FROM PREVIOUS CYCLE



 
ROSH HASHANAH 21-25 - Dedicated in memory of Max (Meir Menachem ben Shlomo ha'Levi) Turkel, by his children Eddie and Lawrence and his wife Jean Turkel/Rafalowicz. Max was a warm and loving husband and father and is missed dearly by his family and friends. His Yahrzeit is 5 Teves.

1)

(a)What does the Tana Kama say about a father and son forming a pair of witnesses to testify that they saw the new moon?

(b)Then why does he obligate them both to go to Yerushalayim to testify?

(c)What does Rebbi Shimon say?

(d)What happened to Tuvya the doctor, his son and his freed slave, when they came before ...

1. ... the Beis-Din of Kohanim?

2. ... the Beis-Din ha'Gadol (both of which sat in the Beis Hamikdash)?

2)

(a)Rebbi Levi attributes Rebbi Shimon's ruling to the Pasuk in Bo "ha'Chodesh ha'Zeh Lachem Rosh Chodashim". To whom does "Lachem" refer?

(b)How do the Rabanan interpret the Pasuk?

(c)Rav Chanan bar Rava rules like Rebbi Shimon. On what grounds (based on our Mishnah) does Rav Huna object to this ruling?

(d)Then on what basis did Rav accept Rav Chanan bar Rava's (oft-repeated) ruling like Rebbi Shimon?

(e)What final ruling do we issue, cited by Tavi brei d'Mari Tavi ... Amar Shmuel?

3)

(a)The Tana of our Mishnah lists five Pesulim (types of people who are invalidated from testifying): a gambler, someone who lends on interest, who indulges in pigeon-racing or who deals with the produce of Shemitah, and a slave. Why is ...

1. ... a gambler not Pasul mid'Oraisa?

2. ... someone who lends on interest not Pasul mi'd'Oraisa?

(b)What do we learn from the Pasuk in Behar (with regard to Shemitah produce) "v'Hayesah Shabbos ha'Aretz Lachem l'Ochlah"?

(c)Why did the Rabanan invalidate the first four Pesulim on the list from testifying?

(d)In what way does the Pesul of a slave differ from the other four Pesulim?

4)

(a)In which areas of Halachah are the above five Pesulim permitted to testify?

(b)In that same area of Halachah, will we also believe ...

1. ... a Gazlan d'Oraisa?

2. ... a slave?

5)

(a)How does one break Shabbos for the witnesses, if they are ...

1. ... ill?

2. ... under threat of attack?

3. ... hungry?

(b)Who is likely to attack them, and on what grounds?

(c)What is the maximum journey for which one breaks Shabbos by traveling to Beis-Din, if necessary (see Tiferes Yisrael)?

(d)What is the source for breaking Shabbos for Eidus ha'Chodesh?

HADRAN ALACH, 'ARBA'AH ROSHEI SHANIM'

PEREK 'IM EINAN MAKIRIN'

6)

(a)What does our Mishnah obligate the Beis-Din of the town where the witness who saw the new moon resides to do, in the event that he is unknown to the Beis-Din ha'Gadol?

(b)What does the Tana say about them breaking Shabbos (See Tosfos DH 'Meshalchin')?

(c)Initially, the Beis-Din ha'Gadol used to trust the witnesses (because everyone has a Chezkas Kashrus). When did it become necessary to adopt these measures?

22b----------------------------------------22b

7)

(a)We learned in our Mishnah that any witness who was unknown to the Beis Din in Yerushalayim would have to be accompanied by 'Acher'. Why can this not be taken literally? What does the Beraisa say in place of 'another person'?

(b)How does Rav Papa therefore explain 'Acher'?

(c)How does he prove it from the words immediately preceding those in question "Im Ein Makirin Oso ... " (with reference to the actual witnesses themselves)? Why can 'Oso' there not mean one witness?

8)

(a)Rebbi Nehora'i went to Usha on Shabbos, to testify on the integrity of a witness. Rav Ashi explains that there was a second witness in Usha who was also able to testify. In that case, what exactly is the Chidush? Why does the Beraisa need to inform us that Rebbi Nehora'i went to Usha on Shabbos?

(b)How do we initially deal with the fact that Rebbi Nehora'i appears to have traveled to Usha on his own on Shabbos?

9)

(a)Ula came from Eretz Yisrael and testified that the Beis Din had declared Rosh Chodesh. How does Rav Kahana explain the absence of a second witness (apart from the fact that Ula was a great man, who is believed in such matters) did not require a second witness?

(b)Why is this case any different than the cases in our Mishnah, which require two witnesses?

(c)How do we prove Rav Kahana right?

10)

(a)Why did the Baytusim try to trick Beis-Din into declaring Rosh Chodesh on the thirtieth of Adar, even though the new moon had not been seen? What were they out to gain?

(b)What happened once when they mistakenly hired a man loyal to the Beis-Din to testify falsely on their behalf? What did he reply when they asked him how he had seen the moon?

(c)What did he claim happened when he looked at it? How did he conclude?

11)

(a)Why did the witness condescend to testify in the first place?

(b)What dual ruling did the Beis-Din issue?

(c)What Takanah did Chazal initiate as a result of this episode?

12)

(a)Originally, they used to inform the Bnei ha'Golah that it was Rosh Chodesh by means of torches, which they would wave on pre-chosen mountain-tops. Which three flammable commodities did they tie to the long cedar poles?

(b)What did they do with the pole? How long did they wave it for?

(c)What do we learn from the Pasuk in Shmuel "va'Yisa'em David va'Anashav"?

13)

(a)To which night does the Beraisa confine the waving of the poles?

(b)Why did they not wave them after a full month (on the thirty-second night) as well?

(c)Why could they not wave the torches after a full month too, and when Rosh Chodesh fell on a Friday, not wave them at all?

(d)Then what reason does Rebbi Zeira give to explain why Chazal decided to wave them exclusively after short months, and not after full ones? Why not vice-versa?

OTHER D.A.F. RESOURCES
ON THIS DAF