Taanit 18b — the Talmud in English

In any event,

they are permitted to eulogize and to fast.

And now,

when

[that is, concerning which days did we learn in the Mishna that they are permitted for eulogizing and fasting?

If you say

[that is, if it is said] that it is referring to

those of the fifteenth

[the inhabitants of walled cities, whose time is on the fifteenth of Adar],

and they read it on the fourteenth

[and in a case where they read the Megilla on the fourteenth, such as when a person who permanently resides in a walled city went to a village, whose time of reading is on the fourteenth of Adar, for the law is that this inhabitant of a walled city reads with them on the fourteenth, because a person who is found even for one day in an unwalled town is called a “peruz ben yomo,” and reads with them].

It is impossible to say so.

For

is it permitted

[is it indeed permitted] for an inhabitant of a walled city, whose time is on the fifteenth, to eulogize and fast on the fourteenth?

But it is written

[and is it not written]

in the Scroll of Fasts: “The fourteenth day in it and the fifteenth day in it are the days of Purim”

[they are the days of Purim],

“so as not to eulogize on them”

[so that one may not eulogize on them].

And it must be understood: for what purpose did we learn there that they are forbidden for eulogizing and fasting?

If it is to forbid the inhabitants of the unwalled places, who read on the fourteenth, from fasting and eulogizing on the fourteenth, and the inhabitants of the walled cities, who read on the fifteenth, from fasting and eulogizing on the fifteenth—

the matter is unnecessary. For it is explicitly written in the Megilla: “To make them [the days of Purim] days of feasting and rejoicing,” and this means that it is forbidden to fast and to eulogize on them!

And Rava said: It is not necessary

[the matter is not necessary],

except to forbid the

day

of this one,

that is, the fifteenth day, which is the time of the inhabitants of the walled cities—

on this one,

the inhabitants of the unwalled places, for they too are forbidden to eulogize and fast on the fifteenth.

And

so too conversely: to forbid

the

day

of this one,

the fourteenth day, which is the time of the inhabitants of the unwalled places,

on this one,

the inhabitants of the walled cities, for they too are forbidden to eulogize and fast on the fourteenth.

It follows for us that everyone, both the inhabitants of the walled cities and the inhabitants of the unwalled places, is forbidden to eulogize and fast both on the fourteenth of Adar and on the fifteenth of it!

Rather

what shall we say? That it is referring to the inhabitants of the villages, who according to the basic law are

those of the fourteenth,

like all the inhabitants of the unwalled places. But the Sages instituted for them that they always advance their reading to the day of assembly [the day on which the courts sit in the towns, and the villagers enter there for judgment], that is, Mondays and Thursdays .

And

according to that enactment, it follows that if the fourteenth of Adar falls on a Tuesday, then they advance the villagers,

and they read it on the thirteenth

[and they read the Megilla on Monday, the thirteenth of Adar].

And let us say that the Mishna spoke in such a case: on that day, the thirteenth of Adar, on which the villagers read the Megilla, they are permitted to eulogize and fast—

it is impossible to say so.

For this date, the thirteenth of Adar—

is Nicanor’s Day

[the significance of this day will be explained below], which is a festival, and one is forbidden to eulogize and fast on account of the day itself!

Rather

what shall we say? That it is referring to villagers, who are

those of the fourteenth, and

in a case where the fourteenth of Adar falls on a Wednesday, so that they advance their reading to Monday, which is the day of assembly, and it follows that

they read it on the twelfth

[they read the Megilla on the twelfth of Adar].

And let us say that the Mishna spoke in such a case. And the tannai said that on that day, the twelfth of Adar, they are permitted to eulogize and fast—

it is impossible to say so.

For the twelfth day of the month of Adar—

is Trajan’s Day

[the significance of this day will be explained below], and it is a festival, and one is forbidden to eulogize and fast on account of the day itself!

Rather, is it not

necessarily that one must say that it is referring to a case where the fourteenth of Adar falls on Sunday, so that the villagers advance [their reading] to Thursday, and it follows

that they read it on the eleventh

[they read on the eleventh of Adar].

And it teaches

[and concerning this day we learned in our Mishna], that it is

permitted for eulogizing and fasting,

even though the eleventh of Adar is the day before Trajan’s Day, which falls on the twelfth of Adar, which is a festival!

It follows for us that the day before a festival is permitted for eulogizing and fasting, and not as Rabbi Hiyya said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, that the day before a festival is forbidden for eulogizing and fasting!

And we reject this:

No.

In truth, the Mishna is referring to

those of the fourteenth, and

in a case where the fourteenth of Adar falls on a Wednesday, for

they read it on the twelfth

[then they read on the twelfth of Adar]. And concerning that day the tannai said that they are permitted for eulogizing and fasting.

And as for what you said

[and what you said and argued], that

it is Trajan’s Day,

which is a festival, and one is forbidden to fast and eulogize—

Trajan’s Day itself

[itself]—

they completely annulled it,

and made it an ordinary weekday,

since

two pious men were killed on it,

on that day:

Shemaiah and his brother Ahiah .

This is like

As with this

[as we find],

that Rav Nahman decreed a fast on the twelfth

[he decreed a fast on the twelfth of Adar].

The Sages said to him:

is it not

Trajan’s Day,

on which fasting is forbidden!

He said to them: Trajan’s Day itself

[itself]—

they completely annulled it, since Shemaiah and his brother Ahiah were killed on it.

The Gemara asks:

and

still, even though the twelfth itself is not a festival, how are they permitted to eulogize and fast on it?

Let it follow

[let this matter emerge] that they are forbidden to do so, because

it is

[this is]

the day before

the day of

Nicanor,

whose time is on the thirteenth of Adar, and for that reason it should be forbidden for fasting and eulogizing, like every day preceding a festival!

Rav Ashi said: it is impossible to forbid the twelfth for eulogizing and fasting for that reason, for it is a

kal va-chomer!

Now, if they themselves completely annulled it

[now, behold, the joy that they instituted on that day because of an event that occurred on that very day, namely, Trajan’s Day—they annulled it], because a bad event for Israel occurred on it, and therefore they said that one must conduct oneself on it with distress and not with joy.

And how can it be said that

because

it is the day before

Nicanor’s Day—

we shall rise and decree

[let us rise and decree that it is forbidden for eulogizing and fasting]?! For it is impossible that they annulled the sanctity and joy of the day itself, and there should still be sanctity and joy in it on account of another day!

And now the Gemara returns to explain because of which events those festivals were established.

What is Nicanor, and what is Trajan

[what was the incident involving Nicanor, and what was the incident involving Trajan]?

As it was taught: Nicanor—

one of the satraps

[of the commanders]

of the Greeks was.

And

when the Jews fought against the Greeks,

every single day he would raise his hand against Judea and Jerusalem, and say: “When will this

city

fall into my hands”—

“and I shall trample it” .

thumbs of his hands and feet of Nicanor, and hung them at the gates of Jerusalem. And they said: The mouth that spoke arrogantly, and the hands that were raised against Jerusalem—

And when the kingdom of the Hasmonean house prevailed and defeated them

[the Greeks],

they cut off

the

thumbs of his hands and feet ,

of Nicanor,

and they hung them at the gates of Jerusalem.

The thumbs of his hands were cut off in response to the fact that he had raised his hands; the thumbs of his feet were cut off in response to what he had said, “And I will trample it.” Maharsha.

And they said: “The mouth that spoke with arrogance, and the hands that were raised against Jerusalem”—

take vengeance upon them .

If you are of the people of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, your God should come— and save you from my hand, as He saved Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who cast them into the fiery furnace!

And that day, on which Nicanor was killed, the Sages established as a festival.

What is Trajan?

They said: When Trajan sought to kill Lulianus and Pappus

his brother,

who were completely righteous,

in Lodkiah

[which is the city of Lod ],

Trajan said to them

Trajan:

“If you are of the people of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, may your God come”—

“and save you from my hand, as He saved Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,”

who cast them into the fiery furnace!

They said to him

Lulianus and Pappus:

“Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah”—

were completely righteous, and they were worthy

that a miracle be performed for them.

And

even

Nebuchadnezzar was a worthy king

, and it was fitting to perform a miracle through him

[he was worthy that the Name of Heaven be sanctified through their being saved from his decree by way of a miracle].

And

if

that wicked man

[this is what they said about Trajan]—

he is an ordinary man, and he is not worthy that a miracle be performed through him.

And we,

we are not going out to be killed because of this fabricated accusation that you are fabricating against the Jews, but because of a transgression that is in our hands, whose punishment is execution by a court—we

have become liable for extermination

[killing]

before the Omnipresent.

And therefore, our death is not dependent upon you.

And if you do not kill us, the Omnipresent has many killers

other

ones, and the Omnipresent has many bears and lions in His world that strike us and kill us

[that are able to strike us and kill us in order to carry out the mission of the Omnipresent].

And in truth, the Holy One, blessed be He, could have killed us in another manner.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, did not deliver us into your hand

so that you would kill us,

but so that He will eventually exact payment for our blood from your hand

[so that He will exact from you the punishment for killing us].

And

even so,

although Trajan heard their words, he paid no attention to this, but

killed them immediately .

They said: They did not move from there —Trajan and his group did not have time to move from the place of the execution—

They said: They did not move from there

[Trajan and his group did not manage to move from there], from the place of the killing,

until the dyoflei came

[two ministers ]

from Rome, and smashed his brain

of Trajan

with rods

[with sticks ].

We learned in our Mishna:

“One does not initially decree a fast upon the community on Thursday, and so forth; one does not decree a fast on the New Moons, and so forth,”

and if they began, they do not interrupt. Rabbi Meir said: although Rabban Gamaliel said that they do not interrupt, he agreed that they do not complete [the fast].

It follows for us that although one does not decree a fast on the New Moons, on Hanukkah, or on Purim, nevertheless, if they had already begun fasting beforehand, they do not interrupt the fast when those days arrive.

And

now we must clarify

how much is considered a beginning

[how much time is considered a beginning, so that they no longer interrupt the fast]?

Rav Aha said: Three

fasts . That is, Monday, Thursday, and Monday. If they had already fasted on Monday, Thursday, and Monday before those days of rejoicing arrived, they no longer interrupt the fast.

Rabbi Asi said:

Even if they began fasting for

one

fast, this is considered a beginning, and they may no longer interrupt their fast.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: This,

what we learned in our Mishna—that although they do not completely interrupt the fasts, nevertheless they do not complete their fast; rather, they eat before nightfall—

is the statement of Rabbi Meir, who said it in the name of

[in the name of]

Rabban Gamliel

.

But the Sages say:

In such a case, where they had already begun the fast beforehand,

he fasts

on Rosh Chodesh, Hanukkah, and Purim,

and

also

completes

his fast until evening.

Mar Zutra expounded in the name of Rav Huna:

The

halakha

is that if he began the fasts beforehand,

he fasts and completes them .

We will return to you, chapter “The Order of Fast Days: How?”

Mishna:

The order of these fast days stated

in the previous chapter—that at first individuals fast, and afterward the community fasts, and afterward they intensify their fasts, and the entire order stated there speaks

of

the situation in which the time has arrived for

the first rainfall

of rain—and rains have not fallen.

But crops that changed

from their usual manner—that is, instead of wheat a thorn came forth [a type of thorn], or instead of barley a weed arose —

they sound the shofar

for them immediately.

For already on the first fasts, the stringency of the last fasts mentioned in the Mishna above applies .

And likewise

in a situation

in which rains ceased between one rainfall and another [that there was an interruption in the falling of the rains between the first and second rainfall] for

for

forty days,

they sound the shofar over them, because it is a drought-plague [that this is a sign of a drought-plague ].

[that is, it is a sign of a drought].

And likewise in a situation in which

rains fell

rains

for the crops, but did not fall for the trees [that is, they fell in a manner in which they benefit only the crops and do not benefit the trees. And the Gemara will explain in what situation this is meant], or the opposite occurred, that rains fell

for the

for the trees, but not

fell

for the crops,

Or rains fell

for this one and for that one,

for the crops and for the trees,

but they did not

fall

for the pits, the channels, and the caves [a pit is a round excavation; a channel is long and narrow; a cave is a covered excavation],

which are places for gathering water for drinking and washing clothes—

In all these cases,

they sound the shofar over them immediately.

And likewise

in a situation in which rains fell in the province, but there is

one city

one

upon which rains did not fall,

as we find

for it is written in the Book of Amos: “The Lord swore, etc.

in the Book of Amos: “The Lord has sworn, and so forth:

and I will make it rain upon one city, and upon one city I will not make it rain; one portion shall receive rain, etc.” ,

which is a sign of a curse ,