Rosh Hashanah 20 - Did they intimidate the witnesses?

As discussed in another place, because of the difference in length in the solar year and twelve lunar months, the court would occasionally add a thirteenth month to the year. In deciding which year to intercalate, the judges had to balance multiple considerations. Since a month could be twenty-nine or thirty days, you might think that here too, the judges had a leeway. However, that would be incorrect since God told Moses, "This new moon will signify the beginning of the month for you." That meant to say that the court announces the next month based on the sighting of the moon.

However, the judges could intimidate the witnesses who saw the new moon into not testifying. When they did so, the outgoing month would be extended to the length of thirty days. They were not allowed to shorten the month by telling the witnesses to testify that they did see the moon when they actually did not. To do so would be telling them to say an outright lie.

You could also argue the opposite entirely. To tell the witnesses to suppress the testimony would be an outright lie. If the moon really was out, many other people saw it too. If the court did not sanctify the New Month, it would look like a falsehood. But to tell the witnesses to testify that they saw the moon when they, in fact, did not - that was OK. Because in this case, the people would think that the witnesses were lucky and sighted the moon before others. Thus it comes out that they could shorten the month.

Art: Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon by Caspar David Friedrich

Rosh Hashanah 19 - The court sets the time

As we learned earlier, once the court (Sanhedrin) confirms the New Moon, the day becomes the first day of the month (Rosh Chodesh.) The calendar for Shabbat is different. Shabbat comes on the seventh day, and the court has no power to accelerate or delay this. By contrast, the first of the following month comes either twenty-nine or thirty days after the previous. Depending on the court's determination, the exact date for every Holiday, such as Rosh Hashanah and Passover, may change. This setting of the date will affect the dates when people can or cannot do work. It will also affect the dates when they can or cannot eat chametz and should eat matzah.

Therefore, the court would send messengers who would travel to distant lands such as Babylonia and inform the Jewish community about the date when the New Moon was declared. There were a total of six months when this knowledge was necessary. One of them was Elul - because of Rosh Hashanah that followed that month. The other was the month of Tishrei - because of Yom Kippur on the tenth day of Tishrei. Why did they have to trouble the messengers two months in a row, seeing that the month of Elul was almost always twenty-nine days, and thus the month could be calculated directly? In setting the next month, the court took the needs of the whole nation into account. Therefore, they could make the Elul month complete thirty days and delay Rosh Hashanah on rare occasions.

Art: Crescent Moon by Andrew Wyeth

Rosh Hashanah 17 - Tolerance

There are three books open on Rosh Hashanah: the wicked, the righteous, and the intermediate. The righteous are written and sealed in the book of righteous, for life. The wicked are written and sealed in the book of the wicked, for death. The intermediate people are given ten days until Yom Kippur to improve themselves. If they succeed, they are written for life and if not - for death.

This passage conceals more than it tells. There are at least four ways to understand it. That "life" and "death" refer to the spiritual state in the World to Come. That the terms "righteous" and "wicked" do not refer to what is commonly called "good" and "bad" deeds; instead, the measure of good and bad deeds is unknown to us and is unexpected. The third approach says that "life" and "death" mean that the lifespan is expanded or shortened. Another approach is that "righteous" is a person whose merits outweigh his evil deeds. 

Notwithstanding, one who does not insist on his rights, and drops the entire matter when being offended - such a person deserves that in judgment, his bad deeds are also dropped. What is the source for that? "He (God) pardons transgression and overlooks sin." The Talmud reads this as follows: "Whose transgression does He pardon? - One who overlooks sins committed against himself."

Art: Still life with three books by Van Gogh

Rosh Hashanah 16 - When is judgement?

There are four periods of judgment. On Passover, the world is judged for grain. On Shavuot, it is judged regarding the fruit of the tree. On Rosh Hashanah, all who come into this world pass before Him, following the phrase "He that fashions their hearts, understands their deeds." The reason for knowing the times of judgment is to pray with particular intensity and purpose.

However, there are other opinions: man is judged every day, man is judged every hour, and so on. Many questions come up regarding free will, the efficacy of prayer for the sick if their fate was already decided, and so on.

There are some rules that Rabbi Yitzhak related. A person is judged according to his situation at the moment and not his future deeds. Source? Ishmael was saved in the desert because of his current plight, regardless of his future evil deeds.

Further, when one calls for judgement for his fellow, he attracts undue attention to his own sins. Sources: Sarah said, "Let God judge between me and you." Next, "And Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and weep for her."

Art: The Dismissal of Hagar by Govert Flinck 

Rosh Hashanah 15 - Etrog - a tree or a vegetable?

The etrog is similar to a tree in three ways, and it is similar to a vegetable in one way. The etrog is treated as a tree fruit for the laws of orlah: for the first three years, the fruit of any tree in Israel cannot be eaten or even used. For the laws of revai: in the fourth year, the fruit is taken to Jerusalem and eaten there. For the laws of shmita: the fruits of the seventh year are free for all.

However, the etrog is like a vegetable for the laws of tithing. That is, the tithing obligation begins at the moment when it is picked. That is because, as a vegetable, the etrog keeps absorbing water and uses it for growth all the time until it is harvested. This opinion is not unanimous, and there were different practices regarding the etrog. For Rabbi Akiva, this was a practical issue. Once, he separated the tithes two times, according to two different opinions. The Talmud discusses whose opinions these were and what did his actions mean.

Art: The lemon by Edouard Manet

Rosh Hashanah 14 - Tu Bishvat

Tu Bishvat, the 15th of the month of Shvat, marks the New Year of the trees. Why is this day significant in the life of a tree? Because by then, most of the rainy days of the season have passed. In Israel, rain does not fall throughout the year but only during the rainy season, from mid-autumn through winter. These rains cause sap to rise in the trees, and the new fruits of the tree are ready to emerge.

But wait! Didn't we say that the New Year of the trees is on the first of Tishrei? Yes, and yet there is no contradiction. The Tishrei New Year is to count the number of years in the life of a tree. For the first three years, the tree is "orlah," and its fruit cannot be used. In the fourth, its fruit is taken to Jerusalem and eaten there.

By contrast, Tu Bishvat is for separating tithes. In different years, there are different kinds of tithes. There is tithe for the poor and tithe to be eaten in Jerusalem. Tu Bishvat serves as a demarkation telling the year the fruit belongs and therefore the tithe that should be taken from it.

Art: The Large Tree by Paul Gauguin

Rosh Hashanah 13 - Rosh Hashanah for vows and the question of exact measurements

Rosh Hashanah for vows also stars on the first of the month of Tishrei. But what does this mean? Imagine that one has taken a vow which prohibits her any benefit from a particular fellow. Then she should observe it for a year, until the same month and the exact date come next year. However, if she vowed "this year," then she should not derive benefit from her friend until the first of Tishrei next year. This is true even if only one day is left before the first of Tishrei. Even those people who say that one day in a year cannot be counted a year - here they will agree to one day. That is because our vower intended to cause herself some suffering, which she has achieved even in one day.

The Talmud now goes back to the discussion of tithes. The natural place for this discussion is in the Mishnah Maaser. However, the Babylonian Talmud discusses the laws of Israeli produce only incidentally.

Grain and grapes are obligated in tithes once they grow one-third of their total growth. But did the Sages know when this happened? And in general, do we need to be so meticulous? Here the answer is yes. Otherwise, these measures would make little sense. A mikvah must have at least forty se'ah of water; the amount of food to transmit ritual impurity is the size of an egg, and so on.

Art: A Basket of Grapes by Pierre Dupuis

Rosh Hashanah 12 - The laws of vegetables

We started this tractate saying that there are four beginnings of the year, and what each one appertains to. There is a new year (Rosh Hashanah) for vegetables, and it falls on the first of the month of Tishrei. What are the laws for vegetables? They relate to tithes.

In general, one has to give tithes of the grain that he collects in the land of Israel. The Sages extended this law to vegetables and obligated one to set aside tithes of vegetables before eating them. The obligation of tithes is year by year. Thus, if one picks a vegetable on the last day before Rosh Hashanah and then another after the sun goes down and it is already a new year, he must give the titles separately. He cannot give a tithe from the vegetables of one year for the next, nor the following year's tithe from this one.

(Incidentally, he cannot pick vegetables on the Rosh Hashanah day itself, so we assume that we are talking about a non-Jew he did it for him, and even that - on his own accord.)

Some more laws of the vegetables. The obligation to give tithes starts at the moment when one harvests it from the ground. However, one can still snack from them. Later, when one bundles the produce for the market to sell, one can no longer snack from it until he separates tithes. That is for the vegetables that are sold by bundles. If the vegetables are sold in baskets, the cutoff point for snacks is putting them in a basket.

Art: Vegetable Seller by Joachim Beuckelaer

Rosh Hashanah 11 - When was the world created?

The Holiday of Rosh Hashanah, or New Year, is celebrated on the first day of the seventh month. It is the day of judgment and introspection and also of the blowing of the shofar. This day also marks the creation of the world and of mankind. That is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. What is his proof? "God said, 'The earth shall send forth vegetation." This suggests that the land of covered with mature vegetation. Which month is that? It is the fall month of Tishrei.

Rabbi Yehoshuah interprets the same verse differently. "Earth send forth vegetation" means the land that is only beginning to bring forth vegetation, and this is the spring month of Nisan. So in his opinion, the world was created in Nisan.

Rabbi Eliezer places other events also in Tishrei. This month, Abraham and Jacob were born, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered, and Joseph went out of the Egyptian prison. The text of Rosh Hashanah's prayers accepted today follows the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer.

Art: Country Spring by Alfred Sisley

Note to Beitzah 23 - Who was the cow of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah?

The cow of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah used to go out into the street on Shabbat with a colorful strip between her horns. Since such a strip is considered an adornment and is not something cows usually wear, the Sages disallowed such practice. On Shabbat, carrying in public areas is forbidden. However, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah permitted it. Who was this cow?

This cow was a reincarnation of the wife of Korach. In her previous life, she advised Korach to start a fight with Moses. She also suggested the argument: bring a tallit made of tzitzit blew threads and ask Moses if it needs additional tzitzit threads at its four corners. The question meant that all the Jews were holy, and Moses was not required as a leader.

The word for "corners" sounds similar and is related to the word "horns." Now, as a cow, she was wearing this noticeable strip between her horns.

Art: Jehan Georges Vibert - The Reprimand