Rosh Hashanah 25 - November 3, 28 Cheshvan - a podcast by Michelle Cohen Farber

Today's daf is sponsored by Betsy Mehlman in memory of her beloved uncle Carl Feldman, Akiva ben Efraim vSarah, who passed away at the age of 93 last week. "A kind and loving person, Carl was dedicated to his family and the community. Always ready with a smile, he exemplified caring and compassion. May his memory be blessed."

There were a number of cases where the witnesses said something which didn’t seem to be accurate, such as the moon was in the east in the morning and the west in the evening or the new moon was seen on the night of the thirtieth but not the thirty-first. In each case, there was a rabbi who claimed they were false witnesses but Rabban Gamliel ruled that they were valid. In the second case, Rabbi Yehoshua took sides with Rabbi Dosa ben Horkanus against Rabban Gamliel. Rabban Gamliel sent him to appear before him on the day that according to Rabbi Yehoshua would fall on Yom Kippur with his staff and money, in order to make a point that Rabban Gamliel’s decision was binding on all. Rabbi Akiva offers Rabbi Yehoshua advice to listen to Rabban Gamliel as what’s done is done and Rosh Chodesh was determined by the court, whether or not it is accurate. Rabbi Dosa advises him to listen, explaining the importance of listening to the judges of the time. Rabbi Yehoshua appears as requested and is praised by Rabban Gamliel praises him. The Gemara explains why Rabban Gamliel accepted the witnesses’ testimony when the others would not. Other stories are told where there was confusion about whether or not the new moon was seen. A slightly different version of the end of the story with Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua appears in a braita that is brought. Another braita tells a slightly different version of the proof used by Rabbi Dosa to convince Rabbi Yehoshua to come before Rabban Gamliel as requested. The proof is from a verse comparing Moshe and Aharon to Shmuel, and another one comparing Shmuel to Gidon, Shimshon and Yiftach. Even though they were all not as great as Moshe, they are still compared to him as they were the leaders of their generation. The third chapter begins with a case where the witnesses came on day 30, but they didn’t manage to say “mekudash” before the day ended. In this case, Rosh Chodesh is on the next day. If only the judges in the court saw the new moon or only three of the judges saw, two of the judges testify before the others, at least before three others. The Gemara explains that the Mishna is teaching us that even if one began dealing with the witnesses during the day, one cannot finish at night (unlike monetary law that can be). We also learn from the Mishna that in this issue, we cannot accept one judge who is an expert in place of three. From where are these laws derived in the Torah?

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