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Rosh Hashanah (tractate)

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה, literally "Head of the Year") is a tractate (treatise) of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It is part of the order Moed (Festivals) and primarily deals with the laws pertaining to the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

The tractate focuses on several key areas:

  • Establishing the New Month: A significant portion of the tractate discusses the methods for establishing the new month based on eyewitness testimony of the new moon. It explores the procedures followed by the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court) in accepting and validating this testimony, including the types of witnesses considered reliable, the questions they were asked, and the consequences of false testimony.

  • The Significance of Different New Years: The tractate outlines the four "new years" mentioned in Jewish tradition, each marking the start of a different cycle or accounting period: 1) Nisan for the counting of months for festivals; 2) Elul (or Tishrei according to some opinions) for the tithing of animals; 3) Tishrei for the counting of years, Sabbatical years, and Jubilee years; and 4) Shevat (specifically the 15th of Shevat, Tu B'Shevat) for the tithing of trees.

  • Laws of Rosh Hashanah: The tractate details the specific laws and customs associated with Rosh Hashanah, including the recitation of specific prayers, the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), and the types of shofar permissible for use. It examines the order of the shofar blasts (Tekiah, Shevarim, Teruah) and their meanings. It also discusses the circumstances in which the blowing of the shofar may be postponed or altered.

  • Laws of Yom Kippur: Although primarily focused on Rosh Hashanah, the tractate also touches upon aspects of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) that are related to the determination of the calendar and the performance of sacrifices.

The structure of the tractate is as follows:

  • Mishnah: The Mishnah tractate Rosh Hashanah consists of four chapters.

  • Tosefta: The Tosefta Rosh Hashanah provides supplementary material and elaborations on the Mishnah's rulings.

  • Talmud: Both the Babylonian Talmud (Bavli) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi) contain extensive discussions and interpretations of the Mishnah and Tosefta Rosh Hashanah. The Talmudic discussions delve into the legal, ethical, and philosophical implications of the laws discussed.