תניא רבי אליעזר אומר בתשרי נברא העולם בתשרי נולדו אבות בתשרי מתו אבות בפסח נולד יצחק בראש השנה נפקדה שרה רחל וחנה בראש השנה יצא יוסף מבית האסורין
Rosh Hashanah 10b (bottom)
It is taught in a baraita that the tanna’im disagreed about this point: Rabbi Eliezer says: In Tishrei the world was created; in Tishrei the Patriarchs were born; in Tishrei the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived; on Rosh HaShana Joseph came out from prison;
בר"ה בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרים בניסן נגאלו בתשרי עתידין ליגאל ר' יהושע אומר בניסן נברא העולם בניסן נולדו אבות בניסן מתו אבות בפסח נולד יצחק בר"ה נפקדה שרה רחל וחנה בר"ה יצא יוסף מבית האסורין בר"ה בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרים בניסן נגאלו בניסן עתידין ליגאל תניא ר"א אומר מנין שבתשרי נברא העולם שנאמר (בראשית א, יא) ויאמר אלהים תדשא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע עץ פרי איזהו חדש שהארץ מוציאה דשאים ואילן מלא פירות הוי אומר זה תשרי ואותו הפרק זמן רביעה היתה וירדו גשמים וצימחו שנא' (בראשית ב, ו) ואד יעלה מן הארץ ר' יהושע אומר מנין שבניסן נברא העולם שנא' (בראשית א, יב) ותוצא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע ועץ עושה פרי איזהו חדש שהארץ מליאה דשאים ואילן מוציא פירות הוי אומר זה ניסן ואותו הפרק זמן בהמה וחיה ועוף שמזדווגין זה אצל זה שנאמר (תהלים סה, יד) לבשו כרים הצאן וגו' ואידך נמי הא כתיב עץ עושה פרי ההוא לברכה לדורות הוא דכתיב ואידך נמי הא כתיב עץ פרי ההוא כדר' יהושע בן לוי דא"ר יהושע בן לוי כל מעשה בראשית (לקומתן) נבראו לדעתן נבראו לצביונן נבראו שנא' (בראשית ב, א) ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם אל תקרי צבאם אלא צביונם ר"א אומר מנין שבתשרי נולדו אבות שנא' (מלכים א ח, ב) ויקהלו אל המלך שלמה כל איש ישראל בירח האיתנים בחג ירח שנולדו בו איתני עולם מאי משמע דהאי איתן לישנא דתקיפי הוא כדכתיב (במדבר כד, כא) איתן מושבך ואומר (מיכה ו, ב) שמעו הרים את ריב ה' והאיתנים מוסדי ארץ ואומר (שיר השירים ב, ח) קול דודי הנה זה בא מדלג על ההרים מקפץ על הגבעות מדלג על ההרים בזכות אבות מקפץ על הגבעות בזכות אמהות ר' יהושע אומר מנין שבניסן נולדו אבות שנאמר (מלכים א ו, א) ויהי בשמונים שנה וארבע מאות שנה לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים בשנה הרביעית בחדש זיו בירח שנולדו בו זיותני עולם (ואידך נמי הכתיב) בירח האיתנים התם דתקיפי במצות ואידך נמי הכתיב בחדש זיו ההוא דאית ביה זיוא לאילני דאמר רב יהודה האי מאן דנפק ביומי ניסן וחזי אילני דמלבלבי אומר ברוך שלא חיסר מעולמו כלום וברא בו בריות טובות ואילנות טובות להתנאות בהן בני אדם מ"ד בניסן נולדו בניסן מתו מ"ד בתשרי נולדו בתשרי מתו שנאמר (דברים לא, ב) ויאמר אליהם בן מאה ועשרים שנה אנכי היום שאין ת"ל היום ומה ת"ל היום היום מלאו ימי ושנותי ללמדך שהקב"ה יושב וממלא שנותיהם של צדיקים מיום ליום מחדש לחדש שנאמר (שמות כג, כו) את מספר ימיך אמלא בפסח נולד יצחק מנלן כדכתיב (בראשית יח, יד) למועד אשוב אליך אימת קאי אילימא בפסח וקאמר ליה בעצרת בחמשין יומין מי קא ילדה אלא דקאי בעצרת וקאמר ליה בתשרי אכתי בחמשה ירחי מי קא ילדה אלא דקאי בחג וקאמר לה בניסן אכתי בשיתא ירחי מי קא ילדה תנא אותה שנה מעוברת היתה סוף סוף כי מדלי מר יומי טומאה בצרי להו אמר מר זוטרא אפילו למ"ד יולדת לתשעה אינה יולדת למקוטעין יולדת לשבעה יולדת למקוטעין שנאמר (שמואל א א, כ) ויהי לתקופות הימים מיעוט תקופות שתים ומיעוט ימים שנים בראש השנה נפקדה שרה רחל וחנה מנלן א"ר אלעזר אתיא פקידה פקידה אתיא זכירה זכירה כתיב ברחל (בראשית ל, כב) ויזכור אלהים את רחל וכתיב בחנה (שמואל א א, יט) ויזכרה ה' ואתיא זכירה זכירה מראש השנה דכתיב (ויקרא כג, כד) שבתון זכרון תרועה פקידה פקידה כתיב בחנה (שמואל א ב, כא) כי פקד ה' את חנה וכתיב בשרה (בראשית כא, א) וה' פקד את שרה בראש השנה יצא יוסף מבית האסורין מנלן דכתיב (תהלים פא, ד) תקעו בחדש שופר (בכסא) ליום חגנו כי חק לישראל הוא וגו'
on Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased; in Nisan the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt; and in Tishrei in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption with the coming of the Messiah. Rabbi Yehoshua disagrees and says: In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; in Nisan the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered by God and conceived sons; on Rosh HaShana Joseph came out from prison; on Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased; in Nisan the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt; and in Nisan in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. The Gemara explains these matters in detail: It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: From where is it derived that the world was created in the month of Tishrei? As it is stated: “And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind” (Genesis 1:11). Which is the month in which the earth brings forth grass and the trees are full of ripe fruit? You must say that this is Tishrei. And a further proof that the world was created in Tishrei is that when the world was first created, it needed rain so that the plants would grow, and the period beginning with Tishrei is a time of rain, and rain fell and the plants grew, as it is stated: “But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6). Rabbi Yehoshua says: From where is it derived that the world was created in the month of Nisan? As it is stated: “And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree yielding fruit” (Genesis 1:12). Which is the month in which the earth is full of grass and the trees begin to bring forth fruit? You must say that this is Nisan. And further proof that the world was created in Nisan is that when the world was first created, the animals had to breed in order to fill the world, and the period beginning with Nisan is a time when cattle, and beasts, and birds mate with one another, as it is stated: “The flocks are clothed in the meadows, and the valleys are wrapped in grain; they shout for joy, they also sing” (Psalms 65:14). The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of the other tanna, Rabbi Eliezer, isn’t it written: “And tree yielding fruit,” indicating that the world was created at a time when the trees were just beginning to form their fruit? The Gemara answers: That verse is written as a blessing for future generations, that then too they will form their fruit. The Gemara continues to ask: And according to the opinion of the other tanna, Rabbi Yehoshua, isn’t it written: “Fruit tree,” indicating that the world was created in a season when the trees were already filled with their fruit? The Gemara answers: That verse may be understood in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: All the acts of Creation were created with their full stature, immediately fit to bear fruit; they were created with their full mental capacities; they were created with their full form. As it is stated: “And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host” (Genesis 2:1). Do not read it as “their host [tzeva’am]”; rather, read it as their form [tzivyonam], which implies that the trees were created filled with ripe fruit. The baraita continues: Rabbi Eliezer says: From where is it derived that in Tishrei the Patriarchs were born? As it is stated: “And all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast in the month of the mighty [eitanim], which is the seventh month” (I Kings 8:2), i.e., Tishrei. What is the meaning of the phrase: The month of the mighty? It is the month in which the mighty ones of the world, i.e., the Patriarchs, were born. The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that the term eitan denotes mighty? As it is written: “Strong [eitan] is Your dwelling place, and You put Your nest in a rock” (Numbers 24:21). And it says: “Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, and you strong [eitanim] foundations of the earth” (Micah 6:2), which is a call to the Patriarchs. And it says: “The voice of my beloved; behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills” (Song of Songs 2:8): “Leaping upon the mountains” means that the redemption will arrive early in the merit of the Patriarchs, who are called mountains, and “skipping upon the hills” means that it will come in the merit of the Matriarchs. Rabbi Yehoshua says: From where is it derived that in Nisan the Patriarchs were born? As it is stated: “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv” (I Kings 6:1). This means in the month in which the radiant ones [zivtanei] of the world, the Patriarchs, were born. The Gemara asks: And according to the other tanna, Rabbi Yehoshua, isn’t it written: “In the month of the mighty,” which indicates that the Patriarchs were born in Tishrei? The Gemara answers: There, it means that the month is mighty in mitzvot, due to the many Festivals that occur in Tishrei. The Gemara asks further: And according to the other tanna, Rabbi Eliezer, isn’t it written: “In the month of Ziv”? The Gemara answers: Ziv is not an allusion to the Patriarchs. Rather, it means that Nisan is the month in which there is radiance [ziv] for the trees. As Rav Yehuda said: One who goes out during the days of Nisan and sees trees that are blossoming recites: Blessed…Who has withheld nothing from His world and has created in it beautiful creatures and beautiful trees for human beings to enjoy. The Gemara continues: The one who said that in Nisan the Patriarchs were born also holds that in Nisan they died. The one who says that in Tishrei they were born also holds that in Tishrei they died, as it is stated about Moses on the day of his death: “And he said to them: I am one hundred and twenty years old today” (Deuteronomy 31:2). As there is no need for the verse to state “today,” since it is clear that Moses was speaking on that day, what is the meaning when the verse states “today”? It is to teach that Moses was speaking precisely, as if to say: Today my days and years are exactly filled and completed. This comes to teach you that the Holy One, Blessed be He, sits and fills the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month, as it is stated: “The number of your days I will fulfill” (Exodus 23:26). Similarly, the Patriarchs merited that their years be fulfilled to the day, and so they died on the same date they were born. It was taught in the baraita: On Passover Isaac was born. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? As it is written that the angel who informed Sarah that she would bear a son told Abraham: “At the appointed time [mo’ed] I will return to you, at this season, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14). This is understood to mean: At the time of the next Festival [mo’ed]. When did the angel say this? If we say that it was on Passover and he said to him that Sarah would have a son on Shavuot, can a woman give birth after only fifty days? Rather, say that it was Shavuot and he said that she would give birth on the Festival that occurs in the month of Tishrei, i.e., Sukkot. But still, can she give birth after only five months? Rather, you must say that it was Sukkot, and he spoke about the Festival that occurs in the month of Nisan, i.e., Passover. The Gemara asks further: But still, can a woman give birth after only six months? The Gemara answers: A Sage taught in a baraita: That year was a leap year, in which an additional month of Adar was added before Nisan, and a woman can indeed give birth after seven months. The Gemara raises another question: Ultimately, if one deducts Sarah’s days of ritual impurity, as when the angel spoke Sarah had not yet conceived, and there is a tradition that on that day she began menstruating, as is alluded to in the verse: “After I am grown old, shall I have pleasure” (Genesis 18:12), there are less than seven months. Mar Zutra said: Even according to the one who said that if a woman gives birth to a viable baby in her ninth month, she cannot give birth prematurely, and if she does not complete nine full months’ gestation the baby will not survive, nevertheless, if a woman gives birth in her seventh month, she may give birth early, before the seventh month is complete. As it is stated about the birth of Samuel: “And it came to pass after cycles of days that Hannah conceived and bore a son” (I Samuel 1:20), which is understood as follows: The minimum of “cycles,” seasons of three months, is two, and the minimum of “days” is two. Consequently, it is possible for a woman to give birth after a pregnancy of six months and two days. It was taught in the baraita: On Rosh HaShana, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were revisited by God and conceived children. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? Rabbi Elazar said: This is derived by means of a verbal analogy between one instance of the term revisiting [pekida] and another instance of the term revisiting, and by means of a verbal analogy between one instance of the term remembering [zekhira] and another instance of the word remembering. It is written about Rachel: “And God remembered Rachel” (Genesis 30:22), and it is written about Hannah: “And the Lord remembered her” (I Samuel 1:19). And the meaning of these instances of the term remembering is derived from another instance of the term remembering, with regard to Rosh HaShana, as it is written: “A solemn rest, memorial proclaimed with the blast of a shofar” (Leviticus 23:24). From here it is derived that Rachel and Hannah were remembered by God on Rosh HaShana. And the meaning of one instance of the term revisiting is derived from another instance of the term revisiting. It is written about Hannah: “And the Lord revisited Hannah” (I Samuel 2:21), and it is written about Sarah: “And the Lord revisited Sarah” (Genesis 21:1). From here it is derived that just as Hannah was revisited on Rosh HaShana, so too, Sarah was revisited on Rosh HaShana. It was further taught in the baraita: On Rosh HaShana Joseph came out of prison. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? As it is written: “Sound a shofar at the New Moon, at the covered time of our Festival day. For this is a statute for Israel, a judgment of the God of Jacob” (Psalms 81:4–5). This is a reference to Rosh HaShana, the only Festival that occurs at the time of the New Moon, when the moon is covered and cannot be seen.
עדות ביהוסף שמו בצאתו וגו' בר"ה בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרי' כתיב הכא (שמות ו, ו) והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים וכתיב התם (תהלים פא, ז) הסירותי מסבל שכמו בניסן נגאלו כדאיתא בתשרי עתידין ליגאל אתיא שופר שופר כתיב הכא תקעו בחדש שופר וכתיב התם (ישעיהו כז, יג) ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול ר' יהושע אומר בניסן נגאלו בניסן עתידין ליגאל מנלן אמר קרא (שמות יב, מב) ליל שמורים ליל המשומר ובא מששת ימי בראשית ואידך לילה המשומר ובא מן המזיקין ואזדו לטעמייהו דתניא (בראשית ז, יא) בשנת שש מאות שנה לחיי נח בחדש השני בשבעה עשר יום לחדש רבי יהושע אומר אותו היום י"ז באייר היה יום שמזל כימה שוקע ביום ומעינות מתמעטין ומתוך ששינו מעשיהן שינה הקב"ה עליהם מעשה בראשית והעלה מזל כימה ביום ונטל שני כוכבים מכימה והביא מבול לעולם ר' אליעזר אומר אותו היום י"ז במרחשון היה יום שמזל כימה עולה ביום ומעיינות מתגברים
And immediately afterward it is written: “This He ordained in Joseph for testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt” (Psalms 81:6), implying that Joseph’s release from prison took place on Rosh HaShana. It was also taught in the baraita: On Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased. From where is this known? It is written here: “And I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt” (Exodus 6:6); and it is written there, with regard to Joseph: “I removed his shoulder from the burden” (Psalms 81:7). From here it is derived by verbal analogy between the two instances of the word “burden” that just as Joseph was released from prison in Tishrei, so too, the slavery of our forefathers in Egypt ended in Tishrei. It was taught in the baraita: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is explicitly stated in the Torah. The baraita continues: In Tishrei in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. This is derived by means of a verbal analogy between one instance of the word shofar and another instance of the word shofar. It is written here, with regard to Rosh HaShana: “Sound a shofar at the New Moon” (Psalms 81:4), and it is written there, with regard to the final redemption: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great shofar shall be blown” (Isaiah 27:13). It was also taught in the baraita: Rabbi Yehoshua says: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt; and in Nisan in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that the final redemption will be in Nisan? The verse states: “It is a night of watching for the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is the Lord’s night of watching, for all the children of Israel throughout their generations” (Exodus 12:42). This teaches that the night of Passover is a night that has been continuously watched, i.e., set aside for the purpose of redemption, from the six days of Creation, and it will continue to be so until the final redemption. The Gemara asks: And how does the other tanna, Rabbi Eliezer, understand this verse? He derives from it that this is a night that is continuously watched and protected from demons, meaning that demons have no power on the first night of Passover. And Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua follow their lines of reasoning, as they disagreed about this same issue in another context as well. As it is taught in a baraita: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken open, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). Rabbi Yehoshua says: That day was the seventeenth of Iyyar, the second month of the year counting from Nisan, which is the day that the constellation of Kima sets during the day and the season that the springs diminish with the increased heat. But because the people of the generation of the flood changed their actions for the worse, the Holy One, Blessed be He, changed for them the acts of Creation, and instead of Kima setting, He caused the constellation of Kima to rise during the day and He removed two stars from Kima, and in this way He brought a flood to the world. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says: That day was the seventeenth of Marḥeshvan, the second month counting from Tishrei, which is the day that the constellation of Kima rises during the day and the season that the springs increase.
Emunah: Affirmation in the Face of Uncertainty, Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan
Rabbi Eliezer said that redemption will come to the Jews in the month of Tishrei, at Rosh Hashanah, while Rabbi Joshua contended that it would take place in the month of Nisan, at Passover [Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 10b, Sanhedrin 97b]. In other words, Rabbi Eliezer believed that our people must do Teshuvah to merit God’s redemption, while Rabbi Joshua felt that God would make it happen for us with grace, as he did at the Exodus. Centuries later, Maimonides declared that Rabbi Eliezer was right, that Israel will be redeemed through our own efforts, not by divine fiat. Centuries later still, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the leader of American Modern Orthodoxy, concluded that this means that in order to have faith in God’s redemption, we must also necessarily have faith in Am Yisrael. To believe in God we must believe in God’s people.
But Rabbi Soloveitchik confessed that it was very hard for him to keep his faith in the Jewish people. He often awoke in the night, worried about our future. He feared for the physical survival of Jews in Israel, but he agonized even more about the spiritual survival of American Jews, who have become so very secularized that few make Judaism the guiding force in their lives. Still, he felt obligated to believe, to keep his faith in Am Yisrael alive, because that is the only way to have faith in God’s redemption.
(Thanks to Rabbi Micha Goodman of the Hartman Institute for a Shi'ur on this topic).
Taking this to the level of all humanity, Reb Zalman talks about the seminal images of the last century, including the atomic mushroom cloud on the one hand, the ultimate image of the human capacity for destruction, contrasted with the picture of the earth from space: Gaia, glowing blue, alive, and vital in a vast sea of blackness, the global vision of our mutual inter-dependence and responsibility to preserve our sacred home. Reb Zalman also taught that we can no longer say, like Maimonides, “I believe with a perfect faith” but now we have say halavai (if only!) I can believe. We don’t know for certain that our own people will be a light unto the nations, or even survive. We don’t know if the human race will do the Teshuvah needed save our species on the planet. Faith today demands a perfect blend of complete uncertainty and unwavering commitment. Halavai she-ani ma’aimin. Oh, God, help me to keep the faith, to continue to affirm in the face of uncertainty, to believe in myself, my people, and your human family.