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Sanhedrin 13a

סנהדרין י״ג ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 13a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Adding a month to the year (עיבור שנה) because of the equinox (תקופה): whether the equinox day ends or begins the season, and sorting out the opinions in the ברייתא

Overview

The ברייתא records a מחלוקת about how far into תשרי the autumn equinox may fall before בית דין adds a month to the year. רבי יוסי says twenty-one days. The גמרא explains that both תנאים read the פסוק 'חג האסיף תקופת השנה'. רבי יהודה needs the whole חג in the new season, while רבי יוסי needs only part of it. The גמרא then argues that both must hold the equinox day begins the new season. Two ברייתות challenge this. One says רבי יהודה holds the equinox day ends the old season. The other gives רבי יהודה twenty days, רבי יוסי sixteen days before פסח, רבי שמעון sixteen days even before סוכות, and אחרים fourteen days, and the גמרא calls this a קשיא. The גמרא then works through that ברייתא line by line. It shows that רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי differ over whether the equinox day ends or starts the season. It also explains that the 'sixteen' in רבי יוסי's סוכות clause just matches the wording of his פסח clause. Finally it asks how רבי שמעון differs from the תנא קמא.

Opening lines

רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר: אֶחָד וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם.

Rabbi Yosei says: twenty-one days.

וּשְׁנֵיהֶם מִקְרָא אֶחָד דָּרְשׁוּ:

And both of them expounded one verse:

״חַג הָאָסִיף תְּקוּפַת הַשָּׁנָה״.

"The Festival of Ingathering, at the turn of the year."

מָר סָבַר: כּוּלֵּיהּ חַג בָּעֵינַן

One Sage holds: we need the whole Festival

The steps (14)

  1. Statementרבי יוסי: twenty-one days
  2. StatementBoth read the same verse differently
  3. QuestionWhat do they assume about the equinox day?
  4. RejectionThey cannot hold the equinox day ends the old season
  5. ResponseSo both hold the equinox day begins the new season
  6. ChallengeA ברייתא shows they disagree about the equinox day
  7. ChallengeA second ברייתא gives רבי יהודה a different number
  8. ChallengeThe rest of the ברייתא's opinions, and the contradiction is declared
  9. ChallengeIsn't רבי יוסי saying the same thing as רבי יהודה?
  10. ResolutionThey argue about whether the equinox day ends or starts the season
  11. ChallengeDoes רבי יוסי's wording mean we add a month for 17 or 18 days before סוכות?
  12. ChallengeThe first half of רבי יוסי's statement clashes with the inference
  13. ResolutionNeither case leads to intercalation; the number was just repeated
  14. ChallengeIsn't רבי שמעון the same as the תנא קמא?