Taanit 18b (יח:) — the Talmud in English

Nevertheless,

it is permitted to eulogize and fast.

And now,

when [that is, when]

did we state in the Mishna that it is permitted to eulogize and fast? With regard to which days?

If you say [that is, if it is said] that it is referring to

the

residents of walled cities [that is, residents of cities surrounded by a wall, whose time is on the fourteenth of Adar],

and they read the Megilla on the fourteenth [that is, 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 for reading is on the fourteenth of Adar. The halakha is that this resident of a walled city reads with them on the fourteenth, because one who is present even for one day in an unwalled town is called a peruz ben yomo, “a resident of an unwalled place for one day,” and reads with them

and they call it the fourteenth [that is, they read the Megilla on the fourteenth],

it is impossible to say this.

Because

is

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

And is it not written

in the Megillat Ta’anit:

“The fourteenth day of it and the fifteenth day of it are the days of Purim”

[that is, they are the days of Purim],

“on which it is not permitted to eulogize”

?

And it must be understood: why did we state there that it is prohibited to eulogize and fast?

If it was to prohibit fasting and eulogizing for residents of unwalled places, who read on the fourteenth, on the fourteenth, and for residents of walled cities, who read on the fifteenth, on the fifteenth—

this is unnecessary. For it is explicitly written in the Megilla: “to establish them [the days of Purim] as days of feasting and joy,” which means that it is prohibited to fast and eulogize on them!

And Rava said:

It is not necessary

[that is, this is unnecessary],

except to prohibit the

day

of this one,

namely, the fifteenth, which is the day of the residents of walled cities—

on this one,

the residents of unwalled places, who are also prohibited from eulogizing and fasting on the fifteenth.

And

the same applies in the reverse case: to prohibit

the

day

of this one,

the fourteenth, which is the day of the residents of unwalled places,

on this one,

the residents of walled cities, who are also prohibited from eulogizing and fasting on the fourteenth.

Thus, we find that everyone, both the residents of walled cities and the residents of unwalled places, is prohibited from eulogizing and fasting both on the fourteenth of Adar and on the fifteenth of Adar!

Rather,

what shall we say? That it is referring to the residents of the villages, who by the essential law are

residents of the fourteenth,

like all residents of 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 residents of the villages enter them for judgment], namely, Mondays and Thursdays.

And

according to that ordinance, it follows that if the fourteenth of Adar falls on a Tuesday, the residents of the villages advance their reading,

and they call it the thirteenth

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

And let us say that the Mishna spoke of such a case: On that day, the thirteenth of Adar, on which the residents of the villages read the Megilla, it is permitted to eulogize and fast—

it is impossible to say this.

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 on which it is prohibited to eulogize and fast in its own right!

Rather,

what shall we say? That it is referring to residents of villages, who are

residents of the fourteenth, and

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

they call it the twelfth

[that is, they read the Megilla on the twelfth of Adar],

and let us say that the Mishna spoke of such a case. The tanna said that on that day, the twelfth of Adar, it is permitted to eulogize and fast—

it is impossible to say this.

For the twelfth day of the month of Adar is

Turianus’s Day

[the significance of this day will be explained below], and it is a festival, and it is prohibited to eulogize and fast on it in its own right!

Rather, is it not

necessarily the case that the fourteenth of Adar falls on a Sunday, in which case the residents of the villages advance their reading to Thursday, and it follows that

they call it the eleventh

[that is, they read on the eleventh of Adar].

And it teaches

[with regard to this day we stated in our Mishna] that it is

permitted to eulogize and fast,

even though the eleventh of Adar is the day preceding Turianus’s Day, which falls on the twelfth of Adar and is a festival!

Thus, we find that the day preceding a festival is one on which it is permitted to eulogize and fast, and not as Rabbi Ḥiyya said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan, that the day preceding a festival is one on which it is prohibited to eulogize and fast!

And we reject this:

No.

In truth, the Mishna is referring to

residents of the fourteenth, and

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

and they call it the twelfth

[as they then read on the twelfth of Adar]. And with regard to that day the tanna said that it is permitted to eulogize and fast.

And what you said

[and what you said and argued], namely,

that it is Turianus’s Day,

which is a festival on which it is prohibited to fast and eulogize—

Turianus’s Day itself

[itself]—

they completely abolished it,

and made it an ordinary weekday,

since

two pious men were killed on it,

on that day:

Shemaiah and his brother Ahiah.

As [as we find], Rav Naḥman decreed a fast on the twelfth

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

The Sages said to him:

Is it not

Turianus’s Day,

on which fasting is prohibited?

He said to them: Turianus’s Day itself [itself]— they completely abolished it, since Shemaiah and his brother Ahiah were killed on it. The Gemara asks: And

it is Trajan Day,

on which fasting is prohibited!

still, although the twelfth itself is not a festival, how is it permitted to eulogize and fast on it?

Let it follow

[let this matter be inferred] that it is prohibited because

it is

[that it is]

the day preceding

the day of

Nicanor,

which falls on the thirteenth of Adar; and therefore it should be prohibited to fast and eulogize, like every day preceding a festival!

Rav Ashi said:

It cannot be prohibited to eulogize and fast on the twelfth for that reason, since there is a kal va-chomer!

Now, they themselves completely abolished it

[now, they abolished the joy that they had instituted on that day because of an event that occurred on that very day, namely, Turianus’s Day, because a negative event occurred to Israel on it; therefore they said that one must conduct oneself on it with sorrow and not with joy].

And how can it be said that

because

it is the day preceding

Nicanor’s Day—

we should rise and decree

[rise and decree that it is prohibited to eulogize and fast]?! Is it possible that they abolished the sanctity and joy of the day itself, and yet it should retain sanctity and joy because of another day?

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

What is Nicanor’s Day, and what is Turianus’s Day

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

As it was taught: Nicanor—

one of the prefects

[of the generals] of the

Greeks was.

And

when the Jews fought the Greeks,

every day he would raise his hand against Judea and Jerusalem and say: When will

this city

fall into my hands—

and I will trample it.

when the Jews fought the Greeks,

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

let vengeance be exacted through them.

—the Greeks—

they cut off

the

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

What is Turianus’s Day?

They said: When Turianus sought to kill Lulianus and Papus

his brother, who were entirely righteous, in Lodkia

[which is the city of Lod ],

"

Turianus said to 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!

They said to him,

Lulianus and Papus:

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—

they were entirely righteous, and they were worthy

of having a miracle performed for them.

And

even

Nebuchadnezzar was a proper king

, and it was fitting for a miracle to be performed through him

[it was appropriate that the Name of Heaven be sanctified through their being saved miraculously from his decree]. And if that wicked man [this is what they said about Turianus]— he is an ordinary person, and he is not worthy for a miracle to be performed through him. But we are not going to our deaths because of this false accusation that you are bringing against the Jews; rather, it is because of a transgression in our hands whose punishment is execution by a court— we have become liable to extermination

"

[execution]

by the Omnipresent.

Therefore, our death does not depend on you.

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

other

ones,

and the Omnipresent has many bears and lions in His world that can attack us and kill us

[that can attack and kill us in order to carry out the mission of the Omnipresent].

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

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

for

you to kill us

but so that He will ultimately exact payment for our blood from your hand [so that He will exact from you punishment for killing us]. And nevertheless, although Turianus heard their words, he paid no attention to them; rather, he killed them immediately.

that

They said: They did not move from there

[Turianus and his group did not have time to move from there], from the place of the execution,

until the duoflei came

[two officers ]

from Rome and split open his skull

of Turianus

with sticks

[with clubs ].

Therefore, our death does not depend on you.

And if you do not kill us, there are many killers

who are

available to Heaven, and there are many bears and lions in Heaven’s world that can strike us and kill us

—they can harm and kill us in order to carry out Heaven’s mission.

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

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

so that you would kill us,

but so that He will eventually exact our blood from your hands

—so that He will punish you for killing us.

And

even so,

We learned in our Mishna:

“One does not initially decree a fast upon the community on Thursday, etc.; one does not decree a fast on the New Moons, etc.”

And if they began, they do not interrupt. Rabbi Meir said: Although Rabban Gamliel said that they do not interrupt, he agreed that they do not complete the fast. Thus, 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 constitutes a beginning [how much time is considered a beginning, after which they no longer interrupt the fast]? Rav Aḥa said: Three fasts. That is, Monday, Thursday, and Monday. If they had already fasted on Monday, Thursday, and Monday before those days of joy arrived, they no longer interrupt the fast. Thus explained Rashi . But Rambam wrote in the commentary on the Mishna: "If they began, they do not desist; for if they began even one hour, they do not desist from the fasts, but complete them. It implies that he understands that what the Gemara states, 'three and one,' is not intended as days but as hours. And this is, that even though they did not have authority to decree fasts on these days, nevertheless if they began to fast, even for one hour, they do not desist. And he wrote the" Ritva that this is not correct. For if they began to fast because of a decree of the court intentionally or by mistake, what basis is there to distinguish between three hours and one hour? For still the majority of the day has not passed in sanctity so that they would not return from their error. And all the more so if they fasted not by a decree of the court, which is nothing. And in truth in Yad HaChazakah he did not write thus, but he wrote: Rambam thus, but he wrote: "

thus, but he wrote: "If they began to fast even one day, and Rosh Chodesh or Hanukkah or Purim occurs among them, they fast and complete the day as a fast." " and wrote the Ritva that it seems certain that what he wrote in the commentary on the Mishna is a scribe's error. And indeed he should have written " that it seems certain that what he wrote in the commentary on the Mishna is a scribe's error. And indeed he should have written "a single fast" " in place of " in place of "one hour" . " See there.

from Rome,

and struck his brain

—Trajan’s—

with

clubs

—

sticks.

We learned in our Mishna: “One does not initially decree a communal fast on Thursday, and one does not decree a fast on New Moons, and so on.”

And if they had already begun, they do not interrupt it. Rabbi Meir said: Although Rabban Gamliel said that they do not interrupt it, he agreed that they do not complete it.

It follows that although one does not decree a fast on New Moons, Hanukkah, or 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 constitutes a beginning

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

Rav Aḥa 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 Assi said :

even if they began to observe a fast

one

—this is regarded as a beginning, and again they do not interrupt their fast.

Rav Yehuda said Rav: This,

what we taught in our Mishna, that although one does not completely cease the fasts, nevertheless they do not complete their fast, but eat before dusk,

the words of Rabbi Meir, who said in the name of

in the name of

Rabban Gamliel

it is.

But the Sages say:

in such a case, that they had already begun the fast beforehand,

he fasts

Rosh Chodesh, Hanukkah and Purim,

and

even

completes

his fast until evening.

Mar Zutra expounded from the teachings of Rav Huna :

ruled

halakha

that if he began the fasts beforehand

fasts and completes.

Explanation: if he wishes to complete — it is permitted to complete [he is permitted to complete]. See "

[unclear: corrupted text]. Hadran on you, the chapter "Order of Taanit: How"

Mishna:

The order of these fast days stated

in the previous chapter—that at first individuals fast, afterward the community fasts, and afterward the severity of their fasts is increased, together with the entire order stated there—concerns the situation

in

which the time has arrived for

the first rainfall

and rain has not fallen.

But if the plants have changed

from their usual appearance—that is, instead of wheat, a thorn has emerged [a type of thorn], or instead of barley, a weed has grown

they sound the alarm

over them immediately.

For already during the first fasts, the stringency of the later fasts mentioned in the Mishna above applies

. And likewise

in the situation

in which the rain ceased between one rainfall and the next

[meaning that there was an interruption in the falling of rain between the first and second rainfalls] for a period of

forty days,

they sound the alarm over them, because this is a drought

[a sign of a drought].

And likewise in a situation in which

rain has fallen

for the

plants, but has not fallen for the trees

[that is, rain fell in a manner that benefits only the plants and does not benefit the trees. The Gemara will explain in what situation this refers], or the reverse occurred: rain fell

for the trees, but not

for the

plants,

Or rain fell

for both,

for the plants and for the trees,

but did not

fall

into the cisterns, the pits, and the caves

[a cistern is a round excavation; a pit is long and narrow; a cave is a roofed excavation], which are places for collecting water for drinking and washing clothes—

In all these cases,

they sound the alarm over them immediately.

And likewise

in a situation in which rain has fallen throughout the country, but there is

one city

that

has not received rain,

as we find

as it is written

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

‘And I withheld rain from one city, and from another city I did not withhold rain; one portion was rained upon, and so forth.’” ,

which is a sign of a curse,