Study Rosh Hashanah folio 22A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
§ It was taught in the Mishnah: There was once an incident where more than 40 pairs of witnesses were passing through on their way to Jerusalem to testify about the new moon, and R' Akiva detained them in Lod, telling them that there was no need for them to desecrate Shabbat for this purpose. It is
Mishnah: If a father and his son saw the new moon, they should both go to the court in Jerusalem. It is not that they can join together to give testimony, for close relatives are disqualified from testifying together, but they both go so that if one of them is disqualified, the second may join toge
R' Yosei said: There was an incident with Toviyya the doctor. When he saw the new moon in Jerusalem, he and his son and his freed slave all went to testify. The priests accepted him and his son as witnesses and disqualified his slave, for they ruled stringently that the month may be sanctified onl
Talmud: R' Levi said: What is the reason for R' Shimon’s opinion permitting relatives to jointly testify about the new moon, despite the fact that relatives are generally disqualified from testifying together? It is as it is written: “And YHWH spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:
The Talmud asks: And with regard to the Rabbis, who disagree with R' Shimon and prohibit relatives from testifying together about the new moon, how do they understand this verse? The Talmud answers: They interpret the verse as follows: This testimony is given over to you and others like you. That i