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1) THE DISPUTE OVER THE ROSH HASHANAH FOR MA'ASER BEHEMAH

(a) (Our Mishnah) The year for Ma'aser Behemah begins on the first of Elul (R. Meir) or of Tishrei (R. Elazar & R. Shimon).
(b) (R. Yochanan): Both opinions are derived from the same Pasuk (Tehilim 65).

1. (R. Meir) The meadows are clothed with sheep (i.e. they conceive) at the time when the valleys are covered with corn, which is Adar (the sheep then give birth in Av, so the Rosh Hashanah is in Elul).
2. (R. Elazar & R. Shimon) The meadows are clothed with sheep (i.e. they conceive) at the time when the crops shout with joy and also sing (i.e. the ripe grains rustle in the stalks), which is Nisan (the sheep then give birth in Elul, so the Rosh Hashanah is in Tishrei).
3. Question: How does R. Meir interpret the phrase "they shout with joy, they also sing"?
4. Answer: It refers to the minority of sheep that conceive late, in Nisan.
5. Question: How do R. Elazar & R. Shimon interpret the phrase "the valleys are covered with corn"?
6. Answer: It refers to the minority of sheep that conceive early, in Adar.
7. Question: According to R. Elazar & R. Shimon, the Pasuk should have said "they shout with joy, they also sing" (which refers to the majority of sheep) *before* "the valleys are covered with corn"!?

(c) (Rava): All agree that the sheep conceive in Adar; the dispute derives from "Aser T'aser" (which, by Hekesh, refers to both Ma'aser Behemah and Ma'aser Dagan).

1. (R. Meir) Just as Ma'aser is taken from Dagan close to the end of the process (in Tisheri, when the grain is gathered in), so too Ma'aser is taken from Behemos close to the end of the process (when the sheep give birth, in Elul).
2. (R. Elazar and R. Shimon) Just as Ma'aser Dagan has its Rosh Hashanah in Tishrei, so too Ma'aser Behemah has its Rosh Hashanah in Tishrei.

(a) Question: For which Halachos do we need to be told that the year for counting years begins on the first of Tishrei?
(b) Answer (R. Papa): In order to discern that a contract is pre-dated (and thus invalid).

1. Question: But this was accomplished by the first of Nisan being the Rosh Hashanah for kings!?
2. Answer: For Jewish kings, the first of Nisan is the Rosh Hashanah; for non-Jewish kings, the first of Tishrei is the Rosh Hashanah.
3. Question: Then R. Chisda (cited) seems to be teaching exactly that which was taught in the Mishnah!?
4. Answer: R. Chisda was coming to teach us how it is derived from the Torah.
5. Alternate answer: R. Chisda understands that the purpose of the Rosh Hashanah for years is that stated by R. Zeira:

i. (R. Zeira) The first of Tishrei is the new year for calculating the cycles of the sun and moon.
ii. This follows R. Elazar's view that the world was created in Tishrei.

(c) Answer (R. Nachman bar Yitzchak): The purpose of the Rosh Hashanah for years is to begin the process of judgment - at the beginning of the year, the fate of the end of the year is determined.
(d) Question: How do we know that this occurs in Tishrei?
(e) Answer: From the cited Pesukim.

3) THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD

(a) (Beraisa) The Pasuk states that "It is a law for Yisrael" and then it states that "It is a judgment for the G-d of Yakov" - this teaches that the Heavenly Court sits in judgment only after Beis Din have sanctified the new month.
(b) (Another Beraisa): "It is a law for Yisrael" only teaches that there is judgment for Jews; "It is a judgment for the G-d of Yakov" teaches that there is also judgment for all nations.

1. Question: Why, then, does it need to say "It is a law for Yisrael" (seeing as Jews would anyway be included in the second phrase)?
2. Answer: To teach that the Jews enter judgment first, in accordance with R. Chisda:

i. (R. Chisda) A king is judged before the community.
ii. Question: Why is this so?
iii. Answer #1: It isn't respectful for him to have wait in line.
iv. Answer #2: He should be judged before the judge grows too angry.

(a) Question: How do we know that the Shemitah begins on the first of Tishrei?
(b) Answer: Shemitah is called "the seventh year" and is connected (by way of Gezerah Shavah) with a reference to Tishrei.

1. Question: Why not connect to Nisan?
2. Answer: We should learn the occurrence of the word "year" without any mention of months from the same thing, rather than learn it from the occurrence of the word in connection to the months.

(a) Question: Surely the new year for Yovel is on the tenth of Tishrei, not the first?
(b) It follows the view of R. Yishmael b. R. Yochanan b. Beroka in a Beraisa:

1. Question: Why does the Torah state that "the fiftieth year should be consecrated" (seeing as we have already been told that Shemitah follows the 49th year)?
2. Answer: To teach that the whole year is sanctified, from the first of Tishrei, and not from Yom Kipur, when the Shofar is blown.
3. (R. Yishmael b. R. Yochanan b. Beroka) Therefore, although servants weren't released home during the first ten days of Tishrei, they also weren't enslaved to their masters (and sent home on Yom Kipur, when the fields were returned).

(c) The Rabbanan use the word "year" to teach that only years are consecrated with a proclamation, and not new months.
(d) (Beraisa) Question: What do the words "It is Yovel" teach us?
(e) Answer: As follows:

1. From the words "the fiftieth year should be consecrated" one might think that just as the beginning of Shemitah extends from the first to the tenth of Tishrei, so too the end extends to the tenth of Tishrei of the following year.
2. The extension beyond the duration of a year is not unusual, as we add from non-holy to holy time-periods in order to lengthen them.
3. Therefore the Torah states that "It is Yovel" - it, and not the 51st year.

(f) The Rabbanan (who did not learn that Shemitah was extended back, and therefore do not need "It is Yovel" to teach that it shouldn't be extended into the next year), use "It is Yovel" to teach that the fiftieth year is counted as Yovel alone, and not as both Yovel and as the first year of the next cycle.
(g) This excludes the view of R. Yehudah, who holds that it is also counted as the first year of the next 50- year cycle.