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Rosh Hashanah 2b

ראש השנה ב׳ ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 2b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Counting kings' years from ניסן: the ברייתא's cases and רבי יוחנן's source in the פסוקים

Overview

This amud continues the ברייתא about counting the years of a king's reign. First the גמרא finishes explaining the ruling about a king who began on כ"ט אדר: ניסן is ראש השנה למלכים, and even one day counts as a full year. It then asks why the next clause, about a king who began on א' ניסן, is needed. The answer is that it covers a king who was chosen in אדר but began ruling only in ניסן. Next comes a new ברייתא with three cases of one king dying and another replacing him, and the גמרא explains what each case comes to teach. Then רבי יוחנן brings a פסוק that links שלמה's reign to יציאת מצרים, showing that kings' years start in ניסן. The גמרא tests this proof: it uses the 'fortieth year' of אהרן's death in אב and of משה's speech in שבט, plus a גזירה שוה. It then shows that אהרן's death came first because סיחון was still alive then, and the פסוק proving this comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן

It teaches us

דְּנִיסָן רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לִמְלָכִים,

that Nisan is the new year for kings,

וְיוֹם אֶחָד בַּשָּׁנָה חָשׁוּב שָׁנָה.

and one day in a year is considered a year.

וְאִם לֹא עָמַד אֶלָּא בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן,

But if he ascended only on the first of Nisan,

The steps (17)

  1. ResponseWhat the first ruling teaches: ניסן starts kings' years, and one day counts as a year
  2. ChallengeWhy say that a king who starts on א' ניסן waits a full year?
  3. ResolutionThe case where he was chosen back in אדר
  4. StatementA new ברייתא: when one king dies and another replaces him
  5. ChallengeWhy say that a year shared within אדר counts for both kings?
  6. ResolutionOne year can be credited to two kings
  7. ChallengeKing dies in ניסן and a successor takes over that same ניסן: isn't the rule obvious?
  8. ResolutionOne day counts as a year even at the start of the year
  9. ChallengeKing dies in אדר and a successor starts in ניסן: isn't the rule obvious?
  10. ResolutionA king's son appointed in אדר still counts only from ניסן
  11. Statementרבי יוחנן's source: שלמה's reign is linked to יציאת מצרים
  12. ChallengeHow do we know יציאת מצרים itself is counted from ניסן?
  13. ResolutionTwo פסוקים show the year does not change in תשרי
  14. ChallengeMaybe משה's forty years are counted from the משכן
  15. ResolutionA גזירה שוה links the two fortieth years
  16. ChallengeMaybe the שבט event came first
  17. Resolutionאהרן's death came first because סיחון was still alive then