Rosh Hashana 1:4 — Desecrating Shabbos for the new-moon witnesses

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נושא · Topicחִלּוּל שַׁבָּת לְעֵדֵי הַחֹדֶשׁDesecrating Shabbos for the new-moon witnesses
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Mishnah ראש השנה א׳:ד׳ · Rosh Hashana 1:4
עַל שְׁנֵי חֳדָשִׁים מְחַלְּלִין אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת,
עַל נִיסָן וְעַל תִּשְׁרֵי,
שֶׁבָּהֶן הַשְּׁלוּחִין יוֹצְאִין לְסוּרְיָא, וּבָהֶן מְתַקְּנִין אֶת הַמּוֹעֲדוֹת.
וּכְשֶׁהָיָה בֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּם,
מְחַלְּלִין אַף עַל כֻּלָּן מִפְּנֵי תַקָּנַת הַקָּרְבָּן.
For two of the months they — the witnesses who saw the new moon — may be mechallel Shabbos, violating Shabbos so that they can testify before the Sanhedrin —
for Nisan and for Tishrei,
because in those two the messengers travel as far as Suriya, and by them the festivals are set.
And when the Beis HaMikdash stood,
they were mechallel Shabbos for all of them, because of the ordering of the korban.
A reading aid, not an exact translation.

This English is a clause-by-clause rendering to help you follow the Hebrew. It is not word-for-word literal, and it is not a transcript of the recorded shiur — the audio carries explanation and context the translation deliberately leaves out.

case/objectpermissive rulingreason
Structure
The Mishnah's Structure▾
נִיסָןNissanאִיָּרסִיוָןתַּמּוּזאָבאֱלוּלתִּשְׁרֵיTishreiחֶשְׁוָןכִּסְלֵוטֵבֵתשְׁבָטאֲדָרעַל שְׁנֵי חֳדָשִׁיםמְחַלְּלִין אֶתהַשַּׁבָּת
the same wheel narrows — witnesses break Shabbos only for Nissan & Tishrei (in Temple times, all twelve)
Summary Chart
Desecrating Shabbos for the new-moon witnesses▾
CaseRulingReason
For which months may witnesses desecrate Shabbos?Nissan and TishreiMessengers go to Syria; the festivals are set by them
And when the Beis HaMikdash stood?For all the monthsTo ensure the Korban Mussaf is offered
Transcript
A machine transcript of the recorded shiur.

This is the shiur as spoken, transcribed automatically and left unedited — the wording is Ephraim's, and occasional transcription errors remain. It follows the audio word by word.

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Mishnah Insights
An amalgam of commentaries, including original insights.

These insights draw on the commentaries to this Mishnah and on the recorded shiur. Those commentaries often rest on earlier sources — the Gemara, the Yerushalmi, the Rishonim, and one another — without always saying so; where they do, we generally cite the one we read. Every commentary consulted is kept, verbatim, with this card.

Insights on this mishnah▾

מְחַלְּלִין אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת — they override the Shabbos

The mishnah never names its subject. Rambam supplies it: העדים שרואין את הלבנה הם שמחללין את השבת — the witnesses who see the moon are the ones who override Shabbos, when they are far from Yerushalayim. Bartenura the same: עדים שראו את החדש, traveling to inform the beis din. The messengers of the previous mishnah are excluded: they were not allowed to travel on Shabbos; the witnesses were.

עַל שְׁנֵי חֳדָשִׁים — for two months

Bartenura inverts the mishnah's apparent kula: ומן התורה מחללין על כלן — by Torah law witnesses may override Shabbos for every month. The rabbis then forbade it where the festivals do not hang on the testimony, but for Nissan and Tishrei העמידו על דין תורה, שכל המועדות תלויין בהן — they left the Torah's own din standing, since every festival hangs on these two. The two months are not the exception; the other ten are.

שֶׁבָּהֶן הַשְּׁלוּחִין יוֹצְאִין לְסוּרְיָא — in which the messengers go out to Suria

What does witness-travel on Shabbos buy the messengers? Timing. If the witnesses arrive only after Shabbos, the day is fixed late and the messengers would have had one less day to tell people where the month stands. The Turei Even, brought in Tosafos R' Akiva Eiger, sharpens why this bites in these months alone: ודוקא בניסן ותשרי דהוא בט"ו בחדש — the yom tov sits on the fifteenth, so a late Rosh Chodesh plants yom tov itself in the messengers' traveling window.

שְׁאֵלַת חָכָם

The mishnah's reason is וּבָהֶן מְתַקְּנִין אֶת הַמּוֹעֲדוֹת — in these two the festivals are set. Rashash objects: דהא גם באדר ובאלול תלוי תיקון המועדות — Adar and Elul also fix festivals, for a month not sanctified on its day shifts Purim and Rosh Hashana with it. Why, then, only Nissan and Tishrei? Rashash leaves the difficulty standing. (See Rashash here.)

— Rashash
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