Shabbat 174

[In respect] of their encamping.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Baraitha states that the sixth day from when they pitched their tents, which was on New Moon, was also the sixth of the month and the sixth day of the week. ');">¹</span> R. Aha b. Jacob said: [In respect] of their journeying.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From Rephidim (v. Ex. XIX, 2). He holds that they left Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai on the same day. ');">²</span> Now, they disagree about [the precept of] the Sabbath [as communicated to them at at Marah, for it is written, [Observe the Sabbath day …] as the Lord my God commanded thee,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. V, 12. This occurs in the second Decalogue, which is a repetition of the first Decalogue. Hence these words, 'as … commanded thee', must have been spoken on the first occasion at Sinai too, and they imply that the Israelites had already been commanded to keep the Sabbath. ');">³</span> whereon Rab Judah commented in Rab's name: As he commanded thee at Marah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Ex. XV, 25. ');">⁴</span>

One Master holds: They were commanded concerning the Sabbath [in general], but not concerning tehumin.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Tehum pl. tehumin, q.v. Glos. ');">⁵</span> Whilst the other Master holds: They were commanded concerning tehumin too.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Raba maintains that it was the sixth day from their encamping only, whilst they departed from Rephidim on the previous day, which was the Sabbath, since the law of tehumin was as yet non-existent. But R. Aha b. Jacob holds that they must have set out from Rephidim on Sunday too, not on the Sabbath, this law already being in existence. ');">⁶</span> Come and hear: As to the Nisan in which the Israelites departed from Egypt, on the fourteenth day they slaughtered their Passover sacrifices, on the fifteenth they went forth, and in the evening the first-borns were smitten. 'In the evening': can you think so!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For this implies that the death of the first-borns took place after their departure. ');">⁷</span> Rather say, The first-borns having been smitten the [previous] evening, and that day was a Thursday. Now, since the fifteenth of Nisan was on a Thursday, the first of Iyar was on the Sabbath,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Nisan containing thirty days. ');">⁸</span>

and the first of Siwan was on a Sunday,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Iyar containing twenty-nine days. ');">⁹</span> which is a difficulty according to the Rabbis? — The Rabbis answer you: Iyar in that year was indeed made full.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Before the calendar was fixed by calculation months might be made full (thirty days) or defective (twenty-nine days) according to the exigencies of the moment. ');">¹⁰</span> Come and hear that they did not make it full! As to the Nisan in which the Israelites departed from Egypt, on the fourteenth they killed their Passover sacrifices, on the fifteenth they went forth, and in the evening the first-borns were smitten. 'In the evening' can you think so! Rather, say, The first-borns having been smitten since the [previous] evening, and that day was a Thursday. Nisan was a full month, so that [the first of] Iyar fell on the Sabbath. Iyar was defective, so that [the first of] Siwan fell on a Sunday. This is a difficulty according to the Rabbis? — That agrees with R. Jose. R. Papa observed, Come and hear: And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin&nbsp;… on the fifteenth day of the second month.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XVI, 1. ');">¹¹</span>

Now that day was the Sabbath, for it is written, and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 7. ');">¹²</span> and it is written, six days ye shall gather it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 26. Now, the manna first fell on the day after they arrived at Sin, for Moses says 'and in the morning', i.e., tomorrow, 'ye shall see the glory', etc., which refers to the manna. Since Moses permitted them to gather it for six days, the first must have been Sunday, and the previous day was the Sabbath. ');">¹³</span> Now, since the fifteenth of Iyar was on the Sabbath, the first of Siwan was on a Sunday, which is a difficulty according to the Rabbis? — The Rabbis can answer you: Iyar of that year was made full. R. Assi<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So the text as emended by BaH. ');">¹⁴</span>

of Hozna'ah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' (Be-) Hozae, Khuzistan. ');">¹⁵</span> said to R. Ashi, Come and hear: And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XL, 17. ');">¹⁶</span> [and with reference to this] a Tanna taught: That day took ten crowns.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., it was pre-eminent in ten things. ');">¹⁷</span> It was the first of the Creation,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., it was a Sunday. ');">¹⁸</span>

the first for the princes,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To make their offerings for the dedication of the Tabernacle, v. Num. VII. ');">¹⁹</span> the first for the priesthood,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When Aaron began to officiate as a priest, v. Lev. IX; before that Divine Service was performed by first-borns. ');">²⁰</span> the first for [public] sacrifice, the first for the fall of fire [from Heaven],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. ibid. 24. ');">²¹</span> the first for the eating of sacred food,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., flesh of sacrifices, which had henceforth to be eaten within a fixed locale, whereas hitherto it might be consumed anywhere. ');">²²</span>

the first for the dwelling of the <i>Shechinah</i> in Israel, the first for the [priestly] blessing of Israel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By Aaron, v. ibid. 22. ');">²³</span> the first for the interdict of the high places,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Upon which sacrifices were offered before the erection of the Tabernacle. ');">²⁴</span> [and] the first of months. Now, since the first of Nisan of that year was on a Sunday, that of the previous year must have been on a Wednesday. For it was taught: Others say, Between one 'Azereth<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'solemn assembly' — the Feast of Weeks. ');">²⁵</span> and another, and between one New Year['s day] and another, there can be a difference of only four days,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., one falls four days later in the week than the previous year's, since the Jewish year, which is lunar, consists of three hundred and fifty-four days. ');">²⁶</span> and in a leap year, five [days].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An extra month of twenty-nine days being intercalated. ');">²⁷</span> Hence the first of Iyar must have fallen on the eve of the Sabbath [Friday], and the first of Siwan on the Sabbath, which is a difficulty according to both R. Jose and the Rabbis? — In R. Jose's view, seven months were declared defective;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So there was a difference of three days, not four, that year consisting of three hundred and fifty-three days, which makes the first of Siwan fall on a Sunday. ');">²⁸</span>