Sanhedrin 12a

סנהדרין י״ב ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 12a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 12a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When בית דין may and may not add a leap month (עיבור השנה): famine, timing around ראש השנה, שביעית, and טומאה

Overview

This amud deals with when בית דין may add an extra month to the year (עיבור השנה), and when it may not. It opens with the rule that we do not add a month in years of famine, and proves it from אלישע. Even in בעל שלישה, the fastest-ripening place, only barley was ripe after the עומר, yet אלישע did not add a month because people were hungry. Next, a ברייתא rules that a leap year may not be set before ראש השנה. A coded letter sent to רבא seems to show the Sages doing it in אב, and the answer is that they may calculate early but may not announce it. The גמרא then shows from שלמה's officers that the code word נציב means a month. More limits follow: no deciding a year ahead, no three leap years in a row (the story of רבי עקיבא in prison is pushed aside), and no leap year in שביעית or the year after, where בית רבן גמליאל disagreed. The amud ends with a dispute about adding a month because of טומאה, where רבי יהודה brings the story of חזקיה. That story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (24)

1. StatementNo leap year during years of famine
2. Proofרבי quotes the story of the man from בעל שלישה
3. ProofEven in the fastest-ripening place, only one crop was ready
4. ProofIt was barley, and it was after the עומר
5. ConclusionThe year deserved a leap month, but famine stopped אלישע
6. StatementNo leap year before ראש השנה; in an emergency, right after
7. ChallengeA coded letter to רבא: two messengers were caught
8. ChallengeThe Sages set up a leap year in the month of Av
9. ResolutionCalculate early, but announce only later
10. QuestionHow do we know נציב means a month?
11. ResponseSolomon's twelve officers, one for each month
12. ChallengeBut the פסוק mentions one more officer
13. ResolutionThe extra officer: a head officer or the leap month
14. StatementNo leap year decided a year ahead, and not three in a row
15. Proofרבי שמעון's story: רבי עקיבא made three leap years in a row
16. RejectionThe חכמים reject the proof: each year was set at its own time
17. StatementNo leap year in שביעית or the year after; the usual time is the year before
18. Statementבית רבן גמליאל made leap years in the year after שביעית
19. StatementThis matches a dispute about bringing vegetables from outside ארץ ישראל
20. QuestionWhat is the real point of the vegetable dispute?
21. Responseרבי ירמיה: the dispute is about clods of earth
22. StatementNo leap year because of טומאה
23. Statementרבי יהודה says a leap year may be made because of טומאה
24. ProofThe story of חזקיה making a leap year because of טומאה