ראש [חדשים]. יכול לשנים ולשמטים וליובלות ת"ל ראש חדשים לחדשים הוא ראש ואינו ראש לא לשנים ולא לשמטים ולא ליובלות:
ORIGINALRH-R05
Hebrew Letters · Rabbinic Readers
Hebrew Midrash reader
RH-R05HebrewSquare Hebrew script and Masoretic reading notation
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE FIRST
ראש [חדשים]. יכול לשנים ולשמטים וליובלות ת"ל ראש חדשים לחדשים הוא ראש ואינו ראש לא לשנים ולא לשמטים ולא ליובלות:
Pedagogical transliterationrosh ḥodashim; yakhol la-shanim ... talmud lomar rosh ḥodashim
Plain meaningMekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai on Exodus 12:2: a possible extension is raised and delimited by the verse.
The primary excerpt is unpointed. Any pointing in explanation or transliteration is pedagogically supplied and labeled as such.WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT
Hebrew Midrash reader
The passage asks whether ‘head’ might govern years, sabbatical years, and jubilees. יָכוֹל introduces that possible inference. תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר—abbreviated ת״ל in the edition—directs the reader back to רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים and limits the rule to months. Bracketed [חדשים] is an editorially supplied reading and remains visible.
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SEE HOW IT WORKS
Keep the form, reading, and meaning together.
rosh ḥodashim; yakhol la-shanim ... talmud lomar rosh ḥodashim
READINGPedagogical reading guide
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai on Exodus 12:2: a possible extension is raised and delimited by the verse.
MEANINGHebrew
quoted lemma רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים → possible extension יָכוֹל → proof marker ת״ל → limiting inference לַחֳדָשִׁים ... וְאֵינוֹ רֹאשׁ...
EXAMPLES
Examples supplied by the approved curriculum.
Close translation — ‘“Head of months.” Could this apply to years, sabbatical years, and jubilees? Scripture says: “head of months”: with respect to months it is a head, but it is not a head with respect to years, sabbatical years, or jubilees.’
SOURCE REFERENCE
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai 12:2, on Exodus 12:2
APPROVED STUDY LAYERS
Source-specific guidance from the curriculum.
Learning objective
Read the midrashic question formula יָכוֹל and the proof formula תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר in a complete inferential unit.
Language and syntax
Tannaitic midrashic Hebrew. The printed witness is largely unpointed; expansions and transliteration are pedagogical and never replace the exact source line.
Practice
Expand ת״ל, identify the rejected possibility, quote the word that limits the rule, and explain the force of וְאֵינוֹ.
Answer key
ת״ל = תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר. Rejected: that this ‘head’ governs years, sabbatical years, and jubilees. Limiting phrase: רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים / לַחֳדָשִׁים. וְאֵינוֹ negates the extension to the three other cycles.
Source notes
Primary witness: D. Hoffmann, Mechilta de-Rabbi Simon b. Jochai (Frankfurt, 1905), public domain. The bracketed editorial variant [חדשים] and abbreviation ת״ל are preserved.
REMEMBER