Rebbe,
The Gemara discusses witnesses who were stopped at Lod by Rebbi Akiva. He was reprimanded for this since it could cause others not to come in the future when they may be needed.
Lod is quite a far distance from Yerushalayim. I don't see how anyone in Chazal's days could have gotten to Yerushalayim to testify before nightfall unless they had a very swift horse. Even then there are very steep mountains approaching Yerushalayim.
Is it possible that the Lod of their days is in a different geographical location than today's? If so could it be far from today's or just a few miles? R. Akiva lived in Bnei Brak so it seems to be in the same area even if his Bnei Brak isn't exactly where present day Bnei Brak is.
B'kavod,
Sam kosofsky
Dear Sam,
Hello there and thanks for your question. First let me point out that according to the Mishnah (Ma'aser Sheini 5:2) it was a full day travel (12 hrs.) from Lod to Yerushalayim, which is a lot less than the twenty-four hour limit for testifying on the new moon.
My personal guess is that this occurred when the Sanhedrin was already in Yavneh (see 31a), which is fairly close to Lod.
All the best,
Y. Landy
At the beginning of the twentieth century, men and boys would walk from Petah Tikva to Jerusalem, leaving in the afternoon and arriving the next morning. One of the families which did this was the Braverman family.
Petah Tikva is about three hours walk further than Lod from Jerusalem.
If one walks at 6 km/hr, and goes not by the roundabaout way the road goes, but directly, PT-Jerusalem should take about 10 hours walking. With a rest for a coup[le of hours there is no reason people could not see the new moon in the beginning of the evening, and easily get to the Bet-Din in Jerusalem before noon the next day.
Yeshayahu HaKohen Hollander,
Petah Tikva
This doesn't contradict what I said. It was possible to travel to Yerushalayim within a day, but I still believe that the story mentioned in the Mishnah occurred when the Sanhedrin was already in Yavneh.
Y. Landy