Telling everyone that Rosh Chodesh was declared
Before the messengers: fires on the mountaintops
At first they lit beacon-fires
Permissivethey would light beacon-fires.
Torches waved on long poles
Then the Kusim spoiled it
Their land: Shomron — north of Yerushalayim, south of the Galil
Settled here by the king of Ashurtheir center: Har Gerizim
Fires only after a 29-day month
A 30-day month → no fire
Never on Friday night — so on Motzaei Shabbos
The Kusim lit on the wrong nights
So they sent messengers instead
Restrictivethat messengers would go out.
Messengers are harder to fake
Rosh Hashana 2:2
Beacon Fires and Messengers
מַשּׂוּאוֹת וּשְׁלוּחִין
בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה
הָיוּ מַשִּׂיאִין מַשּׂוּאוֹת.
מִשֶּׁקִּלְקְלוּ הַכּוּתִים,
הִתְקִינוּ
שֶׁיְּהוּ שְׁלוּחִין יוֹצְאִין: