Rosh Hashanah 7A

הא בבעל מום.

That one, Abaye, who said that one counts from the time that the animal is born, is speaking about a blemished animal. Since it was already fit to be slaughtered from the day of its birth, if one does not give it to the priest within a year of that day he transgresses the prohibition against delaying.

בעל מום מי מצי אכיל ליה? דקים ליה ביה שכלו לו חדשיו.

The Talmud asks: Can an animal with a blemish really be eaten immediately on the day that it is born? Isn’t there a requirement to wait 8 days before slaughtering it, in order to ascertain that the animal is viable and was not born prematurely? The Talmud answers: This is referring to a case where one is certain of when the animal was conceived and that its months of gestation have been completed, so that it may be presumed to be viable.

תנו רבנן: באחד בניסן ראש השנה לחדשים, ולעיבורין, ולתרומת שקלים. ויש אומרים: אף לשכירות בתים.

§ A baraita states a baraita that expands upon what was taught in the Mishnah: On the 1st of Nisan is the New Year for counting the months of the year, and for leap years, and for collection of the shekels that had been collected in Adar and used to purchase animals for communal offerings and other needs of the Temple; and some say that it is also the New Year for the renting of houses.

לחדשים מנלן ⁠— דכתיב: ״החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים ראשון הוא לכם לחדשי השנה. דברו אל כל עדת ישראל לאמר בעשור לחדש הזה ויקחו להם איש שה לבית אבות שה לבית. והיה לכם למשמרת עד ארבעה עשר יום לחדש הזה ושחטו אותו וגו׳״. וכתיב: ״שמור את חדש האביב״, איזהו חדש שיש בו אביב, הוי אומר ⁠— זה ניסן, וקרי ליה ראשון.

From where do we derive that the 1st of Nisan is the New Year for months? As it is written: “This month should be to you the beginning of months; it should be the 1st month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the 10th day of this month they should take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a household…And you should keep it until the 14th day of the same month: And the whole assembly of the congregation should slaughter it toward evening” (Exodus 12:2–6). And elsewhere it is written: “Observe the month of ripening and keep Passover to YHWH your God; for in the month of ripening YHWH your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night” (Deuteronomy 16:1). Which is the month in which there is a ripening of grain? You must say that this is Nisan, and it is called the 1st month of the year.