Megillah 31b — the Talmud in English

Rav Huna said: ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location of the folio")

When the first of the month of Av occurs on Shabbat, they read as the haftara: “Your new moons and your appointed times My soul hates; they have become a burden upon Me.”

What is the meaning of “they have become a burden upon Me”?

The Holy One, blessed is He, said: Is it not enough for Israel that they sin before Me, but they also burden Me to know which harsh decree I should bring upon them !

On Tisha Be-Av itself, what do we read as the haftara?

Rav said: “How has she become like a prostitute.”

The reading

in the Torah—

what

do we read?

It was taught in a beraita: Others say: “And if you will not listen to Me.”

Rabbi Natan bar Yosef says: “How long will this people provoke Me?”

And some say: “How long shall I bear this evil congregation?”

Abaye said: Nowadays, the world is accustomed to read: “When you beget children,” and they read as the haftara—

“I will utterly gather them.”

We learned in our Mishna:

Regarding the appointed watches, with the account of Creation, and so forth.

From where are these words

that we read at the appointed watches the account of Creation? What connection does the account of Creation have with the appointed watches?

Rabbi Ami said:

because

were it not for the appointed watches—

the heavens and the earth would not have endured. As it is stated: “Were it not for My covenant, day and night—

the statutes of heaven and earth I would not have established.”

And it is written: “And he said: Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”

And this verse is interpreted as follows:

Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed is He: Sovereign of the Universe! Perhaps, Heaven forbid, Israel will sin before You, and You will do to them as with the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Dispersion!?

He said to him: No!

He said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe! By what shall I know,

that is, what shall I teach them to do so that their iniquities may be atoned for?

He said to him: “Take for Me a heifer of three years old, and so forth,”

that is, the sacrifices will atone for them.

He said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe! That is satisfactory when the Temple exists.

But

when the Temple does not exist,

when there are no sacrifices,

what will become of them?

He said to him: I have already instituted for them the order of the sacrifices. Whenever they read about them, I consider it for them as though they were offering a sacrifice before Me, and I forgive all their iniquities.

And since, were it not for the sacrifices that atone for Israel, Israel would perish, and since Israel would perish, the world would not endure, therefore we read at the appointed watches the account of Creation, to say that the world endures by virtue of the sacrifices.

We learned in our Mishna:

On fasts, blessings and curses are read, and one does not interrupt in the curses.

From where are these words

that one does not interrupt in the curses?

Rav Hiyya bar Gamda said in the name of Rabbi Asi: For the verse says: “The discipline of the Lord, my son, do not reject,”

and one who interrupts during the admonition shows that it is difficult for him to read the discipline of the Lord .

Resh Lakish said: Because one does not recite a blessing over calamity , and

if they were to interrupt, the one who came to read would be obligated to recite a blessing over the curses .

And the reason that one does not recite a blessing over calamity is because the Holy One, blessed is He, said: “I said: I am with him in distress”; and if so, is it proper that they should bless Me over their troubles [Tosafot] ?

But how does he act

in order not to recite a blessing over the reproof?

A tanna taught: When he begins—

he begins with the verse before them, and when he concludes—

he concludes with the verse after them .

Abaye said: This was stated only with regard to the curses in the Book of Leviticus. But

in the

curses in the Book of Deuteronomy—

he interrupts.

What is the reason?

Because

these

in the Book of Leviticus—

are stated in the plural,

as it is written: “If you follow My statutes, and so forth,”

and Moses—

said them from the mouth of the Omnipotence,

for he was made an agent to say this to them; since they are written in the language of “I will give,” “I will send,” and “I will appoint,” necessarily the Holy One, blessed is He, whose power is in His hand to do so, said them.

And therefore, since they are a curse for the many, and the Holy One, blessed is He, Himself said them, one must be especially concerned about them, and one does not interrupt.

But

if

these

in the Book of Leviticus—

were stated in the singular, and Moses said them on his own

[by means of the divine spirit, Tosafot]. As it is written: “May the Lord smite you,” “May the Lord cause the plague to cleave to you”; necessarily Moses said them. And this is what he said: If you transgress His commandments, He will appoint against you, and so forth. Therefore, one interrupts them.

Levi bar Buti was reading and stammering

[he was reading hurriedly and with difficulty]

before Rav Huna

during the reading of the

“Cursed” passages

in the Book of Deuteronomy.

He said to him

Rav Huna:

As you wish—

if this is your desire —you may interrupt! For this was not stated

that one does not interrupt

in the curses—

except

in the

curses in the Book of Leviticus, but

in the curses

in the Book of Deuteronomy—

he interrupts.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Ezra instituted for Israel that they should read the curses in the Book of Leviticus—

before Shavuot.

And the curses

in the Book of Deuteronomy—

before Rosh Hashana.

What is the reason?

Abaye said, and some say Resh Lakish: So that the year and its curses should come to an end .

And we raise an objection:

Granted, those in the Book of Deuteronomy,

which are read before Rosh Hashana—

there is [the possibility] that the year and its curses should come to an end.

But the curses

in the Book of

Leviticus,

which are read before Shavuot,

is Shavuot a Rosh Hashana,

that you say, “so that the year and its curses should come to an end”?

And we explain:

Yes. Shavuot is also a Rosh Hashana. For we learned: And on Shavuot

they are judged

concerning the fruit of the tree.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: If the elders say to you: Destroy! and the children

say to you:

Build! Destroy

in accordance with the counsel of the elders,

and do not build .

Because the destruction of elders—

is construction, and the construction of youths—

is destruction.

And a sign for the matter is Rehoboam son of Solomon.

He listened to the counsel of the children and did not heed the counsel of the elders, and he failed because of this [see I Kings, chapter 12, the entire account].

The Sages taught:

In

the place where they interrupt

reading the Torah

on Shabbat morning—

there they read at the afternoon service.

In the place where they interrupted reading

at the afternoon service—

there they read

in the Torah

on

day

Monday.

In the place where they interrupted reading

on Monday—

there they read on Thursday.

In the place where they interrupted reading

on Thursday—

there they read for the following Shabbat.

The words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Judah says: The place where they interrupt on Shabbat morning—

there they read at the afternoon service, and

so

on Monday, on Thursday, and on the following Shabbat.

Rabbi Zeira said: The halakha—

the place where they interrupt on Shabbat morning—

there they read at the afternoon service, on Monday, on Thursday, and on the following Shabbat.

And we raise an objection:

Let Rabbi Zeira say

Rabbi Zeira:

The halakha follows Rabbi Judah?