Comentário sobre Taanit 4:12

בשלשה פרקים בשנה וכו' – This is how it should be read: On three periods of time during the year, which are fast days, posts (i.e., divisions of popular representatives of Levites and Israelites deputized to accompany the daily services in the Temple with prayers) and Yom Kippur, that we offer up after this, Kohanim lift their hands [to bless the congregation] in each Amidah, that is, during Shaharit, Minhah and Neilah. And there is one day in each of these periods where they lift their hands four times during the day, and that is Yom Kippur, which has the Musaf prayer. And Our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Meir, who said that there is the lifting of the hands [of the Kohanim] at Minhah on fast days and posts, and every day, what is the reason why they don’t lift their hands at Minhah – because of being drunk, and today, there is no drunkenness. But Rabbi Yosi disputes this and says that we decree that Minhah of fast days is like the Minhah service of every day. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yosi on fast days, and on “posts” and on Yom Kippur which has the Neilah prayer, but on those fast days where we do not recite Neilah, Kohanim lift their hands at Minhah of the fast day, since it is near the setting of the sun we recite this prayer – as it is similar to Neilah, and a Minhah like this, we don’t have on every day. Therefore, they did not make decree to do this.

Introduction During regular weekday prayers, the priests offer a priestly benediction as part of the Amidah. This consists of their lifting up their hands and reciting Numbers 6:24-26. The priestly benediction is normally done only during Shacharit, the morning service and not at Minhah. On Shabbatot and holidays that have a Mussaf service, it is also done during Mussaf. It is not normally done during Minhah because it is feared that the kohen may have drunk some wine during the day and it is forbidden to recite the priestly blessing while drunk. Such a concern does not exist on fast days, when the priests would not be drinking wine. The mishnah also teaches that on fast days another service is added, Neilah, which means “closing [of the gates].” This service is added as a special additional supplication.

בתעניות ובמעמדות – And this is how it should be read: And which are the three periods? Fast days, posts and Yom Kippur.

On three occasions during the year, on fast days, on ma’amadot, and on Yom Kippur the priests lift up their hands to bless [the people] four times during the day--at Shaharit, at Mussaf, at Minhah and at Neilah. Ma’amadot is an institution that was mentioned in passing above in 2:7 and will be explained in greater detail in tomorrow’s mishnah. On these three types of days the priests offer the priestly blessing every time there is a prayer service. According to the Babylonian Talmud, the mishnah is not entirely accurate since there is no Mussaf service on fast days or on ma’amadot. What the mishnah means to say is that every time there is a prayer service, the priests lift up their hands four times on Yom Kippur and three times on the other occasions. However, other sources seem to hold that there is a Mussaf service on fast days and on ma’amadot.

ומעמדות – The men of the post would fast four days each week.

אלו הן מעמדות – What is the reason that it is said? What is the reason that they decreed the posts? Since it is stated (Numbers 28:2): “Command the Israelite people and say to them: Be punctilious in presenting to Me at stated times [the offerings of food due Me, as offerings by fire of pleasing odor to Me].”

Introduction This mishnah explains what the “ma’madot” were and their origins.

על כל משמר ומשמר היה מעמד – from part of the tribes of Israel who were divided into twenty-four sections, messengers from all Israel to stand over the sacrifices with the Kohanim and Levites of each division of Kohanim (i.e., guard).

What are the ma’amadot? Since it is said, “Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My food” (Numbers 28:2). Now how can a man’s offering be offered and he is not present? [Therefore] the former prophets instituted twenty-four mishmarot (guards). For each mishmar there was a ma’amad [at the Temple] in Jerusalem consisting of priests, Levites and Israelites. When the time came for the mishmar to go up [to Jerusalem] the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem and the Israelites of that mishmar assembled in their cities and read the story of creation. Numbers 28:2 states, “Command the Children of Israel saying: Of my near-offering, my food, as my fire-offerings, my soothing savor, you are to be in charge, bringing it near to me at its appointed time” (this translation is from Everett Fox, who translates very literally.) This verse is said in reference to the tamid offering. The verse seems to imply that each Israelite is to offer the tamid and yet it is obviously impossible for all of Israel to be personally responsible for one offering. The ma’amadot are a means through which all of Israel is able participate in the tamid, the one offering that is offered twice every day. The ma’amadot correspond to the mishmarot, the twenty-four groups of priests each of which serves one week in the Temple. It is not entirely clear what made up the maamad. According to one interpretation the maamad a group of priests and Levites who were not serving in the Temple together with some Israelites who would go to Jerusalem. According to another interpretation the priests and Levites were part of the mishmar and the Israelites were part of the maamad. When time came for the mishmar to go to Jerusalem, the priests and Levites would go to Jerusalem and the Israelites from that mishmar, those who were not part of the maamad, would gather together in their cities and begin to read the story of the creation of the world, as we shall learn tomorrow. We should note just how foundational this institution may have been in rabbinic thought. The sacrificial service is the most elitist element in Judaism in order to participate one must be a kohen; even Levites can only partially participate. Since one can only be born a kohen, there is no way for most of Israel to participate in this most central aspect of Judaism. By instituting the “ma’amadot” the rabbis seem to have found a way to make Judaism far more egalitarian. While it is still true that Israelites are limited as to what they can do, they are allowed to take part in this type of worship of God and it seems that their participation is not considered less significant than that of the kohanim themselves.

וישראל שבאותו משמר מתכנסין לעריהם – Those who were far from Jerusalem and were not able to go up and stand over their sacrifice with their division, we gather in the synagogues in their cities and fast and pray and read from the Torah each day the Creation Story (i.e. Genesis, chapter 1), to announce that the world stands on the Divine Service that they do in the Temple.

ולא היו מתענין בע"ש מפני כבוד השבת – and one does not have to mention the Sabbath itself. And not on Sundays, because it is the third day [from] the creation [of mankind], since on Friday, man was created. And on the third day of his creation, he was weaker, as it is written (Genesis 34:25): “On the third day, when they were in pain…” Alternatively, because man was given the additional soul on the Sabbath and on Saturday night it w as taken from him, if they would fast on Sunday, they would be endangered. S And on each day, the men of the post would recite the Neilah prayer.

The men of the maamad fasted on four days of that week, from Monday to Thursday; they did not fast on Friday out of respect for Shabbat or on Sunday in order not to switch from the rest and delight [of Shabbat] to weariness and fasting and [thereby] die.
On Sunday [they read], “In the beginning,” and, “Let there be a firmament;”
On Monday, “Let there be a firmament,” and, “Let the waters be gathered together;”
On Tuesday, “Let the waters be gathered together,” and, “Let there be lights;”
On Wednesday, “Let there be lights,” and, “Let the waters swarm;”
On Thursday, “Let the waters swarm,” and, “Let the earth bring forth;”
On Friday, “Let the earth bring forth,” and, “And the heavens [and the earth] were completed.”
For a long section two people read and for a short section one person. [This is how they would read] at Shacharit and Mussaf.
And at minhah they assemble and read the section by heart, as they recite the Shema.
On Friday at minhah they did not assemble out of respect for Shabbat.
This mishnah mostly discusses what portions of the Torah were read during the maamad.
Section one: The men of the maamad fasted most of the week every day from Monday through Thursday. They only fasted from the morning until the night. Fasting on Friday was not considered to be respectful to Shabbat because they that would cause them enter Shabbat with a ravenous appetite. They didn’t fast on Sunday because it was considered dangerous to eat a lot on Shabbat and then fast on Sunday.
Sections two-seven: Every day of the week they would read two portions concerning the creation. This allowed them to read about all seven days within six days.
Section eight: A long section, one with more than three verses is read by two people, but a portion of only three verses is read by one person. Every day there were three aliyot to the Torah. If the first section was more than three verses, let’s say it was five verses, the first person would read the entire section and then the second person would read the third through the sixth verse. This way there would always be three aliyot and never an aliyah of less three verses.
Section nine: At minhah (the afternoon service) they would assemble but they would read by heart without using a Torah scroll.
Section ten: On Friday at minhah they wouldn’t gather together because people were getting ready for Shabbat.

פרשה גדולה קורין אותה בשנים – The portion of Genesis (i.e., the Creation story), after the first person read three verses, the second person would read the third verse that the first person read and complete the [first part] of the Creation [story]. And the third person would read (Genesis 1:6): “Let there be an expanse [in the midst of the water, that is separate water from water].” On the second day, the first person reads “let there be an expanse” (Genesis 1:6), and two read (Genesis 1:9), “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area,[that the dry land may appear],” and so too for all of them.

בשחרית ובמוסף כו' – Here we are speaking about the rest of the posts that were outside of Jerusalem when they read the Creation story according to the appropriate manner, even on a day when there is a Musaf sacrifice, for we don’t want to trouble them. But the posts in Jerusalem, on a day where there is Musaf sacrifice, they would not recite during Musaf the Creation story as is taught in the Mishnah further on – a Musaf Sacrifice which lacks a Minhah service. And now, the Musaf sacrifice which does supersede the Minhah post which is not his, his post, all the more so.

בשחרית ובמוסף ובמנחה כו' – This is how it should be read: At Shaharit and at Musaf when we bring a Torah scroll and read a large portion by two and a small portion with one. But at Minhah, we do not bring a Torah scroll , because of the trouble of the fast, but we recite it by heart.

יום שיש בו הלל – like the days of Hanukkah which have Hallel (Psalms 113-118) recited on them but they don’t have Musaf. No portion was read during Shaharit if they were in Jerusalem, since they don’t have free time to do their posts (through the division of popular representatives deputized to accompany the daily services in the Temple with prayers, and also a corresponding division in the country towns, answering to the divisions of Kohanim and Levites), since [the recitation of] Hallel supersedes them.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that on certain days they wouldn’t do the special maamad prayers at certain services.

קרבן מוסף – Rosh Hodesh which has a Musaf sacrifice, they would not read any portion at the closing of the gates (“Neilah”), and all the more so, they would not read a portion during Musaf itself, nor at the Afternoon service which precedes Neilah, for the Musaf sacrifice would supersede them.

On any day when there is Hallel there was no maamad at Shaharit; [On the day when] there is a Musaf-offering, there was no [maamad] at Ne'ilah. [On the day of] the wood-offering, there was no [maamad] at Minhah, the words of Rabbi Akiva. According to Rabbi Akiva, on days when there is Hallel but no Musaf, such as Hannukah, they wouldn’t do the maamad at Shacharit, but they would do it at Minhah and Neilah. On days when there is a Musaf offering, they wouldn’t do the maamad at Neilah. This is understood to mean that even at Neilah they wouldn’t do the service, all the more so at Shacharit, Musaf and Minhah. Most commentators explain that this mishnah refers to those people of the maamad who were in Jerusalem. They were so busy on these days that they didn’t have time to take care of their duties and recite all of the maamad prayers. The previous mishnah, according to which maamad prayers were recited on days which have Musaf, refers to those people of the maamad who were outside of Jerusalem. The wood-offering refers to the bringing of wood to the Temple by certain families who would volunteer to do so. On this day they would offer a special sacrifice and they would make it into a holiday. According to Rabbi Akiva on these special days there was no maamad at Minhah but there was at Neilah. The next mishnah will discuss this at greater length.

קרבן עצים אין בו מנחה – that is to say, a day on which there is a sacrifice of wood, as is found above, there would be no Musaf sacrifice, which supersedes the Ma’amad (i.e., the post) for the Afternoon service, but does not [supersede] the Neilah.

Ben Azzai said to him: Thus did Rabbi Joshua learn: [On the day when] there is a Musaf-offering, there was no [maamad] at Minhah; [On the day of] the wood-offering, there was no [maamad] at Ne’ilah. Rabbi Akiva retracted and learned like Ben Azzai. Ben Azzai tells Rabbi Akiva that Rabbi Joshua disagrees with him concerning two of the three halakhot which he stated. On days with Musaf, there is no maamad at Minhah but there is at Neilah. However, on days when there was a wood-offering, there was no maamad even at Neilah. Upon hearing Rabbi Joshua’s tradition, Rabbi Akiva retracted his statement.

כך היה ר' יהושע שונה – The wood offering/sacrifice supersets the post of Neilah, and all the more so, it supersedes the post of the Afternoon service, as the sacrifice of the wood of the Kohanim would be offered prior to the daily continuous offering at the eventide (i.e., 3:30 pm), and if it supersedes the post of Neilah, it also supersedes the post of the Afternoon service which is near it.

חזר ר"ע להיות שונה כדברי בן עזאי – Who thinks that the Musaf sacrifice comes from the Torah and this law is not superseded other than the post for the Afternoon service, for one should not suspect lest a sacrifice is superseded, for the words of the Torah do not require strengthening. But the sacrifice/offering of the wood, is considered like the words of the Sages, and the law is that they supersede the post of the Afternoon Service and Neilah which require strengthening, for just as they are not superseded for the sacrifice of the wood. And I did not go down to the end of the words of Maimonides, in his commentary of this Mishnah, since from his words, it appears that the men of the post would recite an additional prayer each day between Shaharit and Minhah and it is called the Musaf prayer. And this fact I did not find either in the Babylonian or the Jerusalem Talmud.

זמן עצי הכהנים והעם – when the [Jews] from the Diaspora made Aliyah [to the land of Israel] (i.e. after Cyrus the Great In 516 BCE permitted the Jews to return to their land) and the did not find wood in the :compartment [of the Temple for the storage of wood] and they stood and donated from their own [supply and funds] and on the day that they bring wood, they bring with them a sacrifice of donation and make that day a holiday, and such is written in the book of Ezra (Nehemiah 10:35): “We have cast lots [among] the priests, [the Levites, and the people] to bring the wood offering to the House of our God [by clans] annually at set times [in order to provide fuel for the altar of the LORD our God as is written in our Teaching].”

The times of the wood of the priests and the people was nine:
On the first of Nisan the family Arah of Yehudah.
On the twentieth of Tammuz the family of David of Yehudah.
On the fifth of Av the family of Parosh of Yehudah.
On the seventh of the same month, the family of Yonadav of Rechav.
On the tenth of the same month, the family of Snaah of Benjamin.
On the fifteenth of the same month, the family of Zattu of Yehudah, and with them were the priests and Levites and all those who were not certain of their tribe and the family of Gonve Eli and the family of Kotze Ketizot.
On the twentieth of the same month the family of Pahat Moav of Yehudah.
On the twentieth of Elul the family of Adin of Yehudah.
On the first of Tevet the family of Parosh of Yehudah [offered] a second time.
On the first of Tevet there was no maamad for there was Hallel, Musaf and the wood-festival.
This mishnah teaches that there were nine fixed dates during the year upon which certain families would bring wood to the altar. The mishnah seems to relate and expand upon what is stated in Nehemiah 10:35 by those who returned to the land of Israel after the first exile, “We have cast lots [among] the priests, the Levites and the people, to bring the wood-offering to the House of our God by clans annually at set times in order to provide fuel for the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the Teaching.” The name for these donations, “The wood of the priests and the people” comes from the beginning of this verse. The Talmud teaches that even if there was already enough wood in the Temple, the wood donated by these families took priority, and would be used first.
We might also note that the very idea of celebrating and commemorating the bringing of wood to the Temple attests to how valuable and scarce wood was at those times in the land of Israel. It remains to this day a relatively scarce commodity.
Section one: This family is mentioned in Ezra 2:5 and Nehemiah 7:10.
Section three: Mentioned in Ezra 2:3, Nehemiah 7:5.
Section four: The “Rechavites” seem to have been some sort of separatist sect that existed during the First Temple period and continued to exist as a family in the Second Temple period. Jeremiah 35 is mostly about this sect. For more information you can look up the article on them in the Encyclopedia Judaica.
Section five: Mentioned in Ezra 2:35; Nehemiah 7:38.
Section six: Zattu is mentioned in Ezra 2:8 and Nehemiah 7:13. On this day other priests and Levites brought wood as well as anyone who didn’t know what tribe they were from. There were also two other families who donated wood on that day.
Section seven: Mentioned in Ezra 2:6; Nehemiah 7:11.
Section eight: Ezra 2:15; Nehemiah 7:20.
Section nine: This is the same family that already gave on the fifth of Av.
Section ten: The first of Tevet is both Rosh Hodesh and Hannukah. Because of Hallel (recited because of Hannukah) there was no maamad during Shacharit, as we learned in yesterday’s mishnah. The Mussaf and wood-offerings meant that there would be no other maamad either. This seems to be the only day during the year that could have both a wood-offering, mussaf and a full Hallel. Note that during those days Hallel was not recited on Rosh Hodesh. Today half a Hallel is recited.

וכל מי שטעה שבטו – and they did not know with whom he should go, he should go with the Children of Zatu.

ובני גונבי עלי – The Gemara explains that once the enemies decreed religious persecution on Israel that they should not bring their First Fruits to the Temple and placed guards along the roads for this. But honest men of that generation brought baskets of First Fruits and covered them with packed figs, which are dried figs and carried them on the shoulders pestle, which is a large tree made like a club that would crush the grit (i.e., a dish of pounded grain) with which they would regularly crush the packed figs to make of them cakes of pressed figs , and when they would approach the guard, would say to them: We are going to make two cakes of pressed figs in the mortar before us with this pestle that is on our shoulders, and this is how they would bring First Fruits to Jerusalem. And because of this, they were called, “those who steal pestles,” that is to say, they steal the hearts of the guards, with the pestle that is on their shoulders, and “those who pack figs” by dint of the fact that they cut fig cakes with tools (i.e. a knife or saw), and these honest men stood another time when they (the government) decreed religious persecution against them that they should not bring wood to the pile of wood on the altar in the Temple, and established ladders and would say to the guards – to take two pigeons from this dovecote that is before us on this ladder that is on our shoulders which we are walking with, and as a result of this, they are called, “the ladder carriers that are torn down” (?) for they would bring from them wood for the pile of wood on the altar in the Temple , and all of these bring wood with the children of Zatu.

שבו בני פרעוש שניה – For after they finished this, they would take lots as to who would be in the end, as it says (Nehemiah 10:35), “We have cast lots [among] the priests, [the Levites, and the people] to bring [the wood offering to the House of our God (by clans) annually at set times]…”

שהיה בו הלל – Because on the first of Tevet, Hanukkah always occurs, and on Hanukkah, we recite the complete Hallel, but regarding the Hallel of Rosh Hodesh, where the recitation of Hallel is only a custom, it does supersede the post. And for this reason, Rosh Hodesh Nisan is not considered, which also has Hallel and the Musaf sacrifice and the wood sacrirfice.

בי"ז בתמוז נשתברו הלוחות – For behold on the sixth of Sivan, the Ten Commandmentrs were given and on the seventh in the early morning, he [i.e., Moses] went up to receive the rest of the Torah and tarried there for forty days. Hence, it was that there were found the utensils (of the Golden Calf) on the seventeenth of Tammuz and when he [I.e., Moses] came down, he smashed the Tablets.

Introduction This mishnah lists events that occurred and are therefore commemorated on two fast days the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av. There are two connections between this mishnah and the rest of the tractate. First of all, this is tractate Taanit, so it is a natural place for the mishnah to discuss fast days. Secondly, the previous mishnah dealt with the importance of specific dates.

ובטל התמיד – for there were no longer there lambs to sacrifice, since the city had come under a siege.

There were five events that happened to our ancestors on the seventeenth of Tammuz and five on the ninth of Av.
On the seventeenth of Tammuz: The tablets were shattered; The tamid ( offering was cancelled; The [walls] of the city were breached; And Apostomos burned the Torah, and placed an idol in the Temple. There were five events that occurred on the seventeenth of Tammuz, which is considered a “minor” fast day, because the fast begins only at sunrise and the only prohibition is eating and drinking. 1) Moshe broke the first set of tablets. 2) On the seventeenth of Tammuz, shortly before the Second Temple was destroyed, they ran out of sheep to sacrifice and hence they had to cancel the tamid, the daily offering. 3) The Romans breached the walls of the city of Jerusalem. 4) Apostomos, an unidentified Greek or Roman burned a Torah scroll and 5) placed an idol in the Temple. The placing of an idol in the Temple by foreign rulers happened on several occasions throughout both the First and teh Second Temple period and hence it is impossible to identify with precision who Apostomos was. Indeed, according to the Yerushalmi it was not Apostomos who put the idol in the Templ but rather Menashe, the king of Israel see II Kings 21:7.

העמיד צלם בהיכל – The Amoraim in Jerusalem argued: one said, an idol of Manasseh, and we are speaking [here] about the First Temple [period], and the other said: an idol of Apostomos who was of the Grecian rulers and [this occurred] in the Second Temple [period].

On the ninth of Av It was decreed that our ancestors should not enter the land, The Temple was destroyed the first And the second time, Betar was captured, And the city was plowed up. There were five events that occurred on the ninth of Av, which besides Yom Kippur is the only major fast in the Jewish calendar. 1) After the people of Israel believed the bad report of the ten spies over that of Joshua and Caleb, God decreed that no one over the age of twenty would make it into the land of Canaan (see Numbers 14:29). 2 +3) Both Temples were destroyed, the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and the second by the Romans in 70 C.E. The first Temple was set aflame on the ninth and burnt on the Tenth see Jeremiah 52:12-13. 4) Betar, an important Jewish stronghold during the Bar-Kochba revolt fell to the Romans. 5) After the Bar Kochba rebellion was defeated, the Romans plowed over the city, destroying any remaining buildings and quashing any hopes that the Temple would be rebuilt.

When Av enters, they limit their rejoicing. Av is the counterpart to Adar. When the month of Adar begins we increase our celebration, in anticipation of Purim, a holiday of salvation. When the month of Av enters, we decrease celebrations, on account of Tisha B’av, the greatest day of mourning on the Jewish calendar. In tomorrow’s mishnah we will learn of some mourning practices customary during the first nine days of Av.

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.

כט"ו באב – for on that [day] ended the deaths of the wilderness in the fortieth year, and on it, was abolished those guards which Jeroboam the son of Nabat had placed who prevented the Israelites from going up [to Jerusalem] on the Festivals. And on that day, those who had died in Betar were given up for burial, and on that day, they stopped cutting down trees [to provide wood] for the wood for the altar in the Temple, for from that day onward, the power of the [summer] sun weakened, and it didn’t have the power to dry the wood from its moistness.

Introduction Tractate Taanit, a sad tractate which deals with drought and other distressful events and the fasts that Jews take upon themselves to ask for forgiveness from their sins, ends with a mishnah about the two happiest days in the Jewish calendar, the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur.

ויום הכפורים – for on the latter {second set] of Tablets were given, and it is the day of pardon and forgiveness.

Section one: Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: There were no days of joy in Israel greater than the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur. Section two: On these days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white garments in order not to shame any one who had none. All these garments required immersion. The daughters of Jerusalem come out and dance in the vineyards. What would they say? Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not set your eyes on beauty but set your eyes on the family. “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). And it further says, “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her works praise her in the gates” (ibid, 31:31). Section three: Similarly it says, “O maidens of Zion, go forth and gaze upon King Solomon wearing the crown that his mother gave him on his wedding day, on the day of the gladness of his heart” (Song of Songs 3:11). “On his wedding day”: this refers to Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah). “And on the day of the gladness of his heart”: this refers to the building of the Temple; may it be rebuilt speedily in our days, Amen. There are several reasons why the fifteenth of Av became a day of celebration. First of all, as we learned in mishnah five above, this is the date when most families would have made their wood donation. The Talmud provides several other reasons. One of these is that on this day people from different tribes were allowed to intermarry. Another explanation is that on this day the Israelites in the desert who were to die before they entered into the land of Israel stopped dying. Anyone who made it through this day in the fortieth year in the desert knew that he was going to make it to the land of Canaan. Yom Kippur is a day of celebration for on it Jews receive atonement for their sins. Yom Kippur, in sharp contrast with Tisha B’av, is not a day of mourning, but rather a day of celebration. Furthermore, according to tradition, the second set of the Tablets were given to Israel on Yom Kippur, which is in essence collective forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf.

שאולים – for they were all borrowed , even for the rich women, so as to not embarrass those who lacked [funds to purchase them].

These two days were like an ancient Sadie Hawkins day (if you don’t know what this is, you can google it to find out), except instead of the girls chasing the boys, the girls would go out to the field and let the boys come and chase them. The girls would go out to the field in white clothes and dance and let the boys choose for themselves brides. These clothes were borrowed so that girls who could not afford a nice white garment would not be embarrassed. The garments would be immersed before they were worn so that they would be pure. The whole ceremony seems to be geared towards encouraging the boys to choose their girls not based on their looks or wealth but based on their families and piety. In mishnaic times, and indeed in many traditional cultures, “yihus” being from a good family was probably the most important consideration in arranging marriages.

טעונים טבילה – prior to their being worn, since not everyone was expert in her group lest she might have been a woman in her menses.

Taanit ends with a midrash which which was originally not part of the mishnah as it is missing in manuscripts. It was probably added to the end of Taanit as a prayer for the restoration of the Temple, and to end a depressing tractate on an upbeat note of hope and consolation. It connects to the previous section because of its reference to girls going out. Furthermore, the day under discussion in this midrash is understood to be Yom Kippur, the day on which the second set of Tablets was given. Yom Kippur commemorates the past, and gives us hope for the future as well, for a time in which the Temple will be rebuilt. Congratulations! We have finished Taanit. It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Taanit is perhaps one of the most “theological” of tractates for it is all about how God responds to our misdeeds and how we respond to God’s rebuking. One can look at the fasts as a way for Jews to remind themselves that they constantly need to be checking their own behavior, to looking at how we relate to each other and to the rest of the world and that our actions have an effect on our world. While it is probably hard for us to share an overly simplistic theology we do bad things, God punishes us directly and immediately, we pray and fast and things get better the deeper message of the tractate seems to be a push for our own atonement and for our own sensitivity to crisis in the world. According to the tractate there is meaning in history and events and it is up to humans to learn how to respond properly. There is also a lot in the tractate about the cycles of rejoicing and mourning. As always, congratulations on learning another tractate of Mishnah. Tomorrow we begin Megillah.

יוצאות וחולות – like (Jeremiah 31:13): “Then shall maidens dance gaily, [young men and old alike. I will turn their mourning to joy, I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief].”

במלך שלמה – The Holy One, blessed be He, whose peace is His.

אמו – congregation of Israel

זה מתן תורה – Yom Kippur on which were given the latter Tablets.

זה בנין בית המקדש – which was dedicated on Yom Kippur.