Taanit 15a — the Talmud in English

And from where do we have this matter?

That

kings

will be

at rising,

we learn from

for it is written: “Thus

said the Lord, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One

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to one despised in soul, abhorred by a nation, to servants ruling [

that is Israel, who are despised and abhorred, and servants rule over them],

“kings shall see and arise.”

Thus we have that when the kings of the nations see Israel, they will rise to meet them.

And princes —

with prostration, for it is written

in the continuation of that same verse:

“Princes, and they shall prostrate themselves.”

Rabbi Zeira raised an objection against it, and some say Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani: If it had been written [

if it had been written]

“and princes shall prostrate themselves” —

it would have meant

as you say [

as you said]: that kings are at rising, and princes—with prostration.

But

now that it is written, “princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,”

it means that princes

do both [

they will perform both things: they will also rise, and they will also prostrate themselves]. For the meaning is that the princes will do what was said concerning the kings: that they will rise, and they will add further and prostrate themselves.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: I too

will expound and

say

in that manner:

not everyone

merits

light,

and not everyone

merits

joy.

The righteous —

light .

And the upright —

joy .

From where do we have that

the righteous

merit

light?

For it is written: “Light is sown for the righteous” .

And for the upright,

who are superior to the righteous — there will be

joy, for it is written: “And for the upright of heart, joy.”

We will return to you, chapter “From when.”

Mishnah:

The order of

the

fast days —

how?

How does one conduct oneself on the fast days?

They take out the ark [

it is the chest in which they place the Torah scrolls]

to the open place of the city,

to a place visible to everyone,

and they place [

they set down]

ashes from burning [

ashes created through burning ]

upon the ark ,

And

also

upon the head of the Nasi and upon the head of the head of the court

they place ashes from burning.

And each and every one

of the people

places

ashes from burning himself

upon his head.

The elder

among them [

among the people]

says before them words of

subjugation .

And this is what he says:

“Our brothers! It was not said concerning the people of Nineveh,

when it is told that they repented and placed sackcloth around their waists:

‘And God saw their sackcloth and their fasting’ ,

Rather,

so it was said:

“And God saw their deeds, that they had returned from their evil way”

[as is told in the Book of Jonah].

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, accepted their repentance because He saw that they had indeed returned from their evil way, and not because of the external deeds—that they fasted and covered themselves with sackcloth.

And

so

in the Writings

[in the books of the Writings, in the Book of Joel]

he says

[the prophet commands and says to Israel]:

“Tear your hearts —

and not your garments.”

That is, God has no desire for external deeds, such as tearing garments, which is a sign of mourning and distress, but for internal deeds—for breaking the desires of the heart.

Afterward

they stand for prayer [

they stand to pray].

They bring down

before the ark

a communal prayer leader who possesses the following qualities:

a.

An elder ,

b.

And

who is

accustomed [

trained and experienced] in prayer, so that he will not err ,

c.

And he has children [

as the Gemara below explains, that he has children and has nothing with which to support them, so that his heart is broken and crushed],

d.

And his house is empty [

as will be explained in the Gemara, the meaning is not literally that he is poor, but that his body is clean of transgressions, that he has not sinned and no evil reputation for a transgression has gone out concerning him] ,

so that his heart will be whole in prayer.

And the prayer leader says

before them

before them [

before the people]

twenty-four blessings:

eighteen

blessings

that

are said

every day

in the Amidah prayer,

And he adds six more

blessings .

And these are

those six additional blessings:

a.

Remembrances [

verses of remembrances that are said on Rosh Hashanah],

b.

And shofar verses [

verses of shofar that are said on Rosh Hashanah] ,

c. The psalm “Song of Ascents

‘To the Lord, in my distress, I called, and He answered me’”

that is in the Book of Psalms,

d. The psalm “Song of Ascents

‘I lift my eyes to the mountains, etc.’,”

e. The psalm “Song of Ascents

‘From the depths I have called You, O Lord,’”

f. The psalm

“A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint” .

Rabbi Judah says: It was not

the communal prayer leader

required to say

before them

remembrances and shofar verses .

Rather, he says in their place

[these psalms, in place of remembrances and shofar verses]:

a.

“When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence

in the land, etc.’” ,

b.

“The word of Hashem that came to Jeremiah concerning the matters of droughts” .

And

at the conclusion of every blessing

he says their endings .

That is, he says concerning every section [concerning every blessing among the blessings that are added] an ending resembling the section.

After the remembrances, he says the ending of remembrances. After the shofar verses, he says the ending of shofar verses. And so with all of them, as follows:

For the first [the first time that something is added to the regular blessings of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer], namely, in the blessing of “Redeemer of Israel”

,

he says: “He who answered Abraham

at Mount Moriah, may He answer you

and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

And he concludes with the regular ending of the blessing

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Redeemer of Israel” .

However, this is not a blessing in its own right, but only an addition to an existing blessing.

From here onward he begins to say the six additional blessings, and concludes them as follows:

For

the

second blessing

, the recitation of the verses of remembrances, which is the first blessing of the six additional blessings,

he says: “He who answered our forefathers at the Sea of Reeds, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

This is the recitation of the verses of Remembrances, which is the first of the six additional blessings,

And in this blessing, of remembrances, he mentions the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, because Israel were forgotten in Egypt for several years and despaired of the redemption, and the Holy One, blessed be He, remembered them—and redeemed them. As we find, the language of remembering is stated concerning the Exodus from Egypt: “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians enslave, and I have remembered My covenant.”

And he concludes in a manner resembling the blessing, concerning remembrances

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who remembers the forgotten” .

For

the

third,

the verses of the shofars,

he says: “He who answered Joshua at Gilgal, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

And he mentions the matter of Joshua at Gilgal because Joshua was answered in the battle of Jericho through shofars, and this was while Israel were at Gilgal.

And he concludes in a manner resembling the blessing, concerning shofars

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears the terua.”

For

the

fourth,

the psalm “To Hashem, in my distress I called, etc.,”

he says: “He who answered Samuel at Mitzpah, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

And he mentions the matter of Samuel at Mitzpah because it resembles the psalm in which David called to Hashem in his distress.

And he concludes

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears a cry.”

And he uses the language of “cry,” because concerning Samuel it is said, “And he cried out to Hashem.”

For

the

fifth,

the psalm “I lift my eyes to the mountains,”

he says: “He who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

And he mentions this matter, that Elijah was answered on Mount Carmel, because it resembles the psalm “I lift my eyes to the mountains.”

And he concludes

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears prayer.”

And he uses the language of prayer because it is said concerning Elijah, “Answer me, Hashem,” and this is prayer.

For

the

sixth,

the psalm “From the depths I called You, Hashem,”

he says: “He who answered Jonah from the belly of the fish, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.”

And he mentions this matter, that Jonah was answered from the belly of the fish, which is a place of depth and difficulty, because it resembles the Scripture “From the depths I called You, Hashem.”

And he concludes

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who answers in a time of distress.”

And he uses this language because it is said concerning Jonah, “I called from distress to You.”

For

the

seventh,

the psalm “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint,” which is the sixth blessing of the six additional blessings

,

he says: “He who answered David and Solomon his son in Jerusalem, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.” [that is, there was distress in the days of David, as it is said: “And there was famine in the days of David for three years, year after year,” and David was answered through his prayer. And Solomon was answered when he brought the Ark into the Holy of Holies] .

And he concludes

“Blessed are You, Hashem, Who has mercy on the Land,”

because David and Solomon prayed concerning the Land of Israel. Furthermore, the psalm “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint” applies to a time of withholding of rain , and in the days of Solomon it is said, “When the heavens are restrained, etc.”