There are two main topics covered in tractate Rosh Hashanah. The first is the sanctification of the new month and the new year. By “sanctification” I refer to the court’s decision which day shall be the first of the new month or new year—this decision gives the day sanctity. The second topic is the shofar and the liturgy on Rosh Hashanah.
Today the Jewish lunar calendar is set—the day on which each month will begin is predetermined as are the lengths of each month. In mishnaic times the length of each month was not set. Rather each month they would determine when the new month would begin based on the testimony of witnesses who saw the new moon. If the witnesses came to testify on the thirtieth day of the previous month, then that day would become Rosh Hodesh (the first of the month) of the next month and it would turn out that the old month had only twenty-nine days. If witnesses did not come, or they came but their testimony was not accepted in time, then the previous month would have thirty days and the new month would begin on the thirty-first day. Usually, the calendar would alternate between twenty-nine day months and thirty day months because a lunar month is about 29 ½ days long.
The sanctification of the new month was done by an authorized court and it was done with quite a bit of ceremonial flourish, as we shall see. We will also see some hotly contested disputes within the chapter concerning accepting testimony to sanctify the month. We need to realize that in the Second Temple period the calendar was one of the most divisive issues between sects of Jews. Some Jews used a solar calendar (notably the Dead Sea sect), whereas the Pharisees and subsequently the rabbis used a lunar calendar. This meant that different sect’s holidays fell at different times and it meant that people would have disagreed when holiday sacrifices should be offered at the Temple.
According to the Torah, Nisan, the month in which Pesah falls, is the first month of the year and not Tishrei, which is called by the Torah “the seventh month.” The first day of the seventh month is referred to in Leviticus 23:23-25, “Speak to the children of Israel saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. You shall not work and you shall bring an offering by fire to the Lord.” Numbers 29:1-6 further describes the day’s sacrifices, calling it “a day of blasts.” In the Torah, this day is not called the first of the new year.
Only in rabbinic tradition is this day called “Rosh Hashanah”, although as we will see in the first mishnah, there are also other days that are considered the beginnings of a new year. We should also note that the concept that Rosh Hashanah is “the Day of Judgment” appears first in rabbinic literature. This theme was probably derived from the atonement aspect of Yom Kippur. If Yom Kippur is the “Day of Atonement” then there must be a judgment which needs to be avoided. In the Bible itself, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are unconnected holidays.
According to the Torah Rosh Hashanah is only one day. However, because of the problem of not knowing ahead of time what day Rosh Hashanah falls on, in other words, not knowing whether the previous month (Elul) was twenty-nine days or thirty days, led to Rosh Hashanah always being observed for two days. This is also true for Rosh Hodesh when the previous month was a thirty day month—it too is observed for two days. The difference is that Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei, whereas a two-day Rosh Hodesh is observed on the last day of the previous month and the first day of the new month. This is at least partly because Elul now has only 29 days.
A major portion of the last two chapters is dedicated to the laws of the shofar and to the special prayers on Rosh Hashanah. These are still the two aspects of Rosh Hashanah most prominent in our lives. We shall discuss them in far greater depth when we learn those chapters.
Good luck in learning Rosh Hashanah. It is an extremely interesting tractate—I’m sure you will enjoy it.