Y om T o v Sheni Yom Tov Sheni - Chidushei Torah@NDS

Yom Tov Sheni
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as prescribed by the Torah in the land of Israel and in Bavel. Once
messengers were employed, it was no longer possible to notify the
far, outlying Jewish settlements of the correct date of Rosh Chodesh
before the start of the festival. For the month of Tishrei this range
was limited to 10 days’ travel from the seat of the Sanhedrin 12 and
for Nissan, 14 days. The Jews in such settlements had to observe
two days out of doubt 13 which became the basis for the present
observance of Yom Tov Sheni 14 .
Initially, the custom was not universally adopted and Sages who lived
in the outlying towns and who were experts in the secret traditions
of determining the new moon, still kept one day 15 . Only after 100
years, during the generation of Rabbi Elazar ben Pada, did the Sages in
Eretz Yisrael send the message to the Diaspora community “Preserve
the custom of your forefathers” 16 . From then onwards, communities
in the Diaspora no longer kept two days of Yom Tov out of doubt,
but due to the enactment of the Sages.
Post-Temple Period through Today
After the destruction of the Temple, Hillel Hanasi 17 had calculated
all future months and established the fixed calendar 18 . Once all of
the dates of Rosh Chodesh were fixed, it would appear that there
would no longer be a need to keep the second day of Yom Tov out
of doubt. The Gemorrah in Baitza 19 asks this question and provides
the answer:
12 Even though Yom Kippur starts at the beginning of the 10 th day, the Rambam in Chapter 5 of Hilchot
HaChodesh uses the number 10 as opposed to 9 to represent an upper limit.
א”י ’ה ה”פ שדחה שודיק תוכלה ם”במר 13
14 The observance of two days of Rosh Hashanah had its origins during the time of the early prophets.
Much can be written about the nature of the two days of Rosh Hashanah which is beyond the scope
of this article.
’ג ףד ותכלהכ ינש בוט םוי ןייע 15
:ד הציב הרמג 16
17 Hillel Hanasi lived at the end of the Amoraic period and was the son of Rabbi Yehudah Nesiah and
a descendent of Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi).
18 This tradition is mentioned in the .חי הנשה שאר א”בטירה ישודיח and the ן”במר in his glosses to the רפס
.גנק ע”מ ם”במרל תוצמה
םש הציב 19