Rosh Hashanah 10b

ראש השנה י׳ ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 10b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How much of a year counts as a year for planting (רבי מאיר vs. רבי אלעזר), their source in the פסוק about נח, and whether the world was created in ניסן or תשרי.

Overview

A ברייתא teaches that a tree planted thirty days before ראש השנה counts as having had a year. The גמרא asks whose view this follows. רבי מאיר seems not to fit, since he counts even one day as a year. רבי אלעזר does not fit either: a משנה in שביעית and רב נחמן's rule show that he would need rooting time plus thirty more days. So the גמרא concludes that the ברייתא is רבי מאיר, and its thirty days are rooting time. The thirtieth day counts both as the last rooting day and as the one day of the year. רבי יוחנן then shows that both תנאים learn their rule from the same פסוק about נח: רבי מאיר from the word 'year', and רבי אלעזר from 'the first month'. The גמרא infers that both hold the world was created in ניסן. It then brings a ברייתא where רבי אליעזר says the world was created in תשרי, along with other events in תשרי and on ראש השנה. That ברייתא continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. ChallengeIf one day counts at the end of a year, it should count at the start too
2. ChallengeTrying רבי אלעזר instead: he would need sixty days
3. Proofמשנה source: רבי אלעזר requires thirty days for rooting
4. ProofOther opinions on rooting time: three days or two weeks
5. Proofרב נחמן: always add thirty days on top of rooting time
6. ChallengeEven רבי יהודה would need thirty-three days
7. ResolutionIt really is רבי מאיר, and the thirty days are for rooting
8. ChallengeShouldn't it be thirty-one days?
9. ResolutionThe thirtieth day counts for both
10. StatementBoth opinions learn from the same verse
11. Proofרבי מאיר: one day counts as a year
12. Rejectionרבי אלעזר reads the year differently
13. QuestionWhat is רבי אלעזר's source?
14. ResponseOne day in a month counts as a month
15. ConclusionThirty days count as a year
16. ConclusionBoth opinions hold the world was created in ניסן
17. Statementרבי אליעזר: the world was created in תשרי, plus other key dates