Siman - Rosh Hashanah Daf 30
- In Yavneh, the shofar was blown on Shabbos in the presence of Beis Din
The Mishnah on Daf 29b brought a machlokes regarding Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s enactment of blowing the shofar on Shabbos after the churban. Rebbe Elazer said he only enacted blowing the shofar in Yavneh. The Chochomim said to him, that he instituted it both for Yavneh and for any other place in which there is a Beis Din. Rav Huna said: ועם בית דין – And the blowing must be done with Beis Din. The Gemara brings two versions of Rav Huna’s statement. The first version explains that עם בית דין means בפני בית דין לאפוקי שלא בפני בית דין דלא – in the presence of Beis Din, and Rav Huna comes to exclude blowing outside the presence of Beis Din, which must not be done. The mere existence of a Beis Din in a city, is not an adequate deterrent to prevent people from carrying a shofar in reshus harabim on Shabbos. The Gemara clarifies the Mishnah, that the additional מעלה that Yerushalayim had over Yavne, was that in Yerushalayim the shofar was blown on Shabbos, both in the presence of Beis Din and not in the presence of Beis Din.
- The source for making a זכר למקדש
The next Mishnah states: בראשונה היה לולב ניטל במקדש שבעה – Originally, in the days of the Beis Hamikdash, the lulav was taken in the Temple all seven days of Succos, ובמדינה יום אחד - and in the provinces on only one day, being the first day. When the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai instituted that the lulav be taken in the provinces all seven days of Succos, זכר למקדש – as a remembrance of the Beis Hamikdash. The Gemara asks for the source that we are bidden to make a זכר למקדש, and Rebbe Yochanan said that it states in Yirmiyahu, For I will make a cure for you, and from your wounds I will heal you – the word of Hashem; כי נדחה קראו לך – for they, (referring to the nations of the world), called you “Discarded One,” ציון היא דרש אין לה – saying, “She is Tziyon, there is none who seek her.” From the words "דרש אין לה" – there is none who seek her, מכלל דבעיא דרישה – it is implied that she requires seeking. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai determined that the way to fulfill this is through performing the mitzvah of lulav the way it was done in the Beis Hamikdash.
- ונתקלקלו הלוים בשיר
The next Mishnah states: בראשונה היו מקבלין עדות החדש כל היום – Originally, they accepted eidos hachodesh all day. It once occurred that the witnesses were delayed in coming, ונתקלקלו הלוים בשיר – and the Leviim went awry in the singing of the daily shir. Consequently, the Chochomin instituted that Beis Din should only accept witnesses until the minchah, referring to the afternoon tamid, and if they came from minchah onward (on Rosh Hashanah) they would observe that day and the following day as holy. The Gemara asks in which way did the Leviim go awry. In Bavel they explained שלא אמרו שירה כל עיקר – that the Leviim did not recite a shirah at all. Rashi explains that because they were unsure whether witnesses would arrive later in the day and it would be declared Yom Tov, or they would not come and it would remain a weekday, they recited neither shirah. Rebbe Zeira, in Eretz Yisrael, said שאמרו שירה של חול עם תמיד של בין הערבים – that they recited the weekday shirah with the afternoon tamid. Challenges to the Chochomim’s opinion in Bavel are brought but are unsuccessful.
