אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁנַיִם בַּחֹדֶשׁ וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁלשָׁה בַחֹדֶשׁ, עֵדוּתָן קַיֶּמֶת, שֶׁזֶּה יוֹדֵעַ בְּעִבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל חֹדֶשׁ וְזֶה אֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ בְּעִבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל חֹדֶשׁ; אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁלשָׁה וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בַּחֲמִשָּׁה, עֵדוּתָן בְּטֵלָה. אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁתֵּי שָׁעוֹת וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּשָׁלשׁ שָׁעוֹת, עֵדוּתָן קַיֶּמֶת; אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּשָׁלשׁ וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּחָמֵשׁ, עֵדוּתָן בְּטֵלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, קַיֶּמֶת. אֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּחָמֵשׁ וְאֶחָד אוֹמֵר בְּשֶׁבַע, עֵדוּתָן בְּטֵלָה, שֶׁבְּחָמֵשׁ חַמָּה בַמִּזְרָח וּבְשֶׁבַע חַמָּה בַמַּעֲרָב:
When one of them says 'it was on 2nd of the month' and the other says 'it was on 3rd of the month' their testimony stands, for the former knows of the intercalation of the month and the latter does not know of the intercalation of the month; but if one of them says 'it was on 3rd of the month' and the other says 'it was on 5th of the month' their testimony is dismissed. If one of them says it was at 2nd hour and the other says it was at 3rd hour their testimony stands; but if one of them says it was at 3rd hour and the other says it was at 5th hour their testimony is dismissed; Rabbi Yehudah says it stands. But if one of them says it was at 5th hour and the other says it was at 7th hour their testimony is dismissed, because at the 5th hour the sun is in the east whereas at the 7th the sun is in the west.
11:
We must now consider the testimony required of the witnesses as regards the exact time of the alleged crime. Obviously, in earlier times it was not possible to state time in terms of exact minutes and seconds, but it was certainly possible to state time in terms of hours. However, the "hour" referred to here is not the hour that we recognize today, which is a fixed period of sixty minutes. Before we consider the statements of our mishnah as regards the permitted parameters of error in this regard, we must understand what our mishnah means by an "hour" and how such an hour is different from the hour that we use today.
12:
For our purposes, the most acceptable definition of an hour as we use the term today would be that one hour is one 24th of the time that it takes the Earth to make one revolution on its own axis. For all practical purposes this period is a constant, and thus our time-pieces are able to divide the day into hours, minutes and seconds – periods that are unchanging, regardless of season and geographical location.
13:
For our purposes, the most acceptable definition of an hour as the term is used in our mishnah (and in rabbinic literature) would be that one hour is one 12th of the time that elapses between visible sunrise and visible sunset. This period varies depending on geographical location and season. Every child knows that in the summer the days are longer than they are in the winter; therefore a variable "hour" is longer in the summer than it is in the winter.
14:
In earlier times almost everyone could tell the time of day with just a glance at the sky. The horizon from east to west could be divided into twelve imaginary sections and with practice one could tell in which section of the sky the sun was at any given time, with surprising accuracy. The day began at sunrise, which was by definition zero hour. When the sun had traversed one twelfth of the sky in its westward track the end of the first hour had arrived; when the sun had traversed yet one more twelfth of the sky the end of the second hour had arrived – and so forth. When the sun was at its zenith, right overhead, the time was noon, the end of the sixth hour. The hours would continue to be counted thus until the sun sank below the western horizon, which point was the end of the twelfth hour. Even a child could tell the time very broadly: if the sun was east of the zenith it was still morning; if the sun was right overhead it was noon; and if the sun was westering, past the zenith it was afternoon.
15:
For the purposes of our discussion we shall posit an imaginary day on which sunrise is at 6 am exactly and sunset is at 6 pm exactly: such a fictional day would obviously consist of twelve variable "hours" each sixty minutes long in our terms. Our mishnah speaks of a hypothetical case in which the first witness states that the alleged crime was committed during the second hour. Such a time would fall between 7 and 8 am. The second witness, however, testifies that the alleged crime was committed during the third hour: such a time would fall between 8 and 9 am. Given the differences in expertise that could be expected, it is not surprising that our mishnah does not see such a discrepancy between the two testimonies as being contradictory: such mistakes can be made. If, however, the two testimonies differ by a greater difference they may be considered contradictory and must be dismissed. This is the view of Tanna Kamma; Rabbi Yehudah [ben-Ilai] is prepared to give even such latitude credence, but, presumably no more. In any case, according to Rambam in his Mishnah Commentary, Halakhah follows Tanna Kamma as expected.
16:
The conclusion of our mishnah by now should be self-explanatory: "But if one of them says it was at 5th hour [11 am] and the other says it was at 7th hour [1 pm] their testimony is dismissed, because at the 5th hour the sun is in the east whereas at the 7th the sun is in the west" – and anybody should be able to tell the difference!
In our last shiur we mentioned the dissemination of information (concerning the proclamation of Rosh Ĥodesh) through bonfires lit on hilltops.
Reuven Boxman has sent me the following quaint item:
Just at the beginning of the intifada I was on reserve [army] duty and commanded a small installation at Sarbata, overlooking the Jordan valley, between Jericho and Bet Shean It was one of the "bonfire relay stations" mentioned in the shiur. The location is still used as a relay station – but today using radio waves. I hiked up to the top of the mountain a few times (it was fairly boring duty otherwise). Near the top were the remains of what appears to be some kind of temple or shrine (my guess is Greek), unique to the best of my knowledge in Eretz Israel, in that the columns had a heart-shaped cross section. At the very top there were signs of bonfires, but much more recent than 300 C.E.!
