Taanit 31a — the Talmud in English

And

even Hosea was wicked and served idolatry. Rather, he did not wish to compel Israel to do so, to serve specifically idolatry, but

said: ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location on the page")

whichever they wish for

Israel to ascend

they shall ascend.

Whoever wishes to ascend for the pilgrimage to the Temple—let him ascend; and whoever wishes to go to serve idolatry—let him serve.

Rav Mattana said:

The fifteenth day of Av is the

day on which

the

slain of

the city of

Beitar

who were killed during the destruction of the Temple

were given burial.

.

And Rav Mattana said: The same day on which

they

slain of

Beitar were given burial, they instituted in Yavneh

the blessing

“Who is good and does good”

in the Grace after Meals.

“Who is good”—

for

the slain of Beitar did not putrefy

during all the time that they were not buried;

“and does good”—

for

they were given

ultimately

burial.

.

Rabba and Rav Yosef both said

—they both said together: The fifteenth day of Av is the

day on which

they

stopped cutting wood for

the

arrangement. And they made it a festival, since on that day they completed such an important mitzva.

They made that day a festival because on that day they completed such an important mitzva

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: From the fifteenth of Av onward, the strength of the sun weakened,

for it no longer warms as much as at the height of summer,

and

therefore

they would not cut

any more

wood for the arrangement, since it does not dry,

and there is concern that a worm will enter it. And wood containing a worm is unfit for the arrangement, as we find in tractate Middot, as we find in tractate Middot.

Rav Menashya said: And they called it

—that day on which they stopped cutting wood for the arrangement—

“the day of the breaking of the axe”

—the day of breaking the axe. For on that day the woodcutter stopped cutting wood for the arrangement.

From here onward,

from the fifteenth of Av onward,

whoever adds

to engaging in Torah even at night, and not only during the day,

will add

life to his life. For since the nights become longer, he must engage in Torah also at night.

But whoever does not add

to engaging in Torah at night—

will perish.

What does “will perish” mean?

Rav Yosef said: His mother will bury him

—his mother will bury him. That is, he will die young, before his time.

We learned in our Mishna:

The daughters of Jerusalem among them

go out in borrowed white garments

and so forth.

That is, the girls did not wear their own garments; rather, each one borrowed a garment from her companion and wore it. They did so so that the one who truly had none and was compelled to borrow from another would not be ashamed.

The Sages taught: A king’s daughter

would

borrow

a garment

from the daughter of the High Priest,

,

who was next to her in importance, for the High Priest is close and adjacent to the monarchy.

The daughter of the High Priest

would borrow a garment

from the daughter of the deputy

of the priests. [He is an important priest, and they appoint him to be ready for the service on Yom Kippur, so that if an impurity disqualification should occur to the High Priest, the deputy will serve in his place.]

And the daughter of the deputy

would borrow a garment

from the daughter of the anointed-for-war priest [he is the priest who proclaims at the time of war the proclamation stated in the Torah: “Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his home, and so forth.” And he is called “anointed-for-war priest” because he is anointed specifically for this purpose].

[he was the priest who, at a time of war, proclaimed the declaration stated in the Torah: “Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his home, and so on.” He was called the “anointed priest for war” because he was anointed especially for this purpose].

And the daughter of the anointed-for-war priest

would borrow a garment

from the daughter of

an ordinary priest [an ordinary priest].

[an ordinary priest].

And

the other daughters of

all Israel

would

borrow from one another.

.

And they did this

so that the one who had none would not be ashamed.

We learned in our Mishna:

All the garments require immersion.

Rabbi Elazar said: Even

if the garments were

folded and placed in a chest,

so that they certainly had not become impure, nevertheless they immersed them, so as not to shame the one who needed to immerse the garments.

We learned in our Mishna:

The daughters of Israel go out and dance in the vineyards.

The tanna taught: One who has no wife—

turns

[turns and goes]

there ,

,

to the vineyards, where the daughters of Israel were dancing.

We learned in our Mishna:

The well-born among them would say

“Young man, and so forth.”

The beautiful among them,

among those girls who danced in the vineyards,

what would they say—

They would say this:

“Turn your eyes to beauty, for a woman is only for beauty.”

The well-born among them

, what would they say—

They would say this:

“Turn your eyes to family, for a woman is only for children.”

And if your sons are well-born, everyone will rush to marry them.

The unattractive among them, what would they say—

“Take your acquisition for the sake of Heaven

[take us for the sake of Heaven],

provided that

after the marriage

you adorn us with gold.”

That you give us jewelry and fine garments.

Ulla of Beira said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: In the future the Holy One, blessed is He, will make a circle-dance

for the righteous [“Circle-dance” is an expression of encirclement in a circle: the righteous will sit around the Holy One, blessed is He, in a circle].

[“circle-dance” refers to an encircling circle. The righteous will sit around the Holy One, blessed be He, in a circle].

And He,

the Holy One, blessed is He,

sits among them in the Garden of Eden.

And each and every one

of the righteous

points

to the Holy One, blessed is He,

with his finger,

, and says: “Here is our God; we hoped for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we hoped for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

and says: “Behold, this is our God; we hoped for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we hoped for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

As it is stated: “And he will say on that day: Behold, this is our God

for whom we hoped, and He will save us; this is the Lord for whom we hoped; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

That is, in the future, every righteous person will point to the Holy One, blessed is He, and say: “Behold, this is our God, and so forth.”

We shall return to you, chapter “In Three Periods,” and tractate Taanit is concluded