Jewish Audio on Chabad.org. Today's שיעור will be in מסכת סנהדרין דף י"א, but we will start on דף י' עמוד ב' two lines from the bottom of the עמוד. Before the גמרא starts the סוגיא, the גמרא says a few words which is a סימן how to remember the הלכות that we will be learning. As the גמרא does many times, the גמרא mentions a few words that if a person will remember these words, it will be easier for him to remember the הלכות that he learns. And the four words here are: זימן, נשיא, צריך, כדי. This is the סימן. If a person wants to remember the הלכות that we will learn soon, so by remembering these few words, he will remember the different הלכות that we will be learning. And the גמרא starts: תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה אלא במזומנים לה, that you're not allowed to be מעבר the year, which means when the בית דין will sit down to discuss to see whether they should be מעבר the year or not, to see whether to add an extra month to the year to turn it into a leap year, you cannot do that only through members of the סנהדרין that were appointed beforehand by the נשיא. That is the night before, the נשיא appointed them and told them that they should come tomorrow to sit down and discuss whether to be מעבר the year or not. Only with such people can you be מעבר the year. And the גמרא says:

מעשה ברבן גמליאל, there is a story concerning רבן גמליאל, who was the נשיא, שאמר, that he said, he said to his שמש, השכימו לי שבעה לעלייה, prepare seven people to the upper chamber of where we will sit and discuss, so prepare seven people that early in the morning they should come there, and we should see whether to be מעבר the year. השכים, early in the morning he came there, ומצא שמונה, and he found eight people there. So obviously one person wasn't invited. אמר, so he said: מי הוא שעלה שלא ברשות ירד? Who is the one that came up without permission? Let him go down. עמד שמואל הקטן ואמר, so שמואל הקטן, שמואל the small, and the reason he was called שמואל הקטן was because he was a great עניו, he was very humble, so he was known as שמואל the small, the person who held himself small. So he got up and he said: אני הוא שעליתי שלא ברשות, I am the one that came up without permission. But לא לעבר השנה עליתי, but I didn't come up in order to participate in making the עיבור שנה, אלא ללמוד הלכה למעשה הוצרכתי, but I needed to learn הלכה למעשה. I wanted to see how to apply the הלכה that I learned to מעשה. In other words, I wanted to see actually how is it טאקע done in order to be מעבר the שנה. אמר לו, so רבן גמליאל said to him: שב בני שב, my son, you could sit. ראויות כל השנים כולם להתעבר על ידך, really all the years are worthy, are fit that you should be the one to be מעבר it. In other words, you are that great that you are the one that is able to be מעבר the years. אלא אמרו חכמים, but the חכמים said, אין מעברין את השנה אלא במזומנים לה, that we cannot be מעבר the year only with the people who were prepared before. So it is not a problem that you are here, you are worthy of being here, but the reason that I wanted you not to participate is because since you claim that you were not invited, and the הלכה is that you could only be מעבר the שנה through people who were invited previously. But then the גמרא says: ולא שמואל הקטן הוה, really it was not שמואל הקטן that wasn't invited, אלא איניש אחרינא, it was another person. ומחמת כיסופא הוא דעבד, and the reason he did it, he said that he was the one that was not invited, is in order to save the one that was really not invited from embarrassment. So therefore, he took the blame upon himself. But the מהרש"א

asks a few questions on this גמרא. First of all, why did רבן גמליאל ask for seven people to come up? Why wasn't he himself included in the seven? So really, he should have asked for six people to come up, and he himself together they would be seven. Another question: since the דין is that you cannot be מעבר the year unless you are invited, so then how was it that one of the תלמידים, one of the בית דין went up without being invited? Didn't he know the דין that you cannot go up without being invited? Another question: when שמואל הקטן answered, "I am the one that came up without being invited," how did he know that רבן גמליאל would tell him to stay? He should have assumed that when he would have said that "I am the one that wasn't invited," רבן גמליאל would say to him, "Okay, so you leave." Now if he would leave, there would be left only six that were invited. And how could you be מעבר the שנה with six? Because even though you would have seven people left, but one of the seven was really not invited as the גמרא says later, so you would only have six who were invited. רבן גמליאל wouldn't have known that, רבן גמליאל would have thought that all the seven that would have remained would have been those what were invited, because he would have thought that שמואל הקטן was the one that wasn't invited, and all the rest were. So רבן גמליאל would think that all the seven that were there were invited, and really one of them wasn't, so he would be מכשיל רבן גמליאל in being מעבר the year שלא כדין. So therefore the מהרש''א learns the פשט a little bit differently, that what רבן גמליאל said that he should have seven people come up, רבן גמליאל meant six, because רבן גמליאל included himself in the seven, so when he said seven he meant let there seven people be there. But only six are invited to come up. The שמש who went to invite the people didn't understand, and he thought that רבן גמליאל wanted actually seven other people to be invited. So then he did invite seven people. So all the people that were there were invited. When רבן גמליאל came in and he saw that there were seven there, and when the גמרא says he saw eight, it means that he saw eight together with himself. So he saw seven other people. So he thought that one came up uninvited. He didn't think that the שמש didn't understand and invited seven people. He thought that the שמש understood and really invited six, and when there were seven there, one of them was uninvited. So that's why he asked, who is the one that wasn't invited, he should please leave. So שמואל הקטן got up, and he said, I was the one that wasn't invited, thinking that even if he would tell him to leave, and six would be left, still they all would have been those that were invited, because the שמש really invited them all. So there would be no מכשול if רבן גמליאל would stay with the six that would remain. And when the גמרא says really it wasn't שמואל הקטן that wasn't wasn't invited, but really it was someone else, it doesn't mean that there was actually somebody else who wasn't invited, because as we said, they were all invited. But רבן גמליאל when he asked to invite really six, and seven were invited, so one of them was the last one that shouldn't have been invited. Now who was the one that shouldn't have been invited? So there was another תלמיד, another חבר of the בית דין that he was the one that shouldn't have been invited, but שמואל הקטן took the blame on himself, meaning saying that he was the one that wasn't invited, even though the other one, the one that was lower than him, should have been the one to leave, because even though he was invited, but he was invited by mistake. But שמואל הקטן wanted to save him from embarrassment, therefore שמואל הקטן said, I was the one that wasn't invited, meaning in the eyes of רבן גמליאל it meant that he wasn't invited, and in truth what he meant was that he was the last one to be invited, even though really he wasn't, another person was the last one, so the other one should have been the one to leave, but in order to save him embarrassment, שמואל הקטן said that he was the one that wasn't invited. And the

גמרא continues, concerning this act that שמואל הקטן did, that he took the blame on himself in order to save someone else embarrassment, the גמרא says, כי הא דיתיב רבי, it's similar to another story, that רבי once sat, וקא דריש, and he was teaching, והריח ריח שום, and he smelled the smell of garlic, אמר, so he said, מי שאכל שום יצא, the one that ate garlic should leave. עמד רבי חייא ויצא, so רבי חייא got up and he left. עמדו כולם ויצאו, so all the other תלמידים got up and they left, because when they saw that רבי חייא, who was the main תלמיד of רבי left, so they also in the כבוד of רבי חייא also left. בשחר, in the morning, מצאו רבי שמעון ברבי, רבי שמעון the son of רבי found לרבי חייא, met רבי חייא, אמר ליה, so he said to him, אתה הוא שציערת לאבא, are you the one that caused my father pain? You are the one that ate the garlic that caused my father the pain? אמר ליה, so he said to him, לא תהא כזאת בישראל, let this not be amongst יידן. And as רש''י has the גירסא, he said חס ושלום, that חס ושלום I should be the one to do it. But the reason I walked out is in order not to embarrass the person who actually ate the garlic. So we see he did the same thing as we had in the previous story that שמואל הקטן did. This is the way רש''י explains the words of רבי שמעון ברבי, that he said to him, are you the one that caused my father pain by eating the garlic, and he answered him, no, I am not the one that did it. But the מהרש''א says that why didn't רבי שמעון ברבי understand himself that the reason רבי חייא walked out was not because he ate the garlic, was in order to save the real person who ate the garlic the embarrassment? Because as he saw that after רבי חייא got up to walk out, all the תלמידים walked out. So he understood that the reason רבי חייא did it was in order for them all to leave, not to embarrass the person who actually ate the garlic. So why did he say to him, are you the one that caused my father pain by eating the garlic? So therefore the מהרש''א learns that when he said to him, are you the one that caused my father the pain, wasn't by eating the garlic, he And therefore my father couldn't continue teaching, so you caused ביטול תורה. You caused that the people should not learn תורה. And he answered him, לא תהא כזאת בישראל, let this not happen amongst יידן. What he meant to say was that even though you are right, ביטול תורה is a big עבירה, but to embarrass somebody is even a bigger thing. And that's what he said, something like this, that terrible thing should not happen. And therefore, I walked out knowing it would cause ביטול תורה in order to save a person from being embarrassed, which is even a worse עבירה than ביטול תורה. Then the גמרא continues, ורבי חייא מהיכא גמר לה?

Where did רבי חייא learn to do this, to take the blame upon himself in order to save someone else from embarrassment? He learned it מרבי מאיר, from what רבי מאיר did. דתניא, because we learn in a ברייתא, מעשה באשה אחת שבאתה לבית מדרשו של רבי מאיר. There's a story of this woman who came to the בית מדרש of רבי מאיר. אמרה לו, she said to him, רבי, אחד מכם קדשני בביאה. One of you, one of the students here, one of the scholars here were מקדש me with ביאה, gave me קידושין through relations, because the דין is that you can be מקדש a woman in one of three ways, whether it is through money or through giving a שטר, a document, or through ביאה. So she came and she said, one of you gave me קידושין through ביאה. And it seems like she didn't remember who it was, and therefore she wanted to be free to marry, and the only way she could be free to marry if she received קידושין from somebody was by getting a גט. So she came to the ישיבה and she said, one of you gave me קידושין through ביאה. עמד רבי מאיר וכתב לה גט כריתות ונתן לה. So רבי מאיר got up and he wrote for her a גט and he gave it to her. עמדו כתבו כולם ונתנו לה. So all the תלמידים got up and each of them wrote a גט and gave it to her. And the reason רבי מאיר did it in order not to embarrass the one that did it, because if רבי מאיר wouldn't do it, the only way she would be free is if the תלמיד who actually did it would give her the גט, so he would be embarrassed. In order to save him from embarrassment, so רבי מאיר himself gave her a גט, and so did the other תלמידים. So this is where רבי חייא learned that he should do the same, to take the blame upon himself in order to save someone else embarrassment. He learned it from רבי מאיר. ורבי מאיר מהיכא גמר לה? Where did רבי מאיר learn it from? משמואל הקטן, from the story of שמואל הקטן. And that was the story mentioned before concerning the עיבור השנה, when רבן גמליאל asked who is the תלמיד that wasn't invited, and he said it was him, when really it wasn't him. ושמואל הקטן מהיכא גמר לה? שמואל הקטן, where did he learn it from? משכניה בן יחיאל, from שכניה the son of יחיאל. דכתיב, because there's a פסוק, it says in עזרא, ויען שכניה בן יחיאל מבני עילם. This was when עזרא said that the people should give up the wives that they took from the other nations. So שכניה בן יחיאל from the children of עילם answered, ויאמר לעזרא, and he said to עזרא, אנחנו מעלנו באלוקינו, we are the ones that sinned against השם, ונושב נשים נכריות מעמי הארץ, and we took strange women from the nations of the earth, ועתה יש מקוה לישראל על זאת, and there is still hope for the יידן for this. In other words, the יידן are able to give up their wives and there is hope that they will do תשובה. Even though שכניה בן יחיאל himself did not marry a non-Jewish woman, nevertheless, when he spoke about it, he said, אנחנו מעלנו באלוקינו ונושב נשים נכריות. We sinned against השם, we took strange women. He included himself in the עבירה. In order not to embarrass others, so he took the עבירה upon himself, too. So from שכניה בן יחיאל, שמואל הקטן learned to do the same. ושכניה בן יחיאל מהיכא גמר לה? Where did שכניה בן יחיאל learn it from? מיהושע, from יהושע. דכתיב, it says by יהושע, ויאמר השם אל יהושע, השם said to יהושע, קום לך, get up, למה זה אתה נופל על פניך? Why are you falling on your face? חטא ישראל, the יידן sinned. This was after עכן took from the חרם that he wasn't allowed to take from. So השם said to יהושע that the יידן sinned. אמר לפניו, so יהושע said to him, to השם, רבונו של עולם, מי חטא? Who sinned? Tell me who sinned. אמר ליה, so השם said to him, וכי דילטור אני? Am I an informer? Should I מסר to you who did the עבירה? לך הטל גורלות, go throw lots, and from there you will find out who sinned. So we see that השם saved the person who did the עבירה from embarrassment by not telling. So from יהושע, שכניה בן יחיאל learned. ואיבעית אימא, if you want I could tell you, ממשה, that he learned it from משה רבינו. דכתיב, it says by משה, עד אנה מאנתם, after a few people went went out to collect the מן on שבת when they were not supposed to. So השם was upset, and He said to משה, "How long don't you want to listen to Me?" Even though משה רבינו himself did not do any עבירה, nevertheless, He included משה in the עבירה in order not to point a finger at the one that sinned. So we see that it's important to take the blame upon oneself in order to save someone else the embarrassment. So שכניה בן יחיאל learned it out from what השם said to משה רבינו. Then the גמרא continues,

תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned: משמתו נביאים אחרונים חגי זכריה ומלאכי, from when the last נביאים, חגי, זכריה, מלאכי died, נסתלקה רוח הקודש מישראל, so the רוח הקודש left from amongst the אידן, because they were the last נביאים, so there was no more רוח הקודש, no more נבואה. ואף על פי כן היו משתמשין בבת קול. But still, they used to use a בת קול. From time to time they used to hear a voice come out of from heaven and would give over things מן השמים, from heaven. And תוספות says the reason it's called בת קול, the daughter of a קול, is because it really was like an echo. They didn't actually hear the voice from heaven itself, the voice from heaven caused an echo, and they would only hear the echo. That's why it's called בת קול, because בת קול means a voice from a voice, a daughter, so to speak, of a voice, which means a reaction of the voice, so it is an echo, so they only heard an echo from the voice מן השמים. That's why it's called בת קול. So the גמרא says that even though there was no נבואה anymore, nevertheless they still used to hear a בת קול from time to time. And פעם אחת היו מסובין בעליית בית גוריא ביריחו, once the חכמים were sitting in the second floor of the house of גוריא in יריחו, וניתנה עליהם בת קול מן השמים, and a voice from heaven came out and said: יש כאן אחד שראוי שתשרה עליו שכינה כמשה רבינו, that there is one amongst you that is worthy that the שכינה should rest upon him like משה רבינו, אלא שאין דורו זכאי לכך, but his generation is not worthy of it. נתנו חכמים את עיניהם בהלל הזקן. The חכמים put their eyes to הלל הזקן, they felt that the the בת קול meant הלל הזקן. וכשמת, and when הלל הזקן died, אמרו עליו, they said upon him: הי חסיד, הי עניו, תלמידו של עזרא, that, "Oy, this person was a חסיד and he died. This person was an עניו and he died. He was a תלמיד of עזרא." Meaning, he wasn't actually a תלמיד of עזרא, עזרא lived many generations before, but what it means is that he lived similar to the way עזרא did. As we see here that the words כמשה רבינו are in parentheses. In other words, there are two גירסאות in the גמרא. The מהרש"ל is not גורס in the גמרא that the בת קול said there is one person here that is fit that the שכינה should rest upon him like משה רבינו, just like we will see later on when the same thing happened concerning שמואל הקטן, there the גמרא does not say that the בת קול said that he is worthy that the שכינה should rest upon him like משה רבינו. But others are גורס. For instance, the מהרש"א is גורס in the גמרא כמשה רבינו, and the רמב"ם, as it says here on the side in the גיליון, in the end of the second seventh פרק of the שמונה פרקים, also brings the גירסא that the שכינה should rest upon him like משה רבינו, and also in ילקוט, פרשת בשלח רמז רס"א, there it also says, כמשה. And the מהרש"א here explains, why did the בת קול say that the שכינה would rest upon him like משה? Because we find a similarity between הלל and משה. First of all, הלל was a עניו. So was משה רבינו, as the תורה says, והאיש משה עניו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה, that משה was the greatest עניו, he was the most humble person that ever lived. And so too was הלל very humble, as the גמרא says in many places. And also, משה רבינו was the leader of כלל ישראל for 40 years, and so was הלל, he was the פרנס, the leader of כלל ישראל for 40 years. So there is a strong similarity between משה and הלל, therefore, the בת קול said that it is fit that the שכינה should rest upon him like on משה רבינו. While in the story of שמואל הקטן that we will learn soon, even though he was also an עניו, but we don't find that he was the leader for 40 years, and therefore, there we do not have the גירסא that the בת קול said that the שכינה could rest upon him like on משה רבינו. And the reason, when they were מספיד him after he passed away, they said concerning הלל, and concerning שמואל הקטן, as we will see in the גמרא soon, that he was a חסיד and an עניו, was because since the בת קול said that he is fit that the שכינה should rest upon him, and we find in the גמרא in עבודה זרה that one opinion says that what is the greatest מדה that brings a person to רוח הקודש is חסידות, another opinion is עניוות. So therefore, since he was the person that the רוח הקודש should have rested upon him, they said that his מעלה was that he was a חסיד and an עניו. And The reason they said concerning הלל that he was a תלמיד of עזרא, because he was similar to עזרא. Just like עזרא came from בבל, he came already a great scholar, and he became the leader of כלל ישראל, so too הלל came from בבל ותלמודו בידו, he was a scholar by then, and he became the נשיא of כלל ישראל. Then the גמרא continues, שוב פעם אחת היו מסובין בעליה ביבנה, another time, חכמים were sitting in the עליה in the second floor in יבנה, וניתנה עליהם בת קול מן השמים, and a voice from Heaven came upon them and said, יש כאן אחד שראוי שתשרה עליו שכינה, there is one here that is fit that the שכינה should rest upon him, אלא שאין דורו זכאי לכך, but his generation is not worthy of it. נתנו חכמים את עיניהם בשמואל הקטן, and the חכמים put their eyes to שמואל הקטן. In other words, they felt that the בת קול meant שמואל הקטן. וכשמת,

when he passed away, אמרו עליו, they said on him, הי חסיד הי עניו, oy a חסיד passed away, oy an עניו passed away, תלמידו של הלל, he's a תלמיד of הלל. He is similar to הלל. Just like by הלל the בת קול said that he is a person that is fit for the שכינה to rest upon him, so too שמואל הקטן was also a person that was fit that the שכינה should rest upon him. And the גמרא continues, אף הוא אמר בשעת מיתתו, and we actually see that he said words of prophecy, so that proved that when the בת קול said that there is a person here that is worthy that the שכינה should rest upon him, it actually meant שמואל הקטן, because we see before he passed away he said words of prophecy. He said, שמעון וישמעאל לחרבא, that שמעון and ישמעאל will die through being killed by the sword. And שמעון means רבן שמעון בן גמליאל who was the נשיא, and ישמעאל he meant ישמעאל, רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע who was the כהן גדול, they will be killed through the sword. They were those of the עשרה הרוגי מלכות, from the ten great תנאים who were killed through the Roman government. So he said that these two will be killed by sword, וחברוי, and their friends, לקטלא, will be killed other ways. And the friends that he meant, one of them was רבי עקיבא, who the גמרא says that was killed through the מסרקא של ברזל, they combed him with combs of metal till he finally died. And also רבי חנינא בן תרדיון who was burnt together with the ספר תורה, as the גמרא says in עבודה זרה, so that's what he said, that the others they will be killed through other ways. ושאר עמא, and the other people of the nation, לביזא, will have a lot of trouble, ועקן סגיאין עתידין למיתי על עלמא, and a lot of צרות, a lot of trouble will come unto the world. So here we see that he prophesied things that came true because really he was worthy that the שכינה should rest upon him.

ועל יהודה בן בבא ביקשו לומר כן, when רבי יהודה בן בבא was killed they also wanted to be מספיד him and mention the same מעלות that they mentioned on שמואל הקטן and on הלל, אלא שנטרפה שעה, but the time wasn't fit for it, שאין מספידין על הרוגי מלכות, because we are not מספיד on those people who were killed by the government, because every time they would say something good about the person who was killed, the government would feel that this is a kind of revolt against them, that they're saying מעלות against a on a person that the government killed and felt that he was worthy to die. So therefore they weren't מספיד הרוגי מלכות, so on יהודה בן בבא they couldn't say what they wanted to say. Then the גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה אלא אם כן ירצה נשיא, you're not allowed to be מעבר the year unless the נשיא wants, the נשיא agreed. ומעשה ברבן גמליאל, and there's a story with רבן גמליאל, שהלך ליטול רשות אצל שלטון אחד שבסוריא, and at one time he went to get permission from a certain governor in סוריא. And רש״י says it means he went to be משתדל or went to talk about helping the יידן, not necessarily in connection to עיבור השנה, while other ראשונים learn that he actually went to get permission for the עיבור השנה from the government. ושהה לבוא, and it took him long to come, ועיברו את השנה, and the חכמים that remained were מעבר the year על מנת שירצה רבן גמליאל, on condition that later on רבן גמליאל when he comes back will agree. וכשבא רבן גמליאל ואמר רוצה אני, when רבן גמליאל came back and he said I want, I agree, נמצאת השנה מעוברת, so it came out that the year was מעובר. So we see here that the only way the year could be מעובר is if we have the agreement of the נשיא. Then the גמרא continues,

תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה אלא אם כן היתה צריכה מפני הדרכים, you're not allowed to be מעבר the year unless you have to do it, you need it because of the roads, meaning that during the winter time because of the rains the roads get spoiled, and if they weren't fixed yet, and ממילא the people will not be able to be עולה רגל for פסח, because the מצוה is that for every יום טוב, פסח, שבועות, and סוכות, all the יידן from all over ארץ ישראל and even from outside of ארץ ארץ ישראל had to come up to ירושלים for יום טוב, especially for פסח when they have to bring the קרבן פסח. Now, if the roads got spoiled during the winter time and they weren't fixed yet, and the people will not make it for פסח, so that is a reason why you could add another month, and that would give the people more time to come to ירושלים. ומפני הגשרים, and also because of the bridges, if the bridges were broken and the people couldn't cross the rivers and get to ירושלים on time, that was a reason why they would מעבר the year. ומפני תנורי פסחים, and also because of the ovens for the קרבן פסח, the ovens they used to have was made of clay, and they used to stand outside. And during the winter time, because of the rain, it would get spoiled, and it would need time to dry up before they could use it. And they had to use it for the קרבן פסח, because the קרבן פסח had to be broiled on the open fire in these special ovens. So if the ovens weren't ready, that was a reason why they would add a month to the year, so פסח would come out a month later, and by then the ovens would already be dry and they could use it. And also מפני גליות ישראל שנעקרו ממקומן ועדיין לא הגיעו, if the people who lived outside of ארץ ישראל, if they started off to go to ירושלים for פסח, but if they would not add the extra month, they wouldn't make it on time, so that was a reason for the בית דין to be מעבר the year. If the בית דין heard, they got a notice that the people already left, and they won't make it on time, they would be מעבר the year. אבל לא מפני השלג, but they wouldn't do it because of snow, because you could still walk in the snow. ולא מפני הצינה, not because of the cold, because even if it's cold, you still could continue going and you would make it to ירושלים. ולא מפני גליות ישראל שלא עקרו ממקומן, and not because of the people who lived outside of ארץ ישראל that didn't start off on the trip yet. If they didn't start yet, so then the בית דין would not מעבר the year. If they started out already and they won't make it, so then בית דין would add a month. But if they didn't start yet, even though if they're going to start they won't make it, but then the בית דין would not be מעבר the year. And as תוספות says, the reason why the גמרא says only because of the people from outside of ארץ ישראל would they be מעבר the year, and not because of the people from ארץ ישראל, why didn't the גמרא say that also if the people within ארץ ישראל itself would not make it on time to ירושלים for פסח, they would also be מעבר? So תוספות says, because in ארץ ישראל itself, even the furthest place, they would be able to make it. As תוספות brings from the גמרא in תענית, that when do you start asking for rain after סוכות? So it says fifteen days after סוכות. The reason is because we didn't want to get rain till the last person of ארץ ישראל would reach his house, and it would take the furthest person to reach his house fifteen days. So therefore, till fifteen days, they wouldn't ask for rain. So there we see that even the furthest spot in ארץ ישראל was only fifteen days away from ירושלים. So therefore, there would be no reason to be מעבר the year because of that. But people who lived outside of ארץ ישראל, who lived very far, so if they started out to go to ירושלים and they won't make it on time, that was a reason for the בית דין to be מעבר the year. Then the גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה, the חכמים would not be מעבר the year, לא מפני הגדיים ולא מפני הטלאים, not because of the goats and not because of the sheep. If the goats were still small, the sheep were still small, and by the time they would have to use them for the קרבן פסח, they wouldn't be too big, still this was not a reason to add another month and push off פסח for another month, because the דין is that even though לכתחילה you should bring the bigger ones, בדיעבד you could use the small ones. So therefore, this would not be a reason to push off the year and add another month. ולא מפני הגוזלות שלא פרחו, and not because of the doves, the birds that did not fly. There is a חיוב on a woman who gives birth and on other types of people to bring קרבנות, birds. Now usually, if a person was מחוייב to bring a קרבן, he wouldn't just go up to ירושלים to bring his קרבן. What they would do is, they would wait for a יום טוב when they have to go up anyway, and that's when they would bring their קרבן. Now, if the birds were still small, so the people who were מחוייב to bring the birds would if they would bring it on פסח, they would have to bring very small ones. So we would think maybe the חכמים should specially add another month to the year, so פסח would be a month later, so by the time they come up for פסח, the birds would have grown and they would bring big birds, that is not a reason, because like here too, בדיעבד you could bring the small birds. So even though the birds haven't grown yet, still you could bring them the way they are. So therefore this is not a reason for the בית דין to add another month. אבל

עושין אותן סעד לשנה, but these would be used as an auxiliary reason for adding another month, because as we'll see later on in the גמרא, the גמרא But those things that are mentioned later, the גמרא says only if you have two of those reasons together, that is good enough for the חכמים to be מעבר the year. But if you only have one of those reasons, the חכמים could not be מעבר the year. The things mentioned before, like if the roads were spoiled, etc., one of those reasons is enough for עיבור השנה. But the reasons mentioned later on, only if you have two of those, that's when the חכמים will be מעבר the year. And that's what the גמרא says here, that even though these things we just mentioned now are not good enough reasons to be מעבר the year, for instance, if the goats or the sheep, etc., are not fully grown yet, so that is not enough reason for the חכמים to be מעבר the year, but it could be used as an auxiliary reason to one of the others. In other words, if you will have one of the other reasons plus one of these reasons, together that would be a good enough reason for the חכמים to be מעבר the year. And the גמרא says כיצד, how do we see it? So it says,

רב ינאי אומר משום רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, רב ינאי said in the name of רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, he quoted a letter that was sent by רבן שמעון בן גמליאל. He was the נשיא, and one time they were מעבר the year, and he sent out this message. The message was, מודעין אנחנו לכון, we are notifying you, דגוזלייא רכיכין, that the birds, the doves, are still tender, ואימרין דעדקין, and the sheep are still small, וזימנא דאביבא לא מטא, and the time for the grain to be ripe didn't come yet, ושפרת מילתא באנפאי, and it was felt it looked fine in my eyes, ואוסיפת על שתא דא, and we added to this year, תלתין יומין, 30 days. So we see here that the reason they added the extra month was because of a combination of two things. One thing was that the time of אביב didn't come yet, the time for the grain to become ripe didn't come yet, and this is one of the reasons that the גמרא gives later on that could be used for עיבור השנה if it has another reason with it. So here the other reason was that the birds were still tender and the sheep were still small. So we see here that even though we said before that this itself is not a reason for עיבור השנה, but together with another thing it is a reason, and that's exactly what happened here, that the reason of the גוזלות, the birds being tender and the sheep being small together with the reason that the time of אביב, of the ripening of the crop, didn't come yet, so together was a good enough reason for him to add 30 days to the year. But then the גמרא says,

מתיבי, I will ask you a קשיא. Here we see that רבן שמעון בן גמליאל added a month of 30 days, as he said, we're adding 30 days to the year. But we learned, כמה עיבור השנה, how much is an עיבור of a year? How many days do we add? So the first opinion is שלושים יום, we add 30 days. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר חודש, רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says a month, which means 29 days. So we see that רבן שמעון בן גמליאל himself holds that you only add 29 days. So how come he himself added 30 days? And the גמרא answers, אמר רב פפא, רב פפא said that what רבן שמעון בן גמליאל meant when he said חודש, 29 days, he didn't mean it has to be 29 days. He meant רצו חודש רצו שלושים יום, if they want it could be a month, meaning 29 days, if they want it could be 30 days. The first opinion holds it has to be 30 days. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל holds it could be either 30 days or 29 days. So at that time, for some reason, he felt that it should be 30 days, and that's why he made the עיבור השנה of 30 days. Then the גמרא says, since we already mentioned the letter that was written by רבן שמעון בן גמליאל when he notified that he was מעבר the year, so the גמרא says,

תא חזי, come and see, מה איכא בין תקיפי קדמאי, look and see the difference between the strong people of the earlier generation, לענוותני בתראי, to the humble people of the second generation. That even though the previous generation the people didn't seem to be so humble, the נשיא that the גמרא is going to mention was רבן גמליאל, who was the father of רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, who was in the generation before, and he was known to be a great תקיף. He showed his authority very much, as we find in many places in the גמרא, while his son, רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, was known to be very humble. And nevertheless, when we look into the difference in the letters that they wrote concerning the עיבור השנה, we see that in the letter of רבן גמליאל it seems to be more humble than in the letter of רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, even though רבן גמליאל was known to be a תקיף, while רבן שמעון בן גמליאל was known to be an ענו. דתניא, because we learned in a ברייתא, מעשה ברבן גמליאל, there's a story of רבן גמליאל, שהיה יושב על גב מעלה, he was sitting on a step בהר הבית, on the mountain of the בית המקדש, ויוחנן סופר הלז, so יוחנן, the famous סופר, a famous scribe, עומד לפניו, was standing in front of him, ושלוש איגרות אגרות חתוכות לפניו מונחות, and there were three cut pieces of paper in front of him, אמר ליה, he said to him, טול איגרתא חדא, take one letter, וכתוב, and write in it, לאחנא בני גלילא עילאה ולאחנא בני גלילא תתאה, to our brothers from גליל העליון and to our brothers from גליל התחתון, to our brothers from the upper גליל and to our brothers from the lower גליל, שלומכון ישגא, let there be a lot of peace unto you. This was like the introduction to the letter. And then the letter said as follows: מודעינן אנחנו לכון, we are notifying you, דזמן ביעורא מטא, the time of ביעור came, לאפרושא מעשרא ממעטנא דזיתא, that you should take off מעשר from the place where you keep your זיתים, where you keep your olives. The דין is that twice within a cycle of שמיטה is the זמן of ביעור, because the דין is that every year there are certain things that must be taken off from the crop that grows. You must take off תרומה and give it to the כהן, you must take off מעשר ראשון and give it to the לוי, you must take off מעשר שני, and that would be kept by the owner, but it had to be taken to ירושלים and eaten only in ירושלים under certain conditions. This was in the first year of the שמיטה and the second year of the שמיטה, and also in the fifth - fourth year of the שמיטה and the fifth year of the שמיטה, while in the third year of the שמיטה and the sixth year of the שמיטה, instead of מעשר שני you would take off מעשר עני. You would take מעשר, but it would be given to the poor people. Now twice during the cycle of seven, meaning before פסח of the fourth year and before פסח of the seventh year, was the זמן הביעור, meaning that if you didn't give any of these מתנות away to the people you have to give them to yet, you had to give them by then, and if you didn't give them by then and you weren't able to give them, then you would have to destroy them. That was called the זמן ביעור, and you would have to say a certain וידוי, a certain confession that we find in the תורה in פרשת כי תבוא. So this was the letter that he wrote to them, that the time of ביעור has come, so make sure to separate the proper מעשר that you have to. And the reason he wrote to them that they should separate from the place they keep the זיתים because the main thing that grew in this area were זיתים, were olives, so therefore he specified the זיתים. And then he said, וטול איגרתא חדא, and take another letter, וכתוב, and write in it, לאחנא בני דרומא, to our brothers from דרום, from the north, שלומכון ישגא, you should have a lot of peace, מודעינן אנחנו לכון, I'm notifying you, דזמן ביעורא מטא, the time of ביעור came, לאפרושא מעשרא מעמרת שובליא, that you have to take off your מעשר from the sheaves of wheat. Because in this area a lot of wheat grew, so therefore he specified the wheat, but the purpose of the letter was to tell them that the time of ביעור has come, that they have to get rid of all the מתנות that they have to give. וטול איגרתא חדא, and take another letter, the third one, וכתוב, and write in it, לאחנא בני גלותא, to our brothers of the גלות בבבל, in בבל, ולאחנא דבמדי, and to our brothers in מדי, ולשאר כל גלוותא דישראל, and to all other Jews who live in all other places of גלות, שלומכון ישגא לעולם, forever you should have a lot of peace, מודעינן אנחנו לכון, we are notifying you, דגוזליא רכיכין, that the birds are still tender, ואימריא ערקין, and the sheep are still small, וזימנא דאביבא לא מטא, the time of אביב didn't come, meaning that the grain didn't ripen yet, ושפר מילתא באנפאי ובאנפי חבריי, and it felt good in my eyes and in the eyes of my friends, we felt it was proper, ואוסיפית על שתא דא יומין תלתין, and we added to this year 30 days. So he notified them that he added another month to the year. But what we do see here is that when he told them that he decided to add another month to the year, he writes that it seemed good in my eyes and in the eyes of my friends. This was the לשון that רבן גמליאל told him to write. When we look back before to the לשון that his son רבן שמעון בן גמליאל wrote, there he just said it looked good in my eyes and he didn't mention the eyes of his friends. So even though רבן גמליאל was known to be a תקיף, nevertheless, he didn't base it only on himself, he also included his friends in the עיבור שנה, while his son רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, who was known to be an ענו, and nevertheless, he only based it on himself and didn't mention his friends in it. So that's what the גמרא wants to say, look at the difference between the previous generation, that even the תקיפים, even the ones that showed their authority, nevertheless, they showed that they were humble, while the humble people from the second generation, even though they were humble, nevertheless, they showed things of authority. But the גמרא says that's no ראיה, דילמא מבתר דאעברוה, maybe the reason רבן גמליאל wrote it was after he was released from his position him as נשיא, because, as we know, because of what רבן גמליאל did to רבי יהושע, he was released from his position as נשיא. He was later reinstated, but not as the complete נשיא himself, but he shared the נשיאות with רבי אלעזר בן עזריה. So, after he was released from his נשיאות, maybe then he learned so to speak his lesson, and therefore then he became more humble, and he added these words that he doesn't base it on himself, but also included his friends in it. That's the way רש"י learns. תוספות learns that the פשט in the גמרא is that after he was released from his נשיאות, and he shared his נשיאות with רבי אלעזר בן עזריה, so here he had to write that it also was based on the feeling of his friends, because he was not the only נשיא. When he was the only נשיא, or one that is the only נשיא, so then he could write that he decided, and that's what he did, because it depends on the נשיא, as we learned before. But now that he became a נשיא together with רבי אלעזר בן עזריה, so he had to add that it wasn't he himself that decided, but it was also based on the decision of his

friends, which meant mainly רבי אלעזר בן עזריה, because he was also the נשיא. But the מהרש"א asks a question here that why did he have to notify the people from גליל העליון and גליל התחתון, or the people from דרום, that it is the year of ביעור? Didn't they know which year of the שמיטה it was? Everyone knows that the fourth year of the שמיטה and the seventh year of שמיטה is the year of ביעור, and that's something that everyone knows beforehand. Why did they have to send them that letter? And another question: What was the connection between these two letters with the third letter when he notified the people from the גלות that he made an עיבור שנה? They seem to be two separate ענינים, and from this גמרא, when he told them to write all three things together, seems like there was some connection between the two things. And the מהרש"א answers that the פשט is that when he notified the people from גליל העליון and גליל התחתון and the people from דרום concerning the ביעור, it is also in connection to the עיבור השנה. What he meant to tell them was that he was מעבר the year, and therefore they have another month till the ביעור, because the ביעור depends on פסח, before פסח of the fourth and of the seventh year. So, what he told them was that we added another month to the year, so you have more time till the ביעור. And that's why he sent this letter to them together with the letter he sent to the people of גלות about the עיבור שנה, because it's the same idea. To them, he notified that general thing, that he added another month to the year. And to the people of ארץ ישראל, he notified that since he added another month to the year, they have more time till the ביעור. Then the

גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, על שלשה דברים מעברין את השנה, because of three things the חכמים would be מעבר the year: על האביב, because of the ripening of the grain, if that didn't ripen, so that was a reason for them to be מעבר the year; ועל פירות האילן, and because of the fruit of the tree. You have to bring ביכורים on שבועות, and ביכורים is from the fruit of the tree. Now, if they see, in the time of אדר, that the fruit is not going to be ripe by the time שבועות comes around, and ממילא the אידן will not be able to bring the fruit of the tree for as ביכורים on שבועות, and that would mean that they would have to make a special trip to bring their fruit to ירושלים as ביכורים. So, because of that, the חכמים would be מעבר the year, so then the fruit should become ripe before שבועות. And the third thing is ועל התקופה, because of the season. Because we know that the Jewish year is based on the moon, while the seasons are based on the sun. Now the דין is that the ימים טובים depend on the seasons. The תורה says that פסח should be in the season of spring, and סוכות should be in the season of autumn, which we call in לשון קודש that פסח has to be in תקופת ניסן, while סוכות has to be in תקופת תשרי. Now, if the חשבון was that the תקופה before the תקופה of ניסן, which is called the תקופה of טבת, the season of טבת, which is the season of winter, is not finished yet by the time פסח comes around, because as we said before, the seasons depend on the sun, while the calendar depends on the moon, and the difference between the year of the sun and the year of the moon, as we know, is in close to 11 days, so therefore it would come out that sometimes the season of winter, which is תקופת טבת, would not be finished before פסח comes, that would come out that פסח would be in תקופת טבת, in winter, rather than in תקופת ניסן, in spring. And the same would be concerning סוכות, that sometimes the תקופה of תמוז, which is the תקופה of summer, would not be over before סוכות would come. And we know that סוכות has to be in the תקופה of autumn, which is called the תקופה of תשרי. So, this would be a reason for the חכמים to add another month, so by then, certainly the תקופה of ניסן would start. meaning spring would start before פסח, and the תקופה of תשרי, which is autumn, would start before סוכות. The

גמרא says, על שנים מהם מעברין, for two out of these three things. If two of these three things happened, then they would be מעבר. ועל אחת מהם אין מעברין, but for one of them, if only one of these three things happened, then the חכמים would not be מעבר the year. And then the גמרא says, ובזמן שהאביב אחד מהן, הכל שמחין. If one of the two things was אביב, was the reason that the grain was not ripe yet, everyone would be happy. Meaning that people wouldn't mind that פסח will come a month later, because normally, people should mind that פסח will be later, because we know that till פסח, when they bring the קרבן העומר, you're not allowed to eat חדש. You're not allowed to eat from the new grain that grew till after they bring the קרבן העומר on פסח. Now, if פסח is pushed off for a month, that means that they can't use the new תבואה for another month. So, if there would be two other reasons why they pushed off the year, added another month, in other words, if the two reasons were because of the fruit of the tree and because of the תקופה, because of the season, while the grain was already ripe, so then people weren't happy, because that means that they have the grain already there, and still they can't use it for another month. But if one of the two reasons was because the תבואה wasn't ripe yet, so then people didn't mind, because anyway it's not ripe. So, it doesn't prolong the prohibition on the fruit that they want to eat, because they can't eat it anyway, because it is not ripe. Then the גמרא continues,

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר, רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says, על התקופה, because of the season. And he didn't say exactly what he meant when he said, because of the season. איבעיא להו, so the question that was asked was, על התקופה שמחין, what did he mean to add when he said על התקופה? That he argued on the previous opinion, and he said that if one of the two reasons was the season, people were also happy, או על התקופה מעברין, or what he meant was to argue that before we said that the only time they would make the עיבור is if you have two out of the three, so he came to argue, and he said no, even if the תקופה itself was the reason, it is enough for them to be מעבר the year. The reason why the גמרא thought that maybe he meant to say that if one of the two reasons was the תקופה, people were happy, so רש״י explains, because if the תקופה would be in its proper time, and the reason they would be מעבר the year would be for other reasons, so it'd come out that סוכות would be deeper into the winter. So, when people would be going home from דעלייה לרגל for סוכות, they would be traveling during the wintertime, and that's not so good. But if one of the reasons was the תקופה, so it comes out that by pushing it off, סוכות would not be deeper into the winter, because anyway the תקופה came very late, so then people didn't mind the fact that they pushed off the year, because they still wouldn't be traveling home in middle of the winter. So, that's what he meant when he said על התקופה, that not only if the reason that was pushed off because of the אביב, that's when people were happy, but also if one of the two reasons was the תקופה, that's also a reason for people to be happy. Is that what he meant? Or he meant that the תקופה itself is a good enough reason for them to push off the year, that you don't have to have two reasons, if one of the reasons is תקופה, that itself is enough. And the reason why the גמרא felt that the תקופה itself should be enough, so רש״י says, because the fact that יום טוב has to be in the time of the תקופה is a דין מדאורייתא, is a דין from the תורה. And therefore, the גמרא feels maybe רבן שמעון בן גמליאל meant to say that since the תקופה is דאורייתא, that is a good enough reason for them to add another month. While תוספות says that that is not the reason, because if the reason would be because this is דאורייתא, so תוספות says the fact that the תבואה has to be ripe is also דאורייתא, because the תורה says שמור את חדש האביב. So therefore, תוספות says that the reason why the גמרא felt that the תקופה itself would be good enough that for that they should be מעבר the year, is because there you cannot make a mistake.

Concerning the other reasons, concerning the ripeness of the תבואה, or whether the fruit of the tree will be ripe on time, you can make a mistake. When they look at it, they feel that it will not be ripe on time, and in truth it will be ripe on time. It's hard to calculate, hard to judge. But concerning the תקופה, you can't make a mistake, it's a very easy חשבון, and there's nothing that you have to judge or estimate, it is just the חשבון you have to make when the תקופה comes out. So, since this is something that they can't make a mistake, so the גמרא feels maybe that's what רבן שמעון בן גמליאל said, that because of the תקופה itself, you're allowed to be מעבר השנה. And the גמרא says תיקו, this question remains without an answer. Concerning one of the things that the גמרא said that is a reason to be מעבר השנה, which is the אביב, if the תבואה isn't ripe yet, so the simple פשט why this would be a reason for them to be מעבר the year is because the תורה says חודש האביב, that פסח should be in the month when the תבואה is ripe. So therefore, if the תבואה isn't ripe yet, this is a reason to be מעבר the שנה. But רשי says that there is another reason given: that since on פסח you have to bring the קרבן עומר from the new תבואה, so if the תבואה isn't ripe yet, so they won't be able to bring the קרבן עומר. So therefore, this is a reason to push off פסח for another month, so by the time פסח comes around, the תבואה will be ripe and they will be able to bring the עומר from the new תבואה. But רשי says that this reason is not a good reason, because later on the גמרא says that when we judge to see whether it is considered that the תבואה is ripe or not, we judge two areas out of three. There were three areas in ארץ ישראל, so we look at two out of the three, and if two out of the three were not ripe yet, so that is considered that the תבואה is not ripe, and this is a reason to be מעבר the year. So it comes out from that גמרא that even if in one area it was ripe, we still sometimes could consider it as if it wasn't ripe. Now, if we're going to give the reason because we won't be able to bring the עומר from the new crop, that is not true. Since in one place it is already ripe, so why can't we bring the עומר from that place? Even though the דין is לכתחילה we have to bring the עומר from יהודה, and it's possible that in יהודה it is not ripe yet, so we will have to bring the עומר from a different area, but בדיעבד we could bring the עומר from a different area too. It is only לכתחילה that we must bring it from יהודה, but בדיעבד if we can't get it from יהודה, we could bring it from someplace else. So if in יהודה and another place it is not ripe, but in the third place it is ripe, still we could bring the עומר from that third place. So why should this be a reason for them to push off the פסח by adding another month? So therefore רשי says this is not the reason the גמרא had in mind why if the תבואה is not ripe we add another month. The reason is because the תורה says חודש האביב, and if in two out of three places it is not ripe yet, it is considered that the time of אביב didn't come, and therefore this is a reason for them to push off פסח and add another month to the year. Then the גמרא continues,

תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, על שלשה ארצות מעברין את השנה, because of three lands, meaning three areas in ארץ ישראל, you have to be מעבר the year. In other words, when we look to see whether the תבואה is ripe yet or not, so we would have to look at these three areas: יהודה and עבר הירדן and the גליל. יהודה and the other side of the ירדן and the area of גליל. על שתים מהם מעברין. If two out of the three areas the תבואה isn't ripe yet, they would be מעבר the year. על אחת מהן אין מעברין. If in one of the three it wasn't ripe, but the other two it was ripe, so then they would not be מעבר the year. And the reason for that is because when do we consider it אביב or not depends on the majority of ארץ ישראל. If two out of three in ארץ ישראל it was ripe, we would consider that the אביב came. If two out of the three wasn't ripe, then we consider it that the אביב didn't come yet. And then the גמרא says, ובזמן שיהודה אחת מהן, and if יהודה was one of the two places that wasn't ripe yet, then הכל שמחים, everyone was happy, שאין עומר בא אלא מיהודה, because the עומר has to come from יהודה. לכתחילה you should bring the עומר from יהודה. Now, if in יהודה it would be ripe, and two other places were not ripe, by the time they would have to bring the עומר, which would be a month later, the תבואה of יהודה would be dried up already. And we have to bring soft, fresh תבואה. ממילא they wouldn't be able to bring the עומר from the תבואה of יהודה. They would have to bring the עומר from the תבואה of another place. And since לכתחילה you should bring the תבואה from יהודה, so therefore, if יהודה was one of the places that wasn't ripe, then the people were happy, because the עומר will be able to be brought from יהודה. But if יהודה was ripe and the other two places were not ripe, so then the עומר would have to be brought from the other places, because by the time it would come to bring the עומר the יהודה ones would not be fresh, and therefore you couldn't bring from יהודה, then the people were not happy. That's one פשט רשי gives. Another פשט is that if יהודה was one of the places, and that is why they pushed it off, so the people who saw that the עומר was being brought a month later, and therefore they couldn't eat from the new crop for another month, didn't feel so bad, because they saw that in יהודה, the place where you bring the עומר from, it wasn't ready yet. So therefore, they didn't feel that it's being pushed off for no reason. But if in יהודה it was ready, and the reason they pushed it off because in other two places it wasn't ready, so it seemed to them as if they're prolonging the איסור of eating the תבואה for no reason, because here we see in יהודה it's ready, the place where you bring the עומר from it's ready, and still we don't bring it. So it seems as if they're prolonging it for no reason. So that was harder on the people. So therefore, if יהודה was not ready, and that was the reason why they pushed it off, the people were happy. Then the גמרא continues,

תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה אלא ביהודה, you can't make can עיבור שנה, you can't add a month to the year, only the בית דין of יהודה. ואם עיברוה בגליל, if the בית דין did it in גליל, מעוברת, nevertheless בדיעבד it is מעובר, and it is considered a leap year. העיד חנניה איש אונו, but חנניה, the man from אונו testified, שאם עיברוה בגליל אינה מעוברת, that if they did it in גליל, it is not מעובר, even בדיעבד it is not מעובר. He argues on the first opinion. אמר רבי יהודה בריה דרבי שמעון בן פזי, so רבי יהודה, the son of רבי שמעון בן פזי says, מאי טעמא דחנניה איש אונו, what is the reason of חנניה איש אונו who holds that even בדיעבד if the בית דין did it in גליל, it is not מעובר? Because אמר קרא, the פסוק says, לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה. In the place where He dwells, that's where you should look for Him, and you should come there. So we learn out, כל דרישה שאתה דורש, any דרשה that you דרשן, anything that you look for, anything that you look for השם, לא יהיו אלא בשכנו של מקום, which should only be in the neighborhood of השם, which is in ירושלים, meaning in יהודה. תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה אלא ביום, you cannot מעבר the year only at daytime, you can only do it during the day. ואם עיברוה בלילה אינה מעוברת, if you did it at night, even בדיעבד it is not מעובר. ואין מקדשין את החדש אלא ביום, and you cannot make קידוש החודש, meaning you cannot sanctify the new moon, make the day into ראש חודש, only if you do it during the day.

ואם קידשוה בלילה אינו מקודש, if they did it at night, it is not מקודש, even בדיעבד it is no good. אמר רב אבא, so רב אבא said, מאי קרא, what is the פסוק that tells us that? The פסוק says, תקעו בחדש שופר, you should blow שופר during the month, meaning on ראש השנה, בכסה ליום חגנו, in the time when it is hidden to the day of our יום טוב. Now, what is hidden? It means a day that the moon is hidden. איזהו חג שהחדש מתכסה בו, which is a יום טוב that the moon is hidden on that day? The ימים טובים mainly are in middle of the month. פסח is the 15th day of the month. סוכות is the 15th day of the month. Now, which יום טוב is a time when the moon is covered, which means we do not see the moon during the first day of the month? הוי אומר זה ראש השנה. So which one is that? We say it's ראש השנה. וכתיב, and concerning this the תורה says, כי חק לישראל הוא, it is a law for the יידן, משפט לאלקי יעקב, it is a משפט, a judgment to the God of יעקב, to the God of the Jews. So we see that concerning this idea that the moon is covered and it becomes into a יום טוב, meaning when we establish ראש השנה, the תורה refers to it, the פסוק refers to it with the term משפט, judgment. So we learn out from here, מה משפט ביום אף קידוש החדש ביום. Just like judgment is during the day, you could only judge דיני ממונות, the בית דין could only sit to judge during the day, so too when it comes to make קידוש החודש, it could only be done during the day. So from here he sees that even בדיעבד, if you מקדש the חודש at night, it is not מקודש.