An incident is related in the Talmud, concerning the city of Lod: It was Shabbat. A number of witnesses to the new moon were passing through the city on their way to testifying before the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. A man named Zefer, who was the mayor of the city of Geder, detained the witnesses. He was of the opinion that witnesses had most certainly already arrived in Jerusalem and presented their testimony. Therefore, he concluded, it was unnecessary for these witnesses to continue on their way, especially since doing so involved a desecration of the Shabbat.