daf bit: Sanhedrin 40-41

[cellio]

The mishna describes the examination of witnesses in a capital trial. On what day and at what hour did the incident occur? At what place? Did you know the defendant? Did you warn him? If the charge is idolatry, who did he worship and how? If one witness testifies that it happened on the second day of the month and another on the third this is accepted, as one might not have known that a day was (or was not) added to the previous month. But if one says the second day and the other the fourth one witness is disqualified. Similarly, if one says the second hour of the day and the other the third it is accepted, but third and fifth are not accepted. R.Yehudah says third and fifth are accepted but fifth and seventh are not, because in the latter case the sun has crossed from the east to the west. (These are notional hours; there are always twelve between sunrise and sunset.) (40a)

The g'mara on today's daf asks how late into the month a difference of one day is accepted. Others said in the name of R. Yochanan: until the greater part of the month has passed. Raba concurs that by then one would know of the intercalation or, even if not, of the shofar blast (to proclaim the new month). One could credibly miss one sign but not two. (41b)

(A capital case requires two witnesses; the rabbis are looking for reasons to disqualify witnesses to reduce the likelihood of capital trials.)

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

(These are notional hours; there are always twelve between sunrise and sunset.)

I heartily endorse this system of reckoning time. It also eliminates the scourge of DST!

[cellio]

It's great for some things. It's a little problematic for others. Consider "roast for two hours" -- what time of year? And TV schedules would be pretty wonky. :-)

I agree on the scourge of DST. Actually, either standard time or daylight shifting time would be fine if they'd just pick one.

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

Good point. It would be horrible to write scripts for television shows based on exactly when they would air, and recipes would be impossible. "In January, add 23 minutes."

I'd be fine if we all used UTC. If you have never worked for a company with people in Europe and India let me tell you that meeting times are a nightmare of "what timezone did you mean?".

[cellio]

But to argue the other side, Denver et al have been putting up with "but at high altitude use X temperature or cook Y minutes longer" (etc) for decades, so if we expect others to adjust we should be willing to be on the receiving end. :-)

I haven't done the US-Europe-India collection all at once, but a previous company had a Japanese parent and there were periodic conference calls. 13-hour time difference, if I recall correctly, so any time that was good for one would kind of suck for the other.

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

Altitude is tricky. It can be helped with things like pressure cookers, but only for some dishes. Imagine juggling both that and hour length changes, though!

True, UTC won't help with overseas meetings. I have a fair number of 8[ap]m meetings. Gack.