Taanit 19a — the Talmud in English

That city,

upon which rains did not fall,

fasts, and

also

sounds the shofar.

And all

the cities that

surround it [adjacent to that city] ,

although rains fell upon them, nevertheless they

fast,

because the residents of that city upon which rains did not fall will go to buy produce in the surrounding cities, and through this there will be famine in them .

And

nevertheless, those cities

do not sound the shofar,

because in the end rains did fall upon them.

Rabbi Akiva says

to the contrary: those cities

sound the shofar —

but do not fast .

And likewise, a city in which there is

a plague of

pestilence [an epidemic in which people die],

[an epidemic in which people die],

or

there is in it

a collapse [that its walls and houses fall in the wind] ,

[in which its walls and houses fall in the wind] ,

that city—

fasts and sounds the shofar.

And all its surroundings fast and do not sound the shofar.

Rabbi Akiva says:

the cities surrounding it

sound the shofar—

but do not fast.

What is pestilence?

What epidemic is considered a plague of pestilence, on account of which they fast and sound the shofar?

A city that sends out five hundred footmen [that is, five hundred people leave it every day for their occupations] ,

[that is, five hundred people leave it each day for their occupations] ,

and three dead people went out from it in three days, one after the other—

this is

considered a plague of

pestilence.

But if they died

fewer than this—

this is not

considered a plague of

pestilence.

For

matters

these,

mentioned below, even if they occurred in a particular place,

they sound the shofar

over them

in every place ,

even in more distant places, and not only in the surroundings of that place in which they occurred:

For the shidafon

that struck the grain,

and for the yeraqon

which is a type of illness,

And for locusts,

and for the ḥasil

which is a type of locust,

and for a wild beast

that kills people,

And for the sword

which refers to armies advancing to kill and destroy everywhere,

For all these occurrences,

an alarm is sounded concerning it

everywhere,

because it is a plague

that

spreads

from place to place. Therefore, an alarm must be sounded everywhere, so that the plague should not reach them.

As we find, this is what

actually occurred: Elders descended from Jerusalem

to their cities

in Eretz Yisrael,

and decreed

upon the people of their place

a fast

, because there had appeared

an amount

the size of an ovenful

of shidafon

that is, grain had been blighted in an amount sufficient to make bread that would fill the mouth of an oven. The Gemara below will explain what “the size of an ovenful” means

in

the city

of Ashkelon,

even though it is not in Eretz Yisrael, but rather in the land of the Philistines.

They further decreed a fast

in their cities

because wolves had eaten two infants in Transjordan,

as this falls within the category of the wild beast mentioned above, which is a spreading plague.

Rabbi Yose says: No,

they did not decree a fast

because they had eaten

infants, for that is not what actually occurred.

Rather,

they decreed

because wolves had been seen

there, in Transjordan, although they had not yet caused harm.

For

occurrences

of this kind

that follow,

an alarm is sounded on Shabbat

by reciting Aneinu:

For a city surrounded by gentiles

to conquer it,

or

if the

river

surrounding the city is about to overflow its banks,

and for a ship tossed about at sea,

which is about to sink.

Rabbi Yose says: For

the purpose of

assistance,

so that people should come from distant places to help—an alarm is sounded. But

not for crying out.

One does not sound an alarm or cry out in a plea for mercy from Heaven on Shabbat, because we are not certain that our prayer will be effective, such that we should cry out for this on Shabbat.

[The following continues the discussion.] Shimon the Yemenite

says: Even for pestilence

an alarm is sounded on Shabbat.

And the Sages did not agree with him

concerning this matter, with Shimon the Yemenite.

For every trouble

that should not come

upon the community—

an alarm is sounded concerning them

, except for an excess

of an abundance

of rain.

That is, an alarm is not sounded because too much rain is falling.

The Mishna brings an incident concerning this matter.

An incident

occurred in Eretz Yisrael, where there was a drought.

They came and

said to Ḥoni HaMe'aggel

Pray that rain should fall!

He said to them,

Ḥoni:

Go out and bring in

the

Passover

для

ovens

made of clay and placed in courtyards, into the houses,

so that they should not dissolve

and melt and fall apart through the rainwater.

Ḥoni prayed

Ḥoni—and

yet

still

no rain fell .

What did he do?

He made a circle

by making a circular shape in the ground—

and stood inside it.

And he said before Him

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Master of the Universe! Your children have turned their faces toward me

that is, they trusted that my prayer would be effective, because

I am like a member of Your household before You.

“I swear by Your great Name that I will not move from here,

from within this circle,

until You have mercy on Your children.”

The rain began to drip,

as a small amount of rain fell.

Ḥoni said

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“This is not what I asked for;

I did not request such rain.

Rather, rain for cisterns, channels, and caves,

so that they would fill the water reservoirs.”

The rain began

to

fall violently

and with force. Such rain is also undesirable, since it can damage the plants.

Ḥoni said

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

“This is not what I asked for.”

Rather, rain of goodwill, blessing, and generosity,

falling gently and with a generous measure.

The rain fell

дождь

in its proper manner

and as usual. But it was so abundant that it flooded the streets of Jerusalem,

until Israel left Jerusalem for the Temple Mount,

which is the highest place in the city,

because of

the abundance of

rain .

Israel came

and

said to him

to Ḥoni:

“Just as you prayed for them

for the rain

to fall, so pray

for them now

that it should go away!”

He said to them,

Ḥoni:

“Go out and see whether the Stone of Claiming has been erased”

a high place in Jerusalem where anyone who had lost an object, or had found one, would go, since lost and found objects were announced there.

That is, they were to see whether the rainwater had covered that stone, which had stood in a high place in Jerusalem. If so, then there was indeed too much rain, and I will pray that it should go away.

Indeed, finally Honi brought a bull as an offering and prayed, and the rain ceased [as is related in the baraita brought in the Gemara below].

Shimon ben Shetah sent word to him

to Honi:

Had it not been —

that

you were Honi —

I would decree

[I would have decreed]

excommunication upon you.

For it is not fitting to speak in such a manner before the Holy One, blessed is He: that you speak harshly toward the Holy One, blessed is He, saying: “This is not what I asked for!”

But what can I do for you, that you make yourself as a child

before the Omnipresent—

and

He

does your will, like

a

son who makes himself as a child before his father—

and does his will.

And concerning you Scripture says: “Let your father and your mother rejoice, and let her who bore you exult” .

The Mishna continues and discusses the matter of fasts for rain.

They would fast

because of the withholding of rain,

and rain fell for them.

If the rain fell

before sunrise—

they would not complete

their fast, to fast until evening. For before the time when the fast began—at sunrise—the rain had already fallen.

But if the rain fell

after sunrise,

when the fast had already taken effect upon them—

they would complete

their fast, despite the fact that they had already been answered from Heaven .

Rabbi Eliezer says:

If the rain fell

before midday,

which is the time of eating, this is considered as though they had not begun to fast, since the fast is recognizable in that they do not eat the meal at its proper time, at midday. Therefore

they would not complete

their fast .

But if the rain fell

after midday,

when they had already begun their fast—

they would complete

the fast .

An incident

occurred:

they decreed a fast in the

city of

Lod

because of the withholding of rain,

and rain fell for them before midday

that day.

Rabbi Tarfon said to them:

Since rain fell before midday, the fast did not take effect. Therefore

go out and eat and drink, and make it a festive day

with joy.

And they went out

the people,

and ate and drank, and made it a festive day.

And toward evening

they came to the synagogue,

and recited the Great Hallel .

That is, the psalm: “Give thanks to the God of gods, for His kindness is forever.”

And the reason they said this psalm is because it says in it: “He gives bread to all flesh, for His kindness is forever.”

Gemara:

We learned in our Mishna:

“The order of these fasts stated for the first rainfall.”

It follows for us that already at the time of the first rainfall, if rain had not fallen, they fast.

And we raise a contradiction:

If the time of the

first and second rainfall

passed and rain had not fallen, then there is

a request

[a petition] for rain.

But if the time of the rainfall’s

third

passed and rain still had not fallen, then there is

a fast .

It is proven that they fast only at the third rainfall, whereas at the first and second they merely request rain!

Rav Yehuda said: This is what he is saying

[this is what he said; this is what the tanna of our Mishna intended]:

The order of fasts stated

above—when does it apply? When the first rainfall has passed. That is,

when the first, second, and third rainfall have passed—

and rain has not fallen.

For all the rains of the early rainy season—that is, the three rainfalls—are called the first rainfall .

But

if

rain fell at the first rainfall, and they sowed

the soil,

and they did not sprout

the plants.

Alternatively

also

[or] indeed

they sprouted

plants,

and

afterward

changed again

into something else—

they sound an alarm over them immediately .

Rav Nahman said:

What we learned in our Mishna, that they sound an alarm over them immediately, means

specifically

when

the plants have changed. For then one should pray that their appearance return to its proper state, as they are accustomed to look.

the plants. In that case, one should pray that their appearance return to normal, as they are normally seen.

But

if they

have dried up—

they do not

sound an alarm immediately, because prayer will no longer help, and this would be a vain prayer .

And the Gemara wondered: What did Rav Nahman teach us?

It is obvious

[it is plain],

“they changed” we learned

[for in the Mishna we learned that specifically if they changed, then they sound an alarm immediately]!

And the Gemara explains:

It is necessary

[Rav Nahman’s words were necessary] only for the case of

dakun.

That the crop rose in its stalk [in its stem] and improved somewhat after it had dried .

Lest you say

[perhaps you might say] that

the slight improvement

that small repair

is a matter of significance

[is something meaningful], and prayer will help improve them further,

it teaches us

[Rav Nahman teaches us] that this is not so. For that slight improvement is not considered anything at all, and prayer will not help .

We learned in our Mishna:

“And likewise, if the rains ceased between one rain and another, and so on,”

because it is a blow of drought.

What is “a blow of drought”?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

When there is such an interruption between the rains, it is

a blow

that

brings

in the end

to drought.