168 



E. WALTER MAUNDER^ ESQ., F.R.A.S., ON 



of the Jews of the dispersion. Beacons were lit, and afterwards 

 messengers were sent to announce the new moon. Nisan, Elul, and 

 Tishri were all among the months when messengers were dispatched 

 at the date of the Mishna.* The messengers in Nisan are said to 

 have been sent for the sake of the passover, those in Elul for the 

 sake of the new year, and those in Tishri to fix the other holy days 

 (apparently the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles). 

 It will be observed that this left open a little uncertainty about the 

 date of the new year festival, as the Jews away from Jerusalem had 

 only the Elul and not the Tishri new moon to guide them. The 

 messengers do not appear to have gone beyond Syria, though the 

 beacons which were used at an earlier date carried the news as far 

 as Babylonia. The more distant Jews might in consequence be in 

 doubt not only of the correct date for the new year's festival, but 

 of the dates of the feasts of passover and tabernacles as well. A 

 simple device for remedpng the difficulty is mentioned in the 

 i\Iishnaic tract Eruhin, where R. Judah is quoted as authorising the 

 doubling of the new year's festival where uncertainty exists as to 

 the duration of Elul. 



"Such a rule, though devised for the convenience of the Jews of the 

 dispersion, was capable of very inconvenient expansion. We learn 

 from both Talmuds that some of the more zealous went the length 

 of doubling the fast of the atonement when uncertain as to the 

 length of Elul, and the father of Samuel b. E. Isaac is said to have 

 died in consequence of his prolonged fast.t 



" But the difficulty aSected the Babylonian Jews more than those 

 of Palestine, and hence it is only in the Babylonian Talmudj; that we 

 read of the less laborious solution mentioned by ^Ir. Turner {i.e. 

 limiting Adar to 29 days in all years]. Here§ we find it vehemently 

 asserted by certain rabbis belonging partly to Babylonia and partly 

 to Palestine, and denied with equal vehemence by others, that 

 Elul could never contain more than 29 days, and that either the 



* Rosh-ha-Shatia, i, 3, 4. 

 t Enibin, iii, 7, 8. 



X See the Jerusalem Talmud on Rosh-ha-Shana in Talmud de Jerusalem, 

 dhc. Schwab vi (1883), p. 68. 



§ Rosh-ha-Shana, 19^-21". Sse Der Bahylonische Talmud, ed. Lazarus 

 Goldschmidt, iii (1899), pp. 343-347. 



