"New Moon!" — BT Rosh Hashanah 21b (part 1) — #90

MISHNAH 1:5 Whether [the new moon] was clearly visible [to everyone] or whether it was not clearly visible, [witnesses who want to come testify before the beit din to having seen the new moon] may desecrate shabbat because of it. 
R. Yose says: If [the new moon] was clearly visible, they may not desecrate shabbat because of it. 

 It once happened that more than forty pairs [of potential witnesses] came through [on their way to Jerusalem to testify before the beit din concerning the new moon] and R. Akiba detained them in Lod. Rabban Gamliel sent [a message to R. Akiba, saying]: If you detain the crowd [from appearing before the beit din], you may cause them to stumble in the future.

INTRODUCTION

There are times when two or more religious obligations, each understood to benefit the community, appear in opposition. The mishnah discusses such a situation and its resolution.

The Rabbis live in the post-Temple era. The earliest generation can recall the rites and rituals of the Second Temple and all of them fervently long for the Temple to be rebuilt and the sacrificial cult re-instituted. To this day, traditional prayerbooks express a longing for the restoration of the Temple sacrifices, which have come to be associated with the advent of the messianic age.

The Hebrew calendar is based on the cycle of the moon. The period from one new moon to the next is one lunar month. Each new moon marks the beginning of a new month, called Rosh Chodesh. The new moon, and accordingly the declaration of Rosh Chodesh, determines the times when holy days falling during that month are observed. Rosh Hashanah falls on the new moon of the month of Tishrei; Sukkot and Pesach fall on the full moons of Tishrei and Nisan, respectively. Priests offered special sacrifices in the Temple for Rosh Chodesh and holy days; hence the declaration of Rosh Chodesh determined when the sacrifices should be offered.

Technically, a lunar month is slightly more than 29.5 days long; hence the new moon becomes visible the following day, somewhere between 30 and 31 days after the previous new moon. In the time of the Mishnah, witnesses would appear before a court in Jerusalem in pairs to provide testimony they had seen the sliver of the new moon. With two reliable witnesses, the court would declare which day was Rosh Chodesh. Since the schedule of sacrificial offerings was determined by the calendar, the Sages ruled that one could violate shabbat by traveling to Jerusalem to offer testimony concerning the new moon on the basis of Leviticus 23:4, which  instructs that sacred occasions be “celebrated each at its appointed time.” After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, Rabban Yochanan b. Zakkai ruled that desecrating shabbat in this way was impermissible except to testify to the new moons of the months of Tishrei and Nisan, since these events determine, respectively, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and Pesach.

If the thirtieth day comes and goes without anyone seeing the new moon—for example, if the sky is entirely overcast–the thirty-first day is automatically declared the new moon, since a lunar month could not possibly be thirty-two days long.

COMMENTARY

Mishnah often records several conflicting opinions. The anonymous first opinion, known as the Tanna Kamma (the first tanna), tells us that people who wish to bring testimony that they saw the new moon are permitted to violate shabbat by traveling on the holy day to the beit din (court) in Jerusalem whether or not the moon is visible. One might argue that if the moon is clearly visible, people in Jerusalem can serve as witnesses without traveling on shabbat; and if the sky is overcast, no one can provide legitimate testimony—so in either case, there is no cause to violate shabbat by traveling to give testimony. Yet the mishnah explicitly permits people to do so.

R. Yose objects to the Tanna Kamma’s leniency for people to travel on shabbat when the moon is clearly visible. He thinks rabbinic law forbids it as unnecessary. People in Jerusalem can provide testimony without violating shabbat.

The mishnah next recounts an occasion when no fewer than eighty people travel on shabbat to offer testimony concerning the new moon. Such a large number of people suggests that the moon is clearly visible that night. R. Akiba, who agrees with R. Yose, stops them in Lod outside Jerusalem, deeming their violation of shabbat unnecessary. However, Rabban Gamliel, the Nasi who presides over the beit din, overrides R. Akiba because his action could discourage people from coming to Jerusalem in the future: After all, who would want to make the effort if they might be turned back before achieving their goal? What is more, on an occasion when the moon is partially visible (perhaps visible where these potential witnesses live but not visible in Jerusalem) they may decide that their effort might be in vain and not bother to come—possibly on an occasion when witnesses are needed in court because Jerusalem is entirely overcast.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS

1. Rabban Gamliel concurs with the Tanna Kamma and this view that prevails. Do you agree or disagree with the priorities this view represents? Why? What is Rabban Gamliel’s priority?
2. Why do you think the Rabbis placed a premium on the participation of witnesses in the process of declaring the new month? What is lost by our use of scientifically calculated calendars? What is gained?
3. In what ways might we encourage greater participation in important Jewish communal issues? What issues to you believe would benefit from broader participation?