Siman - Rosh Hashanah Daf 2
- באחד בניסן ראש השנה למלכים
The opening Mishnah of the Masechta states: ארבעה ראשי שנים הם – There are four Rosh Hashanahs, referring to various dates that mark the beginning of a year pertinent to different halachos. באחד בניסן ראש השנה למלכים ולרגלים – The first of Nissan is the Rosh Hashanah for the kings and for the festivals. The Gemara asks למלכים למאי הלכתא – For the sake of what law was a standard date established for kings? Rav Chisda said: לשטרות – It is needed with respect to documents, for it was taught in a Mishnah: שטרי חוב המוקדמין פסולין והמאוחרין כשרין – Predated debt documents are passul, while postdated ones are kosher. If the loan document is predated, the lender could use it to unlawfully collect properties that the borrower sold before the actual date of the loan but after the date recorded in the document. Since shtaros are commonly dated using the year of the king’s reign, it is necessary to have a standardized method for reckoning that year to determine whether a particular document is predated or postdated.
- The source for counting the years of kings from Nissan
Rebbe Yochanan said: מנין למלכים שאין מונין להם אלא מניסן – From where do we know that we count the years of kings only from Nissan? For it is stated: "ויהי בשמונים שנה וארבע מאות שנה לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים בשנה הרביעית בחדש זו היא החדש השני למלך שלמה על ישראל" – “It was in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Exodus of the Bnei Yisroel from the land of Mitzrayim, in the fourth year – in the month of Ziv, which is the second month – of Shlomo’s reign over Yisroel, he built the Temple for Hashem.” מקיש מלכות שלמה ליציאת מצרים – The passuk compares the reign of Shlomo to the Exodus from Mitzrayim with respect to counting the years. מה יציאת מצרים מניסן אף מלכות שלמה מניסן – Therefore, just as the years after the Exodus from Mitzrayim are counted from Nissan, so too the years of the reign of Shlomo are counted from Nissan.
- How it is known that we do not count yetzios Mitzrayim from Tishrei
The Gemara asks how we know we count the years from yetzias Mitzrayim from Nissan, perhaps we count them from Tishrei, and answers that one should not consider that possibility, for it is written: "ויעל אהרן הכהן על הר ההר על פי ה' וימת שם בשנת הארבעים לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים בחדש החמישי באחד לחדש" – “Aharon Hakohen ascended Hor HaHar at the word of Hashem and he died there, in the fortieth year after the Exodus of Bnei Yisroel from the land of Mitzrayim, in the fifth month (Av) on the first of the month.” And it is written: "ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש דבר משה" – “It was in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month (Shevat), on the first of the month, Moshe spoke.” Since when referring to Aharon’s death that took place in Av, the Torah describes it as occurring in the fortieth year from the Exodus, and in referring to the beginning of Moshe’s speech, which was said five months later, with Tishrei in between, the Torah also describes it as occurring in the fortieth year, מכלל דראש השנה לאו תשרי הוא – it is evident that the Rosh Hashanah with respect to yetzios Mitzrayim is not Tishrei.
