[Avodah] 2 days RH

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 07/10/16 06:12, Eli Turkel via Avodah wrote:
> We keep today 2 days RH even in EY basically for historical reasons of
> doubt in the past.

For the same reasons as we do in chu"l every yomtov.  Until the fixed
calendar was established, all of EY outside Y'm was like chu"l for RH.
The difference between RH and other yomim tovim was in Y'm, where on
most years they only kept one day, but on the rare occasion when they
kept two it was not misafek, but as a takanas chachamim, i.e. the first
day was vadai midrabanan, and the second day vadai mid'oraisa (the
reverse of our situation today).

That is the origin of the "yoma arichta" concept.  Nowadays really
every yomtov is "yoma arichta" in this sense, because both days are
vadai yomtov, but we act as if there were a safek, because the takana
is to do what our ancestors did, and they had a safek.  On RH sometimes
even our ancestors (i.e. the ones in Y'm) had no safek, so we don't
pretend that we have one.



> In fact the Baal Hamaor claims that there were
> periods of time in the early middle ages where only day of RH was kept
> in EY since we now have a permanent calendar

Yes, but who says they were right to do so?   Or, looking at it another
way, by definition they were right to do so because at the time those
who paskened that way were the local majority, but now that the local
(and global) majority paskens otherwise, *we* consider what they did to
have been wrong.


> Rav Dessler asks that if so the 2nd day of RH is not the "real" RH. If
> so how we can say in our prayers that today we are being judged,  today
> is the day the world conceived (hayom haras olam), today the books of
> life are opened etc.
>
> I was not clear about his answer. Assuming the two days are for
> different types of "din" what happened before the institution of a 2 day
> RH and during the period the Baal Hamaor describes.
> Are people from EY and chutz la-aretz judged on different days.
> Basically the question boils down to the question of how a takanah of
> the rabbis can effect heavenly judgement

That one's easy.  Mekadesh yisrael vehazemanim.  *All* the zemanim exist
only by the rabbis' decision on when to sanctify the month.  We tell the
Heavenly court when to sit, so if we tell it to sit for two days it
does.   Presumably when the majority of rabbanei EY told it to judge
their flocks for only one day, it complied with that decision.

-- 
Zev Sero                                 Gemar Chasimah Tovah
zev at sero.name