R. Gamliel (le Nassi) lui a envoyé (R. Yehoshua): "Je vous déconseille de venir me voir avec votre bâton et votre argent le jour où Yom Kippour tombera selon vos calculs." R. Akiva est allé et l'a trouvé (R. Yehoshua) découragé [parce que les Nassi avaient décrété qu'il profanait Yom Kippour], sur quoi il lui a dit: Il y a un soutien biblique pour considérer tout ce qui est fait par R. Gamliel comme fait (c.-à-d. effet), étant écrit (Lévitique 23: 4): Ce sont les fêtes de l'Éternel, les appels de sainteté, que vous les appellerez "—Que (vous les proclamiez) en leur temps ou pas en leur temps, je n'ai pas de fêtes à part celles-ci [les Écritures faisant des "appels" de Beth-Din le critère (pour la détermination des temps des fêtes)]. Quand il [R. Yehoshua] est venu à R. Dossa b. Hyrcanus, il lui dit: Si nous nous opposions au beth-din de R. Gamliel, nous aurions à le faire avec chaque beth-din qui surgit pour Israël depuis l'époque de Moïse jusqu'à maintenant, à savoir. (Exode 24: 9): "Et Moïse et Aaron montèrent, Nadav et Avihu, et soixante-dix des anciens d'Israël": Pourquoi les noms des anciens n'ont-ils pas été donnés? Enseigner que trois personnes qui sont érigées en beth-din sur Israël sont équivalentes à celle de Moïse lui-même. [De sorte que si l'on met en doute l'autorité d'un Beth-Din en son temps, en disant: "Sont-ils aussi grands que Moïse et Aaron ou Eldad et Médad?" on lui dit: "Peut-être qu'il est aussi grand que les autres, dont les noms n'ont pas été donnés."] Il prit alors son bâton et son argent dans sa main et se rendit à Yavneh chez R. Gamliel le jour de Yom Kippour est tombé selon son (R. Yehoshua) compte. (Arrivé là-bas,) R. Gamliel se leva et l'embrassa sur la tête en disant: "Venez en paix, mon maître et mon disciple—mon maître, dans la sagesse; mon disciple, pour avoir exécuté mes ordres. "
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
הלך ומצאו ר"ע – to Rabbi Yehoshuaבור
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
Introduction
This mishnah is the continuation of yesterday’s story of Rabban Gamaliel, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas and the sanctification of the new moon based on erroneous testimony. At the end of yesterday’s mishnah, Rabbi Joshua agrees with Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas that the witnesses’ testimony was false and therefore Rabban Gamaliel should not have accepted it.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
מיצר – on that the President/Nasi decreed upon him to desecrate Yom Kippur
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
Rabban Gamaliel sent to him: I order you to appear before me with your staff and your money on the day which according to your count should be Yom Hakippurim. The action begins with Rabban Gamaliel’s response to Rabbi Joshua. Rabban Gamaliel sends one of his messengers (henchmen) to him and demands that he come to Rabban Gamaliel on the day which he believes to be Yom Kippur, the day after Rabban Gamaliel would have celebrated Yom Kippur. This is a harsh decree, one delivered by the politically potent Rabban Gamaliel, to the wise yet weak Rabbi Joshua. Rabbi Joshua would be forced to desecrate the holiest day of the year by carrying his stick and money in the public domain and by going beyond the Shabbat border limit. Indeed, if Rabbi Joshua believes that that day is Yom Kippur, he would have to ignore Rabban Gamaliel’s demands rather than transgress such a serious prohibition.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
אשר תקראו – that the Jewish court hung the Biblical verse on this calling
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Akiva went and found him in distress. He said to him: I can teach that whatever Rabban Gamaliel has done is valid, because it says, “These are the appointed seasons of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times” (Leviticus 23:4), whether they are [proclaimed] at their proper time or not at their proper time, I have no other appointed times save these. Rabbi Akiva hears about the goings on and comes to Rabbi Joshua to offer him advice. His advice is based on a midrash. The verse seems to imply, at least according to its midrashic reading, that the holidays are holy whether or not the court decrees them to fall at their “proper” time or at the wrong time. In other words, Yom Kippur is when the court determines it to be, and not when it really should fall according to some predetermined “heavenly” time. If the court makes a mistake and sanctifies the new month of Tishri on the wrong day, then ten days later is still Yom Kippur. Rabbi Akiva is basically telling Rabbi Joshua that even if Rabban Gamaliel is wrong with regard to the new month, the day upon which he declares Yom Kippur to fall is still Yom Kippur.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
בא – Rabbi Yehoshua near Rabbi Dosa
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
He [Rabbi Joshua] then went to Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas. He said to him: if we call in question the court of Rabban Gamaliel we must call in question the decisions of every court which has existed since the days of Moses until now. As it says, “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu and seventy of the elders of Israel went up” (Exodus 24:9). Why were the names of the elders not mentioned? To teach that every group of three which has acted as a court over Israel, behold it is like the court of Moses. Rabbi Joshua now goes to Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas, the same sage who said in yesterday’s mishnah that the witnesses were lying. This is a fascinating move. He is basically going to Rabbi Dosa and asking him, “What should I do? I agreed with you, and see what a predicament it has gotten me into.” Rabbi Dosa, like Rabbi Akiva, provides him with a midrash which supports him going to Rabban Gamaliel on the day which he thinks is Yom Kippur. Rabbi Dosa’s midrash teaches that the court that stands at every generation is equal in authority to that of Moses and his court. This is the ultimate statement of rabbinic authority. One shouldn’t think that the current rabbinic courts are inherently of a lesser status. Although the sages that live today may not be as close to the source, God and the Torah, as was Moses, their authority is nevertheless not diminished.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
למה לא נתפרשו שמותן וכו' – for if a person would come to argue against the Jewish court of his days, to say – for this Jewish court is like Moses and Aaron or [like] Eldad and Medad, we would say to him: lest it is important like those whose who remained whose names were not [explicitly] spelled out.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Rosh Hashanah
He [Rabbi Joshua] took his staff and his money and went to Yavneh to Rabban Gamaliel on the day which according to his count should be Yom Hakippurim. Rabban Gamaliel rose and kissed him on his head and said to him: Come in peace, my teacher and my student my teacher in wisdom and my student because you have accepted my decision. Peace is finally made and rabbinic unity is restored. Rabbi Joshua is either convinced by Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas, or he realizes that he has no choice but to go to Rabban Gamaliel. Rabban Gamaliel greets him with open arms, praising him for both his wisdom and importantly, also for his acceptance of his decree.
