Talmud - Eruvin 40b עירובין מ׳ ב׳

Rabbi Zeira said: The New Moon is different, for while it must indeed be mentioned according to Beit Shammai, it does not require a separate blessing. Since the New Moon is included in the regular morning and evening prayers without a separate blessing, it is included in the additional prayer as well without a separate blessing.

The Gemara asks: And do Beit Shammai accept the view that one should include the New Moon in the regular prayer? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that with regard to a New Moon that occurs on Shabbat, Beit Shammai say: One must pray an Amida that includes eight blessings in the additional prayer, including a separate blessing for the New Moon; and Beit Hillel say: One must pray an Amida that includes seven blessings, as Shabbat and the New Moon are mentioned in the same blessing? Therefore, according to Beit Shammai, we do not include the New Moon and other days in the same blessing, and the fact that the New Moon does not have its own blessing on Rosh HaShana is because one mention of remembrance counts for both Rosh HaShana and New Moon. The Gemara comments: Indeed, this is difficult.

The Gemara comments: The issue of whether or not one should include the mention of the New Moon in the blessing pertaining to the sanctity of the day of Shabbat is itself the subject of a dispute between the tanna’im, as it was taught in a baraita with regard to a Shabbat that occurs on a New Moon or on one of the intermediate days of a Festival: For the evening, morning, and afternoon prayers, one prays in his usual manner and recites seven blessings, and says a passage pertaining to the event of the day, i.e. May there rise and come [ya’aleh veyavo], during the blessing of Temple service. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says that this passage is said during the blessing of thanksgiving. And if he did not recite it, we require him to return to the beginning of the prayer and repeat it.

And in the additional prayer, one begins the fourth blessing, the special blessing for the additional service, with Shabbat, and concludes it with Shabbat, and says a passage referring to the sanctity of the day of the New Moon or the Festival in the middle. Therefore, only in the additional prayer is the New Moon included in the blessing for the sanctity of the day.

On the other hand, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka, say: Wherever one is obligated to recite seven blessings, including the evening, morning, and afternoon prayers, he begins the fourth blessing with Shabbat and concludes it with Shabbat, and he says a passage referring to the sanctity of the day of the New Moon or the Festival in the middle. In their opinion, the New Moon is included in the blessing of the sanctity of the day in all the prayers of the day.

Returning to the fundamental question of whether the New Moon must be mentioned separately on Rosh HaShana, the Gemara asks: What conclusion was reached about this issue? Rav Ḥisda said: One mention of remembrance counts for both this and that. And so too, Rabba said: One mention of remembrance counts for both this and that.

Having discussed the Rosh HaShana prayers, the Gemara addresses related issues. Rabba said: When I was in the house of study of Rav Huna, we raised the following dilemma: What is the halakha with regard to saying the blessing for time, i.e., Who has given us life [sheheḥeyanu], on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur? The two sides of the dilemma are as follows: Do we say that since these Festivals come at fixed times of the year, we recite the blessing: Who has given us life, just as we would for any other joyous event that occurs at fixed intervals? Or do we say, perhaps, that since these Festivals are not called pilgrim Festivals [regalim], we do not recite: Who has given us life, as the joy that they bring is insufficient? Rav Huna did not have an answer at hand.

When I came to the house of study of Rav Yehuda, he said: I recite the blessing for time even on a new gourd, and I certainly recite the blessing on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. I said to him: I have no dilemma about the fact that one has the option of reciting the blessing for time; the dilemma I have is about whether there is an obligation to recite the blessing. What is the halakha in this regard? Rav Yehuda said to me that it was Rav and Shmuel who both said: One recites the blessing for time only on the three pilgrim Festivals.

The Gemara raises an objection based upon the following baraita: The verse states: “Give a portion to seven, and also to eight” (Ecclesiastes 11:2). Rabbi Eliezer says: “Seven,” these are the seven days of Creation; “eight,” these are the eight days until circumcision. Rabbi Yehoshua says: “Seven,” these are the seven days of Passover; “eight,” these are the eight days of the festival of Sukkot. And when it says: “And also,” like every other instance of the word “also” in the Torah, this comes to include; what it includes is Shavuot, and Rosh HaShana, and Yom Kippur.

What, is this exposition not coming to teach us that on these days one is obligated to recite the blessing for time? The Gemara responds: No, it is referring to the blessing recited over the special sanctity of the day.

The Gemara comments: So too, it is reasonable to explain, as if it would enter your mind to say that it is referring to the blessing for time, is there a blessing for time that is recited all seven days of the Festival? It is recited only on the first day. The Gemara refutes this argument: This is not difficult, as it means that if he does not recite the blessing for time now, he recites the blessing tomorrow or the following day, as all seven days are part of the pilgrim Festival.

The Gemara asks: In any case, we require that this blessing be recited over a cup of wine, and most people do not have cups of wine for the intermediate days of a Festival. Let us say that this supports Rav Naḥman, as Rav Naḥman said: The blessing for time may be recited even in the market, without a cup of wine. The Gemara responds: This is not difficult, as the case is that he happened to have a cup; but without a cup of wine, the blessing may not be recited.

The Gemara asks: Granted, one can recite the blessing over a cup of wine on Shavuot and Rosh HaShana; but what does one do on Yom Kippur? If you say that he should recite the blessing over a cup of wine before the actual commencement of Yom Kippur and drink it, there is a difficulty: Since he recited the blessing for time, he accepted the sanctity of the day upon himself, and therefore caused the wine to be prohibited to himself by the laws of Yom Kippur.

As didn’t Rav Yirmeya bar Abba say the following to Rav, upon observing him recite kiddush before the actual commencement of Shabbat: Have you therefore accepted the obligation to abstain from labor from this point on? And he said to him: Yes, I have accepted the obligation to abstain from labor. This indicates that once one recites kiddush and accepts upon himself the sanctity of the day, all the laws of the day apply to him. Accordingly, if one recited the blessing for time for Yom Kippur, he may no longer eat or drink.

And if you say that he should recite the blessing over a cup of wine and leave it and drink it only after the conclusion of Yom Kippur, this too is difficult, as the principle is that one who recites a blessing over a cup of wine must taste from it. If you say that he should give it to a child, who is not obligated to fast, this too is not feasible because the halakha is not in accordance with the opinion of Rav Aḥa, who made a similar suggestion with regard to a different matter, due to a concern that perhaps the child will come to be drawn after it. The child might come to drink wine on Yom Kippur even in future years after he comes of age, and we do not institute a practice that might turn into a stumbling block.

The Gemara asks: What conclusion was reached about this matter? Must one recite the blessing: Who has given us life, on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur? The Sages sent Rav Yeimar the Elder before Rav Ḥisda on the eve of Rosh HaShana. They said to him: Go, see how he acts in this regard and then come and tell us. When Rav Ḥisda saw Rav Yeimar, he said to him in the words of a folk saying: One who picks up a moist log, which is not fit for firewood, must want to do something on the spot. In other words, you certainly have come to me with some purpose in mind, and not just for a visit. They brought him a cup of wine, and he recited kiddush and the blessing for time.

The Gemara concludes: The halakha is that one recites the blessing for time on Rosh HaShana and on Yom Kippur, and the halakha is that one may recite the blessing for time even in the market, as it does not require a cup of wine.

Having discussed a question that was raised during Rabba’s student years, the Gemara now records another such question. And Rabba also said: When we were in the house of study of Rav Huna, we raised the following dilemma: A student in his master’s house who is fasting on Shabbat eve, what is the halakha with regard to whether he has to complete the fast until the end of the day? Do we perhaps say that he must stop fasting before Shabbat, so as not to enter Shabbat weary from his fast? Rav Huna did not have an answer at hand. I subsequently came before Rav Yehuda, and he too did not have an answer at hand.

Rava said: Let us look ourselves for an answer from the sources. As it was taught in a baraita in the case of the Ninth of Av that occurs on Shabbat,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Eruvin 40b examines whether Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel require a separate blessing for the New Moon within Shabbat and holiday prayers.