״עֵדוּת בִּיהוֹסֵף שָׂמוֹ בְּצֵאתוֹ״ וגו׳.

And immediately afterward it is written: “This He ordained in Joseph for testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt” (Psalms 81:6), implying that Joseph’s release from prison took place on Rosh HaShana.

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה בָּטְלָה עֲבוֹדָה מֵאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּמִצְרַיִם – כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרַיִם״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״הֲסִירוֹתִי מִסֵּבֶל שִׁכְמוֹ״.

It was also taught in the baraita : On Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased. From where is this known? It is written here: “And I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt” (Exodus 6:6); and it is written there, with regard to Joseph: “I removed his shoulder from the burden” (Psalms 81:7). From here it is derived by verbal analogy between the two instances of the word “burden” that just as Joseph was released from prison in Tishrei, so too, the slavery of our forefathers in Egypt ended in Tishrei.

בְּנִיסָן נִגְאֲלוּ – כִּדְאִיתָא. בְּתִשְׁרֵי עֲתִידִין לִיגָּאֵל – אָתְיָא ״שׁוֹפָר״ ״שׁוֹפָר״; כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִתָּקַע בַּשּׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל״.

It was taught in the baraita : In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is explicitly stated in the Torah. The baraita continues: In Tishrei in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. This is derived by means of a verbal analogy between one instance of the word shofar and another instance of the word shofar . It is written here, with regard to Rosh HaShana: “Sound a shofar at the New Moon” (Psalms 81:4), and it is written there, with regard to the final redemption: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great shofar shall be blown” (Isaiah 27:13).

רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: בְּנִיסָן נִגְאֲלוּ, בְּנִיסָן עֲתִידִין לִיגָּאֵל. מְנָלַן? אָמַר קְרָא: ״לֵיל שִׁמּוּרִים״ – לַיִל הַמְשׁוּמָּר וּבָא מִשֵּׁשֶׁת יְמֵי בְרֵאשִׁית.

It was also taught in the baraita : Rabbi Yehoshua says: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt; and in Nisan in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that the final redemption will be in Nisan? The verse states: “It is a night of watching for the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is the Lord’s night of watching, for all the children of Israel throughout their generations” (Exodus 12:42). This teaches that the night of Passover is a night that has been continuously watched, i.e., set aside for the purpose of redemption, from the six days of Creation, and it will continue to be so until the final redemption.

וְאִידָךְ: לַיְלָה הַמְשׁוּמָּר וּבָא מִן הַמַּזִּיקִין.

The Gemara asks: And how does the other tanna , Rabbi Eliezer, understand this verse? He derives from it that this is a night that is continuously watched and protected from demons, meaning that demons have no power on the first night of Passover.

וְאָזְדוּ לְטַעֲמַיְיהוּ, דְּתַנְיָא: ״בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ״. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם שִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּאִיָּיר הָיָה, יוֹם שֶׁמַּזַּל כִּימָה שׁוֹקֵעַ בַּיּוֹם וּמַעְיָנוֹת מִתְמַעֲטִין. וּמִתּוֹךְ שֶׁשִּׁינּוּ מַעֲשֵׂיהֶן – שִׁינָּה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עֲלֵיהֶם מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית, וְהֶעֱלָה מַזַּל כִּימָה בַּיּוֹם, וְנָטַל שְׁנֵי כוֹכָבִים מִכִּימָה, וְהֵבִיא מַבּוּל לָעוֹלָם.

And Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua follow their lines of reasoning, as they disagreed about this same issue in another context as well. As it is taught in a baraita : “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken open, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). Rabbi Yehoshua says: That day was the seventeenth of Iyyar, the second month of the year counting from Nisan, which is the day that the constellation of Kima sets during the day and the season that the springs diminish with the increased heat. But because the people of the generation of the flood changed their actions for the worse, the Holy One, Blessed be He, changed for them the acts of Creation, and instead of Kima setting, He caused the constellation of Kima to rise during the day and He removed two stars from Kima , and in this way He brought a flood to the world.

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם שִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּמַרְחֶשְׁוָן הָיָה, יוֹם שֶׁמַּזַּל כִּימָה עוֹלֶה בַּיּוֹם, וּמַעְיָנוֹת מִתְגַבְּרִים.

Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says: That day was the seventeenth of Marḥeshvan, the second month counting from Tishrei, which is the day that the constellation of Kima rises during the day and the season that the springs increase.