Study Beitzah folio 6A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אמר רבא: מת ביום טוב ראשון — יתעסקו בו עממים. מת ביום טוב שני — יתעסקו בו ישראל, ואפילו בשני ימים טובים של ראש השנה. מה שאין כן בביצה.
§ Rava said: If one died on the 1st day of a Festival, non-Jews should attend to his burial. If he died on the 2nd day of a Festival, Jews should attend to his burial. And even with regard to the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana, the halakha is that the legal status of the two days is like that of the two days of the Festivals; however, that is not so with regard to an egg that was laid on the 1st day of Rosh HaShana, as it remains prohibited on the 2nd day.
נהרדעי אמרי: אף בביצה. דמה דעתיך, דלמא מעברי ליה לאלול, הא אמר רב חיננא בר כהנא אמר רב: מימות עזרא ואילך לא מצינו אלול מעובר.
The rabbis of Neharde’a say: Even with regard to an egg, Rosh HaShana is no different from other Festivals, as an egg laid on the 1st day is permitted on the second. As what do you think i.e., what is your concern; perhaps witnesses will fail to arrive, and the court will proclaim the month of Elul full, i.e., 30 days long, and begin counting the year only from the following day? In that case, both days are kept as sacred ab initio. Didn’t Rav Ḥinnana bar Kahana say that Rav already said in this regard: From the days of Ezra and onward we have not found that the month of Elul was full, as the rabbis employed various methods to ensure that there would be no need to add a 30th day. Consequently, Rosh HaShana would always occur on the 30th day after the beginning of Elul.
אמר מר זוטרא: לא אמרן, אלא דאשתהי. אבל לא אשתהי — משהינן ליה.
Mar Zutra said: We said that Jews should attend to the dead on the 2nd day of Rosh HaShana only when the burial of the corpse has already been delayed and for some reason the burial was not on the day that he died. In that case, the body might begin to decay, and the dignity of the dead is at stake. However, if the burial has not been delayed, and there is no concern for the dignity of the corpse, its burial may not be attended to on the Festival; rather, we delay it until the Festival has ended.