Taanit 26a (כו.) — the Talmud in English

Abaye and Rava both say

[they both said the same thing]: the reason is

because we do not recite

Hallel ha-Gadol

except over a satisfied soul and a full belly.

And this is because in Hallel ha-Gadol the verse is written: “Who gives bread to all flesh,” and therefore it is fitting that it be recited when they are satisfied.

The Gemara wonders:

Is that so?

Is the law really so, that we do not recite Hallel before they have eaten and drunk?

But Rav Pappa happened to come to the synagogue of Avi Gover

whose name was “Avi Gover"],

and decreed a fast, and rain fell for them until midday.

And he said

Rav Pappa

Hallel

while they were in the synagogue, in their fast,

and

only

afterwards they ate and drank!

And the Gemara answers: In truth, they do not recite Hallel after the fast before they eat and drink.

It is different

[they are different],

with the people of Mehoza

[there was that synagogue of Avi Gover],

for drunkenness is common among them

[drunkenness is common among them. That is, they are accustomed to becoming drunk]. And if they eat and drink, they will become drunk, and they will act wickedly and will not recite Hallel.

Therefore Rav Pappa told them that first they should recite Hallel, and only afterwards should they eat and drink.

We shall return to you, chapter “The Order of These Fasts.”

Mishna:

On most days of the year, the priests raise their hands once a day, during the morning prayer.

On days when the Additional prayer is recited, the priests raise their hands twice: during the morning prayer and during the Additional prayer.

However,

on three occasions [

times]

during the year,

the

priests raise their hands four times a day.

These are the four times a day when the priests raise their hands:

A.

In

the prayer of

Shacharit,

B.

In

the prayer of

Musaf,

C.

In

the prayer of

Mincha,

D.

And in

the prayer of

Ne'ilah, the closing prayer [

that is, the fourth prayer that we recite on Yom Kippur toward evening . They would also customarily recite the Ne'ilah prayer on fast days ].

These are the three times during the year when the priests raise their hands four times:

A.

On fast days,

B.

And on the ma'amadot, ,

C.

And on Yom Kippur.

Now, what fast days are, and what Yom Kippur is, is well known. But we must explain what the ma'amadot mentioned here were.

These are the ma'amadot:

as it is stated

concerning the daily offering:

"Command the Children of Israel regarding My offering, My food, etc."

you shall observe to offer it to Me at its appointed time. Here the Torah commanded the Children of Israel to offer the daily offering each and every day: one lamb in the morning and one lamb in the evening.

And how did that offering relate to all Israel?

It was because the offering was purchased from the half-shekel contribution , which was given by every member of Israel.

This raises a question: If the daily offering was the offering of all Israel,

how could a person's offering be sacrificed when he does not stand over it?

For the owner of an offering must stand over his offering when it is sacrificed , yet it is impossible for all Israel to stand over the daily offering!

Therefore

the early prophets instituted [

namely, Samuel and David, as explained below in the Gemara]

twenty-four watches of priests,

each watch from a different place in Eretz Yisrael. These watches would go up to Jerusalem for service, each in its turn, for one week .

And for each watch

that went up to Jerusalem for service,

there was a ma'amad in Jerusalem consisting of priests, Levites, and Israelites .

Priests, Levites, and Israelites would go up to Jerusalem.

And for what purpose did they go up?

Priests—for the service.

Levites—for the song.

Israelites—to stand over their offering and the offering of their brethren who remained in their cities.

When

the time came for the watch to go up

to Jerusalem,

priests and Levites [

and likewise those Israelites who would go up to stand over their offering]

would go up to Jerusalem.

And

the rest of

the Israelites belonging to that watch [

from the region from which that watch came], who remained in their places and did not go up,

would gather in their cities

to pray for the offering of their brethren who had gone up, that it should be accepted favorably. They would fast , take out a Torah scroll, and

read the account of Creation .

[Below it will be explained why they specifically read the account of Creation.]

This was the order of the Torah reading: On the

first day

of that week, they would read from the beginning of the portion of

Bereishit,

and also the portion of

"And there was a firmament."

The reason they did not read only the first portion of Bereishit, but added the portion of "And there was a firmament," is that the first portion does not contain nine verses, the amount required for the reading by a priest, a Levite, and an Israelite [for one does not read fewer than three verses from the Torah].

On

the

second

day, they would read the portion of

"Let there be a firmament," and

the portion of

"Let the waters be gathered."

On

the

third

day, they would read the portion of

"Let the waters be gathered," and

the portion of

"Let there be luminaries."

On

the

fourth

day, they would read the portion of

"Let there be luminaries," and

the portion of

"Let the waters swarm."

On

the

fifth

day, they would read the portion of

"Let the waters swarm," and

the portion of

"Let the earth bring forth."

On

the

sixth

day, they would read the portion of

"Let the earth bring forth,"

and the portion of

"And the heavens were completed."

On the seventh day of the watch, which was Shabbat, they would read the regularly scheduled weekly portion.

And how would they read these portions?

A large portion,

that is, a portion containing more than three verses, such as the first portion of Bereishit, which contains five verses,

would be read by two people [

by two individuals, who would each go up for its reading, as will be explained below in the Gemara].

And

a

small portion,

which contains only three verses, would be read by

one

person who goes up

alone.

In

the prayer of

Shacharit and in Musaf

, and in Mincha

, they would enter and read from memory [

each one by heart, individually ]

just

as

they read the

recitation of

the Shema.

All this applies on the other days of the week. But

on Friday, during

the prayer of

Mincha they would not enter [

they would not gather in the synagogue]—

because of the honor of Shabbat.

That is, because they were occupied with preparing the needs of Shabbat.

On every day on which

the recitation of

Hallel takes place—

there is no

ma'amad

during

the prayer of

Shacharit.

That is, those Israelites who stood in Jerusalem over the offering of their brethren did not conduct the ma'amad on that day.

The reason is that there is not enough time to recite both the Hallel and the ma'amadot. And the ma'amad was therefore postponed because of the Hallel.

And on a day when there is

an additional offering,

whose sacrifice involves more activity than the sacrifice of the daily offering, which they would sacrifice every day, since there is no additional offering that does not contain at least two animals [ whereas the daily offering consists of one animal]—because the priests of that watch are occupied with sacrificing it, and the Israelites among them are occupied with chopping wood and drawing water—

there is no

ma'amad during the afternoon prayer , which is close to the time of sacrificing the additional offering.

And even

in

the

Ne'ila

prayer, which is farther removed from the time of sacrificing the additional offering, there is no ma'amad, because they are still occupied.

And on a day when there is

an offering of wood [

the nature of the “offering of wood” will be explained below]—

there is no

ma'amad

in

the

afternoon prayer, which is close to the time of the offering of wood,

because they are occupied with sacrificing it. But during the Ne'ila prayer, which is farther removed, there is a ma'amad .

These are the words of Rabbi Akiva.

Ben Azzai said

to Rabbi Akiva:

This is how Rabbi Yehoshua would recite

the matter:

On a day when there is

an additional offering—

there is no

ma'amad

in

the

afternoon prayer. But during the Ne'ila prayer, which is farther removed in the day, they conduct a ma'amad.

But on a day when there is

an offering of wood—

there is no

ma'amad

in

the

Ne'ila prayer.

The Gemara will explain the reason for Rabbi Yehoshua's ruling.

The Gemara will explain the reason for Rabbi Yehoshua’s ruling.

When Rabbi Akiva heard that this was how Rabbi Yehoshua would recite the teaching,

he returned

and

Rabbi Akiva too began to recite it according to Ben Azzai.

Since the matter of the offering of wood has been mentioned, the Mishna explains this matter at length.

The time of the priests and the people for the offering of wood,

that is, the fixed times when members of particular families would volunteer and bring wood for the arrangement, and those volunteers would bring an offering on the same day that they brought the wood—

There are nine

such times.

On each of these times, the families mentioned below would bring the wood and the offering.

These are the nine times and the families:

a.

On the first of

the month of

Nisan,

the wood was brought by

the descendants of Arah son of Judah [

that is, they were from the tribe of Judah. The same applies to all those mentioned below with the designation “son of Judah”]. When the exiles came up from Babylonia, they volunteered first, on the first of Nisan. The wood they brought sufficed for more than three and a half months—until the twentieth of Tammuz.

b.

On the twentieth of Tammuz,

when the wood brought by the descendants of Arah son of Judah had been exhausted, wood was brought by

the descendants of David son of Judah [

they were from the family of King David].

c.

On the fifth of Av,

wood was brought by

the descendants of Parosh son of Judah.

d.

On the seventh of that month [

the month of Av], wood was brought by

the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab [

they were from the family of Jethro].

e.

On the tenth of that month,

the month of Av, wood was brought by

the descendants of Senaah son of Benjamin [

they were from the tribe of Benjamin].

f.

On the fifteenth of that month,

the month of Av, wood was brought by

the descendants of Zattu son of Judah, and with them

wood was also brought by

priests and Levites, and anyone who had become uncertain of his tribal affiliation

and no longer knew with whom he should go,

and the descendants of the wood-carriers and the fig-cutters [

the identities of those called “the descendants of the wood-carriers” and “the descendants of the fig-cutters” will be explained below].

g.

On the twentieth of that month,

the month of Av, wood was brought by

the descendants of Pahat

Moab son of Judah.

the month of Av, the descendants of Pahat Moab son of Judah brought wood .

h.

On the twentieth of Elul,

wood was brought by

the descendants of Adin son of Judah.

i.

On the first of Tevet, when

they returned,

the descendants of Parosh,

who had already brought wood on the fifth of Av, brought wood a

second

time. On the first of Tevet,

which is the New Moon and falls during the days of Hanukkah,

there was no ma'amad

at all.

This was because

there was

both the recitation of

Hallel, and

also

the additional offering

of the New Moon,

and

also

an offering of wood,

which the descendants of Parosh brought. Therefore, since they were exceptionally occupied on that day, there was no ma'amad.

Five things

calamitous

befell our ancestors on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five

things befell them

on the ninth of Av.

These are the five things that befell our ancestors

on the seventeenth of Tammuz:

Daf 26b