פירוש על ראש השנה 3:1

ראוהו בית דין וכל ישראל – on the night of the thirtieth, for you might think I should say that since the Jewish court and the enter Jewish people saw him, it became revealed that on the thirtieth day, it (i.e., the New Moon) appeared to be sanctified. This tells us that if it got dark and the night of the thirty-first arrived and the Jewish court had not said that it was sanctified, we intercalate the month and establish Rosh to be on the thirty-first day.

Introduction Although this is the first mishnah of a new chapter, it is really the last mishnah to deal with the sanctification of the new month. It contains a few final rules governing how the court decides that the new month should be declared.

נחקרו העדים – this is how it should be understood. Alternatively, only the witnesses were examined but there was insufficient time for them to state that it (i.e., the New Month), was sanctified until the night of the thirty-first arrived, and we intercalate the month. For you might think I should say, that the examination of the witnesses should come at the beginning of the legal proceedings, and [the announcing] of “it is sanctified, it is sanctified” should be like the conclusion of the legal proceedings. For the conclusion of the deliberations should be at night and we should sanctify it at night. This comes to teach us that it is not so, for we do not sanctify the [New] Month at night. But however, if on the night of the thirtieth, they (i.e., the witnesses) saw the moon with the setting of the sun, and there is a delay in the day to state that it is sanctified prior to the appearance of the stars, we sanctify it, for it is not considered nighttime until the appearance of the stars.

If the court and all of Israel saw it, if the witnesses were examined and there was no time left to say “Sanctified” before it grew dark, then the month is impregnated (it has thirty. In this case, it was abundantly clear that the new month had arrived, but the court was not able to convene and sanctify it before it grew dark and the thirtieth day of the previous month was over. The mishnah rules that since the court did not have time to declare the new month sanctified, it is not sanctified and Rosh Hodesh will have to wait for the next day. We should note that again we see here the ideology that the court, that is humans, are what create the reality of the new month, and not the astronomical phenomenon itself.

יעמדו שמים ויעידו – Our Mishnah is speaking about a case such as where the Jewish court saw it (i.e., the New Moon) at night on the night of the thirtieth, and it is impossible to sanctify the moon at night. Therefore, the next day, two [witnesses] would stand up and testify, for if not for the testimony of these [two], on what would then sanctify? But if the Jewish court saw it (i.e., the New Moon) with sunset at the time when there was a delay to state, “it is sanctified,” they should sanctify through their observation, and that the hearing that they hear from witnesses would not be greater than seeing, for concerning the Sanctification of the Moon, it is not written “testimony/"עדות" , but like this, they saw and sanctified.

If the court alone saw it, two of them should stand up and testify before them, and then they can say, “Sanctified, sanctified.” If the members of the court themselves were the only ones who saw the new moon, then those who saw the new moon should testify in front of the others (at least three others) that the new moon had been sanctified, and then the court may declare, “Sanctified, sanctified.”

יעמדו שנים – on the morrow when they come to state, “it is sanctified.”

If three people saw it, and they [themselves] are the court, two [of them] should stand up and they should seat some of their colleagues with the one [remaining judge], and they [the two] should testify before them and they can then say, “Sanctified, sanctified.” For an individual is not trusted [to sanctify the new month] by himself. Here, only three people see the new moon, and they themselves are the court that is supposed to declare that it is sanctified. Since the same people that function as witnesses cannot function as judges, two of them must find two other people to take their place as judges and then they may testify that they saw the new moon. The mishnah concludes by noting that one person cannot serve as the sole decision maker with regard to the declaration of the new month.

ויושיבו מחבריהם אצל היחיד – And even though an individual who is an expert can judge even on his own, the Sanctification of the [New] Moon is not [done] by a [sole] individual., For there is no one recognized by the public as an expert judge (see Talmud Rosh Hashanah 25b) besides Moses our Teacher, and yet the All-Merciful says to him [only after] Aaron is with him, as it is written (Exodus 12:1-2): “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron [in the land of Egypt]: This month shall mark for you [the beginning of months]…..”