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As per this answer, since the fixing of the calendar (let's say, at the time of the gemara), Yom Kippur does not fall on a Saturday night.

Leon Wieseltier, in his book "Kaddish" (page 102) tells of an argument between Jacob Tam and Meshullam Ben Nathan regarding whether one is allowed to eat on Shabbat afternoon. It is discussed by Zedekiah the Physician (identified on page 66 as a contemporary of Isaiah of Trani, both living in the 13th century).

Zedekiah also reports that "there was once an incident in Lorraine [where it was customary to refrain from eating on Sabbath afternoons], and there was danger [because the fast of Yom Kippur was to begin at sundown], and it was only with difficulty that permission was granted to eat on the eve of Yom Kippur just before the service began.

A page later, Wieseltier writes that Mordecai ben Hillel (Germany, 13th century) records that "it was Jacob Tam's father -- Meir Ben Samuel, or Meir the Venerable, who was married to Rashi's daughter and was one of the earliest Tosafists, or glossators on the Talmud -- who reported the incident in Lorraine, which must have occureed in the eleventh century."

There is no specific date given for the unsourced anecdote (and I don't have Zedekiah's original text to check in) but a quick look online shows that the Jewish community of Lorraine dates to AFTER the time of the gemara.

If this anecdote is accurate, the community in Lorraine, many hundreds of years after the calendar assured that "lo adu rosh" had a situation where Yom Kippur was on a Saturday night/Sunday.

Is the anecdote wrong or were there communities that didn't abide by the fixed calendar?

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    This is in a tosfos towards the beginning of arvei pesachim. I saw an explanation that it means a weekday erev YK which is similar to Shabbos afternoon for reasons I don't recall. It was either in the back of the Gemara (Maharsha/shal/am or yalkut mefarshim) or in the biurei tosfos in the mesivta. I'll try to remember to post it or someone else can.
    – Heshy
    Jul 8, 2018 at 14:41
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    Wieseltier is speaking of this piece of the Shibole HaLeket (§127), also recorded by Tosafot (Pes. 105a s.v. והנ״מ).
    – Oliver
    Jul 8, 2018 at 14:43

2 Answers 2

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The calendar we use today was established in the Jewish year 4119. One of the rules of this calendar is לא אד"ו ראש. Based on that rule it is impossible that Yom Kippur should occur on a Sunday. This anecdote is clearly inaccurate.

Perhaps this happened on a Shabbos leading into Tisha B'Av.

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    continuing at the bottom of 102, "Zedekiah reports that the fast of the Ninth of Av was similarly threatened, but in that case, too, the reluctance to eat and drink on the afternoon of the Sabbath was 'with difficulty' overcome."
    – rosends
    Jul 8, 2018 at 15:38
  • @roseends Another possibility is when Rosh Hashana comes on Thursday and Friday. Tzom Gedalya will be kept in Sunday. Jul 8, 2018 at 21:29
  • I don't recall the exact page, might be around daf 20 - in Tal. Rosh Hashannah that explains the reasoning behind not having Rosh Hashanna occur on Wed. or Fri. (Whic woul dmake Yom Kippur be either on Fri. or Sun.) It's an interesting discussion and machloket as to why this was done. Contrary to what I've heard from numerous people, it is not because "we shouldn't inconvenience people with having two days of Shabbat consecutively." That's a small piece of the reason but it's more detailed than that. The reason for R.H. not being on Sun, is to avoid Hoshanna Rabba on Shabbat.
    – DanF
    Jul 9, 2018 at 1:44
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I don't think Tosafot and Shibole HaLeket intended to say the eve of Yom Kippur [that year] fell out on Shabbat. They were speaking in general about drinking water during the ben-hashmashot period (as is the source in Midrash Tehilim Ch. 11) and simply referred to the matter of drinking water ben-hashmashot even on the eve of YK when drinking is critical.

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  • The comments in Tos. follow the invocation of the medrash regarding one who drinks during Bein Hashmashot on Shabbat. It mentions eating after viduy in mincha but in any other case, we eat after mincha -- that's why we say vidui before the fast begins. It would be weird if the text then just went to a discussion of any random Y"K. Also, is "lotir" another name for Lorraine?
    – rosends
    Jul 9, 2018 at 18:40
  • In the midrash I referenced, Buber correctly pointed out (n. 48) that the word "Shabbat" is omitted. Curiously enough, in light of the relationship between SH and Tanya, the latter also omitted the word "Shabbat" (s.v. מצינו).
    – Oliver
    Jul 9, 2018 at 19:39
  • Nevertheless, those who retained "Shabbat", I believe, were just invoking that episode as an intense demonstration in general about (not) drinking during that time period. Indeed, I think all scholar agree Lutir is Lorraine.
    – Oliver
    Jul 9, 2018 at 19:39
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    I suspected there is an incorrect reading in Tos. (the phrasing was off) and now I confirmed it. In Sefer HaYashar from R. Tam (§45:6) it is clear that "ובקושי התירו..." does not belong to "מעשה אירע בלותיר" and should not be understood as the same incident. (I'll admit, I'd up-vote this comment if I could, but al tachzik tovah le'azmecha :)
    – Oliver
    Jul 9, 2018 at 20:06

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