Pesachim 54b — the Talmud in English

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the garment of the first man

was created on the eve of Shabbat between sunset and nightfall. And these are the garments of skin that the Lord made for Adam and Eve.

The Sages taught: Seven things are hidden from human beings. And these are they:

1.

The day of death.

2.

And the day of consolation,

to know when each person will be consoled from his worry. 3.

And the depth of judgment.

For most human beings do not descend to its depth and err in it. 4.

And no person knows what is in the heart of his fellow.

5.

And no person knows by what

he

will profit

[profit]. 6.

And

he does not know concerning

the kingdom of the House of David, when it will return.

7.

And the guilty kingdom

[the wicked kingdom, the kingdom of Rome]

when it will end.

The Sages taught: Three things arose in thought to be created,

and they were created.

And

even

if they had not arisen

in thought,

it would be just that they should arise

and be created, since without them it is impossible for a person to exist in the world.

And these are they:

that the dead should decompose,

for if not, his relatives would conceal him and would not bring him to burial. And they would see their distress before them constantly.

And that the produce should rot.

For if not, its owners would store it, and bring famine to the world.

And some say:

even there arose in thought

that currency should be issued.

That is, that there should be currency accepted by merchants, with which it would be possible to purchase everything. For if not, the poor, who have neither a field nor a vineyard, would have nothing to eat.

Mishna:

A place where the custom is to perform labor on the Ninth of Av,

they

perform it.

And a place where the custom is

there

not to perform

labor then,

they do not perform it,

because it is forbidden to violate the custom of the place.

And everywhere, Torah scholars abstain

from labor on that day, even in a place where the rest of the people perform labor.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: A person should always make

every

person

his

own

“Torah scholar”

in this matter, for if he wishes to abstain from labor on account of it, it is permitted to him. And we do not say that it appears as arrogance thereby, that he conducts himself like a Torah scholar.

Gemara:

Shmuel said: There is no

stringency of a

public fast in Babylonia, except for the Ninth of Av alone!

Since there is no need for rain in Babylonia, fasts are not decreed there over the withholding of rain. And for this reason, even when they decree a fast for another reason, it does not have the stringency of a public fast, with regard to the prohibition of labor, and with regard to beginning the fast from the evening, and with regard to the other stringencies practiced in a public fast beyond those of an individual fast.

And only the Ninth of Av alone has the stringency of a public fast, even in Babylonia.

And we raise an objection:

Is this to say that Shmuel holds

that on

the Ninth of Av,

even

its twilight is forbidden

for eating, just as they are stringent in a public fast to forbid even the twilight? For so it follows from the fact that Shmuel assigned it the law of a public fast.

And

this is difficult,

for Shmuel said: The Ninth of Av—

its twilight is permitted

for eating!

And if you would say

that Shmuel holds that in

every public fast—

its twilight is permitted

for eating, because it is uncertain, and we follow the uncertainty leniently.

This cannot be said. For—

And did we not learn: They eat and drink

on the eve of the fast

while it is still day,

all the time that it is still day?

What, is it not to exclude

the

twilight

of the eve of the fast from eating, because it is uncertain night, and perhaps the fast has already begun? And if so, why did Shmuel permit the twilight of the eve of the Ninth of Av? For he holds that it is a public fast.

And we answer: Indeed, the twilight is permitted for eating in all public fasts.

And that which we learned, “They eat and drink while it is still day,”

does not

come to exclude twilight.

Rather,

to exclude

the night of the fast. That is to say,

once it becomes dark,

when it is already certainly night, eating and drinking are forbidden.

And we consider:

Let us say that this supports

Shmuel, that the twilight of the Ninth of Av is permitted, from that which was taught in a beraita:

There is no difference between the Ninth of Av and Yom Kippur except that the uncertainty of this one is forbidden, and the uncertainty of that one is permitted!

[It is speaking with regard to acting ab initio. But with regard to punishment, they are certainly different.]

And we consider it:

What is “its uncertainty is permitted”

that it teaches concerning the Ninth of Av?

Is it not the twilight

that it refers to?

For twilight is uncertain whether it belongs to the preceding day or whether it is the night of the following day. Learn from it that twilight is permitted.

And we reject this:

No,

it is not speaking of the uncertainty of twilight. Rather,

as Rav Shisha, son of Rav Idi, will say

below, there is

a

distinction in the uncertainty of

the fixing of the month

between the Ninth of Av and Yom Kippur.

For if a person does not know whether the court intercalated the preceding month and sanctified the month on the thirty-first day, or whether they sanctified it on the thirtieth, and he is uncertain whether today is Yom Kippur or the following day, he fasts two days because of the uncertainty. This is not so with the Ninth of Av, since it is only rabbinic, and a rabbinic uncertainty is treated leniently.

And

here too,

the beraita comes

to

distinguish the uncertainty that arose

with regard to the fixing of the month.

Rava expounded: Pregnant women and nursing women fast on the Ninth of Av, and complete it

the fast until its end.

Just as

they

fast and complete

their fast

on Yom Kippur.

And its twilight is forbidden

for eating, unlike Shmuel.

And so they said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan

that the twilight of the Ninth of Av is forbidden.

And we raise an objection:

Did Rabbi Yohanan really say so?

For Rabbi Yohanan said: The Ninth of Av is not like a public fast!

What, is it not with regard

to

twilight

that he said this? For the twilight of a public fast is forbidden, whereas on the Ninth of Av it is permitted. Thus these words contradict what was said in his name.

And we answer:

No,

he did not say this with regard to twilight. Rather,

with

regard to

labor.

For its law is not like that of a public fast, on which labor is forbidden; rather, labor is permitted on it.

And we ask: Was it necessary for Rabbi Yohanan to say that

labor

is permitted?

But

we learned

this explicitly in our Mishna:

A place where the custom is to perform labor on the Ninth of Av, they perform. And in a place where the custom is not to perform, they do not perform!

And even Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said only

that it is permitted for every person to conduct himself like a Torah scholar and to abstain from labor even in a place where the custom is to perform labor. And he taught us

that when he sits and does not perform, it does not appear as arrogance. But he did not forbid

labor.

And we answer:

Rather, what

did Rabbi Yohanan mean by saying, “The Ninth of Av

is not like a public fast”—

with

regard to

the Ne’ila prayer

he said this. For on a public fast they recite the Ne’ila prayer in addition to the three prayers of every day, but not on the Ninth of Av.

And we raise the objection again:

For Rabbi Yohanan said: Would that a person would pray and continue throughout the entire day.

It is permitted to add to the three prayers that the Sages instituted and to pray as much as he wishes. And if so, it is permitted every day to add the Ne’ila prayer, and it is not specifically on a public fast.

And we answer:

There,

on a public fast, the Ne’ila prayer is

obligatory.

But

here,

on the Ninth of Av, and likewise on the other days of the year, it is only

optional.

And if you wish, say: What

did Rabbi Yohanan mean by saying, “The Ninth of Av

is not like a public fast with

regard to

twenty-four

blessings,” he said this. For on a public fast they add six blessings to the eighteen blessings, but not on the Ninth of Av.

Rav Pappa said:

In fact, as we said initially, that which Rabbi Yohanan said, that the Ninth of Av is not like a public fast—he said this with regard to twilight.

And nevertheless these words do not contradict his earlier words.

For

what

did Rabbi Yohanan mean by saying that the Ninth of Av

“is not like a public fast”? He said this stringently.

That

it

is not like

the

first fasts

[as will be explained below],

but like the later ones, and

eating during twilight

is forbidden

on it.

For we learned: When the beginning of the month of Kislev arrived and rain had not fallen, the court decrees three fasts upon the public. And on those first three fasts, they do not fast from the night, but eat and drink until morning. And if these fasts passed and they were still not answered, the court decrees another three fasts upon the public. And on these fasts they eat only while it is still day on the eve of the fast.

And this is what Rabbi Yohanan meant: The law of the Ninth of Av is like that of the later fasts, which are forbidden for eating from twilight on the eve of the fast.

A challenge was raised

from that which we learned:

There is no difference between the Ninth of Av and Yom Kippur except that the uncertainty of this one is forbidden and the uncertainty of that one is permitted!

What, is not

“its uncertainty” referring to

its twilight?

And it teaches that it is permitted. This is difficult for Rava and Rabbi Yohanan, who forbid the twilight of the Ninth of Av.

Rav Shisha, son of Rav Idi, said: No,

it is not speaking of this.

Rather,

to

permit on the Ninth of Av the uncertainty that arose

with regard to the fixing of the month.

For if it is not known to him when the court sanctified the month and when the Ninth of Av occurred, he need not fast two days because of the uncertainty.

And the Gemara now derives another inference from the beraita:

Since it teaches that the Ninth of Av and Yom Kippur differ from one another only with regard to uncertainty, it follows—

with regard to all their matters

they are

equal.

And if so,

it supports

this beraita

for Rabbi Elazar.

For Rabbi Elazar said: It is forbidden for a person to put

his

finger into water on the Ninth of Av, just as it is forbidden to put his finger

into water

on Yom Kippur,

because it too is forbidden for washing.

And the beraita implies in accordance with his words: They are completely equal, except with regard to the uncertainty of the day.

A challenge was raised: There is no difference between the Ninth of Av and a public fast except that this one,

the public fast,

is forbidden with regard to performing labor, whereas this one,

the Ninth of Av,

is permitted with regard to performing labor—

in a place where the custom is

to perform labor on it.

And we infer: It follows that they differ specifically with regard to labor.

But with regard to all their matters, this one and that one are equal!

Whereas concerning a public fast, it was taught: When they said that it is forbidden

then

with regard to washing, they did not say

so

except

with regard to washing

one’s entire body. But

washing

one’s face, hands, and feet they did not

forbid.

And if so, the same is true that on the Ninth of Av it is permitted to wash one’s face, hands, and feet, and this is difficult for Rabbi Elazar, who forbids on the Ninth of Av even washing a finger.