פירוש על תענית 4:7

שבת שחל ט"ב – the week in which the Ninth of Av occurs in its midst

Introduction This mishnah talks about the week which leads up to Tisha B’av and the day before.

אסור לספר ולכבס – All that entire week until after the Fast passes.

During the week in which the ninth of Av falls it is forbidden to cut the hair and to wash clothes but on Thursday it is permitted in honor of Shabbat. Starting in the week in which Tisha B’av falls one begins to mourn by not cutting hair (this includes shaving) or washing clothes. However, if Tisha B’av falls on Friday then it is permitted to cut one’s hair and wash one’s clothes on Thursday in preparation for Shabbat. In today’s calendar Tisha B’av can never fall on Friday or on Shabbat. We should also note that in Ashkenazi tradition these prohibitions begin with the seventeenth of Tammuz, three weeks before Tisha B’av.

ובחמישי מותרים – When they would sanctify [the New Moon] by appearance, and Tisha B’Av occurred on Friday, it was permitted ot wash clothing on the Thursday before the fast because of the honor of the Shabbat.

On the eve of the ninth of Av one should not eat a meal of two cooked dishes, nor should he eat meat or drink wine. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: one should make change [his diet.] The meal before Tisha B’av is supposed to be a simple meal, one that does not consist of two cooked dishes, nor meat or wine. This sharply contrasts with Yom Kippur, before which one is mandated to have a large meal in celebration of the coming holiday. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel is more flexible with regard to this meal. He just mandates that one change his normal eating habits. If one normally has two cooked dishes, one should have only one. If one normally eats a lot of meat, one should just have a little.

שני תבשילין – there is no prohibition regarding two cooked foods but rather something should not eaten raw/in its natural condition, but something that is eaten in its natural condition (i.e., raw) like milk and cheese and legumes at the time when it is moist, even though he cooked them, they are not considered like two cooked foods.

Rabbi Judah obligated turning over the bed, but the sages did not agree with him. Turning over the bed is a sign of mourning. In the time of the mishnah it was the custom of mourners to turn over their beds as a sign of the overturning of their worlds which occurred when they lost a relative. Rabbi Judah says that on Tisha B’av everyone should turn over their beds as a sign of the collective mourning of the people. However, the other sages disagree with him.

לא יאכל בשר ולא ישתה יין – these words refer to after half the day has passed [on the eve of Tisha B’Av], and in the concluding meal [before the fast begins] where he has no intention of eating a set meal afterwards. But prior to the middle of the day, even at the concluding meal, or at the meal which is not the concluding meal, even after half the day [has passed] , it is permissible to eat two cooked foods, and with meat and wine.

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר: ישנה – If he was accustomed to eat two cooked foods, he should eat one cooked food; If he was accustomed [to drink] two glasses of wine, he should drink one glass. But the Halakha does not follow the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.

בכפיית המטה – He places the mattress on or near the floor and does not lie on it, but only on the ground. And the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.