WHY ARE THERE TWO DAYS ROSH HASHANAH IN ISRAEL AND IN THE DIASPORA Delivered 4 th October 2016

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Cynthia Warner
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1 WHY ARE THERE TWO DAYS ROSH HASHANAH IN ISRAEL AND IN THE DIASPORA Delivered 4 th October 2016 Let s start with the Torah, usually a good place to start. In Sedra Emor, we read The first day of the seventh month shall be a day of rest. It is a sacred holiday for remembrance and sounding of the Shofar But hold on a minute. Today is the second day of the seventh month (Tishrei). So what are we all doing in Shul? Some might say, here in the Diaspora, we always keep an extra day, so what s new? We keep extra days for Pesach, Shavuot and Succoth. Of course you know why! It s all to do with the time it took for messengers in ancient times to travel to bring the news of the announcement of a new month to far off places, and why an extra day was added by the Rabbi s to ensure that Festivals were celebrated on the correct days. Got it? You may think so.! But not so, with Rosh Hashanah. The Shuls in Israel are also keeping 2 days. Contrary to the Torah ordaining one day, Israel also keeps two days Rosh Hashanah, as well as in the Diaspora. So why is this? Let me say at the outset that the subject is somewhat difficult and controversial, but I will endeavour, in the short time I have been allotted, to try and explain. Listen carefully. To begin with we have to go back in time before dates were known from calendars. 1

2 The dates of Festivals are laid down in the Torah, according to Lunar months, and knowing the date was not just an administrative issue. It was also a religious necessity; to know what offerings to bring and precisely when. People needed to be sure that they were celebrating on the correct days. Months began when the new moon appeared, and the Mishnah (written in the 3 rd century CE) records the practices being used during the period of the Second Temple (538 BCE 70 CE). People were encouraged to come to the Sanhedrin (Supreme Court) in Jerusalem and give evidence that they saw the new moon. They were interrogated by the judges who were familiar with astronomy, and once the evidence was accepted, the Court made an official announcement termed Sanctification of the month (Kiddush Hachodesh). But our concern today refers to the month of Tishrei, and in particular Rosh Hashanah. As you know, Rosh Hashanah is the only Festival ordained in the Torah, to be on the very first day of a month, and for this reason, there would surely be additional difficulties, before an announcement could be made. Amongst these was a very practical issue once the month was established, Rosh Hashanah would begin and the agents of the Court would be unable to inform the populace, since they could not travel on a Festival! As you can imagine, the Court procedure took time. While this went on, Temple routine had to proceed, which depended on whether it was an ordinary day or a festival, which would only be known later in the day. For instance, Temple routine included the Levite s songs which differed on festivals, and the Mishnah tells us that on one occasion the Levites even sang the wrong song. All this led to a change in the practice of receiving new moon evidence. It was decided that evidence would not be accepted in the afternoon, but the day itself, being the 30 th of Elul would be considered holy, as would be the following day, the 1 st of Tishrei. 2

3 Here we have the origin of the custom of two days Rosh Hashanah. However, the war that ended with the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE left a religious vacuum. The Temple and its practices had been the centre of Judaism for centuries and these had to be sensibly adapted, and it was Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zackai who introduced changes to enable the Jewish religion to survive. Regarding the presentation of evidence on the sighting of the new moon, the Babylonian Talmud tells as that Rabbi Ben Zakai reverted to the old custom, that moon evidence could again be accepted all day. This is understandable, as now without a Temple, there was no Temple religious routine that would be affected by the late coming of witnesses. Thus the 30 th of Elul could be sanctified as being Rosh Hashanah, and become the first day in the month of Tishrei. And on the face of it, we are back to one day Rosh Hashanah. Or are we? For instance, discussions in the Talmud and later interpretations, indicate that it was possible that Rabbi Ben Zackai s ruling, only affected the fixing of the first day of Tishrei, leaving the established practice of two days Rosh Hashanah, to be celebrated on the 1 st & 2 nd of Tishrei (as we do now), rather than the 30 th of Elul (Elul now had only 29 days) and the 1 st of Tishrei. I said it was difficult and controversial. But let s now move forward to the 4 th century, CE. The procedure of sanctification of the month according to witnesses that appeared before the Court was discontinued in the 4 th century, when the Roman s no longer allowed the Jews to have authority that constituted a Court. The Spiritual leader at the time, Hillel the 2 nd, published the rules establishing a fixed calendar based on the knowledge of astronomy, and it was then possible to revert to one day Rosh Hashanah as ordained in the Torah. 3

4 From then on it does appear that as with other Festivals, Rosh Hashanah was celebrated for one day only in the Land of Israel, and two days outside the Land, and this situation remained in place until the 12 th century. However sources tell us that a disagreement did occur in the early 11th century between a scholar in the Land of Israel and Rav Hai Gaon of Babylon. The latter claimed that the Jews in Israel must celebrate two days Rosh Hashanah, rather than keeping one day. Nevertheless, the historical fact is that the Jews in the Land of Israel whose practice was based on the opinion of the Torah authorities and the halachic traditions of the Jewish communities in the Land, since the fixed calendar was introduced took no notice of Rav Hai Gaon of Babylon, and kept just one day Rosh Hashanah. But there s more. As I have just said, this status quo remained in place until the 12 th century. At that time there was an influx of great rabbis from Provence in southern France, This area in France, known as Hachmei Provence (literally the wise of Provence) was known in the 11 th and 12 th centuries as Little Jerusalem, and a a great Torah Centre. These Rabbis simply imposed their halachic views on the indigenous Jews in the Land of Israel, forcing them to deviate from their ancient traditions and practices, and revert to keeping 2 days Rosh Hashanah in the Land. Sadly the communities in Israel by this time small, weak, and lacking strong and courageous Torah leadership were simply unable to resist the aggressive takeover. From then on since the 12 th century, the custom in the Land of Israel came to be, as it is today, keeping two days Rosh Hashanah. However, there were medieval Torah authorities, such as Rabbi Zerahyah Ha Levi and Rabbenu Ephraim, who did not agree with the claim that all Jews must observe two days Rosh Hashanah. 4

5 But others notably Rav Isaac al-fasi known as the RIF, whose view was accepted, supported the idea of all Jews keeping the two days, both in and outside the Land of Israel. Finally, we can turn to two relevant works of Rabbi Joseph Caro ( ). The first, his Beis Yosef commentary on the Arba ah Turim (known as the Tur), detailing the current Halacha of his day. And then in 1565 he published the Shulchan Aruch (the definitive Code of Jewish Law), which is a condensed version of his decisions in his Beis Yosef commentary. In it, we find that two days Rosh Hashanah is to be kept both in the Land of Israel and outside the Land. In Siman 601:2, it simply says Even in Israel they are to keep two days of Rosh Hashanah. It would take the reconstitution of a Sanhedrin to change it. Seymour Saideman 5

ASK U. - The Kollel Institute

ASK U. - The Kollel Institute A. The Geonim (600-1000 CE) Title borne by the heads of the two large academies in Babylonia in Sura and Pumbedita, between the 6th and 11th centuries. In their days the Babylonian Talmud gained wide circulation