Mesechtas Rosh Hashanah

Mesechtas Rosh Hashanah is the eighth Mesechtas in the Order of Moed according to the order of the Mishnayot (however in the Babylonian Talmud it is fifth - before Mesechtas Yoma). This Mesechtas has four chapters, and in the Babylonian Talmud on this Mesechtas there are 34 pages. The Mesechtas deals with the details of the laws of the Jewish calendar, the sanctification of the new month, the laws of shofar blowing, and the laws of prayer blessings that depend on them.

The Rebbe's Explanations

The Connection of the Mesechtas to Mesechtas Beitzah

At the end of Mesechtas Beitzah we learned: We may not give water to or slaughter wilderness animals, meaning that despite the fact that slaughtering is permitted, we may not slaughter wilderness animals, but we may give water to and slaughter domestic animals. In the Gemara it asks why the wording "give water to and slaughter" is lengthy, and it answers that the novelty is that a person must give water to an animal before slaughtering it. There are two reasons for this: 1. So that it will be easier to skin, and the hide will not stick to the meat. 2. So that if there is an adhesion on the lung, the adhesion will be removed, and thus there will be no need to declare the animal non-kosher.

This is the connection to Mesechtas Rosh Hashanah, which begins with the 1st of Tishrei, when the Jewish custom is to prepare a meal with meat, and therefore it is necessary to tell us the laws of slaughtering.

A Person Must Purify Himself on the Festival

The Mesechtas states: "Rabbi Yitzchak said: A person must purify himself on the festival, as it is said 'and their carcasses you shall not touch'," and on this the Talmud brings the Beraita, "One might have thought that Jews are warned against touching a carcass, etc., but what does the verse teach when it says 'and their carcasses you shall not touch' - on the festival." Rashi brings the Beraita and concludes with the statement "This is what they meant when they said a person must purify himself on the festival."

The Rebbe asks, Rashi's purpose in his commentary on the Torah is not to explain and interpret the sayings of our Sages in the Talmud, so why does he need to explain "This is what they meant."

The Rebbe raises another question, that in the Gemara there it appears that these are two separate matters: 1) A warning against touching a carcass on the festival, 2) An obligation to purify oneself on the festival, which is Rabbi Yitzchak's statement that "a person must purify himself on the festival" and this is a precise and novel interpretation from the verse (not just refraining from touching, but also an obligation to purify, which is not implied from the Beraita: And the proof that the Gemara brings from the Beraita is (apparently) only that the verse "and their carcasses you shall not touch" refers to the festival," and not on the actual innovation of Rabbi Yitzchak that "a person must etc." But from Rashi's language "This is what they meant when they said a person must purify himself on the festival" it implies that it is the same matter and teaching.

The Rebbe resolves this by saying that Rashi comes to prove two things: 1. That this matter applies at all times and not just when the Temple stood, since "This is what they meant" is stated without qualification. And furthermore, this teaching of our Sages through Rabbi Yitzchak was said after the destruction of the Temple. 2. By this he emphasizes that the caution against impurity and the obligation to purify - are one matter: If you wanted to say that the warning "and their carcasses you shall not touch" is because of entering the Temple and offering sacrifices, there would be room to say that these are two different matters, as mentioned above, that because of the obligation to make the pilgrimage and offer sacrifices he is warned not to make himself impure, but this does not compel him to purify himself if he has already become impure, since if he is impure one could say that the obligation of making the pilgrimage and bringing sacrifices no longer applies to him, but Rabbi Yitzchak adds a new insight that from "and their carcasses you shall not touch" on the festival, we learn a second law, that a person is obligated not only to be careful about impurity but also to purify himself on the festival.

But according to Rashi's interpretation that the obligation is not because of entering the Temple and bringing sacrifices but that because of the festival he is warned not to make himself impure (and also in present times as mentioned above) - it is understood that the warning in "you shall not touch" is not just a negative matter, but that the festival obligates him to be in a state of purity and therefore even if he has become impure - he must purify himself.

And therefore Rashi is precise in saying "This is what they meant when they said a person must purify himself on the festival" - because the content of this warning "and their carcasses you shall not touch - on the festival" is also the obligation to purify oneself on the festival.

This approach of Rashi's is consistent with his approach in the Talmud. In the Gemara it states "His betrothed wife - he does not mourn for her nor become impure for her, and likewise she does not mourn for him nor become impure for him." And Rashi explained "nor become impure, she does not need to be involved with him etc. as I heard, but it seems to me that 'nor become impure' means, for example, on the festival when Jews are warned about impurity from 'and their carcasses you shall not touch'," and from this it is understood that the caution against impurity on the festival is not because of entering the Temple and making the pilgrimage and bringing the burnt offering of appearance - since women are not obligated in all of this, as it is a positive time-bound commandment. And furthermore: The fact that the betrothed woman "does not become impure for him" is plainly equal to "nor become impure" which applies to the betrothed Kohen, and the warning against impurity from the dead that applies to the Kohen is not only in the Land of Israel but also outside the Land and even when the Temple does not stand. And if so, it is understood that also the fact that the betrothed woman "does not become impure for him" (due to the obligation to purify oneself on the festival) also applies outside the Land and even when the Temple does not stand.

Additional Explanations

16b. A person must purify himself on the festival. Likkutei Sichos vol. 32 p. 58 (p. 71)

29b. A decree lest he carry it. And in Pnei Yehoshua there. Shaarei HaMoadim p. 239 (p. 227)

30a. That was built on the fifteenth. (If one is obligated in the second Pesach.) Shaarei HaMoadim Sefirat HaOmer p. 267 (p. 258)

33b. The dispute between Rabban Gamliel and the Sages. Likkutei Sichos vol. 24 p. 95 (p. 111)

84a. Sanctification of the new month based on sighting. Hisvaaduyos 5745 (1985) vol. 1 p. 466 (p. 473)

End of the Mesechtas, the prayer leader fulfills the obligation for the congregation. Sichos Kodesh 5737 (1977) vol. 1 p. 40.

Rabban Gamliel. Yerushalmi ch. 1 halacha 1. Those six months that Dovid was fleeing from Avshalom, he would atone in Seirah like a commoner. Likkutei Sichos vol. 30 p. 98 (p. 111)

Explanations of Chabad Leaders

The Tzemach Tzedek Rebbe, "Mesechtas Rosh Hashanah," Tzemach Tzedek on the Shas, Brooklyn, 5755, pages 74-152, on the HebrewBooks website

External Links

Mesechtas Rosh Hashanah