Rosh Hashanah 30a
ראש השנה ל׳ א — ד"ה וְעִם בֵּית דִּין
Rosh Hashanah 30a:1
Chachmei Bavel discusses whether the shofar may be sounded on Shabbat during Rosh Hashana, establishing that it is sounded in the presence of the court to exclude other locations, and resolving an apparent contradiction in the mishna about whether individuals sound the shofar in Yavne by noting that while the court's agent sounds it first, many individuals subsequently blast their shofars, creating such noise that one cannot hear one's own voice.
וְעִם בֵּית דִּין. מַאי וְעִם בֵּית דִּין? בִּפְנֵי בֵּית דִּין, לְאַפּוֹקֵי שֶׁלֹּא בִּפְנֵי בֵּית דִּין — דְּלָא. מֵתִיב רָבָא: וְעוֹד זֹאת הָיְתָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יְתֵירָה עַל יַבְנֶה וְכוּ׳. מַאי וְעוֹד זֹאת? אִילֵּימָא כִּדְקָתָנֵי — ״זֹאת״ מִיבְּעֵי לֵיהּ. אֶלָּא: דְּבִירוּשָׁלַיִם תּוֹקְעִין יְחִידִין, וּבְיַבְנֶה אֵין תּוֹקְעִין יְחִידִין. וּבְיַבְנֶה אֵין תּוֹקְעִין יְחִידִין? וְהָא כִּי אֲתָא רַב יִצְחָק בַּר יוֹסֵף, אָמַר: כִּי מְסַיֵּים שְׁלִיחָא דְצִיבּוּרָא תְּקִיעָה בְּיַבְנֶה — לָא שָׁמַע אִינִישׁ קָל אוּנֵּיה מִקָּל תָּקוֹעַיָּא דִּיחִידָאֵי.
And they would sound the shofar on Shabbat with the court. Rav Huna’s brief statement is obscure, and therefore the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: With the court? It means: In the presence of the court, i.e., in the place where the court convenes. This comes to exclude any place that is not in the presence of the court, as the shofar is not sounded there. § Rava raised an objection from the mishna: And Jerusalem had this additional superiority over Yavne. What is the meaning of the phrase: And this additional? If we say that it is referring only to that which it teaches in the mishna, it should have simply said: This, without mentioning that it is an additional superiority. Rather, it indicates that in Jerusalem even private individuals sound the shofar on Shabbat, whereas in Yavne individuals do not sound it, but only agents of the court. And this too is difficult: Don’t individuals sound the shofar in Yavne? But when Rav Yitzḥak bar Yosef came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said: When the prayer leader completed the sounding of the shofar in Yavne, nobody could hear the sound of his own voice in his ears due to the noise of the sounding of individuals. After the leader of the congregation finished sounding on behalf of the entire community, many individuals would take out their shofars and blast them, which created a loud noise. This indicates that individuals would sound the shofar on Shabbat even in Yavne.
