More Discussions for this daf
1. Pegimas ha'Levanah 2. Rashi's Illustrations of the Moon 3. Tosfos
4. Borni 5. Signaling after Rosh Chodesh/Communities Abroad 6. Rabeinu Chananel's opinion in Kidush ha'Chodesh.
7. Distance of Pumbedisa to the Border of Eretz Yisrael 8. בורני 9. רש״י ד״ה מן הנהר
DAF DISCUSSIONS - ROSH HASHANAH 23

Dale Rosenbach asked:

In Rashi DH"M L'ein Hayah Noteh, there are two moons drawn by brackets. The first one, l'tzafon, seems to be a moon facing south and the second one, l'darom, seems to be a moon facing north.

This is assuming that moon directionality is based on the points of the moon/concavity and not its convexity. This is also assuming that the parenthesis brackets (which are rounded) are meant to signify the convexity of the moon. If my assumptions are correct, why are they switched (north is south and south is north)?

Dale Rosenbach, Passaic, New Jersey, USA

The Kollel replies:

Dale,

First of all, let me point out that the original print of the Gemara (Soncino press, in Venice) did not have any diagrams. There are blanks in the Rashi, which one is expected to fill in himself. I did not check manuscript versions of Rashi.

Second, I am not sure what made you decide that north is towards the right side of the page and south is towards the left side, a presumption that is implicit in your question (since Rashi's north-facing moon has its 'points' facing left, and his right-facing one has its 'points' facing right, and you thought they were pointing in the wrong direction). Perhaps you based yourself on the Tosfos Yom Tov's diagram of the Beis ha'Mikdash (in Mishnayos Midos), which indeed has West pointing up and North pointing to the right and South to the left.

However, early cartographers put at the top of the page any direction they wanted, and not necessarily north or west. It was quite common for East to be on top. In fact, this is the proper way of 'drawing the world' according to Chazal, see Tosfos Bava Basra 25a DH Ru'ach Ma'aravis. If so, the points of the first moon are indeed pointing 'north' (left) and the second one are indeed pointing 'south' (right).

I hope this helps you,

Mordecai Kornfeld