Shabbos Rosh Chodesh

Q. This Shabbos will also be Rosh Chodesh. We will be eating three seudos in honor of Shabbos. Is there anything additional that should be served in honor of Rosh Chodesh?

A. There are two versions of the Talmud. The Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) was redacted in the sixth century. The Talmud Yerushalmi was composed in an earlier period in Israel.

The Tur (OC 419) quotes the Talmud Yerushalmi (Megilah 1:4) that when Rosh Chodesh falls on Shabbos, the Rosh Chodesh seuda is postponed until Sunday. (It is not feasible to eat the Rosh Chodesh meal on Shabbos since three meals already take place in honor of Shabbos.) It is apparent from the Yerushalmi that a seuda is required on Rosh Chodesh.

In light of the above, the Aruch Hashulchan (OC 419:2) is surprised that we do not observe this custom of eating a Rosh Chodesh seudah. He speculates that since this meal is not mentioned in the Talmud Bavli, it was assumed that the Bavli disagrees with the Yerushalmi. When there is a conflict between the Bavli and Yerushalmi, we follow the Bavli, and therefore the Rosh Chodesh seuda was not observed. The Aruch Hashulchan concludes that in deference to the Yerushalmi, an extra dish should be served at the meal on Rosh Chodesh. Similarly, when Rosh Chodesh falls on Shabbos, an extra dish should be added to the Shabbos meal.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.