Commentary for Rosh Hashanah 46:14

דא"ר יוחנן מאי דכתיב (איוב כה, ב) המשל ופחד עמו עושה שלום במרומיו מעולם לא ראתה חמה פגימתה של לבנה ולא פגימתה של קשת פגימתה של לבנה דחלשה דעתה פגימתה של קשת דלא לימרו עובדי החמה

NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE REQUIRED AT ALL, BUT SO THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE DISAPPOINTED, [AND] SO THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE DISSUADED FROM COMING.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'so that they should (still) be accustomed to come'.');">²⁵</span> <big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>'IN FRONT OF THE SUN' is surely the same as 'TO THE NORTH OF IT', and 'BEHIND THE SUN' is surely the same as TO THE SOUTH OF IT'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The new moon can be seen only about sunset, close to the sun, when the sun is travelling towards the north. We should therefore naturally take 'in front of the sun' to mean 'to the north of the sun', and 'behind the sun' to mean 'to the south of the sun'.');">²⁶</span> - Abaye said: [It means], whether the concavity of the moon is in front of the sun or behind the sun.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., whether the rim of the moon visible from the earth is concave or convex in relation to the sun. By 'in front of' Abaye understands 'turned towards', and by 'behind', 'turned away from'.');">²⁷</span> If he says, in front of the sun, his evidence is rejected, sin R'Johanan has said: What is meant by the verse, Dominion and fear are with him, He maketh peace in his high places?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Job XXV, 2.');">²⁸</span> Never did the sun behold the concavity of the new moon nor the concavity of the rainbow. It never sees the concavity of the moon, so that she should not feel humiliated.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And in this way God keeps the peace between the sun and the moon.');">²⁹</span> It never sees the concavity of the rainbow so that the worshippers of the sun should not say,

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