Talmud - Sukkah 54b סוכה נ״ד ב׳

The Gemara rejects this answer. If it is due to the case of Passover eve, that is not an omission, as who is the tanna of this mishna? It is Rabbi Yehuda, who said: Although there were three shifts in the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb, never in the all the days of the third shift did it reach the point in hallel to recite: “I love that the Lord hears my voice” (Psalms 116:1), which is the second paragraph of hallel, because the people participating in the third shift were few. Therefore, when they reached that section of hallel they had already completed the slaughter of all the offerings, and consequently only one set of blasts was sounded during this shift, for a total of forty-two.

The Gemara wonders: But didn’t we establish that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda? The Gemara answers: And perhaps this tanna of the mishna holds in accordance with his opinion in one case, with regard to the third shift on Passover eve, and disagrees with him in one case, with regard to tallying the number of blasts.

But the question remains: What other case did he omit, that he omitted this case of Rosh HaShana as well? The Gemara answers: He omitted the case of Passover eve that occurs on Shabbat eve, in which case you eliminate six blasts of the third shift and incorporate six blasts sounded each Friday. The total is forty-eight blasts.

§ The mishna continues: And one sounds no more than forty-eight trumpet blasts on any given day. The Gemara wonders: And are there no more than forty-eight on any day? But isn’t there Passover eve that occurs on Shabbat, where if it is according to Rabbi Yehuda, there would be fifty-one blasts, i.e., twenty-one daily blasts, nine for the additional offering of Shabbat, nine for the hallel of each of the first two shifts sacrificing the Paschal lamb, and three for the third shift; and if it is according to the Rabbis, who hold that nine blasts were sounded for the third shift as well, there would be fifty-seven blasts? According to both opinions, there are more than forty-eight.

The Gemara answers: When the tanna teaches the mishna, he is teaching matters that occur every year; the case of Passover eve that occurs on Shabbat, which is a matter that does not occur each and every year, he does not teach. The Gemara asks: Is that to say that Shabbat eve during the Festival occurs every year? There are times when you do not find a Friday during the intermediate days of Sukkot. And what are the circumstances? It is a case where the first Festival day occurs on Shabbat eve, and therefore the following Friday is the Eighth Day of Assembly.

The Gemara answers: That cannot be, as when the first Festival day of Sukkot would happen to occur on Shabbat eve, we postpone it by adding a day to the month of Elul and observing both Rosh HaShana and the first day of Sukkot on Shabbat. What is the reason for doing so? The reason is: Since if the first Festival day occurs on Shabbat eve, when is Yom Kippur that year? It is on Sunday. Therefore, in order to avoid two consecutive days, Shabbat and Yom Kippur, when there is a severe prohibition against performing labor, we postpone Rosh HaShana. The first Festival day never coincides with Friday.

The Gemara asks: And do we postpone it to prevent Yom Kippur from occurring on Sunday? But didn’t we learn in a mishna: The fats of the offerings slaughtered and sacrificed on Shabbat that were not yet burned on the altar may be sacrificed on Yom Kippur that begins at the conclusion of Shabbat?

And Rabbi Zeira said: When we were studying in the school of Rav in Babylonia, they said with regard to that which was taught in the baraita: On Yom Kippur that occurs on Shabbat eve they did not sound the trumpets to stop the people from their labor and signify the onset of Shabbat, and if it occurred at the conclusion of Shabbat they would not recite havdala after Shabbat, that it is undisputed, as everyone agrees to that halakha. However, when I ascended to there, to Eretz Yisrael, I found Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, who was sitting and saying that this is the opinion of Rabbi Akiva, and the other Sages disagree. From both of these sources, it is apparent that Yom Kippur can occur both before and after Shabbat. The question remains: Why did the tanna cite a case that does not occur every year?

The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This, the mishna, from which it is understood that there will always be a Friday during the Festival, is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, who maintain that Rosh HaShana is postponed to ensure that Yom Kippur will not occur adjacent to Shabbat. However, this mishna, which teaches that the fats of Shabbat may be sacrificed at the conclusion of Shabbat on Yom Kippur, and Rosh HaShana is not postponed, is in accordance with the opinion of Aḥerim, who maintain that there are a fixed number of days in a year and a fixed number of days in a month.

As it is taught in a baraita: Aḥerim say: Between the festival of Shavuot one year and the festival of Shavuot the following year, and similarly, between Rosh HaShana one year and Rosh HaShana the following year, there is a difference of only four days of the week. And if it was a leap year there is a difference of five days between them. The 354 days in the year are divided among twelve months; six months are thirty days long and six months are twenty-nine days long. Since according to Aḥerim the number of days is constant, Rosh HaShana could occur on any day of the week.

§ The Gemara returns to analyze the opinion of Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina, who holds that the trumpet was sounded for each additional offering sacrificed on a given day. The Gemara raises an objection: In the case of the New Moon that occurs on Shabbat, the song of the New Moon supersedes the song of Shabbat. And if it is so, as Rabbi Aḥa asserts, let us recite the song of Shabbat and let us recite the song of the New Moon. Since only one song is recited, apparently only one set of blasts is sounded.

Rav Safra said: What is the meaning of supersedes? Supersedes means to precede, and the song for the New Moon would precede the song of Shabbat. The Gemara asks: And why does the song of the New Moon precede that of Shabbat? Doesn’t the principle: When a frequent practice and an infrequent practice clash, the frequent practice takes precedence over the infrequent practice, dictate that the song of Shabbat should be recited first?

Rabbi Yoḥanan said, the New Moon takes precedence here, contrary to the general principle, in order to inform the people that the New Moon was established at its proper time by the court. The Gemara asks: And is that the indicator that we implement to indicate that the month was established at its proper time? Don’t we implement a different indicator, as it is taught in a mishna: In order to avoid confusion between the fats of earlier offerings and the fats of later offerings, prior to being placed on the altar the fats of the daily morning offering were placed from the midpoint of the ramp and below on the east side of the ramp, and those of the additional offerings were placed from the midpoint of the ramp and below on the west side of the ramp. And the fats of the offerings of the New Moon offering were placed under the surrounding ledge of the altar and slightly beneath it.

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

Succah 54b analyzes discrepancies in trumpet blast counts during Passover eve sacrifices, weighing Rabbi Yehuda's view against the Rabbis' calculations for Shabbat overlaps.