004 - הִלְכוֹת קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ פֵּרֶק ד

Laws of Sanctifying the Month, Chapter 4

1. A leap year is a year in which an extra month is added; and the only month ever added is Adar, making that year have two Adars—Adar Rishon and Adar Sheini. And why is this month added? Because of the season of spring, so that Pesach will fall in its proper time, as it says: "Guard the month of spring" (Devarim 16:1), meaning that this month should be in the spring season. Without the addition of this month, Pesach would sometimes fall in the summer and sometimes in the rainy season.

2. There are three signs by which the year is made a leap year: the tekufah (season), the spring, and the fruits of the tree. How is this? Beis Din calculates and determines: if the tekufas Nisan will fall on the sixteenth of Nisan or later, they make that year a leap year, and make that Nisan into Adar Sheini, so that Pesach will be in the spring. This is the main sign relied upon for making a leap year, and they do not take other signs into account.

3. Likewise, if Beis Din sees that spring has not yet arrived, but it is still dark and the fruits of the tree, which usually sprout at the time of Pesach, have not yet grown, they rely on these two signs and make the year a leap year—even if the tekufah is before the sixteenth of Nisan. They do this so that spring will be present to bring the Omer offering on the sixteenth of Nisan, and so that the fruits will grow as they usually do in the spring season.

4. They relied on three regions regarding the spring: the land of Yehudah, the other side of the Jordan, and the Galil. If spring had arrived in two of these regions but not in the third, they would not make the year a leap year; but if it had arrived in only one and not in the other two, they would make the year a leap year, if the fruits of the tree had not yet grown. These are the main matters for which a leap year is made, so that the years will correspond to the solar years.

5. There are other matters for which Beis Din would make a leap year when necessary, and these are: if the roads were not in good condition and the people could not go up [to Yerushalayim], they would make the year a leap year until the rains stopped and the roads were repaired; or if the bridges had been destroyed and the rivers were blocking and preventing the people, or were dangerous and people were dying, they would make the year a leap year until the bridges were repaired; or if the ovens for roasting the Pesach offerings had been lost in the rains and there was no place to roast their Pesach offerings, they would make the year a leap year until the ovens were rebuilt and dried; or if groups of Jews had been uprooted from their places and had not yet arrived in Yerushalayim, they would make the year a leap year so that they would have time to arrive.

6. However, they do not make the year a leap year because of snow, nor because of cold, nor because groups of Jews have not yet been uprooted from their places. Nor because of impurity, such as if most of the congregation or most of the Kohanim were impure—they do not make the year a leap year to allow them time to become pure and offer [the Korban Pesach] in purity; rather, it is offered in impurity. But if they did make the year a leap year because of impurity, it is still considered a leap year.

7. There are two matters for which the year is never made a leap year, but they may be used as supporting reasons for a year that needs to be made a leap year because of the tekufah, or because of the spring and the fruits of the tree. These are: if the kids and lambs have not yet been born or are few, or if the young birds have not yet flown. The year is not made a leap year for these reasons alone, so that the kids and lambs will be available for the Pesach offerings, or the young birds for the festival or for those obligated to bring a bird offering; but they may be used as supporting reasons for the year.

How They Make a Leap Year

8. How do they make it a leap year? They say: This year requires an extra month because the season has extended, or because the spring and the fruits of the trees have not yet arrived; and also, because the kids are small and the young birds are still tender.

9. They only make a leap year with those who have been appointed for this purpose. How is this done? The head of the Great Beis Din says to certain members of the Sanhedrin: Be prepared to go to a certain place so that we can consider, see, and determine whether this year requires an extra month or not; and only those who were appointed may make it a leap year. With how many do they make it a leap year? They begin with three judges from the Great Sanhedrin, from those who have been ordained. If two say, “Let us not sit and consider whether it requires an extra month or not,” and one says, “Let us sit and examine,” the individual is overruled by the majority. If two say, “Let us sit and consider,” and one says, “Let us not sit,” they add two more from those appointed, and they deliberate and discuss the matter.

10. If two say it requires an extra month and three say it does not, the two are overruled by the majority. If three say it requires an extra month and two say it does not, they add two more from those appointed, and they deliberate and conclude with seven. If all of them agree either to make it a leap year or not, they act according to their conclusion; and if they are divided, they follow the majority, whether to make it a leap year or not. The head of the Great Beis Din, who is the head of the seventy-one, must be among the seven; and if they concluded with three to make it a leap year, it is a leap year only if the Nasi is with them or agrees. When making a leap year, they begin from the side; but for sanctifying the month, they begin from the greatest.

11. They do not appoint a king or a Kohen Gadol to the deliberation for a leap year: a king—because of his armies and wars, lest his mind be swayed for or against making it a leap year; and a Kohen Gadol—because of the cold, lest his mind not be inclined to make it a leap year, so that Tishrei will not fall in the cold days, and he will have to immerse five times on Yom Kippur.

12. If the head of the Great Beis Din, who is called the Nasi, is on a distant journey, they only make it a leap year conditionally, if the Nasi agrees: if he comes and agrees, it is a leap year; if he does not agree, it is not a leap year. They only make a leap year in the land of Yehudah, for the Shechinah is within it, as it says, “To His dwelling you shall seek”; but if they made it a leap year in the Galil, it is valid. They only make a leap year by day; if they made it at night, it is not valid.

13. The Beis Din may calculate and know which year will be a leap year whenever they wish, even for several years ahead; but they do not say, “Such-and-such a year will be a leap year.” Only after Rosh Hashanah do they say, “This year is a leap year”; and this is only in pressing circumstances. But when there is no pressing need, they do not announce that it is a leap year except in Adar—then they say, “This year is a leap year, and the coming month is not Nissan but Adar Sheini.” If they said before Rosh Hashanah, “The coming year will be a leap year,” it is not made a leap year by that statement.

14. If the thirtieth day of Adar arrives and they have not yet made the year a leap year, they do not make it a leap year at all, for that day is fit to be Rosh Chodesh Nissan; and once Nissan has begun and they have not made it a leap year, they can no longer do so. But if they made it a leap year on the thirtieth day of Adar, it is a leap year. If witnesses came after they made it a leap year and testified about the new moon, they sanctify the month on the thirtieth day, and Rosh Chodesh will be Adar Sheini; but if they sanctified it before making the year a leap year, they could no longer make it a leap year, for a leap year is not made in Nissan.

Laws of Sanctifying the New Month, Chapter 4

15. One does not make a leap year in a year of famine, because everyone is rushing to the granaries to eat and to live, and it is not possible to add time to the prohibition of the new grain. And one does not make a leap year during the Shemitah year, because everyone has control over the self-grown produce, and they will not find [grain] for the Omer offering and the two loaves. However, they were accustomed to make a leap year on the eve of the Shemitah year.

16. It appears to me that when the Sages said one does not make a leap year in a year of famine or during the Shemitah year, it means that one should not make a leap year in them because of need; but if the year is fit to be made a leap year because of the season, or because of the spring or the fruit of the trees, then a leap year is always made at any time.

17. When the Beis Din makes a leap year, they write letters to all the distant places and inform them that they have made it a leap year, and for what reason they made it a leap year. The letters are written in the name of the Nasi, and he says to them: "I and my colleagues have agreed and we have added such-and-such to this year." If they wish, they can add twenty-nine days; if they wish, thirty days, for the month of the leap year, the Beis Din has the authority to make it full or deficient for those in distant places whom they inform. But they themselves act according to what is seen, whether it is full or deficient.