Jewish Audio on Chabad.org. Today's שיעור will be מסכת סנהדרין דף יב, and we will start from the last line of דף יא עמוד ב. And the גמרא says: תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה בשני רעבון, you're not allowed to be מעבר the year, to add the extra month, the extra אדר to the year if it is a year of famine, if it is a hunger year. The גמרא says: תניא, we learned in a ברייתא, רבי אומר, רבי says, he quotes a פסוק in מלכים ב where it says: ואיש בא מבעל שלישה, a person came from the place called בעל שלישה, ויבא לאיש האלקים לחם בכורים עשרים לחם שערים וגו', and he brought to the איש האלקים, to the godly man, which was אלישע, he brought fresh bread that was just ripened, twenty breads of barley, etc., that had just ripened then. Now we see that he brought to them the שערים that had just ripened. ואין לך קל בכל ארץ ישראל לבשל פירותיו יותר מבעל שלישה, there's no place in ארץ ישראל where the fruit ripen earlier than בעל שלישה, that is the first place where the fruit ripens. ואף על פי כן לא ביכרה אלא מין אחד, and still only one kind ripened. It's משמע from the פסוק that the fruit that he brought, the bread that he brought had just ripened. This was the מין that just ripened. Now which מין, which kind had just ripened then? שמא תאמר, you might say, חטי, it was wheat. Now we know wheat ripens later in the season. So maybe the פשט was that the תבואה that just ripened was the wheat, but before that other תבואות ripened, so then it's not so late. תלמוד לומר, but the פסוק says שערים. So the שערים just ripened then. And the שערים are from the first that ripened, and it didn't ripen until that time. So we see that it was late in the season that the שערים ripened. Now when was the time when it ripened? שמא תאמר, you might say, לפני העומר, that this happened before the עומר? תלמוד לומר, but the פסוק says: תן לעם ויאכלו, give it to the people, let them eat it. So that must be אחר העומר היה, it was after the עומר. Because you can't eat from the new crop till the עומר is brought. Since he said, as soon as he brought it, that now give it to the people to eat, obviously it is after the עומר. So what do we

see from here? That it was so late, it was already after the עומר, and nevertheless, the barley had just ripened. So הא למדת, say from here, from here we understand, that ראויה היתה אותה שנה שתתעבר, that that year was fit to become a leap year. Because we said before that one of the reasons to make a year into a leap year is if the crop didn't ripen on time. So here we see that the grain did not ripen on time, because the barley, which ripens the earliest, did not ripen till after the time of the עומר. So really, they should have made that year into a leap year. ומפני מה לא עיברה אלישע, why didn't אלישע make it into a leap year? ששנת בצורת היתה, because as we know it was a hunger year, והיו הכל רצין לבית גרנות, and everyone was running to the threshing fields, everyone was looking for food. And therefore, he didn't want to prolong the year, because then it would prolong their prohibition of eating from the new crop, because you're not allowed to eat it before the עומר, so for thirty more days they couldn't eat from the new crop, whatever would grow. So therefore, he didn't make it into a leap year. So from here we see that in a hunger year, you do not make the year into a leap year. But

תוספות asks a קשיא: didn't the גמרא say before that if the grain did not ripen, if that is the only reason we have to turn it into a leap year, it is not enough. We have to have two out of those three reasons. So there had to be another reason at least, or if the תקופה wasn't on time, or if the פירות אילן, or if the fruit from the tree wasn't ripe on time. Because the גמרא said before there are three reasons why we should make into a leap year: it is the אביב, the ripening of the תבואה, and if the fruit of the tree will not become ripe before שבועות, and if the season will not fit for the יום טוב. So if we have two out of these three, that's when we're מעבר the year. So in this case, all we see from the פסוק is that the תבואה was not ripe on time. So how do we know that one of the other two reasons were there too? But the גמרא says that that year was fit to become a leap year. If the only reason was that the תבואה wasn't ripe, still there is not a good enough reason to turn it into a leap year. So how does the גמרא know for sure that really it should have been turned into a leap year?

תוספות says that since in בעל שלישה, which is the place where everything ripens early, still only one kind ripened, which was the שעורים, probably the fruit of the tree weren't ripe on time either. So therefore, the גמרא assumes that there were two reasons for them to turn it into a leap year, and nevertheless, he didn't, must be because it was a hunger year. But then תוספות asks another קשיא: The גמרא said before that we judge concerning the אביב, whether the תבואה is ripe or not, two areas out of three of ארץ ישראל. There are three areas: יהודה, and עבר הירדן, and גליל. If two out of those three the תבואה wasn't ripe, we consider it as if the תבואה is not ripe on time. But if only one place it wasn't ripe, then we do not consider it that the תבואה is not ripe on time, and we do not turn it into a leap year. So maybe over there, in the place where אלישע was, in יהודה, טאקע the תבואה wasn't ripe on time. But maybe in the other two places it was ripe on time. And therefore he didn't turn it into a leap year. So how does the גמרא know that the reason he didn't turn it into a leap year was because it was a שנת בצורת, a hunger year? Maybe it was because there was no reason to turn it into a leap year, even though the תבואה wasn't ripe, but maybe only in that area it wasn't ripe, but in the other two areas it was ripe? And תוספות answers that since in בעל שלישה, which is the place where the תבואה ripens the earliest, still at this time of the year only one kind, the שעורים, were ripe, that shows that for sure in the other places it wasn't ripe. And therefore the גמרא understands that in most of ארץ ישראל the תבואה wasn't ripe, and therefore the גמרא feels that it should have become a leap year, and the reason it wasn't, was because it was a שנת בצורת, it was a hunger year. But then תוספות asks: How do we טאקע know that he wasn't מעבר the year? Maybe אלישע did turn that year into a leap year? And תוספות says, if it would have been turned into a leap year, it would be impossible that by the time the עומר came around, which means by the time פסח came, which was a month later, that they shouldn't find more than one kind that was ripe. So, obviously, he did not turn it into a leap year, and the reason was because it was a שנת בצורת. Then the

גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, and the רבנן learned: אין מעברין את השנה לפני ראש השנה. The חכמים, the בית דין does not sit down to calculate in order to be מעבר the year before ראש השנה of that year. ואם עיברוה, and if they did do it, they were מעבר the year before ראש השנה, אינה מעוברת. It is not מעובר, even בדיעבד it is not מעובר. And the reason for that is because, as we know, the only month they can add is אדר. And if they're going to do it that early, by the time אדר comes around, people might forget. And if they might forget, they will not keep it as a leap year, so instead of having a second אדר, they will consider it as ניסן, and they will have פסח in the wrong month. So when the real פסח comes around, they will be מזלזל in the איסור of חמץ. They will not be careful with חמץ in the real פסח. So therefore, we cannot do it before ראש השנה that early. אבל מפני הדחק, but in the case of emergency, like רש״י says, if they feel that if they're going to wait till after ראש השנה, they might not find enough חכמים to turn it into a leap year, or if they're afraid that the government might prohibit calculating and turning the year into a leap year, so then מעברין אותה אחר ראש השנה מיד. So then right after ראש השנה, they are able to be מעבר the year. ואף על פי כן, and still, אין מעברין אלא אדר. When they make it into a leap year, it is only אדר that they add. They can't add any other month to the year; they only can add a second אדר. So even though they do it as early as right after ראש השנה, but then they announce that אדר, we will have two אדרs. Then the גמרא says, איני? Is it not so? How can you say that they only are allowed to do it after ראש השנה, but before ראש השנה you are not allowed to be מעבר the year?

והא שלחו ליה לרבא, they sent to רבא, there was a message sent to רבא: זוג בא מרקת, a pair of תלמידי חכמים came from רקת, and as רש״י says it means טבריה, ותפסו נשר, and the eagle grabbed them, conquered them, captured them, and that refers to the army of the פרסיים, as רש״י says. ובידם דברים הנעשים בלוז, and in their hands they had things which are made in לוז, ומאי ניהו תכלת, what is that, תכלת? In לוז they used to make תכלת, as the גמרא says in סוטה. The תכלת was the blue wool that was used for ציצית, and there was a special way to make it. You had to use the blood of a fish called חלזון to dye the wool, so they used to do it in לוז. So this pair of תלמידי חכמים that was caught by the group, by the soldiers of the פרסיים, had along with them תכלת. But בזכות הרחמים, in the זכות of the mercy of השם, ובזכותם, and in their own merit, יצאו בשלום, they went out in peace, they were able to escape. ועמוסי ירכי נחשון, and the offsprings, the children of נחשון - נחשון was the first נשיא of the שבט of יהודה, and all the נשיאים later on were were all descendants of נחשון. So when he wanted to refer to the נשיא, they used the term the offsprings of נחשון. ביקשו לקבוע נציב אחד, they wanted to establish one officer, which means they wanted to add another month to the year. ולא הניחן אדומי הלז, and this אדומי didn't let them, which means the Roman Empire, the Roman government, wouldn't allow them to do it. The reason they refer to the Romans as אדומי because they are descendants of עשו who was אדום. אבל בעלי אסופות נאספו, but nevertheless the חכמים got together, וקבעו לו נציב אחד, and they did establish an extra month, בירח שמת בו אהרן הכהן, they did it in the month that אהרן הכהן died, which is the month of אב. So what he was saying was that in the month of אב they got together, and they were מעבר the next year. This was the message that they sent רבא. And the reason they wrote it in this way, in code, so to speak, in order for them not to be stopped by the government. So they wrote it in such a way that people shouldn't understand. But this is the message that he got. So we see from here that they did get together in the month of אב, and they were מעבר the next year. So how can we say before that you cannot be מעבר before ראש השנה the next year? And the גמרא answers, חשובי מחשבינן, calculate, you're able to calculate before ראש השנה, but גלויי לא מגלינן, but you do not publicize it. And that's what they did there. They got together in אב, and they made the calculations, but they didn't announce it till after ראש השנה. Then the גמרא

says, מאי משמע דהאי נציב לישנא דירחא הוא? How is it משמע that the word נציב means a month? The the message that he got was that they wanted to establish an extra נציב. Now really נציב means an officer. But this was a רמז, a hint to an extra month. Now how does the word נציב, which means an officer, show for an extra month? The גמרא says דכתיב, because it says, ולשלמה שנים עשר נצבים על כל ישראל, that שלמה המלך had 12 officers that were appointed on the יידן, וכלכלו את המלך ואת אנשיו חודש בשנה, and they would support, they would take care of the king and his family a month in the year. Each officer would have his month. So based on this פסוק, when they wanted to refer to a month, they used the term נציב, which is officer, because of this פסוק where it says that each officer had his month. But then the גמרא says, how can you say that, וכתיב, doesn't the פסוק say, ונציב אחד אשר בארץ, that in addition to these 12 officers there was another officer there. But there are only 12 months to the year, so if each officer has his month, what's this 13th officer about? And the גמרא says, רב יהודה ורב נחמן, concerning the explanation of this פסוק, there is an argument between רב יהודה and רב נחמן. חד אמר אחד ממונה על כולם, one says that there was one officer who was appointed upon all the officers. וחד אמר, and one says, כנגד חודש העיבור, this is כנגד the extra month, that those years that had an extra month, the 13th month, so then they had this person who was appointed to take care during that month. Then the גמרא

continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה לא משנה לחברתה, you're not allowed to make עיבור of a year, not from one year to the other. And as רש״י learned that means that if there is a need to make an extra month in the year, you do it in that year when it is needed. You don't make a previous year into a leap year because of the needs of the next year. For instance, if according to the calculations the year that will come will have to be a leap year because the תקופה will come out in the wrong time or any other reason, so even if you know about that the previous year, you do not make the previous year into a leap year because of the needs of the next year. ולא שלש שנים זו אחר זו, and you do not do it three years in a row. In other words, you cannot have three leap years in a row. And the reason is because if you're going to have three leap years in a row, you will mess up the seasons and it'll come out that פסח, for instance, will be in middle of the summer. So therefore Then the גמרא

says, אמר רבי שמעון, רבי שמעון said, מעשה ברבי עקיבא שהיה חבוש בבית האסורים, there's a story with רבי עקיבא that he was imprisoned, ועיבר שלש שנים זו אחר זו, and he was מעבר three years in a row. So how can you say that you're not allowed to make three years in a row leap years? אמרו לו, they said to him, משם ראיה? From there you're going to bring a ראיה? That's not the פשט, that's not what happened there. בית דין ישבו וקבעו אחת אחת בזמנה, בית דין sat down later and they established each one in its time. In other words, what רבי עקיבא did was only he made the calculations. Since he was the top authority in calculating the חשבונות, so therefore רבי עקיבא made the חשבונות and he showed them which years have to be leap years. And then every time the leap year came out, the חכמים sat down at that time and made the leap year. So it wasn't three years in a in a row that they made leap years. There were three leap years that he told them beforehand would have to be leap years, but it wasn't that they were three years in a row, each leap year in its own time. So after they made the calculations with רבי עקיבא, later on, each time the year came around, the חכמים sat down again and turned each year into a leap year at its proper time. This is the way רש״י learns this גמרא.

But תוספות learns this גמרא differently. When it says that you should not make a leap year משנה לחברתה, from one year to the next year, so as we said before, רש״י learns that you should not make one year a leap year because of the needs of next year. And תוספות says that the לשון doesn't seem to be saying that, משנה לחברתה. So therefore תוספות learns the פשט different. It means that you cannot make calculations in one year to see whether the next year should be a leap year. And even if you're going to wait with the announcement till after ראש השנה, still you should not make the calculations in the previous year, because maybe things will change, and therefore you only should make the חשבון of the leap year in the year when you want to make the leap year. And the second thing where it says that you should not make three years one after another, and as we learned before רש״י said it means that you should not have three leap years in a row, and the reason is because you will push away the seasons and פסח might come out in the middle of the summer, so תוספות says, if so, why three? The same thing should be concerning two. If you have two leap years in a row, automatically the seasons will be messed up, and פסח will come out in the wrong time. And another thing תוספות says, when רבי שמעון brought the מעשה of רבי עקיבא, that he made three years in a row as leap years, and the גמרא answered that what was the פשט? That the בית דין sat down and they established every one in its time, meaning according to רש״י, that it wasn't three years in a row that they made into leap years, they made it in its proper time, they just made the calculations with רבי עקיבא, so תוספות says from the לשון of the גמרא is not משמע that this is what it means. So therefore תוספות learns like the second פשט that רש״י brings, that when it says that you should not make three years leap years, it means that at one time you cannot establish three leap years. Even if you're going to have three leap years not in a row, let's say you'll have one year and then the third year a leap year, and then the fifth year a leap year, so then you will not have three years in a row, but nevertheless you cannot sit down and calculate concerning three leap years. And that's what we mean that you cannot do three years in a row, meaning at the same time you cannot make the חשבון of three leap years, even though you're not going to have them in a row, but the calculations to have at the same time, you can't. And that's where the גמרא asked the קושיא from רבי עקיבא, because the גמרא had a הוה אמינא that when it says that רבי עקיבא, when he was in jail, calculated three years, so it seems like they calculated all three years at the same time, and we just said that you're not allowed to calculate all the three leap years at the same time. And the גמרא's answer was that since רבי עקיבא was the authority in the חשבונות, so therefore they sat down with him and they calculated concerning the three years, but they didn't rely later on on that calculation. Every time the year came around, they recalculated again to see if the calculation is right, and then based on the new calculation that they made each time they wanted to make a leap year, that's why they made a leap year. So all they did with רבי עקיבא was, since he knew all the חשבונות, they wanted to go through the חשבונות with him, but they didn't make the עיבור השנה based on that calculation. They recalculated every time they wanted to make it into a leap year. Then the גמרא

continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין השנה, you're not allowed to make a leap year, לא בשביעית ולא במוצאי שביעית, not in the year of שמיטה, not in the year after שמיטה. During the year of שמיטה, you're not allowed to work on the fields, so by adding another month to the year, we're prolonging the prohibition of working on the fields, so people will have less food. Therefore, you shouldn't do it during שמיטה. You shouldn't also do it during מוצאי שביעית, because since they don't have much of the old crop, and the new crop that will grow cannot be eaten till after the עומר, if we add another month, we prolong the prohibition on eating the new crop, so people won't have that much food. So therefore you should not make the year immediately after שמיטה into a leap year. אימתי רגילין לעבר? When is the custom to make it into a leap year? ערב שביעית, the year before שמיטה, because that'll give them an extra month to work on the field, so they will have more crop as a preparation to the year of שמיטה when they will not be able to work on the field. But the גמרא says, של בית רבן גמליאל היו מעברין במוצאי שביעית, but those of the house of רבן גמליאל used to make the year immediately after שמיטה into a leap year. But why did they do it? So the גמרא says, ובפלוגתא דהני תנאי, and the reason was based on a מחלוקת of certain תנאים. Whether we should do it the year after שמיטה or should not is based on a מחלוקת of תנאים. דתניא, because we learn in a ברייתא, אין מביאין ירק מחוץ לארץ, we should not bring vegetables from outside of ארץ ישראל into ארץ ישראל. ורבותינו התירו, but our rabbis did allow it. So we find here

a מחלוקת, whether you're allowed to import from outside of ארץ ישראל into ארץ ישראל. So those that hold that you are not allowed to import, so they say you should not make the year after שמיטה into a leap year, because you will be prolonging the איסור of eating from the new crop, because they will have an extra month till the עומר. And you cannot import from outside of ארץ ישראל, so people will not have what to eat. So, therefore, you should not make it into a leap year. But the house of רבן גמליאל, they held that you are allowed to import ירק from outside of ארץ ישראל, so, therefore, they said that you could make the year after שמיטה into a leap year. איי, people will not be able to eat from the new crop for another month, it doesn't matter, because they held that you are allowed to import ירק from חוץ לארץ. מאי בינייהו? What is the difference, meaning what is the reason for their argument, whether you are allowed to import ירק from outside of ארץ ישראל or not? אמר רבי ירמיה, so רבי ירמיה said, חוששין לגושיהן איכא בינייהו, whether we're afraid for the earth that will come along. Meaning whether they're afraid that when they import the ירק, that some of the earth or the sand will come along. And we know the דין is that the sand of חוץ לארץ is מטמא. One of the גזירות of the רבנן was that חוץ לארץ is מטמא. So, therefore, if some of the earth of חוץ לארץ will come along, that might make טמא the טהרות that they have. So the one that was afraid of that, he said that you're not allowed to import ירק from חוץ לארץ. And the one that said that you are allowed to import, because he wasn't afraid that some of the sand of the earth will come along, and therefore he said that you are allowed to import ירק from חוץ

לארץ. Concerning what we're afraid of, we find a מחלוקת here, רש״י and תוספות. רש״י says that we're afraid that they're going to bring some of the earth from ארץ העמים, which is מטמא באהל, which means that if you take some earth of חוץ לארץ, and it's under one roof with a person, or with טהרות, or whatever it is, it becomes טמא. Just like a מת, a dead body, is מטמא באהל, not only if you touch it, you become טמא, or if you carry it, you become טמא, but even if you're under one roof with a dead body, or the dead body is over you, or you are מאהיל over the dead body, you become טמא. So, too, land, earth of חוץ לארץ is מטמא באהל. And that's what we're afraid of, that you might have some גוש, some earth come along from חוץ לארץ, which is מטמא באהל, it makes טמא if you're under one roof with it, and therefore he said you're not allowed to bring ירק from חוץ לארץ. But תוספות says that we find in מסכת אהלות, it says clearly that if you have earth that comes from חוץ לארץ, only makes you טמא if you touch it or if you carry it, but it does not make you טמא באהל. Not like רש״י says, that the גוש of חוץ לארץ is מטמא באהל. איי, תוספות says it's משמע in the first פרק of שבת and in מסכת נזיר that ארץ העמים, meaning חוץ לארץ, is מטמא באהל? So תוספות says what that means is that is in the ארץ העמים itself. If a person bends over to ארץ העמים, he stands, for instance, by the border of ארץ ישראל and ארץ העמים in חוץ לארץ, and he bends over, over the ארץ העמים, so then he becomes טמא even though he didn't touch it. But if someone brings from the earth of ארץ העמים into ארץ ישראל, that is not מטמא באהל. So, therefore, when the גמרא says here that we're afraid that along with the ירק, some of the גוש, some of the earth of חוץ לארץ might come along, and it'll make the טהרות טמא, so תוספות says it doesn't mean that it'll make it טמא באהל, it means that we're afraid someone might touch it or carry it, and that's how he will become טמא. Then the גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, אין מעברין את השנה מפני הטומאה, you should not make the year into a leap year because of טומאה. For instance, if we see that if we're not going to make into a leap year, when פסח will come around, most of the people will become טמא. For instance, if the נשיא, the head of the אידן, was very, very sick, and it seemed as if he's going to die right before פסח, and since he is the leader of the אידן, all the אידן will have to go to the funeral, they will all become טמא. So maybe we should make the year into a leap year, so when he dies it will not be ערב פסח, it will be a month before, and by the time פסח comes around they will be טהור. So then we do not do it because of this. This is not a good enough reason for them to be מעבר the year. Or another thing תוספות says, if there were a few days before פסח and people were טמא, at the end of אדר, for instance, people were טמא, and they don't have the אפר פרה, they don't have the ashes of the פרה אדומה to sprinkle on the people in order to make them טהור, because the דין is if a person is טמא מת, the only way he can become טהור is if on the third day and on the seventh day he gets sprinkled with the water that is mixed with the ashes of the פרה אדומה, and then he goes to the מקוה. But if they see towards the end of אדר that there are no ashes around, for some reason they cannot get the אפר פרה אדומה, and therefore, by the time פסח comes, most of the people will be טמא, still, we do not use this as a reason to make it into a עיבור שנה. And what do we do? When פסח comes, they will bring the קרבן פסח בטומאה, because the דין is that if the majority of the people are טמא, so then you bring the קרבן פסח even while they are טמא. So rather than making it a עיבור year, and having them bring the קרבן פסח בטהרה while they're טהור, we don't make it into a עיבור year, and they bring the קרבן פסח בטומאה. But רבי יהודה אומר, רבי יהודה says, מעברין, that this is a good enough reason for it to become a leap year. אמר רבי יהודה, רבי יהודה said, מעשה בחזקיה מלך יהודה, the story, there is a story of חזקיה the king of יהודה, שעיבר את השנה מפני הטומאה, that he did make the year into a leap year because of טומאה. And as רש"י says that in the time of his father אחז, people worshiped עבודה זרה, and we know עבודה זרה makes a person טמא, like a מת, and he saw that by the time פסח would come around, they wouldn't get a chance to become טהור, so because of that, he was מעבר the year, he made the year into a leap year, so when פסח will come around, all the people will be טהור. This is the way רש"י learns that the טומאה of that time was the טומאה of עבודה זרה. But תוספות ask a קושיא that לכאורה, the טומאה of עבודה זרה, the fact that if you worship עבודה זרה you become טמא is only a דין דרבנן. So how can we say that in the time of חזקיה the טומאה was because of עבודה זרה? And תוספות says, probably at that time the גזירה was around already. They already had made, the בית דין, before חזקיה, and therefore, at that time עבודה זרה was already מטמא, and therefore when they worshiped עבודה זרה, they were טמא. But תוספות says that in ירושלמי it says that they, they found the head of ארונה היבוסי under the מזבח, and therefore the מזבח was טמא, that area was טמא. So, whichever קרבן they would bring would become טמא, so that is also called ציבור, that the טומאה is concerning the ציבור. Because we know when we say that when the ציבור is טמא, you could still bring the קרבן, it doesn't only mean if all the people are טמא. It also means that if the קרבן ציבור, the קרבן that is supposed to be brought by the ציבור, the only way they could bring it is בטומאה, then you're allowed to bring it בטומאה. So here too, he saw that if they would not make it into a leap year, the קרבנות they would bring would become טמא, so therefore, he made it into a leap year. But תוספות says that the question is, if that's so, why couldn't they make it טהור? Why did they have to make it into a leap year? Since the time to make it into a leap year is towards the end of אדר, so between then and the קרבן פסח, which is the 15th day, the 14th day of ניסן, so they could have made it טהור, because the way to do it is by spraying on the third and the seventh day the פרה אדומה. So why couldn't they do it? And you can't say that they didn't have the אפר פרה, because we know that in the time of the first בית המקדש, they had the אפר פרה from משה רבינו's time yet. So why didn't they sprinkle the פרה אדומה, the אפר פרה on the מזבח and make it טהור? So therefore תוספות said you must say that for some reason they didn't have it ready, they couldn't get it, and therefore he saw that if he wouldn't turn it into a leap year, everything would be טמא, so therefore he turned it into a leap year. But וביקש רחמים על עצמו, he asked השם for mercy to forgive him for the sin that he did by turning it into a leap year because of טומאה. דכתיב, the פסוק says, כי מרבית העם, because a lot of the people from the nation, רבת מאפרים ומנשה יששכר וזבולון, many of them from אפרים ומנשה יששכר וזבולון, לא הטהרו, could not become clean. And the פסוק also says, כי אכלו את הפסח בלא ככתוב, that they ate the קרבן פסח not the way they were supposed to. And the way the גמרא explains it now, that means that they made it into a leap year, so פסח came out a month later, but really it was against the דין, because it shouldn't have been turned into a leap year. ויתפלל חזקיהו עליהם לאמר, and חזקיה דאוונד for them, saying, השם הטוב יכפר בעד, that השם, who is good, should forgive for this. Because he did an עבירה by turning it into a leap year because of טומאה, so he asked השם to forgive him. רבי שמעון אומר, רבי שמעון says, אם מפני ה... So why did he ask mercy to, from השם to forgive him for the עבירה he did? Even though he was not supposed to be מעבר it because of טומאה, but if בדיעבד it's good, so after he did it it is good, it is מעובר. So there is no reason for him to ask השם to forgive him. And the answer is שאין מעברין אלא אדר, because באמת you're only allowed to turn אדר into a leap year, והוא עיבר ניסן בניסן. He turned ניסן in the month of ניסן into a leap year. Meaning to say, it started already ניסן, and then he decided to turn it into a leap year. Meaning that normally, towards the end of אדר, that's when you turn the next month into אדר שני. But if ניסן started already, if the first day of ניסן came, and we already established it as ניסן, then you cannot change and say, "Well, now it's going to be אדר." And that's what he did. The mistake he made was that he made a second אדר after already it became ניסן. רבי שמעון בן יהודה אומר משום רבי שמעון, רבי שמעון בן יהודה said in the name of רבי שמעון, מפני שהשיא את ישראל לעשות פסח שני. It was a different mistake he made. He told the אידן to make פסח שני. The truth is, when the majority of the אידן are טמא as we said before, so then you bring the קרבן פסח even though you are טמא. If the minority is טמא, if there are only some people who are טמא, so they cannot bring the קרבן פסח בטומאה, so they are pushed off to פסח שני. A month later, on the fourteenth day of אייר, they bring their קרבן פסח. But if the majority of people are טמא, then you do not bring פסח שני, then they bring פסח ראשון. What he did was, he told them to bring פסח שני which they really weren't supposed to. And therefore, he asked השם for forgiveness. And now the גמרא is going to explain this ברייתא that we just brought. אמר מר, we learned before, רבי יהודה אומר, רבי יהודה said מעברין, that you are allowed to be מעבר the year because of טומאה. He argues on the תנא קמא who says that you're not allowed to be מעבר the year because of טומאה. The גמרא says אלמא we see, אית ליה לרבי יהודה that רבי יהודה holds, טומאה דחויה היא בציבור. That when we say that if the ציבור is טמא, the majority of the community is טמא, so then you are allowed to bring the קרבן בטומאה, it is only דחויה, only pushed away. Because we find a מחלוקת whether טומאה דחויה בציבור or טומאה הותרה בציבור. Whether טומאה when it comes to ציבור becomes מותר, as if there is no prohibition לכתחילה, you're allowed to do it and there is no problem, or the פשט is that באמת you still shouldn't do it. It is only because we have no choice, the תורה said that we push away the טומאה in the case when the ציבור is טמא. So if we hold טומאה דחויה בציבור, so if there is anything that we could do that it shouldn't come to it, to avoid it, we're supposed to try to avoid it. But if we would hold טומאה הותרה בציבור, then there is no reason to avoid it, since as soon as the whole ציבור is טמא, then the whole prohibition, the whole איסור of bringing a קרבן בטומאה falls off. So there is no reason to try to do anything to avoid it. Since רבי יהודה said that we do turn it into a leap year because of טומאה, obviously he holds that טומאה is only דחויה בציבור, only pushed away. Because if he would hold טומאה הותרה בציבור, so as soon as the ציבור is טמא, then they are לכתחילה allowed to, without any problems, to bring the קרבן בטומאה. So why should we be מעבר the year because of that? There's nothing wrong if they will bring the קרבן בטומאה. Since he feels that this is a good enough reason to be מעבר the year, obviously he holds that טומאה דחויה בציבור. But the question is, והתניא didn't we learn in a ברייתא: ציץ, the ציץ that the כהן גדול used to wear on his forehead, בין שישנו על מצחו, whether it is on his forehead, ובין שאינו על מצחו, or it's not on his forehead, מרצה, it forgives. We know that the ציץ forgives for a קרבן that is brought בטומאה. If a person brought a קרבן בטומאה, a כהן brought a קרבן בטומאה, so the fact that there is the ציץ, that would forgive and the קרבן would be a good קרבן. So it tells here that whether he is wearing it on his forehead or not, so it is מרצה, it forgives, and the קרבן is a good קרבן. דברי רבי שמעון, that's the opinion of רבי שמעון. רבי יהודה אומר, but רבי יהודה says, עודו על מצחו מרצה, as long as it's on his forehead it forgives. אין עודו על מצחו, if it's not on his forehead, אינו מרצה, it doesn't forgive. ואמר ליה רבי שמעון, and רבי שמעון said to רבי יהודה, how can you say that if it's not on his forehead it doesn't forgive, it doesn't make the קרבן that is brought בטומאה into a good קרבן? כהן גדול ביום הכיפורים יוכיח, can't you prove it from the כהן גדול on יום כיפור, שאינו על מצחו, that it's not on his forehead, ומרצה, and it forgives? The כהן גדול when he used to go into the קדש הקדשים on יום כיפור would not wear the ציץ, because he would not wear the שמונה בגדים, the eight בגדים which were called the בגדי זהב, the בגדים, the garments which had gold mixed into it, he would not wear it when he used to go into the קדש הקדשים. Because of אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור, since it would remind of the חטא העגל, so therefore when he would go into the קדש הקדשים to ask for forgiveness, he would not wear the בגדי זהב. So therefore he would not wear the ציץ. And nevertheless it is מרצה, the קרבנות that were brought בטומאה at that time, it would forgive, the קרבנות were good. And as תוספות says, the only ראיה he has is from the כהן גדול going into the קדש קדשי קדשים on יום כיפור. Any other time, from other קרבנות that the ציץ was מרצה, there is no ראיה because the כהן גדול always used to wear the ציץ. So that's why it was always מרצה. But when he went into the קדש הקדשים on יום כיפור, where he was not allowed to wear the ציץ, there we see that even though he didn't wear the ציץ, still it was מרצה. אמר ליה רבי יהודה, so רבי יהודה answered him, הנח ליום הכיפורים, let alone יום כיפור, don't bring any proof from יום כיפור, שטומאה הותרה בציבור, because יום כיפור the קרבנות that were brought on יום כיפור were all קרבנות ציבור, and if any טומאה happened at that time, you wouldn't even need the ציץ to be מרצה. Since טומאה הותרה בציבור, when it comes to ציבור, if the something concerning the ציבור is טמא, so then it is מותר לכתחילה, so we don't even need the ציץ. So it comes out a contradiction within the words of רבי יהודה. Here רבי יהודה says that you are מעבר the שנה because of טומאה. In other words, he holds that even though you're supposed to bring the קרבן בטומאה, but it's only דחויה, and therefore if we could avoid it, we try to avoid it. And over there he says that we don't need anything to be מרצה any טומאה that happened בציבור because טומאה הותרה בציבור. And the גמרא answers, ולטעמיך, and according to you who asked the question, you think this is the only question that you could ask? תיקשי לך היא גופא. The ברייתא itself doesn't make sense, not only the reason because over there it seems from רבי יהודה that טומאה דחויה בציבור, and that's a contradiction to the other place where he says טומאה הותרה בציבור, without this question, the ברייתא is not understood. Because it says in the ברייתא, רבי יהודה אומר מעברין, that רבי יהודה says that because of טומאה you should be מעבר the year. And then the ברייתא continues, ואמר רבי יהודה, and רבי יהודה said, מעשה בחזקיה מלך יהודה שעיבר את השנה מפני הטומאה, there's a story with חזקיה the king of יהודה that he was מעבר the year because of טומאה, וביקש רחמים על עצמו, and then he asked השם to forgive him. Isn't this a contradiction? According to רבי יהודה, you are supposed to be מעבר the year because of טומאה, so why does he himself say that חזקיה asked השם to forgive him for the עבירה that he did when he was מעבר the year because of טומאה? Doesn't he say that you should be מעבר the year because of טומאה? אלא חסורי מיחסרא, therefore you must say there is something missing in that ברייתא, והכי קתני, this is what it's supposed to say: אין מעברין את השנה מפני הטומאה, that you should not be מעבר the year because of טומאה, ואם עיברוה מעוברת, but the תנא holds that if you did it בדיעבד, it is מעובר, it is good. רבי יהודה אומר אינה מעוברת, רבי יהודה says that even בדיעבד it's not מעובר. And on that, ואמר רבי יהודה, רבי יהודה said וכולי, etc., that there's a story with חזקיה מלך יהודה that he did it, and then he asked השם to forgive him. Why? Because רבי יהודה holds that even בדיעבד it's no good. That's why even after חזקיה did it, nevertheless he had to ask השם to forgive him because it was an עבירה, because even בדיעבד it's no good, according to רבי יהודה. So it comes out that there is no contradiction now either concerning the ענין of טומאה הותרה בציבור and דחויה בציבור, because in this way, the way we explain the ברייתא, רבי יהודה holds that you do not מעבר the year because of טומאה, and even בדיעבד it's no good. That proves that רבי יהודה holds טומאה הותרה בציבור, so it fits with the other ברייתא where we learned that רבי יהודה holds טומאה הותרה בציבור. But then the גמרא asks, אי הכי, if so, look at the end of the ברייתא. It says, רבי שמעון אומר, רבי שמעון says, אם מפני הטומאה עיברוה מעוברת, that if they did it because of טומאה, they were מעבר the year because of טומאה, בדיעבד it is מעוברת, היינו תנא קמא, isn't this the same as the תנא קמא? The way we fixed up the ברייתא now, the first words of the ברייתא was, the תנא קמא holds that you should not be מעבר the year because of טומאה, but if you did it, it is מעוברת. And then רבי יהודה argues and says that even בדיעבד if you did it, it's not מעוברת. And then רבי שמעון says if you did it בדיעבד it is מעוברת. So רבי שמעון and the תנא קמא are really saying the same thing, but from the לשון of the ברייתא it is משמע that there is a מחלוקת between רבי שמעון and the previous תנא. Therefore the גמרא says, אמר רבא, רבא said, לכתחילה איכא בינייהו, that the difference between the תנא קמא and רבי שמעון is לכתחילה, whether לכתחילה you're allowed to be מעבר the year because of טומאה. The first תנא holds that לכתחילה you should not be מעבר, as it says, אין מעברין מפני הטומאה, only בדיעבד if you did it it is מעובר. רבי שמעון holds that even לכתחילה you could be מעבר. And even though the לשון of רבי שמעון is אם מפני הטומאה עיברוה מעוברת, if you did it because of טומאה it is מעוברת, which is משמע that he's also speaking about בדיעבד, רש״י says באמת he means לכתחילה. The reason he used the לשון בדיעבד is because he came right after the opinion of רבי יהודה, and רבי יהודה said that בדיעבד even it's no good, so רבי שמעון comes and says, no, it is good בדיעבד, but what he really meant was that even לכתחילה it is good. So we have a three-way מחלוקת here. The תנא קמא holds that לכתחילה you should not be מעבר

מפני הטומאה, בדיעבד it's מעובר. רבי יהודה holds that even בדיעבד it's not מעובר. And רבי שמעון holds that even לכתחילה you are able to be מעבר מפני הטומאה. טומאה. Then the גמרא continues, תנינא נמי הכי, we take a learn like that in the ברייתא, it says, אין מעברין את השנה מפני הטומאה לכתחילה, that you should not be מעבר the year because of טומאה לכתחילה. רב שמעון אומר מעברין, רב שמעון says that you could be מעבר even לכתחילה. So we see clearly that רב שמעון holds that even לכתחילה you could do it. אלא מפני מה ביקש רחמים על עצמו, but why, according to רב שמעון, did חזקיה ask השם for pity, for רחמנות, and to forgive for the עבירה he did, according to רב שמעון there is no עבירה. Not only is there no עבירה בדיעבד, even לכתחילה, you should be מעבר the year because of טומאה. Because he holds that there was a different mistake that חזקיה made. It wasn't the mistake that he was מעבר the year because of טומאה, but it was something else, שאין מעברין אלא אדר, as we learned in the ברייתא before, that you're only allowed to be מעבר during אדר, והוא עיבר ניסן בניסן, and he was מעבר at time when ניסן came already. In other words, it already started ניסן, then he decided to make that month into an אדר, and ניסן would be the next month, and that's not allowed, and therefore he asked השם to forgive his עבירה. Then the גמרא continues, אמר מר, we learned before שאין מעברין אלא אדר, that the דין is you're not allowed to be מעבר only אדר, והוא עיבר ניסן בניסן, and he was מעבר during ניסן. The גמרא asks, how could חזקיה have made such a mistake? How could he have done that? ולית ליה לחזקיה, didn't חזקיה hold the פסוק says, החודש הזה לכם, the פסוק in פרשת בא, where השם said to משה, "This month should be to you the first month of the year," which means the month of ניסן. So we דרש'ן from the word החודש הזה, that זה ניסן ואין אחר ניסן, that this is ניסן, and nothing else could be ניסן. In other words, that this is ניסן, as soon as ניסן becomes, it stays ניסן, it can't be turned into any other month. So how could have חזקיה לכתחילה made such a mistake and turned ניסן into אדר? The

גמרא answers, טעה בדידיה דשמואל, he made a mistake in the דין that שמואל said, דאמר שמואל, because שמואל said, אין מעברין את השנה ביום שלושים של אדר, you cannot turn the year into a leap year on the 30th day of אדר, הואיל וראוי לקובעו ניסן, since it is fit to become ניסן. Some months, as we learned before, have 29 days, some months have 30 days. And the 30th day of a month, even if we consider it that this is the 30th day of the past month, nevertheless, it could have been the first day of the next month. Because if the past month would have been a חסר, would have been only a month of 29 days, this day, the 30th, would have been the first day of the next month. So, therefore, on the 30th of אדר, since it could have been really the first day of ניסן, so then, on that day already, you cannot turn this year into a leap year. If they didn't turn this year into a leap year before the 30th day of אדר, it is too late. On that day, you can't turn it into a leap year. In other words, not only if ניסן actually started already can't you now turn it into אדר, but even if ניסן didn't come yet, but the last, the 30th day of אדר came already, which was a day that could have been ניסן, already you cannot make that next month into אדר שני, but the next month must be ניסן. This is what שמואל said. והיה סבר, so he thought לכתחילה הואיל וראוי לא אמרינן, that we do not say this דין, that since it could have been ניסן, you cannot already make it into a leap year. So therefore, he made it into a leap year. In other words, the story of חזקיה was that it was the 30th day of אדר when he made the year into a leap year, because he thought that since it is still אדר, you still can make it into a leap year. איי, it could be, it could have been the first day of ניסן, he didn't accept the סברא of ראוי, that it could have been ניסן. So that's what he did לכתחילה. But later on, he realized that it was a mistake, that really it was a time when you couldn't have turned it into a leap year, and therefore, he asked השם to forgive him. תנינא נמי הכי, we take a learn in a ברייתא, אין מעברין את השנה ביום שלושים של אדר, that you cannot on the 30th day of אדר turn the year into a leap year, הואיל וראוי לקובעו ניסן, since it is fit, it could have been established as ניסן, so already on that day, you cannot be מעבר the year. Then the גמרא continues, we learned previously in the ברייתא, רב שמעון בן יהודה אומר משום רב שמעון, רב שמעון בן יהודה said in the name of רב שמעון, that what was the mistake חזקיה made? מפני שהשיא את ישראל לעשות פסח שני, that he made the יידן make פסח שני. He told them that they should make פסח שני instead of פסח ראשון, even though the majority was טמא. And

the דין is that if the majority is טמא, then they bring פסח ראשון, not פסח שני. But he nevertheless told them to bring פסח שני. The question is היכי דמי, how is it? In other words, what was his mistake? This is also a clear דין, that if the majority is טמא, you bring the regular פסח, you don't get pushed off to פסח שני. Obviously, there was something here that he made a mistake in, and later, he realized his mistake, and that's why he asked השם to forgive him. אמר רב אשי, so רב אשי said, כגון, for instance, שריט דהיו ישראל מחצה טמאים ומחצה טהורים, that the יידן were half טמא and half טהור, ונשים משלימות לטהורים, and if you add the women, they completed the טהורים, ועודפות עליהן, and they made them even more. And as רש"י explains, it doesn't really mean that the ישראל were half טמא, half טהור, what it means is that there were more טמא than טהור. The majority of the ישראל were טמא. But if you also add the women to them, there were so many women that were טהור that with the women, the majority were טהור. If you also consider the women, then the majority of the people were טהור. So מעיקרא סבר, לכתחילה he thought, נשים בראשון חובה, that women are obligated to bring the קרבן פסח in פסח ראשון. So therefore, דהוו מיעוטן טמאים, that the minority were טמא. Since the women are obligated to bring the קרבן פסח, so you do take them into the account, and since together with the women, you had more טהור people than טמא, so the טמא'דיקע people were the minority, and the דין is a מיעוטא מידחי לפסח שני, that a minority of טמא'דיקע people are pushed away to פסח שני. When do we say that if they are טמא you bring פסח ראשון? If the majority is טמא. But if the majority is טהור, so then the majority that is טהור brings פסח ראשון, those that were טמא, that are a minority, they bring פסח שני. So that's what he thought. Since he considered the women as being obligated in the קרבן פסח, so he took them into account, so according to that, the majority was טהור. ולבסוף סבר, but at the end he felt that נשים בראשון רשות, that women to bring the קרבן פסח is only a voluntary thing, they are not obligated. So you can't take them in consideration concerning how many people are טמא and how many are טהור. You only take those people who are obligated to bring the קרבן פסח, you only take them into consideration. So if you do not consider the women, then דהוו להו טמאים רובא, then the טמא were the majority. ורובא לא מידחי לפסח שני, and if the majority is טמא they don't get pushed to פסח שני. The majority brings פסח ראשון if they are טמא. Because we find a מחלוקת in the גמרא whether נשים בראשון חובה or רשות, whether women in the פסח ראשון are obligated to bring it or not, or they are just voluntary. So לכתחילה he held like the מאן דאמר that they are obligated to bring, so therefore he felt that the majority was טהור, so he told them, the minority, to bring פסח שני. But later he realized that the נשים in the first one are only רשות, so it was a mistake to have the people who were טמא bring פסח שני, and therefore he asked השם to forgive him. Then the גמרא continues, גופא, we learned this before, אמר שמואל, שמואל said, אין מעברין את השנה ביום שלשים של אדר, that you cannot turn the year into a leap year on the 30th day of אדר, הואיל וראוי לקובעו ניסן, since it is already fit, it could have been the first day of the month of ניסן. The גמרא asks, עיברוה מאי, what would be the דין בדיעבד if they already turned it into a leap year on the 30th day of אדר? אמר עולא, עולא said, אין מקדשין את החדש, you cannot be מקדש that חדש. In other words, that month cannot be given any name. Since it was already the 30th day of אדר you weren't allowed to turn it into a second אדר because it was potentially ניסן. On the other hand, to call it ניסן we don't call it either, so we don't give it any name. And the next month, when the first day of the next month comes, that's when we say it is ניסן. So we do have a leap year, but without a name. Since the תורה says החדש הזה לכם, that as soon as it becomes ניסן you can't make it into anything else, and since it was the 30th of אדר which could have been ניסן, so therefore we can't say it's אדר. On the other hand, since we made it into a leap year, we don't say it's ניסן either. So we don't give it any name, and the next month would be ניסן. Then the גמרא asks, קידשו מאי, if they did give it a name of אדר, they were מקדש it as אדר, what is the דין there בדיעבד? אמר רבא, so רבא said, בטיל ליה עיבור, so the whole עיבור is בטל, and it is not a leap year, and that month is really ניסן. ורב נחמן אמר, רב נחמן says, no, מעובר ומקודש, it is מעובר, it is a leap year, and it is מקודש, that day becomes ראש חודש of the month of אדר, and it is אדר שני as a leap year, and the next month would be ניסן. They are both valid, the עיבור is valid and the קידוש is valid. אמר ליה רבא לרב נחמן, רבא said to רב נחמן, מכדי, let us see, מפוריא לפסחא תלתין יומין הוו, from פורים to פסח is 30 days. ומפוריא דרשינן בהלכות הפסח, and we know that from פורים already we start discussing and learning the laws of פסח. דתניא, as we learn in a ברייתא, שואלין בהלכות הפסח קודם לפסח שלשים יום, that we ask and we discuss the הלכות of פסח before פסח 30 days. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר שתי שבתות, רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says we don't have to go far back as 30 days, but only two weeks back. But לפועל we פסקן that we start from פורים, which is a month before פסח, to discuss the הלכות of פסח. So since they started teaching the הלכות of פסח from פורים on and they told them that in a month will be פסח, but לכי מטא ריש ירחא, when ראש חודש ניסן comes, מאחתין ליה, they postpone it, אתו לזלזולי בחמץ, they will be מזלזל, they will treat lightly the חמץ, because they already heard that in a month is פסח. Now they will get a message that פסח is being postponed, they won't believe the messengers because they'll say, "Well, we heard from our rabbis that פסח is going to be in a month after פורים, and now you come tell me that פסח will be in a month later after ראש חודש." So they won't believe them. And since they won't believe them, they will have פסח when they think is פסח, and when the real פסח comes around, they're not going to be careful with חמץ. In other words, the question is that how can we turn the year into a leap year after פורים, after the people already know that in a month will be פסח? אמר ליה, he said to him, "No. The people will believe the messenger. Even though they heard that פסח is in a month and then later they will get a message that פסח was postponed,

they will believe it. They'll understand it because מידע ידעי, everyone knows, דשתא מעברתא בחושבנא תליא מילתא. To make a leap year depends on calculations, and very detailed calculations. אמרי, so the people will say, חושבנא הוא דלא סליק לרבנן עד השתא, that the חשבונות, the calculations, didn't come up to the חכמים up till now. They weren't clear in the calculations, and that's why they decided so late to turn the year into a leap year. So they will believe the messengers that come with the message that there is a leap year and פסח is postponed, so there will be no זלזול in the איסור of חמץ on the part of the people. Concerning what the גמרא said before, that טומאה הותרה בציבור, so תוספות says that the truth is, it doesn't really depend on ציבור. It is not because it is an ענין of ציבור, of the whole community, that's why we say that טומאה is מותר and you could bring the קרבן בציבור. As we see that the גמרא says in יומא that the פר יום כיפור, the פר that the כהן גדול had to bring on יום כיפור, and the חביתי כהן גדול, the special קרבנות that the כהן גדול would have to bring every day, and the קרבן פסח, all these are קרבנות יחיד. They're not קרבנות from the community, they're private קרבנות, and nevertheless they are דוחה שבת and טומאה. You could bring them on שבת and it is also דוחה טומאה if the כהן גדול is טמא, he still brings it. And the same, תוספות says, that the פר העלם דבר של ציבור and the שעירי עבודה זרה and the חגיגה, all these are קרבנות ציבור and they are not דוחה טומאה. So we see that it really doesn't depend on ציבור, because we see certain קרבנות יחיד, קרבנות of an individual person are דוחה טומאה, and certain קרבנות ציבור which are not דוחה טומאה. Therefore תוספות says, the כלל is as follows: any קרבן that has a set time when it has to be brought, then it's דוחה טומאה, even if it's a קרבן יחיד. Any קרבן that doesn't have a set time, then it is not דוחה טומאה, even if it is a קרבן ציבור. And it seems that the reason we say טומאה הותרה בציבור is because usually the קרבנות ציבור have a set time, a זמן קבוע, when they have to be

brought. Concerning what we have learned earlier, that the גמרא says in the time of אלישע, since we see that the שעורים were ripe so late in the season after the עומר, that shows that it was a year really that was fit to become a שנה מעוברת. And nevertheless, they weren't מעבר the year because it was a hunger year. So the מהרש״א asks, "How do we know that the reason they weren't מעבר it was because it was a hunger year? Maybe there was another reason why they weren't מעבר it. Maybe the year before that was a שנה מעוברת, was a leap year, and the rule is that you cannot make two leap years in a row, and that is why אלישע didn't make that year into a leap year." And the מהרש״א says that based on what תוספות says, we have an answer to that. תוספות asked the קשיא, and how do we know that they טאקע didn't make that year into a leap year? Maybe אלישע did make it into a leap year? And תוספות answers, because if they would have made it into a leap year, then it would be almost impossible that at that time after the עומר, after פסח, which was a month later, they should only have one מין that was ripe. They definitely would have found more than one מין that is ripe. Now according to that, the מהרש״א says, the same could apply to the question that he asked. That if the year before would have been a leap year, so then after the עומר they definitely would have found more than one מין. Since they didn't find more than one מין, that shows that the year before wasn't a leap year. So then they could have made this year into a leap year. Why didn't he do it? Because it was a שנת בצורת, it was a hunger year. But then he asks another קשיא, that why can't we say the reason he didn't make it into a leap year was because it was שמיטה, or maybe it was מוצאי שמיטה? And we learned before that you do not make a leap year on שמיטה, and you do not make a leap year on מוצאי שמיטה, and maybe that was the reason? So how do we know the reason was because it was a שנת בצורת? And the

מהרש''א says, ויש ליישב that this could be answered. But the מהרש''א does not say how it is answered. The רש''ש says it is possible that רש''י is interested in answering this question because when the גמרא says that in the time of אלישע it was a שנת בצורת, it was a hunger year, so רש''י just adds these few words, בקראי משכחת לה, we find that in פסוקים. So the רש''ש says maybe what רש''י is trying to say that how do we know that the whole reason that they did not make that year into a leap year was because it was a hunger year and not for any other reason like maybe it was שמיטה or מוצאי שמיטה, so רש''י says because in the פסוקים we find it. So רש''י says if we look into the פסוקים we'll see that this was the reason. But the ערוך לנר, he says as follows: he quotes the מהרש''א's קושיא, and he says like this. Concerning the קושיא that maybe it was מוצאי שביעית, you could say that maybe רבי holds like בית רבן גמליאל that you could make an עיבור מוצאי שביעית. But concerning the question maybe it was a year of שביעית, so he says you could answer based on what the גמרא says in כתובות דף ק''ה עמוד ב'. The גמרא asks there, וכי אלישע אוכל ביכורים היה? It says in the פסוק that אלישע had ביכורים. Did אלישע eat ביכורים? But it says that anybody who brings a present to a תלמיד חכם is as if he is מקריב ביכורים. So therefore, when they brought a present to אלישע, it was as if they brought ביכורים. So he says this itself shows that this was not in the year of שמיטה, because in the year of שמיטה everything is הפקר. Because we know that you're not allowed to close up your fields on שמיטה, and the fields are הפקר and anybody wants could take. So to It is hard to bring a present on the year of שמיטה. And since we learn out from this פסוק that he got a present in this year, so obviously it was not the year of שמיטה. So the question is why didn't they make it into a leap year? We must say because it was a hunger year. And he says also you could say it says in מסכת שביעית that on שביעית you're not allowed to eat פירות בטובה, and according to רבי יהודה there, even בית הלל holds so, that means that you're not allowed to get any credit for giving somebody food because this is similar to being paid for it, and you are not allowed to be paid for the fruit of שביעית. So in that case, how can we be מחזיק טובה? How can we give credit to the person who brought him the present by saying that since he brought a present to אלישע, to a תלמיד חכם, it's as if he brought ביכורים so we give him credit for it? In the year of שביעית you're not allowed to do that! Therefore we must say that this was not שביעית. And he continues by saying that concerning the other קושיא that maybe it was מוצאי שביעית, you could answer another תירוץ, because the whole reason why you're not allowed to be מעבר מוצאי שביעית is, as the גמרא said, because you're not allowed to bring from חוץ לארץ into ארץ ישראל the fruit because of the טומאה. Now, at that time of אלישע, they didn't have this גזירה yet that outside of ארץ ישראל was טמא, and therefore you were allowed to bring from outside of ארץ ישראל, so there was no reason not to be מעבר מוצאי שביעית. So therefore we can't say the reason they were not מעבר was because it was מוצאי שביעית, and therefore the גמרא says the reason was because it was a שנת בצורת.