Resources for Rosh Hashana daf 24

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. The גמרא says that if you see the new moon through a lantern glass, it is not considered a valid “seeing” and cannot be used for עדות of קידוש החודש. There is a fascinating discussion in the poskim about whether seeing something that one needs to halachically “see” can be done while wearing glasses. See the שבות יעקב ח"א סימן קכ"ו who discusses whether a דיין for חליצה who requires glasses is considered halachically blind. He says that לכאורה, there is proof from our סוגיא that glasses are not considered seeing, and brings the שו"ת דבר שמואל who learns from our גמרא that one cannot perform קידוש לבנה if one only sees the moon from a window. This would also seem to be the opinion of the ריטב"א here who understands עששית as a window. However, the שבות יעקב himself learns the גמרא He understands, based on the רמב"ם, that when our גמרא says seeing through a lantern is not valid, it means that you saw the reflection of the moon in the lantern. However, if you see the moon directly through the lantern, it is valid. Therefore, any seeing through glass is valid.

2. The משנה says that the head of the ב"ד would say מקודש and everyone would answer מקודש מקודש. See the מגן אברהם סימן תי"ז ס"ק א who says that the reason we stand today for ברכת החודש is because it is a זכר of קידוש החודש בב"ד. רע"א there asks for the מגן אברהם’s source. In fact, the משנה on דף כ"ה is משמע that the דיינים would sit? See the אגרות משה או"ח א' סימן קמ"בּ who answers that when the ראש ב"ד said מקודש, that was בגדר פּסק and he would sit like all פּסקי דין. However, the people who responded מקודש מקודש were בגדר עושי מצוה and therefore they stood.

3. The גמרא says that one cannot build a house which is similar to the היכל, or make a מנורה similar to the one they had in the בית המקדש. The simple reading of the גמרא implies the source as the פּסוק of "לא תעשון אתי". However, see the רמב"ם in בית הבחירה פּרק ז הל' י who understands it is אסור is because of מורא המקדש. There is a likely related issue as follows: what is the exact size of a house that qualifies for the איסור of not making a house that looks like the היכל? Seeתוספות יומא דף נד: ד"ה כרובים who says that you only violate the איסור of making a house like the בית המקדש if it is the exact size of the היכל. This must be the case or no one would ever be allowed to build a house! However, see the רמב"ם בית הבחירה פּרק ז' הל' ה who doesn’t mention any requirement for the measurements to be exact. Rather, if it looks like the היכל, it is אסור. This may be לשיטתו since the רמב"ם holds that the איסור is part of מורא מקדש and not לא תעשון אתי so the specific עשיה is not the issue. See theבית אפרים או"ח סימן י who asks if we held that the measurements must exactly match the בית המקדש, which בית המקדש does it follow? All three בתי מקדש have different measurements? He concludes that if it matches any of them it is אסור.

4. The גמרא says that you can’t make a צורת אדם. See תוספות ע"ז דף מ"ג. ד"ה לא who says that there is no איסור of making a human face on the פּרוכת since it is only a profile and not the full face. It seems clear from תוספות that a full face, even without the body, would be אסור. However, see the רא"ש ע"ז פּרק ג' סימן ה who says that one only violates the איסור if they make a full picture of the person, including the full body.

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