Rosh Hashanah 44

וחד מי מהימן והתניא מעשה שבא הוא ועדיו עמו להעיד עליו אמר רב פפא מאי אחר זוג אחר

But [is the word of] one person to be taken? Has it not been taught, 'On one occasion he came accompanied by the witnesses<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This would show that at least two were required.');">¹</span> who were to testify to his bona fides'? - R'Papa replied: What is meant by ANOTHER? Another pair.

ה"נ מסתברא דאי לא תימא הכי אם אינן מכירין אותו מאי אותו אילימא אותו חד וחד מי מהימן (תהלים פא, ה) משפט כתיב ביה אלא מאי אותו אותו הזוג ה"נ מאי אחר זוג אחר

This view too is borne out by an examination [of the language of the Mishnah]. For should you hold otherwise, [consider the words] IF THAT ONE [OTHO] IS NOT KNOWN TO THEM. Now what is referred to by THAT ONE? Shall I say, a single person?

וחד לא מהימן והתניא מעשה ברבי נהוראי שהלך אצל העד להעיד עליו בשבת באושא

But is [the word of] one person accepted,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In giving evidence regarding the New Moon.');">²</span> seeing that the word judgment<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the verse, For it is a statute for Israel, a judgment for the God of Jacob. Ps. LXXXI, 5. 'Judgment' could be delivered only on the evidence of at least two witnesses.');">³</span> is used in connection with it? But in fact what is meant by THAT ONE?

אמרי רבי נהוראי סהדא אחרינא הוה בהדיה והא דלא חשיב ליה משום כבודו של רבי נהוראי רב אשי אמר רבי נהוראי סהדא אחרינא הוה באושא ואזל רבי נהוראי לאצטרופי בהדיה

That pair. So here, what is meant by ANOTHER? Another pair. But is not the word of one witness taken [in this matter]?

אי הכי מאי למימרא מהו דתימא מספיקא לא מחללינן שבתא קמ"ל

Has it not been taught, 'On one occasion R'Nehorai accompanied the witness to testify to his bona fides on Sabbath in Usha'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' At the time when the Beth din was in Usha.');">⁴</span> - I can reply that there was another witness along with R'Nehorai, and the reason why he was not mentioned was out of respect for R'Nehorai.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., so as not to put him on the same footing as R. Nehorai. Cf. Git. ');">⁵</span> R'Ashi said: In R'Nehorai's case there was [already] another witness in Usha,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This witness may have been either one who had seen the new moon, or one who could testify to the bona fides of the man who has seen it. V. trvx Tosaf. s.v. .');">⁶</span> and R'Nehorai went to join his testimony with his.

כי אתא עולא אמר קדשוה לירחא במערבא אמר רב כהנא לא מיבעיא עולא דגברא רבה הוא דמהימן אלא אפי' איניש דעלמא נמי מהימן מ"ט כל מילתא דעבידא לאגלויי לא משקרי בה אינשי תניא נמי הכי בא אחד בסוף העולם ואמר קדשו ב"ד את החדש נאמן:

If that is the case, what is the point of the statement?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' What reason was there why R. Nehorai should not have gone on Sabbath, seeing that the Mishnah permits this?');">⁷</span> - You might think that we do not allow the Sabbath to be profaned [by one witness] where there is any doubt [about the other].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who might disappear in the interval.');">⁸</span> Hence we are told [that this is not so]. When 'Ulla came [to Babylon], he announced that they had sanctified the New Moon [on a certain day] in the West [Palestine].

בראשונה היו מקבלין עדות החדש מכל אדם וכו': תנו רבנן מה קלקול קלקלו הבייתוסין פעם אחת בקשו בייתוסין להטעות את חכמים שכרו שני בני אדם בד' מאות זוז אחד משלנו ואחד משלהם

Said R'Kahana: Not only [in such a case] do we take the word of 'Ulla who is a great man, but we take the word of any ordinary man. What is the reason? Because whenever a thing is bound to come to light later on, men do not lie about it. It has been taught to the same effect: If a man comes from the other end of the world and says, The Beth din have sanctified the New Moon, his word is taken.

שלהם העיד עדותו ויצא שלנו אמרו לו אמור כיצד ראית את הלבנה אמר להם עולה הייתי במעלה אדומים וראיתיו שהוא רבוץ בין ב' סלעים ראשו דומה לעגל אזניו דומין לגדי קרניו דומות לצבי וזנבו מונחת לו בין ירכותיו והצצתי בו ונרתעתי ונפלתי לאחורי ואם אין אתם מאמינים לי הרי מאתים זוז צרורין לי בסדיני

ORIGINALLY TESTIMONY WITH REGARD TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE NEW MOON WAS RECEIVED FROM ANYONE. Our Rabbis taught: What evil course did the Boethusians<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [MS.M.: Minim, v. supra p. 94, n. 2].');">⁹</span> adopt? Once the Boethusians sought to mislead the Sages.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By making them believe that the new moon had been seen on the thirtieth of Adar, which was a Sabbath, when in fact it had not, so that the second day of Passover might be on a Sunday and the counting of the 'Omer might commence literally 'on the morrow of the Sabbath', according to their interpretation of the words (Rashi) .');">¹⁰</span>

אמרו לו מי הזקיקך לכך אמר להם שמעתי שבקשו בייתוסים להטעות את חכמים אמרתי אלך אני ואודיע להם שמא יבואו בני אדם שאינם מהוגנין ויטעו את חכמים

They hired two men for four hundred zuzim, one belonging to our party and one to theirs. The one of their party gave his evidence and de parted. Our man [came and] they said to him: Teil us how you saw the moon. He replied: I was going up the ascent of Adumim<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Josh. XV, 7.');">¹¹</span>

אמרו לו מאתים זוז נתונין לך במתנה והשוכרך ימתח על העמוד באותה שעה התקינו שלא יהו מקבלין אלא מן המכירין:

and I saw it couched between two rocks, its head like [that of] a calf, its ears like [those of] a hind, and its tail between its legs, and as I caught sight of it I got a fright and fell backwards, and if you do not believe me, why, I have two hundred zuzim tied up in my cloak. They said to him: Who told you to say all this?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'who compelled you to all this'.');">¹²</span> He replied: I heard that the Boethusians were seeking to mislead the Sages, so I said [to myself], I will go myself and tell them, for fear lest untrustworthy men should come and mislead the Sages. They said: You can have the two hundred zuzim as a present,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Beth din having the right to expropriate. [On the reading Minim, if the reference is to Jewish Christians, their desire to have the first day of Passover fall on Friday and Pentecost on Sunday as was the case in the year of the crucifixion, would supply them with a reason for tampering with the Calendar, V. Herford, Christianity in the Talmud, p. 330.]');">¹³</span>

<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> בראשונה היו משיאין משואות משקלקלו הכותים התקינו שיהו שלוחין יוצאין

and the man who hired you shall be laid out on the post.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For a flogging.');">¹⁴</span> There and then they ordained that testimony should be received only from persons who were known to them. <big><b>MISHNAH: </b></big>ORIGINALLY THEY USED TO LIGHT<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Hebrew word is massi'in, which literally means 'raise up'.');">¹⁵</span> BEACONS.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To convey the news of the New Moon to the diaspora in Babylon.');">¹⁶</span>

כיצד היו משיאין משואות מביאין כלונסאות של ארז ארוכין וקנים ועצי שמן ונעורת של פשתן וכורך במשיחה ועולה לראש ההר ומצית בהן את האור ומוליך ומביא ומעלה ומוריד עד שהוא רואה את חבירו שהוא עושה כן בראש ההר השני וכן בראש ההר השלישי

WHEN THE CUTHEANS [SAMARITANS] ADOPTED EVIL COURSES,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And lit beacons on the thirtieth day, so as to mislead the Babylonians.');">¹⁷</span> THEY MADE A RULE THAT MESSENGERS SHOULD GO FORTH. HOW DID THEY LIGHT THE BEACONS? THEY USED TO BRING LONG POLES OF CEDAR AND REEDS AND OLIVE WOOD AND FLAX FLUFF WHICH THEY TIED TO THE POLES WITH A STRING, AND SOMEONE USED TO GO UP TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AND SET FIRE TO THEM AND WAVE THEM TO AND FRO AND UP AND DOWN UNTIL HE SAW THE NEXT ONE DOING THE SAME THING ON THE TOP OF THE SECOND MOUNTAIN; AND SO ON THE TOP OF THE THIRD MOUNTAIN.

ומאין היו משיאין משואות מהר המשחה לסרטבא ומסרטבא לגרופינא ומגרופינא לחוורן ומחוורן לבית בלתין ומבית בלתין לא זזו משם אלא מוליך ומביא ומעלה ומוריד עד שהיה רואה כל הגולה לפניו כמדורת האש:

WHENCE DID THEY CARRY THE [CHAIN OF] BEACONS? FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES [IN JERUSALEM] TO SARTABA, AND FROM SARTABA TO GROFINA, AND FROM GROFINA TO HAURAN, AND FROM HAURAN TO BETH BALTIN.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [There is no general agreement about the identification of these places. Obermeyer (p. 17ff) locates them as follows: Sartaba == Karn Sartaba, five km from the western bank of the Jordan; Grofina (or 'Agrufina, v. D.S.) 'Arafun, a hill situated among the Gilead range of mountains; Hauran south of Damascus, cf. Ezek. XLVII, 18. Beth Baltin == Beiram (v. infra) some miles N.W. of Pumbeditha. For other views, v. Horowitz Palestine, p. 125].');">¹⁸</span> THE ONE ON BETH BALTIN DID NOT BUDGE FROM THERE BUT WENT ON WAVING TO AND FRO AND UP AND DOWN UNTIL HE SAW THE WHOLE OF THE DIASPORA<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the district of Pumbeditha. V. GEMARA: [Rashi omits 'the whole of'.]');">¹⁹</span> BEFORE HIM LIKE ONE BONFIRE.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because, as explained infra in the Gemara, the inhabitants on seeing the beacon fire used to light torches.');">²⁰</span>

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> מאי משמע דמשיאין לישנא דיקוד הוא דכתיב (שמואל ב ה, כא) וישאם דוד ואנשיו ומתרגמינן ואוקדינן דוד

<big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>How do we know that the word massi'in<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra p. 96, n. 5.');">²¹</span> connotes 'burning'? - Because it is written in the Scripture, wa-yisa'em, David and his men,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 2 Sam,. V, 21 in reference to the idols captured from the Philistines. E.V. 'took them away'.');">²²</span> and we translate<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the authorized Aramaic version.');">²³</span> 'and David burnt them'.

ת"ר אין משיאין משואות אלא על החדש שנראה בזמנו לקדשו ואימתי משיאין לאור עיבורו

Our Rabbis taught 'Beacon fires are lit only for the new moon which has been seen at its proper time,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., on the thirtieth day of the outgoing month. ruchg ouh');">²⁴</span> [to announce that] it has been sanctified. When are they lit? On the night following its announcement.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' , 'the day of the prolongation'. V. supra, p. 81, n. 1.');">²⁵</span>

למימרא דאחסר עבדינן אמלא לא עבדינן מ"ט א"ר זירא גזירה משום ר"ח חסר שחל להיות בערב שבת אימת עבדי באפוקי שבתא דאי אמרת נעביד נמי אמלא אתו

This means to say that we light beacons for defective months but not for full months. What is the reason? - R'Zera said: It is a precaution on account of a defective month which ends on Friday. [In that case] when do we light? On the termination of Sabbath; and if you were to insist that we should light up also for full months, this might give rise