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Rosh Hashanah 8b

ראש השנה ח׳ ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 8b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

ראש השנה as the יום הדין, and the start of the year for שמיטה and יובל.

Overview

This amud finishes the proof that ראש השנה is the day of judgment, from the פסוק "כִּי חֹק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא מִשְׁפָּט לֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב". Two ברייתות learn more from that פסוק. The first teaches that the בית דין של מעלה waits for the earthly בית דין to sanctify the month. The second teaches that אומות העולם are judged too, but ישראל goes first. The גמרא compares this to רב חסדא's rule that a king is judged before his people, and gives two reasons for that rule. Next the גמרא returns to the משנה and learns through a גזירה שוה of 'שנה' that שמיטה counts from תשרי, not ניסן. It then asks how יובל can start on the first of תשרי when its שופר is blown on יום הכיפורים. The answer is that the משנה follows רבי ישמעאל בנו של רבי יוחנן בן ברוקא, who holds the יובל year is holy from ראש השנה, while the release of slaves and fields waits for יום הכיפורים. A final ברייתא teaches that this holiness ends with the fiftieth year and does not spill into the fifty-first.

Opening lines

שֶׁהַחֹדֶשׁ מִתְכַּסֶּה בּוֹ —

on which the moon is covered

הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר זֶה רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה.

you must say this is Rosh HaShanah.

וּכְתִיב: ״כִּי חֹק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא

And it is written: "For it is a statute for Israel,"

מִשְׁפָּט לֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב״.

a judgment of the God of Jacob."

The steps (20)

  1. ProofCompleting the proof that the hidden-moon festival is the day of judgment
  2. StatementThe heavenly court waits for the earthly court
  3. QuestionAre the nations also judged on this day?
  4. ResponseThe God of Jacob judges the whole world
  5. QuestionThen why mention Israel specifically?
  6. ResponseIsrael enters judgment first
  7. ProofLike רב חסדא: the king is judged before the people
  8. QuestionWhy is the king judged first?
  9. ResponseTwo reasons the king goes first
  10. QuestionSource for שמיטה starting in תשרי
  11. ResponseLearning 'שנה' from 'שנה'
  12. ChallengeWhy not learn from ניסן?
  13. ResolutionMatch a 'year' without months to a 'year' without months
  14. ChallengeDoesn't יובל begin on יום הכיפורים?
  15. ResolutionThe משנה follows רבי ישמעאל בנו של רבי יוחנן בן ברוקא
  16. StatementThe in-between days from ראש השנה to יום הכיפורים
  17. QuestionHow do the רבנן use this פסוק?
  18. ResponseYears are sanctified, but not months
  19. StatementAnother ברייתא: maybe the יובל's holiness extends past its end
  20. ConclusionOnly the fiftieth year is holy, not the fifty-first