Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right. (Ezra Benson) TB Rosh Hashanah 25

With daf TB Rosh Hashana 25 we finish the second chapter of our massekhet. There are many qualities a good leader need to embody. Arrogance is not one of them. On today’s daf we meet Rabban Gamliel, the leader of the Jewish people, whose arrogant behavior humiliates his colleague Rabbi Yehoshua.

“MISHNA: There was an incident in which two witnesses came to testify about the new moon, and they said: We saw the waning moon in the morning in the east, with and that same day we saw the new moon in the evening in the west. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri said: They are false witnesses, as it is impossible to see the new moon so soon after the last sighting of the waning moon. However, when they arrived in Yavne, Rabban Gamliel accepted them as witnesses without concern.

“And there was another incident in which two witnesses came and said: We saw the new moon at its anticipated time, i.e., on the night of the thirtieth day of the previous month; however, on the following night, i.e., the start of the thirty-first, which is often the determinant of a full, thirty-day month, it was not seen. And nevertheless Rabban Gamliel accepted their testimony and established the New Moon on the thirtieth day.

“Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas disagreed and said: They are false witnesses; how can witnesses testify that a woman gave birth and the next day her belly is between her teeth, i.e., she is obviously still pregnant? If the new moon was already visible at its anticipated time, how could it not be seen a day later? Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: I see the logic of your statement; the New Moon must be established a day later. Upon hearing that Rabbi Yehoshua had challenged his ruling, Rabban Gamliel sent a message to him: I decree against you that you must appear before me with your staff and with your money on the day on which Yom Kippur occurs according to your calculation; according to my calculation, that day is the eleventh of Tishrei, the day after Yom Kippur…

“When Rabbi Yehoshua heard that even Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas maintained that they must submit to Rabban Gamliel’s decision, he took his staff and his money in his hand, and went to Yavne to Rabban Gamliel on the day on which Yom Kippur occurred according to his own calculation. Upon seeing him, Rabban Gamliel stood up and kissed him on his head. He said to him: Come in peace, my teacher and my student. You are my teacher in wisdom, as Rabbi Yehoshua was wiser than anyone else in his generation, and you are my student, as you accepted my statement, despite your disagreement.” (Sefaria.org translation)

There is no excuse for Rabban Gamliel to exercise his authority in order to humiliate Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas in public. Arrogance is a trait which is strictly forbidden. Rabbi Moshe ben Yaakov of Coucy in his book Sefer Mitzvot Gadol lists the prohibition against arrogance as one of the 613 commandments of the Torah (prohibition 64). The book of Proverbs teaches “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and duplicity in speech.” (8:13)

Especially since Rabban Gamliel recognized that Rabbi Yehoshua was wiser than anyone else in his generation, he should have privately spoken to him and explained his reasoning for accepting the testimony of those witnesses instead of embarrassing him in public. “It is taught in a baraita that Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages, in explanation of his opinion that it is possible for the new moon to be visible so soon after the last sighting of the waning moon: This is the tradition that I received from the house of my father’s father: Sometimes the moon comes by a long path and sometimes it comes by a short one.” (Sefaria.org translation) Sharing his grandfather’s tradition, perhaps he could have convinced Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas to accept his ruling. Likewise, he should have given these two rabbis the opportunity to explain their reasoning. A good leader needs to listen and admit a mistake when he makes one instead of humiliating others he feels threatened by.

This wasn’t the only time that Rabban Gamliel humiliated Rabbi Yehoshua in public (see TB Berakhot 27b-28a, https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.27b.16?lang=bi). His behavior was so outrageous there that the Sanhedrin deposed him for a time and installed Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah in his stead. A little humility would have served Rabbi Gamliel better as the leader of the Jewish people.