The Lived Mishnah · A Zeman Nakat Project
מַסֶּכֶת רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה
Introduction to the Mesechta
Mesechta Rosh Hashana
A puzzle
You open the masechta expecting the shofar. More than half of it is about the moon.
The shofar, the tefillos, the Yom HaDin
More than half is about something else
The moon, the witnesses, and the Beis Din
The first question
Three broad themes
Not two subjects placed side by side — three ideas.
I · Rosh Chodesh — how the month was established
II · That a year has a beginning
III · The first of Tishrei — Yom HaDin, Yom Teruah
The shape of it
Two halves
Perakim 1 and 2, and 3:1 — Kiddush HaChodesh
The rest of 3, and 4 — the shofar and the tefillos
And they are joined
The only Yom Tov that begins on Rosh Chodesh
Before the day of Rosh Hashana could begin, the month of Tishrei had to.
Witnesses see the new moon, and Beis Din accepts it
And Beis Din declares the day mekudash
The central question
Who determines the calendar?
The moon follows its cycle, seen or not
Two witnesses come to the Sanhedrin
The Nasi declares it mekudash
And every date of the year follows
One calendar — so that authority had to be protected
How it unfolds
In stages
Two opening mishnayos, almost a map
Then the system of Kiddush HaChodesh
Perek 3 — the shofar, its sound, and kavanah
Perek 4 — after the Churban, and the tefillos
Carry this with you
One question
How does the Mishnah bring together the natural cycle of the moon and the authority of the Sanhedrin to establish the Jewish calendar?