The gemara in Rosh Hashana daf 11 states that on Rosh Hashanah, the hard labor was removed from the Jews in Mitzrayim. I have two questions on this.
A) what did bnai yisroel do between Rosh Hashana and Pesach?
B)when the Gemara states Rosh Hashanah as the time when the hard labor ceased, was this the Rosh Hashana immediately preceding the pesach when yetzias mitzrayim occurred or a Rosh Hashana of an earlier year?
Thank you and much continued hatzlacha on the tremendous harbotzas Hatorah you accomplish.
Bezalel Weill
(a) Probably the Bnei Yisrael did what their own slaves would do between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur of Yovel - "eat, drink and make merry with crowns on their heads" (Rosh Hashanah 8b; Rashi explains this to mean that if they want to do so, they can wear decorative headdresses to show that they are free)
(b) The enslavement stopped on Rosh Hashanah immediately prior to the Pesach during which they left Egypt.
This is evident from the Mishnah in Eduyos that asserts the Makos lasted no more than a total of 12 months (Eduyos 2:10). If so, the redemption did not start more than 12 months before Pesach.
Best regards,
Mordecai Kornfeld
Kollel Iyun Hadaf