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ד"סב Remembering When Rosh Hashanah Falls on Shabbat Rabbi

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ד בס"ד Remembering when Rosh Hashanah Falls on Shabbat Rabbi Judah Kerbel ~ Queens Jewish Center ~ 4 Elul 5780 I. Shofar 1. משנה מסכת ראש השנה פרק ד יום טוב של ראש השנה שחל להיות בשבת במקדש היו תוקעים אבל לא במדינה משחרב בית המקדש התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי שיהו תוקעין בכל מקום שיש בו בית דין אמר רבי אלעזר לא התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי אלא ביבנה בלבד אמרו לו אחד יבנה ואחד כל מקום שיש בו בית דין: 1. Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 4:1 (trans. Sefaria.org) If Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, they would blow the shofar in the Temple but not in the country. After the destruction of the Temple, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai decreed that it should be blown [on Shabbat] in every place where there was a court. Rabbi Eliezer said: Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai decreed for Yavneh only. They said to him: both Yavneh and any place where there is a court. 2. ספרא בהר פרשה ב סוף פרק א )ה( ביום ולא בלילה, ביום הכיפורים אפילו בשבת, תעבירו שופר בכל ארצכם מלמד שכל יחיד חייב, יכול אף תרועת ראש השנה תהיה דוחה את השבת תלמוד לומר בכל ארצכם והעברת שופר תרועה בחודש השביעי בעשור לחודש ביום הכיפורים שאין תלמוד לומר בעשור לחודש ביום הכיפורים ממשמע שנאמר ביום הכיפורים איני יודע שהוא יום הכיפורים בעשור לחודש, אם כן למה נאמר בעשור לחודש אלא בעשור לחדש דוחה את השבת בכל ארצכם ואין תרועת ראש השנה דוחה שבת בכל ארצכם אלא בבית דין בלבד . 2. Sifra Behar Section II (trans. Sefaria.org) 5) "on the day (of atonement"): on the day, and not at night. "on the day of atonement": even on the Sabbath. "shall you (plural) cause to pass a shofar through all of your land": We are hereby taught that each and every individual is obliged (to blow). I might think that even the teruah of Rosh Hashanah overrides the Sabbath in all of your land; it is, therefore, written "And you shall cause to pass a shofar of teruah in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month." From "on the day of atonement" do I not know that it is the tenth day of the month? Why, then, need it be stated? (To teach that) the tenth day of the month overrides the Sabbath in all of your land, but the teruah of Rosh Hashanah does not override the Sabbath in all of your land, (but only in the Temple and in Jerusalem) — except by enactment of beth-din alone. 3. תלמוד ירושלמי )וילנא( מסכת ראש השנה פרק ד הלכה א כתוב אחד אומר ]במדבר כט א[ יום תרועה וכתוב אחד אומר ]ויקרא כג כד[ זכרון תרועה הא כיצד בשעה שהוא חל בחול יום תרועה בשעה שהוא חל בשבת זכרון תרועה מזכ ירין אבל לא תוקעין. 3. Talmud Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah 4:1 One verse says “a day of blasts” and one verse says “the remembrance of blasts.” How do we reconcile these verses? When Rosh Hashanah falls on a weekday, it is a day of blasts; when it falls on Shabbat, it is a remembrance of blasts – we mention the blasts but do not blow [shofar]. 4. תלמוד בבלי מסכת ראש השנה דף כט עמוד ב גמרא. מנא הני מילי? אמר רבי לוי בר לחמא אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא: כתוב אחד אומר שבתון זכרון תרועה, וכתוב אחד אומר יום תרועה יהיה לכם. לא קשיא; כאן - ביום טוב שחל להיות בשבת, כאן - ביום טוב שחל להיות בחול. אמר רבא: אי מדאורייתא היא - במקדש היכי תקעינן? ועוד: הא לאו מלאכה היא דאצטריך קרא למעוטי, דתנא דבי שמואל: כל מלאכת עבדה לא תעשו - יצתה תקיעת שופר ורדיית הפת, שהיא חכמה ואינה מלאכה. אלא אמר רבא: מדאורייתא מישרא שרי, ורבנן הוא דגזור ביה, כדרבה. דאמר רבה: הכל חייבין בתקיעת שופר, ואין הכל בקיאין בתקיעת שופר, גזירה שמא יטלנו בידו וילך אצל הבקי ללמוד, ויעבירנו ארבע אמות ברשות הרבים. והיינו טעמא דלולב, והיינו טעמא דמגילה. 4. Talmud Rosh Hashanah 29b (trans. Sefaria.org) From where are these matters? Rabbi Levi bar Laḥma said that Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: One verse says, with regard to Rosh HaShana: “A solemn rest, a memorial of blasts” (Leviticus 23:24). And another verse says: “It is a day of blowing for you” (Numbers 29:1), This apparent 2 contradiction is not difficult: Here , the verse in which the shofar is only being remembered but not sounded, is referring to a Festival that occurs on Shabbat; there, the verse in which the shofar is actually sounded, is referring to a Festival that occurs on a weekday. Rava said: if the distinction between Shabbat and the rest of the week applies by Torah law, how does one sound the shofar on Shabbat in the Temple? And furthermore, Although the Sages prohibited sounding a shofar and playing other musical instruments on Shabbat, by Torah law sounding a shofar is not a prohibited labor on Shabbat such that a verse is necessary to exclude it when Rosh HaShana occurs on Shabbat. As a Sage of the school of Shmuel “Any prohibited labor of work you shall not perform.” This comes to exclude the sounding of the shofar and the removal of bread from the oven, each of which is a skill and not a labor. Rather, Rava said: By Torah law one is permitted, and it was the Sages who decreed that it is prohibited. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabba, as Rabba said: All are obligated to sound the shofar on Rosh HaShana, but not all are experts in sounding the shofar. Therefore, the Sages instituted a decree that the shofar should not be sounded on Shabbat, lest one take the shofar in his hand and go to an expert to learn how to sound it or to have him sound it for him, and he might carry it four cubits in the public domain. And this is also the reason for the lulav, and this is likewise the reason for the Megilla. 5. רמב"ם הלכות שופר וסוכה ולולב פרק ב הלכה ו יום טוב של ראש השנה שחל להיות בשבת אין תוקעין בשופר בכל מקום, אף על פי שהתקיעה משום שבות ומן הדין היה שתוקעין יבא עשה של תורה וידחה שבות של דבריהם, ולמה אין תוקעין גזירה שמא יטלנו בידו ויו ליכנו למי שיתקע לו ויעבירנו ארבע אמות ברשות הרבים, או מוציאו מרשות לרשות ויבא לידי איסור סקילה, שהכל חייבים בתקיעה ואין הכל בקיאין לתקוע. 5. Rambam Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Shofar, Sukkah, Lulav 2:6 (trans. Sefaria.org) [When] the holiday of Rosh Hashanah falls out on Shabbat, we may not blow the shofar in any place. [This is the case] even though blowing [the shofar] was forbidden only on account of a Shabbat decree; so it would have been appropriate that we would blow — a positive commandment of the Torah would come and override a Shabbat decree from the words [of the Sages]. So why do we not blow? [Because of] a decree lest one take it in his hand and carry it to someone to blow for him, and [in the process,] carry it four ells in the public domain, or transfer it from one domain to another — and come to a prohibition [punishable by] stoning. [This is necessary because] all are obligated in blowing [the shofar], but not all are expert at blowing [it]. 6.רמב"ם הלכות שופר וסוכה ולולב פרק ב הלכה ט ולמה תוקעין בפני בית דין מפני שבית דין זריזין הן ולא יבאו התוקעין להעביר השופר בפניהם ברשות הרבים שבית דין מזהירין את העם ומודיעין אותן. 6. Rambam Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Shofar, Sukkah, Lulav 2:9 (trans. Sefaria.org) And why may we blow in front of the court? Because the court is alacritous and the blowers would not come to transport a shofar in the public domain in front of them. For the court would warn the people and inform them [of the prohibition]. 7. תלמוד בבלי מסכת ראש השנה דף כט עמוד ב משחרב בית המקדש התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי וכו'. תנו רבנן: פעם אחת חל ראש השנה להיות בשבת, ]והיו כל הערים מתכנסין[. אמר להם רבן יוחנן בן זכאי לבני בתירה: נתקע. - אמרו לו: נדון. - אמר להם: נתקע ואחר כך נדון. לאחר שתקעו אמרו לו: נדון! - אמר להם: כבר נשמעה קרן ביבנה, ואין משיבין לאחר מעשה. 7. Talmud Rosh Hashannah 29b (trans. Sefaria.org) After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai instituted that the people should sound the shofar even on Shabbat. The Sages taught: Once Rosh HaShana occurred on Shabbat, and all the cities gathered at the Great Sanhedrin in Yavne for the Festival prayers. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to the sons of Beteira: Let us sound. They said to him: Let us discuss. He said to them: First let us sound it, and afterward, when there is time, let us discuss the matter. After they sounded the shofar, the sons of Beteira said to Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai: 3 Let us now discuss the issue. He said to them: The horn has already been heard in Yavne, and one does not refute a ruling after action. 8. מסכתות קטנות מסכת סופרים פרק יט הלכה ו אם חל ראש השנה להיות בשבת, אינו אומר יום תרועה, אלא זכרון תרועה, לפי שאין תקיעת שופר דוחה את השבת בגבולין משום גזירה. 8. Masechet Soferim 19:6 (trans. Sefaria.org) If the New Year falls on a Sabbath, one does not say ‘A day of blowing the Shofar’ but ‘a day of remembrance of blowing the Shofar’, because the blowing of the Shofar does not take precedence of the Sabbath in country towns, this being a preventive measure.
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