Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah 2:8 ירושלמי ראש השנה ב׳:ח׳

MISHNAH: He came to Rebbi Dosa ben Hyrkanos, who said to him, if we came to investigate the Court of Rabban Gamliel, we would have to investigate every single Court¹¹⁷Duly empowered to treat calendar matters. which was formed since the times of our teacher Moses up to today, as it is said¹¹⁸Ex. 24:9., Moses and Aaron, Adav and Avihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel ascended. Why were the names of the seventy Elders not given? To teach that any three who formed a Court for Israel are equivalent to the Court of Moses. He¹¹⁹R. Joshua. took his staff and his money in his hands and went to Rabban Gamliel at Jabneh on the day that was the day of Atonement according to his computation. Rabban Gamliel rose, kissed him on his head, and said to him, come in peace, my teacher and my student. My teacher in wisdom, and my student since you accepted my words.

HALAKHAH: It is written¹²⁰1S. 12:6., the Eternal Who made Moses and Aaron and Who brought up etc. ¹²¹1S. 12:11.Then the Eternal sent Yerubbaal, and Bedan, and Yephtah, and Samuel. Yerubbaal is Gideon¹²²Jud. 6:32.. Bedan is Simson¹²³The name Bedan appears again in 1Chr. 7:17, as name of a Gileadite. Since nothing is otherwise known of this person and he is not mentioned as a Judge, the word is not read as a proper name but as a statement, “in Dan”; referring to Simson, the only Judge of the tribe of Dan.. Yephtah is Yephtah the Gileadite. He combined the three most lightweight of the world¹²⁴Gideon is suspected of introducing aspects of paganism into Jewish worship with his ephod, Simson is depicted as rather dumb, and Yephtah, judged by the standard of rabbinic law, showed his incompetence in the case of his daughter’s vow. with the three most powerful of the world, to teach you that the Courts of Gideon, and Yephtah, and Simson are of equal consideration as those of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. Not only this but He mentioned the great ones on both sides and the little ones in the middle¹²⁵Babli 25a..

“Rabban Gamliel rose, kissed him on his head, and said to him, come in peace, my teacher and my student.” My teacher in wisdom and my student in the fear of sin. My teacher in wisdom and my student since all that I am deciding about him he fulfills. It is written¹²⁶Ps. 144:14. The verse can be translated as: our bulls are carrying, there is neither a breach, nor an escape, nor crying in our streets., our chiefs are patient. Rebbi Joḥanan and Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish. Rebbi Joḥanan said, [it is not written our bulls are carrying but]¹²⁷Corrector’s addition from R. Simeon ben Laqish’s interpretation; unnecessary. our chiefs are patient. When the great ones suffer the smaller ones then there is neither breach, nor tumult, nor crying in our streets. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish inverts this verse. It is not written (our bulls) [the bulls]¹²⁸Here also the corrector’s change of the biblical text is not warranted; without changing the letters of the text the meaning is changed from cattle breeding to politics. Cf. Babli Berakhot 17a/b. are carrying but our chiefs are tolerated. When the smaller ones tolerate the greater ones then there is neither breach, nor tumult, nor crying in our streets.

¹²⁹Parallel sources are Gen. rabba 6(1), Pesiqta dRav Cahana Haḥodesh, Pesiqta rabbati 15 (Haḥodesh). Rebbi Shila from Kefar Tamarta in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: He made the moon for festive times, the sun knows its destination¹³⁰Ps. 104.19.. Because the sun knows its destination, He made the moon for festive times¹³¹Since the motion of the sun through the seasons is almost not perceptible, holidays are defined by phases of the moon.. Rebbi Berekhiah said, it is written¹³²Num. 33:3. The argument is about the statement in the verse, on the 15th day of the month.: They travelled from Rameses in the first month,etc. When {the sun} sets on the nights of the holiday there were fourteen settings preceding it¹³³This implies that the time of sunset on the first of Nisan must already be part of the new month.. This means that one counts for the moon from the setting of the sun. Rebbi Simon said, they shall be¹³⁴Gen. 1:14. At the creation it is stated that sun and moon together determine the holidays., by both of them. Rebbi Joḥanan said, it was evening, it was morning, one day¹³⁵Gen. 1:5. Without the preceding evening the day is not complete and is not counted.. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, the month¹³⁶Ex. 12:2. Since “month” is written defective, it may be read “new”., until it be totally from the new one. You are finding to say, what Rebbi Joḥanan said requires the statement of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish, and what Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said requires the statement of Rebbi Joḥanan. If Rebbi Joḥanan had stated his but Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish had not made his statement, we would have said that he only said that all might be from the new one¹³⁷The verse in Gen. does not indicate any relationship with the declaration of the new moon; therefore the verse in Ex. is needed.. Therefore it is necessary that Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish made his statement. Or if Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish had stated his but Rebbi Joḥanan had not made his statement, we would have said that he stated day, therefore not night¹³⁸The verse in Ex. does not indicate how a day is defined. Without the verse in Gen. we could split a day between two months. Babli 20b.. Therefore what Rebbi Joḥanan said is necessary and what Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said is necessary.