[Avodah] Where is the Molad announced for?

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' David Cohen wrote:


> ... and I doubt that it particularly interested anybody at the
> time the calendar molad was established to figure out exactly
> what meridian it would be precisely accurate for.  For the
> purpose of the calendar, it doesn't matter.  We only need to
> know if we want to translate the molad into an actual time that
> we can point to on our watches and say "the molad is.... now."
> But the only reason we'd have any interest in doing that is if
> we're using the calendar molad to determine our window of time
> for kiddush levana, and I think that the practice of doing that
> came long after it was established for the purpose of the calendar.

For us, today, yes, I agree that Kiddush Levana is the *main* reason we
would want the ability to 'point to on our watches and say "the molad
is.... now."' More explicitly, this would allow us to know the exact window
during which Kiddush Levana may be said.

There is another situation where we would want that level of precision
nowadays (but I concede that it is much less important because errors would
not involve a bracha levatala). Namely: Suppose the molad is expected
sometime on Shabbos day. For the sake of illustration, let's say 3 PM
Shabbos afternoon. But for us who are further west, the molad will occur at
some point in the morning. When Rosh Chodesh is announced in shul, the
gabbai will need to choose between "The Molad will be at 3 PM today" or
"The Molad WAS at 3 PM today", and only by knowing the exact meridians
involved will he know which text to use. (As I said above, I concede this
to be non-critical, but that doesn't mean it is devoid of relevance.)

But the *real* question on the table isn't whether or not *we* should care
which meridian the molad is based on. Rather, when Rosh Chodesh was
declared by the Beis Din after interrogating the witnesses, did that Beis
Din care about such things? It is obvious to me that they must have cared,
and known, and included these calculations in the verification of the
testimony of the witnesses. The logic is quite simple: Suppose the molad is
calculated to be at 7:00 PM, based on the Yerushalayim meridian. If someone
says he saw it in Yerushalayim at 7:05 local time, he can be believed. But
if he claims to have seen it in Bavel at 7:05 local time, he should not be
believed, because the calculated molad had not yet occurred. Similarly, if
the molad is calculated to be at 7:00 PM, based on the Bavel meridian, and
someone says he saw it in Yerushalayim at 6:55 local time, then he can be
believed, because in Bavel it is already after 7:00.

Akiva Miller
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