ראש השנה 23 — Soncino English Talmud

¹to confusion, since people would say: This month may be defective, and the reason why beacons were not lit yesterday is because it was impossible, or perhaps it is full and they are lighting up at the proper time. But why should we not light up whether for a full month or a defective month, and when New Moon is on Friday not light up at all, so that since we do not light at the termination of Sabbath, in spite of the fact that we usually light for a full month, people will know that it is defective? — This nevertheless may lead to errors, since people will say, This month is full, and the reason why they have not lit up is because they have been prevented. But why not light up for the full months and not at all for the defective months? — Abaye replied: So as not to deprive the public of two working days. HOW DID THEY LIGHT THE BEACONS? THEY USED TO BRING LONG POLES etc. Rab Judah said: There are four kinds of cedar — cedar, kedros, pinewood and cypress [What is] kedros? — R. Idra stated that in the school of R. Shila it was defined as mabliga, though others held that it is gulmish. He [Rab Judah] differs herein from Rabbah son of R. Huna; for Rabbah son of R. Huna reported that in the school of Rab it was stated that there are ten kinds of cedar, as it says, I will plant in the wilderness erez, shitah, and hadas and oil-tree, I will set in the desert berosh, tidhor and teashur together. ‘Erez’ is cedar; ‘shitah’ is pine; ‘hadas’ is myrtle; ‘oil-tree’ is balsam; berosh is cypress; tidhor is teak; teashur is larch. This makes seven. When R. Dimi came, he said: To these were added alonim, almonim, and almugim. ‘Alonim’ are terebinths; almonim are oaks; almugim are coral-wood. According to others it should be aronim, ‘armonim, and almugim. Aronim are bay-trees; ‘armonim are planes; almugim are coral-wood. Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. Rab said: This refers to the great ship. How is it carried out? They bring there six thousand men for twelve months (or according to others twelve thousand men for six months) and load the boat with sand until it rests on the sea-bottom. Then a diver goes down and ties a rope of flax to the coral while the other end is tied to the ship, and the sand is then taken and thrown overboard, and as the boat rises it pulls up the coral with it. The coral is worth twice its weight in silver. There were three ports, two belonging to the Romans and one belonging to the Persians. From the Roman side they brought up coral, from the Persian side pearls. This [the Persian] one was called the port of Mashmahig. R. Johanan said: Every acacia tree that was taken by the invaders from Jerusalem will be restored to it by the Holy One, blessed be He, in time to come, as it says, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and ‘wilderness’ means Jerusalem, as it is written, Zion is become a wilderness etc. R. Johanan further said: One who studies the Torah but does not teach it is like the myrtle in the wilderness. Others report [the saying thus]: One who studies the Torah and teaches it in a place where there is no [other] talmid hakam is like the myrtle in the wilderness, which is precious. R. Johanan also said: Alas for the idol-worshippers since they have no means of remedy, as it says, For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass and for stones iron. But what can they bring to replace R. Akiba and his companions? Of them the Scripture says, Though I cleanse them [of other transgressions] from their blood I shall not cleanse them. WHENCE DID THEY CARRY THE CHAIN OF BEACONS etc.? FROM BETH BALTIN. What is Beth Baltin? — Rab said: This is^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ

^ᵃnote:On account of Sabbath.
^ᵇnote:Through having drunk too much on Sabbath, and become intoxicated (Rashi).
^ᶜnote:It was customary to abstain from work on New Moon (v. Tosaf. s.v. ouan ). In this case the thirtieth day would always he kept as New Moon from doubt, and if the actual day fixed was the thirty-first, there would be two days New Moon.
^ᵈnote:Heb. xurse or xur,e prob. ==GR.**.
^ᵉnote:Lit., ‘oil (i.e., resinous) wood’.
^ᶠnote:Prob. connected with the root dkz ‘to drip’.
^ᵍnote:Isa. XLI, 19. E.V. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and the myrtle and the oil-tree, I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree and the larch together. The Talmud proceeds to give the Aramaic equivalents of the Hebrew words.
^ʰnote:The Aramaic is shaga, of which the precise meaning is unknown.
^ⁱnote:Aramaic shuribna, of which also the precise meaning is unknown.
^ʲnote:Isa. XXXIII, 21.
^ᵏnote:Heb. hbruc prob. a corruption of GR.**, a light fast-sailing Liburnian vessel. [Supply here from MS.M.: ‘For what purpose is it made? — To raise with it corals’].
^ˡnote:Viz., the coral fishing in the Persian Gulf.
^ᵐnote:The water being here rather shallow.
^ⁿnote:[ htnur hc so MS.M.; cur. edd. htnrt hc Be Armae, the Hebrew equivalent of Suristan (the land of the Syrians) the name given to Babylon by the Sasamans; v. Funk, Monumenta, p. 16 and Obermeyer p. 74].
^ᵒnote:[Rashi: ‘the port of the kingdom’. Fleischer (notes to Levy's Dictionary): ‘name of an island in the Persian Gulf between ‘Oman and al-Bahrin.]
^ᵖnote:Isa. XLI, 19.
^ᵠnote:Ibid. LXIV, 9.
^ʳnote:The fragrance of which is wasted.
^ˢnote:V. Glos.
^ᵗnote:I.e., they will not be able to save themselves by remedying the wrong they have done.
^ᵘnote:Isa. LX, 17.
^ᵛnote:Joel IV, 21. E.V., And I will hold as innocent their blood that I have not held as innocent.

²Biram. What is meant here by DIASPORA [GOLAH]? — R. Joseph said: This is Pumbeditha. What is meant [then] by LIKE ONE BIG BONFIRE? — A Tanna taught: ‘Every inhabitant [of Pumbeditha] takes a torch in his hand and goes up on to his roof’. It has been taught: ‘R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: [Beacon fires were lit] also on Harim and Kayir and Geder and the neighbouring places’. Some say that these places are between [those mentioned in the Mishnah]. Others say that they are on the further side from the Land of Israel, and that one authority [the Mishnah] reckons the places on one side, and the other reckons the places on the other. R. Johanan said: Between each one and the next there were eight parasangs. How many [parasangs] then were there altogether? Thirty-two. But to-day there is much more? — Abaye said: The [direct] roads have been closed, as it is written, Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns [etc.]. R. Nahman b. Isaac said: It is stated in this verse, viz., He hath made my paths crooked. MISHNAH. THERE WAS A LARGE COURT IN JERUSALEM CALLED BETH YA'AZEK. THERE ALL THE WITNESSES USED TO ASSEMBLE AND THE BETH DIN USED TO EXAMINE THEM. THEY USED TO ENTERTAIN THEM LAVISHLY THERE SO THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE AN INDUCEMENT TO COME. ORIGINALLY THEY USED NOT TO LEAVE THE PLACE THE WHOLE DAY, BUT RABBAN GAMALIEL THE ELDER INTRODUCED A RULE THAT THEY COULD GO TWO THOUSAND CUBITS FROM IT IN ANY DIRECTION. THESE WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES [TO WHOM THIS CONCESSION WAS MADE]. A MIDWIFE WHO HAS COME [FROM A DISTANCE] TO HELP IN CHILDBIRTH OR ONE WHO COMES TO RESCUE FROM A FIRE OR FROM BANDITS OR FROM A RIVER IN FLOOD OR FROM A BUILDING THAT HAS FALLEN IN — ALL THESE ARE ON THE SAME FOOTING AS THE RESIDENTS OF THE TOWN, AND MAY GO TWO THOUSAND CUBITS [ON SABBATH] IN ANY DIRECTION. GEMARA. The question was raised: Do we read here Beth Ya'azek or Beth Ya'zek? Do we read Beth Ya'azek, regarding the name as an elegantia based on the Scriptural expressions, And he ringed it round and cleared it of stones? Or do we read Beth Ya'zek, taking the name to connote constraint, as it is written, being bound in chains? — Abaye said: Come and hear [a proof that it is the former]: THEY USED TO ENTERTAIN THEM LAVISHLY THERE SO THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE AN INDUCEMENT TO COME. [This is not conclusive], as perhaps they treated them in both ways. MISHNAH. HOW DO THEY TEST THE WITNESSES? THE PAIR WHO ARRIVE FIRST ARE TESTED FIRST. THE SENIOR OF THEM IS BROUGHT IN AND THEY SAY TO HIM, TELL US HOW YOU SAW THE MOON — IN FRONT OF THE SUN OR BEHIND THE SUN? TO THE NORTH OF IT OR THE SOUTH? HOW BIG WAS IT, AND IN WHICH DIRECTION WAS IT INCLINED? AND HOW BROAD WAS IT? IF HE SAYS [HE SAW IT] IN FRONT OF THE SUN, HIS EVIDENCE IS REJECTED. AFTER THAT THEY WOULD BRING IN THE SECOND AND TEST HIM. IF THEIR ACCOUNTS TALLIED, THEIR EVIDENCE WAS ACCEPTED, AND THE OTHER PAIRS WERE ONLY QUESTIONED BRIEFLY, 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. GEMARA. ‘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’? — Abaye said: [It means], whether the concavity of the moon is in front of the sun or behind the sun. If he says, in front of the sun, his evidence is rejected, since R. Johanan has said: What is meant by the verse, Dominion and fear are with him, He maketh peace in his high places? 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. It never sees the concavity of the rainbow so that the worshippers of the sun should not say,^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ

^ʷnote:Apparently some place between Syria and Mesopotamia; v. supra p. 97, n. 1.
^ˣnote:To spread the news throughout Babylon.
^ʸnote:[These places are likewise difficult to identify. For various attempts v. Horowitz loc. cit. Graetz, Geschichte p. 67, n. 1 emends on the basis of the Tosef. a.l. rsdu rhhfu ohrj into rsdu ruufn hrv the mountains of Macherus (in the south) and Gedera in the north. ‘The neighbouring places’ will include Tabor which is also mentioned in the Tosef.]
^ᶻnote:And therefore in Palestine.
^ᵃᵃnote:Perhaps those nearer to Jerusalem.
^ᵃᵇnote:Perhaps those nearer to Babylon. This reference in both cases is uncertain; v. Horowitz, Palestine, loc. cit.
^ᵃᶜnote:Of those mentioned in the Mishnah.
^ᵃᵈnote:About forty miles.
^ᵃᵉnote:[Apparently from Mount of Olives to Beth Baltin, the last station in Palestine.]
^ᵃᶠnote:And travellers are obliged to take a round about route.
^ᵃᵍnote:Hos. II, 8. The verse continues, that she shall not find her paths.
^ᵃʰnote:Lam. III, 9.
^ᵃⁱnote:Lit., ‘they made for them large banquets’.
^ᵃʲnote:Lit., ‘become accustomed to come’.
^ᵃᵏnote:If they came on Sabbath, as they had already exceeded the limit of two thousand cubits.
^ᵃˡnote:Lit., ‘an elevated’ or ‘refined expression’, i.e., not belonging to the language of everyday life.
^ᵃᵐnote:Isa. V, 2. E.V. ‘and he digged it and cleared it’. The Heb. is uvezghu which the Talmud connects with the Aramaic tezg ‘a ring’, so that Beth Ya'azek would refer to the stone wall round the court.
^ᵃⁿnote:In allusion to the fact that they were (originally) confined to the courtyard the whole of the day. But cf. Tosaf. s.v. ut .
^ᵃᵒnote:Jer. XL, 1. The Hebrew word is ohehztc .
^ᵃᵖnote:I.e., both kindly and rigorously.
^ᵃᵠnote:The meaning of this is discussed in the Gemara.
^ᵃʳnote:I.e., in which direction were the horns turning.
^ᵃˢnote:Lit., ‘he has not said anything’.
^ᵃᵗnote:Lit., ‘with heads of subjects’.
^ᵃᵘnote:Lit., ‘so that they should (still) be accustomed to come’.
^ᵃᵛnote: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’.
^ᵃʷnote: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’.
^ᵃˣnote:Job XXV, 2.
^ᵃʸnote:And in this way God keeps the peace between the sun and the moon.