Study Rosh Hashanah folio 21B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ על שני חדשים מחללין את השבת — על ניסן ועל תשרי, שבהן שלוחין יוצאין לסוריא, ובהן מתקנין את המועדות. וכשהיה בית המקדש קיים — מחללין אף על כולן, מפני תקנת הקרבן.
Mishnah: Only for the sake of two months may witnesses who saw Rosh Chodesh 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.e., these months, the dates of the major Festivals are set: Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot. And when the Temple was standing, the witnesses desecrated Shabbat for the fixing of Rosh Chodesh of all the months, due to the imperative of fixing the proper offering of Rosh Chodesh at the correct time.
גמ׳ על שני חדשים ותו לא?! ורמינהו: על ששה חדשים השלוחין יוצאין!
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.
אמר אביי, הכי קאמר: על כולן שלוחין יוצאין מבערב — על ניסן ועל תשרי, עד שישמעו מפי בית דין: ״מקודש״.
Abaye said: This is what the Mishnah is saying: For all the other months the messengers go out already in the evening, if Rosh Chodesh was clearly seen and if it is certain that the court will proclaim the day as Rosh Chodesh. But for Nisan and for Tishrei the messengers do not go out until they hear from the court that the day is declared as Rosh Chodesh, by saying: It is sanctified, so that they can offer proper testimony. The court convenes only during the daytime.
תניא נמי הכי: על כולן יוצאין מבערב — על ניסן ועל תשרי, עד שישמעו מפי בית דין: ״מקודש״.
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 Rosh Chodesh, by saying: It is sanctified.