How do they interrogate the witnesses? The pair that arrives first is interrogated first, and the elder is brought in and they say to him, “Tell how you saw the moon —- facing the sun or away from the sun? To its north or to its south? How high was it? And which way was it leaning? And how wide was it?”  If he said, “Facing the sun,” he said nothing.  Then they would have the second [witness] brought in and interrogate him. If their words are found to coincide, their testimony is valid.  And they ask the rest of the pairs [of witnesses only the] main points; not that they needed them, but so that they should not leave disappointed, in order that they should be accustomed to come.

The head of the beis din says, “It is sanctified!”  And all the people respond after him, “It is sanctified! It is sanctified!”  Whether it appeared at its [expected] time or whether it did not appear at its [expected] time, they sanctify [the day].  R’ Elazar bar Tzadok says: If it did not appear at its [expected] time, they do not sanctify, for it has already been sanctified by Heaven.

Rabban Gamliel had moon-shaped forms on a tablet and on the wall of his upper chamber, which he would show the simple folk, and say [to them], “Did you see [the moon] like this or like that?”  It happened that two [witnesses] came and said, “We saw it in the morning in the east and in the evening in the west.” R’ Yochanan ben Nuri said, “They are false witnesses!” [But] when they came to Yavneh, Rabban Gamliel accepted them.  On another occasion two [witnesses] came and said, “We saw it at its [expected] time,” but on the night of the added day it did not appear; and Rabban Gamliel accepted them.  R’ Dosa ben Harkinas said, “They are false witnesses. How can they testify that a woman gave birth and the next day her belly is between her teeth?”  R’ Yehoshua said to him, “I agree with your argument.”

Rabban Gamliel sent [a message] to him, “I decree upon you that you come to me with your staff and your money on the day that Yom Kippur will fall according to your reckoning.”  R’ Akiva went and found him troubled, [so] he said to him, “I can elucidate that whatever Rabban Gamliel did is [validly] done, for it says: These are the holidays of HASHEM, holy convocations, that you shall declare them —- whether [declared] in their [expected] time or not in their [expected] time, I have no holidays but these.”  He came to R’ Dosa ben Harkinas, who said to him, “If we come to reconsider [the decisions of] Rabban Gamliel’s beis din, then we must reconsider [the decisions of] every beis din that arose from the days of Moses until now, as it says: There went up Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. Why are the names of the elders not expressly mentioned? Only to each [us] that every three [people] who arose as a beis din for Israel are considered like the beis din of Moses.”  [Then] he took his staff and his money in his hand and went to Yavneh to Rabban Gamliel on the day that Yom Kippur fell according to his reckoning.  Rabban Gamliel stood up and kissed him on his head, and said to him, “Come in peace, my master and my disciple! My master in wisdom, and my disciple in that you accepted my words.”

If the beis din and all of Israel saw [the moon], or if the witnesses were interrogated, but they did not manage to say, “It is sanctified,” before it grew dark —- it is full.  If only beis din saw it, two [of them] should stand and testify before the others, and they should say, “It is sanctified, it is sanctified!”  If three saw it and they constitute a beis din, [then] two should stand up and set some of their colleagues beside the single one and testify before them, and say, “It is sanctified, it is sanctified!” For an individual is not trusted alone.

All shofars are valid except for that of a cow, because it is [called] a keren.  R’ Yose said: But are not all shofars called keren, as it is said: When they make a long blast with the ram’s keren?

The shofar of Rosh Hashanah should be from a wild goat, straight, and [with] a gold-covered mouthpiece, and [with] two trumpets at the sides.  The shofar blows long and the trumpets blow short, for the commandment of the day is with the shofar.

On fast-days, they are of rams’ [horns], curved, and with silver-plated mouthpieces, and with two trumpets in the middle.  The shofar blows short and the trumpets blow long, for the commandment of the day is with the trumpets.

The Jubilee year is similar to Rosh Hashanah regarding the blowing [of the shofar] and the benedictions.  R’ Yehudah says: On Rosh Hashanah [we] blow with rams’ [horns], and on the Jubilee years with wild goats’ [horns].

Ashofar that was split and he glued it together, it is invalid. If he glued together broken pieces of a shofar, it is invalid. If there is a hole [in the shofar] and he sealed it: if it hinders the blowing, it is invalid; and if not, it is valid.

If a person blows [a shofar] into a pit or into a cistern or into a cask: if one heard the sound of the shofar, he has fulfilled his obligation; but if he heard the sound of an echo, he has not fulfilled his obligation.  Similarly, if one were passing behind a synagogue, or if his house was close to a synagogue, and he heard the sound of the shofar or the sound [of the reading] of the Megillah: if he concentrated, he has fulfilled his obligation; but if not, he has not fulfilled his obligation —- even though both he and someone else listened, this one concentrated but the other did not concentrate.

And it came to pass when Moses raised his hand that Israel prevailed, etc.  Was it Moses’ hands that won the battle or lost the battle? Rather, [the Torah] teaches you: As long as Israel looked heavenward and subjected their heart to their Father in Heaven, they would prevail; but when they did not, they would fall.  In a similar matter you learn: Make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that whoever is bitten will look at it, and live.  Was it the serpent that killed or the serpent that gave life? Rather, when Israel looked heavenward and subjected their heart to their Father in Heaven, they were healed; but when they did not, they perished.  A deaf person, an imbecile, and a minor cannot discharge the obligation of the many. This is the general rule: Whoever is not obligated [himself] in a matter cannot discharge the obligation of the many.