Taanit 16a — the Talmud in English

And since this is said with regard to distinguished people,

it is not the same when a person is embarrassed by himself

by an act that he himself committed—

as when he is embarrassed by others

by an act that others did to him—for in that case he is more deeply embarrassed. Therefore, others place the ashes on the heads of the distinguished members of the people. But the rest of the people are not more embarrassed when others place the ashes on them than when they place them on themselves. Therefore, they themselves place ashes on their heads.

And where do they place it

and where, on the head, do they place the ashes?

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: In the place

where they place the

tefillin

of the head, on the place where an infant’s brain is soft.

As it is stated

in the prophecy of Isaiah (chapter 61, verse 3): “To proclaim a year of favor for the Lord, and so on, to comfort all who mourn,

to give those who mourn for Zion a crown instead of ashes.”

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give the mourners a crown in place of the ashes that had been placed upon them. Thus, the practice of mourning is to place ashes in the place of the crown.

And “crown” means tefillin, as it is stated in the Book of Ezekiel (chapter 24, verse 17), where the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, behold, I am taking from you the delight of your eyes through a plague, and so on; you shall neither mourn nor weep, and so on; you shall not perform the rites of mourning, “your crown shall be bound upon you” ”—and the Gemara in tractate Berakhot (11a) says that “your crown” means tefillin Likewise, the Aramaic translation of the verse “your crown shall be bound upon you” is: “Your tefillin shall be upon you.” Rashi. And Maharsha wrote that tefillin contain the written Torah, as we find in tractate Kiddushin, and it is as though our crown had fallen into the place of ashes. See there.

Thus, we learn that the ashes are to be placed where the tefillin are placed.

“Street, ark and sacks; ashes, burial and Moriah”—a mnemonic.

The Gemara now continues to discuss and explain the words of the Mishna.

We learned in the Mishna that they take the ark out to the city street. There, in the street, they pray and cry out. And we must explain:

Why do they go out to the street?

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said:

In order

to say

and thereby hint: At first,

we cried out in private,

in the synagogue,

but we were not answered

from Heaven.

Let us go out to pray in the city street and

humiliate ourselves publicly,

perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, will answer us.

Reish Lakish said:

Going out to the street is exile from our usual place. And so we say:

“We have been exiled; our exile”

shall be

an atonement for us.

What is the practical difference between them

between these two reasons?

There is a practical difference between them

in a case

where they go into exile from one synagogue to another

if the people leave and go into exile from the synagogue in which they were accustomed to pray to another synagogue.

If the reason is exile, then this too is exile.

But if the reason is public humiliation, then in this case there is no humiliation!

The Gemara continues and explains the words of the Mishna.

And why do they take the ark out to the city street?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: To say

and to hint:

We had a modest vessel

The ark had until then always been kept concealed in the synagogue.

And

now

it has been humiliated because of our sins.

Because of our sins, we were punished with a cessation of rain, and we had to take the ark out into the street.

And why do they cover themselves

the people

with sacks?

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: To say

and to hint by wearing sacks, which are made from goat hair, that

we are considered

regarded

as animals.

And why do they place burnt ashes on the ark?

Rabbi Yehuda ben Pazi said: It means

as though the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying:

“I am with him in distress.”

This is why they place ashes even on top of the ark, in which the Torah scroll, the book of the Holy One, blessed be He, is kept.

Reish Lakish said,

that we learn from this verse that the Holy One, blessed be He, suffers together with Israel:

“In all their distress, He is distressed”.

That is, in all the distress of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, is also distressed.

Rabbi Zeira said: At first

in the beginning,

when I would see the Sages placing burnt ashes on the ark

when I would see that the Sages placed burnt ashes on the ark,

my entire body would tremble.

[my entire body would tremble].

And why do they place ashes on the head of each and every person

in the congregation?

They disagree about this

the matter was disputed by

Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama and Rabbi Ḥanina.

One

of them

said

that the ashes are placed there in order to hint and say before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Behold, before You we are considered like ashes,”

which have no value at all. That is, we are entirely insignificant.

And one

of them

said

that this is done

so that the Holy One, blessed be He, will remember for us

the

ashes of Isaac, since he offered his life to be a sacrifice on the altar.

who offered his life to be a sacrifice upon the altar.

What is the practical difference between them

between these two reasons?

There is a practical difference between them

with regard to whether it is possible to place

ordinary earth

from the ground

and not burnt ashes,

on the head of every person.

According to the reason that they are hinting before the Holy One, blessed be He, that they are considered like ashes, the same hint can also be conveyed with earth, which is considered entirely insignificant.

But according to the reason that they do this in order to recall the binding of Isaac before the Holy One, blessed be He, they must specifically place burnt ashes.

Why do they go out to the cemetery?

They disagree about this

the reason for the matter was disputed by

Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama and Rabbi Ḥanina.

One

of them

said

that they do this in order to hint and say before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Behold, before You we are considered like the dead”.

And one said

that they do this

so that the dead will ask

for us

for mercy.

What is the practical difference between them

between these reasons?

There is a practical difference between them

with regard to whether one may go to

the graves of gentiles.

According to the reason that they go in order to hint that they are considered like the dead, it is also possible to go to the graves of gentiles.

But according to the reason that they go to the cemetery so that the dead will ask mercy for them, they must specifically go to the graves of Jews. For gentiles are unable to ask mercy even for themselves; all the more so, they cannot ask mercy for us.

And since we have mentioned that Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama and Rabbi Ḥanina disputed this matter, the Gemara brings another dispute between them concerning an entirely different matter.

What is “Mount Moriah” ?

Why was the place to which Abraham went to bind Isaac [it is the Temple Mount called by this name?

They disagreed about it

[they disagreed concerning this matter]

Rabbi Levi bar Hama and Rabbi Hanina.

One

[of them]

said:

The

mountain

was called thus because of

instruction went forth from it to Israel.

For there was the Chamber of Hewn Stone, in which stood the prophets who rebuked Israel .

And one said: The

mountain

was called thus because of

the fact that

awe went forth from it to the nations of the world.

For they hear about the greatness of Israel and Jerusalem—and become frightened .

We learned in our Mishna: The elder among them says words of admonition before them. The Sages taught: If there is among them an elder—

the elder says

the words of admonition.

And if not,

if there is no elder among them—

a sage says

the words of admonition.

And if not,

if there is not even a sage among them—

a person of stature says

the words of admonition [

a person of imposing appearance ,

so that his words will be heard, and he will soften and subdue the hearts].

From what we learned in the beraita, that initially an elder says [them], and if not—a sage says [them], it follows that an elder is preferable, even though he is not a Torah scholar. Only if there is no elder does a sage say [them].

And the Gemara

was astonished:

“Do you mean, when they say ‘an elder’

[is it possible that the elder we mentioned, who is preferable], the intention is

even though he is not a sage?”

For surely a sage is always preferable to an ignorant elder!

Abaye said: This is what it means

[this is the meaning of the tanna]:

If there is

there

an elder, and he is

also

a sage—

he says

the same person, who is

an elder and he is

also

a sage.

And if not,

if there is no such person there—

a sage says

who is not an elder.

And if not,

if there is no sage there who is not an elder—

a person of stature says .

then

a Sage speaks,

who is not an elder.

And what do they say?

“Our brothers! Not

the wearing of

sackcloth and fasting, which are external acts, cause

the Holy One, blessed is He, to answer us ,

but—

repentance and good deeds cause.

sackcloth and fasting,

which are merely outward acts,

For so we find concerning the people of Nineveh, that it was not stated about them

when they repented, wore sackcloth, and fasted [as is related in the Book of Jonah]:

“And God saw their sackcloth and their fasting,” but

rather, this is what was stated:

“And God saw their deeds, that they had returned from their evil way.” It was said concerning the people of Nineveh: “And the people of Nineveh believed in God, etc., and he proclaimed and said in Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles, etc.,

and let man and beast cover themselves with sackcloth.”

What did they do

[what and how did they act]?

They tied the animals separately and the young separately

[they tied the animals separately and their young separately],

so that great anguish was caused to them.

They said before Him [before the Holy One, blessed is He]: “Master of the worlds! If You do not have mercy on us, we will not have mercy on these” . That is, just as You say and command us to have mercy on all living creatures, as it is stated: “And His mercies are upon all His works,” so should You have mercy on us. It was further stated concerning the people of Nineveh: “And they called out to God forcefully.”

What did they do

and how did they act?

They tied up the animals separately and the young separately,

that is, they tied up the animals by themselves and their young by themselves, causing them great distress.

They said before Him,

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Master of the universe! If You do not have mercy on us, we will not have mercy on these.”

That is, just as You command us to have mercy on all living creatures, as it is stated, “His mercy is upon all His works,” so should You have mercy on us.

The expression “forcefully” implies that they spoke with force and with a legal claim.

What did they say

[what did they say in their prayer]?

They said before Him: “Master of the worlds! The humiliated and the unhumiliated, the righteous and the wicked—which is pushed aside before which?” For surely the righteous is pushed aside before the wicked .

What did they say

in their prayer?

And therefore, have mercy on us; destroy us.

It was further stated there:

“And each man returned from his evil way and from the violence that was in their hands” .

What is “and from the violence that was in their hands”?

Samuel said:

The people of Nineveh repented of robbery to such an extent that

even if

one of them

robbed

a

beam

[a beam],

and built it

and embedded it

in a citadel

[in a large building], he would not be satisfied with returning the value of the beam to its owner, but he would

tear down and destroy

the entire citadel

, and return

the

beam

Rav Adda bar Ahava said: A person who has a sin in his possession and confesses it, but does not abandon it [for example, he has committed the sin of robbery , confesses the sin, but does not return what he stole], to what is he comparable? To a person holding a dead creeping creature

itself

to its owner .

Rav Adda bar Ahava said: A person who has a sin in his possession and confesses

itself

to its owner .

to it,

but does not abandon it

[for example, he has the sin of robbery in his possession ,

and confesses the sin but does not return the stolen object], to what is he comparable? To a person who holds a dead creeping creature

that renders a person impure through contact with it,

that renders a person impure through contact with it,

in his hand.

For

as long as the creeping creature is in his hand,

even if he

immerses in all the waters in the world—

his immersion is not effective,

for immediately he becomes impure again from the creeping creature in his hand.

But if he

throws it

[if that person throws the creeping creature]

from his hand,

then

once he immerses in a

mikveh containing

forty seah

of water—

his immersion is immediately effective—

and he becomes purified from his impurity.

So too this person, who confesses the sin of robbery in his possession but does not return the stolen object—his repentance is not effective for him, since he still holds and clings to the stolen object. As it is stated: “He who confesses and abandons shall receive mercy.” We learn from this that only if he confesses and also abandons his sins, then the sinner will receive mercy from Heaven.

This teaches us that only when a person confesses and also abandons his sins does the sinner receive mercy from Heaven.

And

the verse

also says:

“Let us lift our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.”

It implies that together with the hands one must lift the heart heavenward. That is, to return from his corruption .

We learned in our Mishna:

:

“Let us lift our hearts with our hands to God in Heaven.”

This implies that together with the hands, one must lift the heart heavenward—that is, repent of his corruption .

“They stood for prayer; they bring before the

ark an elder, etc.”

The Sages taught: They stood for prayer; even though there is

among the congregation

an elder and a sage, they bring before the ark only a person who is accustomed

to prayer .

Rabbi Judah says,

the person who descends before the ark for a rain fast must possess these qualities:

the person who goes before the ark during a prayer for rain must possess the following qualities:

A. That he

be burdened

with children,

and has no

means with which to support them [his heart worries over them, and he cries out from the depths of his heart],

B.

and he has toil in the field.

For his fields are sown, and therefore he is especially in need of the rains,

D.

and his house is empty [

the Gemara now holds that the intention is that he has nothing in his house, that he is poor],

H.

and his record is fine [

this will be explained below],

V.

and humble [

humble] ,

Z.

and pleasing to the people [

he is agreeable to people, and they consent to his prayer],

H.

and he has a pleasant melody [

he knows how to make his voice pleasant with melody, and through this he draws the heart],

T.

and his voice is pleasant,

Y.

and he is proficient in reading the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, and in studying Midrash, halakhot, and aggadot,

so that the verses of the prayer are fluent upon his lips,

XI.

and he is proficient in all the blessings,

which are fluent upon his lips.

And the Sages set their eyes on him [

the Sages set their eyes on him]

Rabbi Yitzhak bar Ami,

for he possesses all these virtues, and he is fit to go before the ark.

And now the Gemara discusses the words of Rabbi Judah.