Rosh Hashana 2:5-6

Rosh Hashana 2:5

There was a large courtyard in Jerusalem called Beis Yazeik, where the witnesses of the moon gathered and were examined by the court. They were served extravagant meals to encourage them to come testify. Originally, they stayed in that courtyard all day (when they arrived on Shabbos) until Rabban Gamliel the Elder instituted that they could travel 2,000 cubits (about 3,500 feet) in every direction. This dispensation was granted not just to the witnesses but also to a midwife who goes to deliver a baby, and to those who go to save others from a fire, enemy forces, a river or from under the ruins of collapsed buildings. All of these are treated as residents of the town and they are granted 2,000 cubits in every direction.

Rosh Hashana 2:6

The witnesses were examined as follows: The first pair to arrive were examined first. The judges brought in the more senior witness and asked him to describe the appearance of the moon - turned towards the sun or away from it, to the north or to the south, its elevation and incline, and its width. If he said that the moon was turned towards the sun, he has made a nonsensical statement and his testimony is discarded. Next, they brought in the second witness and examined him; if their words were in agreement, their testimony was accepted. All the other pairs of witnesses would be asked pro forma questions, not because their testimony was needed but in order to avoid sending them away bitter for wasting their efforts. In this way, they would be encouraged to continue to come in the future.