Rosh Hashana 12

We continue to learn how the rabbis understand the many different New Years listed in our last Mishna.  In today's daf, the rabbis elaborate on the first of Tishrei as the New Year for vegetables and on the first of Tishrei as the New Year for vows.  

Before those discussions, they complete their conversation regarding the constellation Kima.  The rabbis move from speaking about the month of Nisan to the month of Iyyar to the 'change' that G-d must have made to His creation by having rain fall in Iyyar (or, according to Rabbi Eliezer, in Marcheshvan) for the Flood.  What did G-d change?  He caused the water to boil.  We know that this happened because the same word with the root yud-shin-chaf, abate, was used to describe both the end of the flood and the end of King Ahashverosh's boiling anger (Esther 7:10).  If abating implies 'cooling', then the waters of the great flood must have been hot.

The New Year for vegetables regards tithing.  We learn some of the intricacies of tithing with regard to months of the year.  These details are far beyond my understanding at this point in time - I need to chart each sentence to understand how this larger system of thought works.  I do understand that each crop was tithed, where the first one/fiftieth was set aside for the priests as teruma, and from the remainder of each crop one/tenth was given to the Leviim as the "first tithe".  The Leviim would take one/fiftieth of their "tenth"; the terumah of the tithe, and offer that to the priests as well.  This wasn't all. From the remaining produce, one tenth more was brought to Jerusalem and eaten there or redeemed for money used to purchase food in Jerusalem.  This is called the "second tithe".  The second tithe happens on the first, second, fourth and fifth years of the Sabbatical cycle.  On the third and sixth years, the second tithe is called the "poor man's tithe" and it was given to the poor in any part of the land.

Regarding the New Year for vows, the rabbis want to understand when a vow takes effect and how long it lasts.  They wonder whether a person's vow for a year begins on the stated day and lasts until the first of Tishrei, or whether that vow begins on the stated day and lasts for exactly one year from that date.  I found it reassuring to learn that the rabbis are interested in the intention of s/he who made the vow.  

Today's daf ends with a discussion of tithes: what part of our crops are included when tithes are collected? The rabbis wonder whether a plant should be a certain age, a certain height, or of a certain level of development.  Should the vegetable have sprouted for seed?  Should it have reached a third of its growth?  Which part of the vegetable should have reached that level of growth?  Its seeds? Should it be one third of its mature weight?

Again, I am humbled by how much I do not know regarding Talmud -- and agriculture, and astronomy, and the cycles of the year... the list could go on and on.