Study Rosh Hashanah folio 21B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Mishnah: Only for the sake of two months may witnesses who saw the new moon desecrate Shabbat, should that be necessary in order for them to offer testimony before the court: For the month of Nisan and for the month of Tishrei, for in these months messengers are sent out to Syria, and by them, i.
Talmud: The Mishnah taught that messengers were sent out for two months. The Talmud asks: For only two months and no more? And the Talmud raises a contradiction from the previous Mishnah, which teaches: For 6 months of the year messengers go out, not only for two months.
Abaye said: This is what the Mishnah is saying: For all the other months the messengers go out already in the evening, if the new moon was clearly seen and if it is certain that the court will proclaim the day as the New Moon. But for Nisan and for Tishrei the messengers do not go out until they he
This is also taught in a baraita: For all the other months the messengers go out already in the evening, but for the month of Nisan and for the month of Tishrei they do not go out until they have heard the court formally proclaim the day as the New Moon, by saying: It is sanctified.
A baraita states: From where is it derived that the witnesses who saw the new moon may desecrate Shabbat in order to testify before the court? The verse states: “These are the Festivals of YHWH, sacred gatherings, which you shall declare in their seasons” (Leviticus 23:4), thereby emphasizing that