005 - הִלְכוֹת קִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ פֵּרֶק ה

Laws of Sanctifying the New Month, Chapter 5

1. Everything we have said regarding establishing Rosh Chodesh based on the sighting of the moon, and intercalating the year because of the season or necessity, is done only by the Sanhedrin in Eretz Yisroel, or by a Beis Din that received semicha in Eretz Yisroel and was given authority by the Sanhedrin. For so it was said to Moshe and Aharon: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months" (Shemos 12:2); and by tradition, person to person from Moshe Rabbeinu, they learned that this is the explanation: this testimony is entrusted "to you," and to all who stand in their place after them. But when there is no Sanhedrin in Eretz Yisroel, months are not established and years are not intercalated except by the calculation that we use today.

2. This matter is a law given to Moshe at Sinai: when there is a Sanhedrin, the months are established by sighting; and when there is no Sanhedrin, they are established by this calculation that we use today. There is no need for a sighting, except that sometimes the day established by this calculation will be the day of the sighting, or a day before it, or a day after it; and when it is after the sighting by a day, this is a rare occurrence, and it happens in lands that are to the west of Eretz Yisroel.

3. From when did all of Yisroel begin to rely on this calculation? From the end of the era of the Sages of the Talmud, when Eretz Yisroel was destroyed and there was no longer a fixed Beis Din there. But in the days of the Sages of the Mishnah, and likewise in the days of the Sages of the Talmud until the days of Abaye and Rava, they relied on the establishment in Eretz Yisroel.

4. When the Sanhedrin existed and they established the months by sighting, the people of Eretz Yisroel and all the places reached by the messengers of Tishrei would observe Yom Tov for only one day; but the other distant places, where the messengers of Tishrei did not reach, would observe two days out of doubt, since they did not know on which day the people of Eretz Yisroel had established the month.

5. In this time, when there is no Sanhedrin, and the Beis Din of Eretz Yisroel establishes the months by this calculation, it would be proper for all places to observe only one day of Yom Tov, even the distant places outside Eretz Yisroel, just like the people of Eretz Yisroel—since everyone relies on and establishes by the same calculation. However, it is a decree of the Sages that people should be careful to maintain the custom of their ancestors that is in their hands.

6. Therefore, any place that the messengers of Tishrei did not reach when the messengers used to go out should observe two days, even in this time, just as they did when the people of Eretz Yisroel established by sighting; and the people of Eretz Yisroel in this time observe one day as is their custom, for they never observed two days. Thus, the second day of Yom Tov that we observe in the Diaspora in this time is by decree of the Sages who instituted this matter.

7. The Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah, in the time when the months were established by sighting, most of the people of Eretz Yisroel would observe it for two days out of doubt, since they did not know on which day the Beis Din had established the month, as the messengers do not go out on Yom Tov.

8. Moreover, even in Yerushalayim itself, which is the place of the Beis Din, many times they would observe Rosh Hashanah for two days, for if witnesses did not come all of the thirtieth day, they would treat that day, while waiting for the witnesses, as holy, and the next day as holy as well. And since they would observe it for two days, even in the time of sighting, it was instituted that even the people of Eretz Yisroel should always observe it for two days in this time, when the months are established by calculation. Thus, you have learned that even the second day of Rosh Hashanah in this time is by decree of the Sages.

Laws of Sanctifying the New Month, Chapter 5

9. The observance of one day is not dependent on the proximity of the location. How so? If there is a place that is within five days’ travel or less from Yerushalayim, where it is certainly possible for the messengers to reach them, we do not say that the people of that place observe only one day, for who can say that the messengers actually went to that place? Perhaps the messengers did not go there, because there were no Jews there, and after the calculation was established, Jews later settled there who are obligated to observe two days; or perhaps there was danger on the road, as there was between Yehudah and the Galil in the days of the Sages of the Mishnah; or perhaps the gentiles prevented the messengers from passing through.

10. And if the matter were dependent on the proximity of the place, then all the people of Egypt would observe only one day, since it is possible for the messengers of Tishrei to reach them, for there is only a journey of eight days or less between Yerushalayim and Egypt by way of Ashkelon; and so too, most of Syria. Thus, you have learned that the matter is not dependent on the closeness of the place.

11. The main principle of this matter is as follows: Any place that is more than a ten-day journey from Yerushalayim always observes two days, according to their previous custom, for the messengers of every Tishrei can only reach places that are within a ten-day journey or less from Yerushalayim. And any place that is within a ten-day journey or less from Yerushalayim, where it is possible that the messengers could reach, we consider: if that place is in Eretz Yisroel where Jews lived at the time of the sighting during the second conquest, such as Usha, Shefar’am, Lud, Yavneh, Nov, Teverya, and similar places, they observe only one day. But if that place is in Syria, such as Tzor, Damascus, Ashkelon, and similar places, or outside the land, such as Egypt, Ammon, Moav, and similar places, they follow the custom of their ancestors: if one day, one day; if two days, two days.

12. A place that is within ten days or less from Yerushalayim, and is in Syria or outside the land and has no established custom, or a city that was newly established in the wilderness of Eretz Yisroel, or a place where Jews have now settled—they observe two days, as is the custom of most of the world. And every second day of Yom Tov is by rabbinic decree—even the second day of Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah, which everyone observes at this time.

13. That which we now calculate in each city and say that Rosh Chodesh is on a certain day, and Yom Tov is on a certain day, is not because we establish or rely on our own calculation, for leap years and the sanctification of months are not established outside the land; rather, we rely only on the calculation and establishment of the people of Eretz Yisroel. And our calculation is only to clarify the matter: since we know that they rely on this calculation, we calculate in order to know which day the people of Eretz Yisroel established, and according to their establishment, that is when Rosh Chodesh or Yom Tov will be—not because of our own calculation.