rejoicing of the House of the Drawing of Water. And later in the psalm, ‘The voice of the Lord is upon the waters,’ alluding to the song over the water libation.”

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

‘

But to the wicked God said,’”

which contains words of admonition for the wicked who come to the Temple courtyard to rejoice in the joy of the Festival, so that they should return in repentance. And later the psalm speaks of fulfilling vows concerning sacrifices, since the Festival of Sukkot is the final occasion for bringing vowed offerings [for one who vowed before Passover, and three pilgrimage Festivals passed over him according to the order of the Festivals of the year, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot], so that they should not transgress “Do not delay.”

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

‘

Who will rise up for me against evildoers,’”

corresponding to the foreign rulers who ruled over the Jewish people in the days of the Second Temple; and despite the suffering from the rule of the “evildoers,” they came to rejoice on the Festival.

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

‘

Understand, you brutish among the people.’”

Since from now only the final days of the Festival remained, they would turn the heart of the people toward the gifts of the poor, whose time is during the ingathering [gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field], so that they should not think that it is possible to refrain from giving them since no one sees and knows this, for the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One who 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 from the heart.

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

‘

All the foundations of the earth shall totter.’”

And the verse speaks of the gifts of the poor, for the theft of the gifts of the poor causes destruction in the world.

And if Shabbat falls on one of them,

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

“

Totter,”

will be displaced

entirely, and it will not be recited.

Rav Safra placed a mnemonic in them

of the initial letters:

HUMBAI.

Rav Pappa

would change the order, advancing “I removed” before “Understand, you brutish,” and

he placed a mnemonic in them: HUMAHBI.

And your mnemonic

for knowing Rav Safra’s mnemonic is “

a procession of scribes.”

This expression was accepted as an expression for the movement of a large crowd in an alley in which there was a teacher of children, called a “scribe,” with the children and their parents walking through this alley.

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

And from the words of the beraita, that on Shabbat they displace the psalm of the Festival and do not recite both of them, it is explicitly proven contrary to Rabbi Aḥa, who said that they sound the trumpet for each additional offering separately, for the trumpet blast is for the song, and according to the beraita they recite only one song.

And we conclude:

a refutation of Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina, a refutation.

And we challenge this:

But Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina stated a verse and a teaching

to prove his words!?

Ravina said:

There is no proof for his words from the beraita that says, “Everything follows the additional offerings,” because the intention of the beraita is not to say that they should sound the trumpet for each and every sacrifice, but only

to say that they prolong the

nine

trumpet blasts

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

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

The intention of the beraita is

to say that he increases the number of those sounding

the trumpets when there are two sacrifices.

And now the Gemara explains the recitation of the additional-offering sacrifices in the middle of the Additional Prayer:

And we,

the residents of outside the Land of Israel,

who have two days—

what do we do

with regard to reciting the verses of the additional offerings?

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

And the uncertainty is:

Should they recite, outside the Land of Israel, on the first day of the intermediate days of the Festival, which is the third day of the Festival, the verses of 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, they would recite the verses of the third day, with the result that on the seventh day they would recite the verses of the sixth day, while the verses of the seventh day would not be recited at all?

Or perhaps they should skip the verses of 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 of the third day.

Abaye said: The second day will be displaced.

Rava said: The seventh day will be displaced.

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

Totter,”

which is the song of the final day,

will be displaced.

And the same applies to the verses of the additional-offering sacrifice in the prayer.

Ameimar instituted in Nehardea that they skip by skipping.

They recite on the first day of the intermediate days of the Festival the verses of the second and third days, and likewise on each day, the verses of the preceding day and of that day.