[Avodah] Announcing the Molad

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 11:53:42AM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
: On 05/18/2015 11:40 AM, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
: >Bottom line, no one knows what the molad we're announcing really means.

: Sure we do.   It's the motion of an "averaged moon" that orbits the earth
: in a perfect circle, and that, however fictional, forms the basis of our
: calendar.

Except we don't know how much of an idealized moon is supposed to be
showing and where between the latitudes of Alexandria and Sura it would
have been showing.

IOW, we don't know when in the moon's cycle the molad is an idealization
of.

Note, though, that Rabban Gamliel quotes a mesorah from R' Gamliel
haZaqein ("mibeis avi abba) that the molad varies. And in a second quote,
that it will never be "less than" 29-1/2d 2/3h 73 chalaqim. (Shabbos 25a)
And he uses this to question eidim, so this is a mesorah he accepts for
re'iyah, not just computation.

Redoing R' Gamaliel's fractions, and converting 73c = 4m 1c, we get
29d 4 hr, 44m, 1 c. Our molad.

So Rabban Gamliel held our molad was a lower limit, not an average!?
And recall, we'e talking re'iyah (see the sugya) and the actual lunation
could be over 6hr easlier than the average.

What am I missing?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 44th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        6 weeks and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Malchus: What type of justice
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            does unity demand?