The Lost Golden Age Of One Day Rosh Hashana

Biblically Rosh Hashana is a one day festival. However as everybody knows - Rosh Hashana is celebrated for two days. Chabad has this clear explanation:

The Talmud Yerushalmi (Eruvin 3:9) notes that our two-day cel­ebration of Rosh Hashanah is an enactment of the early Prophets, who established it for the following reason. During the period of the Prophets, the sanctification of the months was dependent upon hearing the testimony of witnesses who had seen the new moon. On the evening following the twenty-ninth day of Elul, the court would sanctify the day as the first of Tishrei based on the possibility that witnesses might come that day and testify that they had seen the new moon, retroactively establishing Rosh Hashanah on that day. If the witnesses did indeed appear, then that day would be sanctified and the following day would be a regular day - the second of Tishrei. However, if witnesses did not appear, then the following day would be Rosh Hashanah and retroactively, the previous evening - which the court had sanctified - would turn out to be a regular weekday. So that people would not treat the first day lightly, since its sanctified or weekday status was dependent upon the appearance of witnesses during the course of the day, the early Prophets ordained that Rosh Hashanah be celebrated as a two­day holiday - with the prohibition of work, the sounding of the shofar, and the order of prayer being observed on both days.

However was the Two Day Rosh Hashana really so accepted in Israel?


 We find this testimony in a letter from Rav Nissim Gaon to Rav Hai Gaon:

ואמר אדוננו כי בני ארץ ישראל תופסין ראש השנה שני ימים ואנו רואין עד עתה אין תופסין אלא יום אחד.Our master said that the people of Eretz Yisrael Keep two days, however we see until today that they keep only one. 

Rav Hai Gaon answered that their the residents of Israel were in error and were not following their ancestor's custom.


Another testimony of the custom of keeping only one day of Rosh Hashana in Israel is found in the comments on the Rif of  Ba'al Hamaor on Tractate Beytza (פ"א) from the 12th century:

"בדורות הללו מאחר שהותקן סדר העיבור ע"פ המנהג שנהוג בידינו הרי חזרה כל א"י להיות כבית הוועד שאין להם ספק בקדושת היום ואינן חייבין לשמור כי אם יום אחד בין בר"ה בין בשאר ימים טובים, וכן נהגו לעשות בא"י כל הדורות שהיו לפנינו, עד עתה חדשים מקרוב באו לשם מחכמי פרובינציאה והנהיגום לעשות שני ימים טובים בר"ה על פי הלכות הרי"ף".In past generations since the leap year was determined by the minhag we have (i.e a calculation) all of Israel  returned to be like Beit Havad that has no doubt about the sanctity of the day and don't have to keep but one day, both on Rosh Hashana and other festivals, and so they acted in the land of Israel all the generations before us, until recently there arrived there rabbis from provence and instituted that they should keep two days on Rosh Hashana as it is written in the Rif. 

Ba'al Hamor explains that in Israel once the Calendar was no longer set by witnesses - and hence there was no longer any fear that necessitated two days - the people reverted to keeping only one day of Rosh Hashana. However when the students of the RIF arrived in Israel - they managed to root out this custom, and enforced a two day observance.

Palestein Jstreet - Colbert and Stewart on Palestine at the UN

The Daily Show
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And for another angle - Colbert hosts Jstreet president Ben Ami - "I found him on Jdate"

Colber

But Not Gone!

We are now deep into the ominous month of "September" of which we have been so long warned. Today is the day when the Palestinians are supposed to submit their request for statehood to the UN - and as of yet the skies have not fallen.

However it is early in the morning, and I am reminded of this passage from Plutarch - telling the story of how the seer warned Cesar about the ides of march:

6 and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "Well, the Ides of March are come," and the seer said to him softly: "Ay, they are come, but they are not gone." 

or in the more famous Shakespearean version:

CAESAR[to the Soothsayer] The ides of March are come.Soothsayer : Ay, Caesar; but not gone.

Israelis In The Diaspora

Continuing on the post "Israel seems determined to offend diaspora Jews",  in the comment section (and after effective social pressure) an article by P.Shaviv  - "The challenge of attracting Israelis to our day schools" was posted, one that is worth its own thread.


After introducing the fact that  Jewish schools in the diaspora have a hard time attracting the large Israeli community, the author summarizes the reasons he has found them giving:

1. The majority-minority issue: Israelis are used to living as a Jewish majority. They have no concept of what it is to live as a minority, or the effort or “investment” needed to preserve identity and culture. (“We don’t need Jewish schools; we speak Ivrit at home, and that’s enough.”)
2. Israeli vs. Jewish: They see their identity as national, and not in any way religious. Diaspora Jewish education is almost entirely designed to relate to Jewishness as fundamentally—although not exclusively—religious. In multicultural Toronto, some Israeli parents are far more comfortable seeing their children as the “Israel contingent” in

Noam Chomsky On BDS - Not What You Expect

I was quite surprised by this interview of normally virulent Israel critic Noam Chomsky. In the interview he calls the BDS movement hypocritical (well, because America is worse) and admits that some of them are just antisemitic.

BDS is hypocritical to the high heavens. Anything that targets Israel alone can be attacked as antisemitism and "unfortunately this is with justice". It harms the "whole movement"  It harms the Palestinians and this is so obvious it is probably intentional. It is a gift to the Israeli hardliners and their American supporters. "You may as well just join AIPAC and be done with it".

Though not against BDS per say, he claims that much of it is understood as just going after someone that is easy - and not going after principals - and hence is a hypocritical position. He also claims that the BDS movement isn't really the call of the Palestinians - just groups claiming to represent them. Of course the end of the interview is mr. Chomsky advising how to get better results at isolating Israel so I guess you should probably stop watching halfway.

HT: Webdiary

Israel Seems Determined To Offend Diaspora Jews

This is an official video from Israel's immigration (Klita) ministry, aimed at encouraging Israelis abroad to come back to Israel. The video shows a grandfather asking his granddaughter (who lives abroad) if she knows what "Hag" (festival) it is - and instead of answering Hanukkah she answers Christmas.

Is Israel really claiming that all those who live abroad are destined to not know the difference between Hanukkah and Christmas? One can't help but wonder if this video was intended to offend all the diaspora communities - especially those who spend a fortune on Jewish education that is probably at a much higher level then a non religious (and some religious) school in Israel.

I expect a somewhat smarter campaign from Israel - one that is not offensive, and that does not sink to silly stereotypes.

Breslov Dating Site

Every community needs its own dating site. Even Ghosts. That is why I wasn't surprised to see a dating site aimed at Breslov Hasidim - I was slightly more surprised at the names of the new members:

Calling yourself Rebbe Nachman at a Breslov dating site, is like calling yourself Captain Kirk at a Trekky convention. You simple are not going to be noticed. Additionally the person seems to be female- so the name is slightly misleading. I was however amused that she wrote for her financial status "Baruch Hashem". Clearly a true Breslov.  As to why a dating site is asking people on their financial situation..

HT: Oneg Shabbat.

Another Arab Rabbi?

Oneg Shabbat, spotted this delightful translation:

Who wouldn't want a Haskama from an Arab?

Rav Goren's Shofar

Arguabley the most famous Shofar of the Modern Era - The Shofar that Harav Goren blew when the Kotel was liberated in 1967 is now on display at a new exhibit in The Bible Land Museum in Jerusalem.

Looking at this picture for the first time in a long while, one thing that strikes me is how small his shofar is. For some reason I would have expected a fancy long shofar to be used for such a historic occasion.