The head of beth-din says: "It is sanctified," [it being written (Leviticus 23:44): "And Moses declared the festivals of the L-rd" — whence it is derived that the head of beth-din says: "It is sanctified."], and all the people respond: "It is sanctified; it is sanctified," [it being written (Ibid. 3): "…the festivals of the L-rd which you shall call them" (otham) — read it "atem" ("you"), it being written without the vav (i.e., you declare the New Moon). ("It is sanctified; it is sanctified":) twice, it being written (Ibid.): "callings of holiness," two callings.] Whether it is seen in its time [on the night of the thirtieth] or not seen in its time, it is sanctified. R. Elazar b. Tzaddok says: If it is not seen in its time, [and the night of Rosh Chodesh is set as the night of the thirty-first], it is not sanctified, having already been sanctified by Heaven. [For the sanctification of the moon is not obligatory, it being written (Ibid. 25:10): "And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year" — You sanctify years (it being incumbent upon beth-din to say that the month is sanctified in the year of the Jubilee), but you do not sanctify months, (it not being incumbent upon beth-din to say that the month is sanctified. And when it is seen in its time, it is sanctified because it requires "strengthening." The halachah is in accordance with R. Elazar b. R. Tzaddok.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
ראש בית דין אומר מקודש – as it is written (Leviticus 23:44): “So Moses declared [to the Israelites] the set times of the LORD.” From here that the head of the Jewish court says, “Sanctified.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
Introduction
This mishnah describes the ceremonial declaration made by the court when they sanctified the new month. We should note that we have seen several occasions in which ritual was used by the rabbis in order to engage in polemics against a rival Jewish group such as the Sadducees. For example the ritual of the water libation was emphasized, as was the ritual in which they harvested the new barley, the omer, on the day after the first day of Pesah. Our mishnah may also describe a ritual used for at least slightly polemical purposes.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
וכל העם עונין אחריו – As it is written (Leviticus 23:2): “[Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times,] the fixed times of the LORD, which you shall proclaim [as sacred occasions].” It is read as "אתם" /”them” – for it is written defectively without the letter “VAV.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
The head of the court says, “Sanctified,” and all the people answer after him, “Sanctified, sanctified.” The ritual consists of the head of the court announcing that the new moon had been sanctified and the rest of the people responding, “Sanctified, sanctified.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
מקודש מקודש – Two times as it is written, “sacred occasions”/"מקראי קדש" – two occasions.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
Whether the new moon is seen at its proper time or not at its proper time they sanctify it. Rabbi Elazar bar Zadok says that if it is not seen as its proper time they do not sanctify it for heaven has already sanctified it. According to the first opinion, this ritual is performed whether or not the court sanctifies the new moon on the thirtieth day of the previous month (the proper time), turning the previous month into a twenty-nine day month, or whether the previous month lasted a full thirty days and the new moon was not declared until the thirty-first day (not its proper time). Remember, a month can have only 29 or 30 days. Rabbi Elazar bar Zadok says that the ceremony was performed only if the month was sanctified at its proper time, meaning on the thirtieth day. If the new moon was not seen on this day, then it is as if heaven had sanctified the month by allowing it to last the full thirty days. Since heaven sanctified it, the court does not perform the ritual declaration. We should note that beneath the surface of this mishnah we again can detect the conflict between the court determining the new month by making a ritual declaration and the calendar being set by the cycles of nature that is heaven sanctifying the new month. As we have seen, this was a major debate among Second Temple Jews, and echoes of the debate seem to still be found in post-Temple rabbinic literature.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
שנראה בזמנו – on the night of the thirtieth [of the previous month].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
אם לא נראה בזמנו – and they establish Rosh Hodesh on the thirty-first [day].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
אין מקדשין אותו – The sanctification of the month is not obligatory, as the Bible states (Leviticus 25:10): “And you shall hallow the fiftieth year…” Years you sanctify, as it is obligatory upon the Jewish court to say that the year is sanctified as the Jubilee year, but you do not sanctify months, for there is no obligation upon the Jewish court to state that the month is sanctified. But when it appears at the appropriate time, we sanctify it because it needs strengthening. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eleazar b’Rabbi Tzadok.
