Taanit 4a — the Talmud in English

fine rain [

fine rains],

even for a seed beneath a clod [

for a seed hidden beneath the hard ground ]

it is beneficial [

it benefits it]. For it immediately begins to sprout and rise.

The Gemara asks:

What is fine rain [

what is the meaning of the expression “fine rain”], and why is fine rain called by this name?

And the Gemara explains: “fine rain” is a contraction of

“Awaken, cracks.”

That is, this rain, because it is very fine, closes the cracks of the earth [“cracks” are fissures] .

And Rava said: This young Torah scholar [

a young Torah scholar ]

resembles a seed beneath a clod [

resembles a seed beneath a clod of earth ],

for once it has sprouted—

it has sprouted [

once it has begun to sprout, it will certainly continue and grow]. So too a Torah scholar: once his name has gone forth, he certainly continues to grow upward .

And Rava said: This young Torah scholar who becomes angry [

a young Torah scholar who becomes angry],

it is the Torah that makes him angry [

it is the Torah that causes him to become angry and heated]. Since, through his Torah, he possesses breadth of heart and extra understanding, he “takes things to heart” more than other people, and therefore he becomes angry.

As it is said: “Are not My words like fire, says the Lord?”

And that is, the Torah, which is the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, is like fire .

And Rava teaches us that if one sees a Torah scholar who is angry, he must judge him favorably, because it is the Torah that makes him angry.

And Rav Ashi said: Any Torah scholar

who is not hard [

strict]

like iron

, is not a scholar

of Torah . As it is said in the continuation of the verse cited above:

“And as a hammer shatters a rock.”

Thus, words of Torah are compared to a hammer made of hard iron.

Rabbi Abba said to Rav Ashi: You, from there do you teach it [

you learn this matter from that verse, “As a hammer shatters a rock”].

But

we, from here do we teach it [

we learn this matter from the following verse].

For it is written: “A land whose stones are iron” .

Do not read [

do not read the word as it appears before us in the verse]:

“its stones,” but rather

in order to expound something from the verse, read it as follows:

“its builders” .

And who are “its builders”?

These are Torah scholars, who sustain the world through their Torah, and it is as though they build the world.

And it is written in the verse “whose stones are iron,” implying that the sage must be hard like iron.

Ravina said: Even so,

although the Torah causes a person to be strict and angry, nevertheless

a person must train himself to act calmly [

a person must accustom himself to act calmly] .

As it is said: “And remove anger from your heart, etc.”

That is, although a person naturally has anger, he must take measures to remove that trait from his heart.

The Gemara now brings the words of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani, because the continuation of the matter is connected with the descent of rain.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Three

asked [

requested] something from the Holy One, blessed be He, and they did so

improperly.

That is, they did not state their request in the proper manner. They did not specify their request in such a way that no mishap would result from it.

To two

of them, although they did not ask properly,

they answered him properly [

that is, their request was answered in a proper and fitting manner].

And

to one

of them, just as he asked improperly, so

they answered him improperly.

And these are they,

those three:

A.

Eliezer, Abraham’s servant,

B.

and Saul son of Kish,

C.

and Jephthah the Gileadite.

And the Gemara explains:

Eliezer, Abraham’s servant,

where do we find that he asked improperly?

For it is written

that when Eliezer went to seek a wife for Isaac, he requested from the Holy One, blessed be He: “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please cause it to happen before me today, and perform kindness with my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water,

and the daughters of the townsmen are coming out, etc.” [

to draw water].

“And it shall be that the maiden to whom I shall say, ‘Please tilt your pitcher, etc.,’

You have designated for Your servant, for Isaac.”

That is, Eliezer requested from the Holy One, blessed be He, that He give him a sign through this: the maiden who would give him and his camels water would be the woman designated for Isaac.

And this request was improper, for Eliezer said without qualification that any maiden who would come and give him and his camels water would be the mate designated for Isaac.

Could it be

that

even

if she were

lame [

limping], and

even

if she were

blind [

sightless]?! For according to his words and request, a defective maiden might have come, and he would not have noticed it , and would take her for Isaac!

But nevertheless,

they answered him

from Heaven

properly,

and Rebecca happened to come to him,

who was perfect both in her body and in her traits.

The Gemara continues and explains:

Saul son of Kish,

where do we find that he asked improperly?

For it is written

that when Goliath the Philistine went out to taunt the ranks of Israel, they proclaimed in the name of King Saul:

“It shall be that the man who strikes him [

who kills Goliath],

the king will enrich him with great wealth, and he will give him his daughter.”

And this proclamation of the king was improper, because he did not specify his words. For

could it be even

if that man were

a slave, even

even if that man were

a mamzer,

the king would give him his daughter as a wife?!

Nevertheless,

they answered him

from Heaven

properly, and David happened to come to him [

for he struck Goliath], and he indeed married Michal, Saul’s daughter.

Jephthah the Gileadite,

where do we find that he asked improperly?

As it is written,

when Jephthah went out at the head of the Children of Israel to wage war against the Children of Ammon, he made a vow and said:

“And it shall be that whatever comes out, which comes out from the doors of my house, etc.,

it shall be the Lord’s, and I shall offer it up as an olah-offering.” And this request was not proper, because

it could be

that

even

if

an impure thing came out from the door of his house,

he would offer it up as an olah-offering to the Holy One, blessed be He?!

Indeed,

they answered him

from Heaven

improperly,

and

his daughter happened to come out to him [

who came out from the door of his house first, when he returned from the war] .

And this is what the prophet said to Israel [

and this is what the prophet said to Israel]:

“Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there?”

The prophet argued: Pinchas was there, in Gilead, and he could have released Jephthah from his vow [but Jephthah did not want to go to Pinchas because of his arrogance. For he said: I am a judge and a leader, and shall I go to him? It is more fitting that he come to me! Conversely, Pinchas did not want to go to Jephthah, for he said: I am a prophet, and shall I go to him? And both of them were punished for this] . It is evident that this was not the desire of the Lord, that Jephthah should offer his daughter as an olah-offering .

And it is written

in the prophecy of Jeremiah: “So said the Lord, etc.: Behold, I am bringing evil upon this place, etc., because they abandoned Me, etc., and built the high places of the Baal, to burn their sons in fire as olot-offerings to the Baal,

which I did not command, nor speak, nor did it arise upon My heart.”

And this is what the prophet said to Israel when he saw that they were sacrificing their sons to the Baal:

Do not say: Did not the Holy One, blessed be He, indeed command Mesha, king of Moab, and Jephthah, and Abraham, to offer their sons to Him as an olah-offering? It is not so!

“Which I did not command”

, this is the son of Mesha, king of Moab,

whom his father offered as an olah-offering.

As it is stated

when Israel fought against Moab: “And the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, etc.,

and he took his firstborn son, who was to reign in his place, and offered him as an olah-offering.”

And he intended it for the sake of Heaven , for he thought that by this he would appease the Holy One, blessed be He. And the prophet said that the Holy One, blessed be He, had not commanded this.

“Nor did I speak,” this is the daughter of Jephthah,

for Jephthah offered his daughter as an olah-offering [as was explained above]. And the Holy One, blessed be He, did not speak this, for we find that Pinchas and Jephthah were mentioned unfavorably for not releasing the vow .

“Nor did it arise upon My heart,” this is Isaac son of Abraham,

for it did not arise upon the heart of the Holy One, blessed be He, that Abraham should sacrifice Isaac; rather, he intended only to test him .

Rabbi Berechiah said: Also

concerning

the Assembly of Israel

we find that she

asked improperly, but

nevertheless

the Holy One, blessed be He, answered her properly.

As it is stated,

that the Assembly of Israel said and requested:

“And let us know, let us pursue knowing the Lord; like the dawn, certain is His emergence, and He will come to us like the rain.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her

to the Assembly of Israel:

My daughter

, you ask

that you should know the Lord, and that He should come to you like rain, which is

something that is sometimes requested [

sometimes it is desired],

and sometimes is not requested.

For rain in summer is a sign of a curse.

But I

will do more than you request, and

I will be for you

like

something that is requested

and needed

always [

constantly].

As it is stated: “I shall be like dew to Israel,”

for dew is something that is requested always [as we said above, that it never ceases] .

And another question

the Assembly of Israel

asked improperly.

She said before Him: “Set me as a seal upon Your heart, as a seal upon Your arm.”

And this means that the Assembly of Israel requested that she be to the Holy One, blessed be He, like a seal [like a signet] upon the heart and the arm, so that He would not forget her.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: My daughter, you ask

that I be for you like a seal upon the heart and upon the arm, and the heart and the arm are

something that is sometimes seen

and exposed,

and sometimes is not seen [

for sometimes the heart and the arm are covered by clothing], and therefore there is still concern that the matter may be forgotten.

But I shall do for you something that is seen forever, as it is stated: “Behold, upon the palms I have engraved you,”

for the Holy One, blessed be He, engraved the memory of Israel upon His palm [for the palm of the hand is always exposed ].

We learned in our Mishna:

We do not ask for rain, etc.

They supposed [

the members of the beit-midrash supposed] that what was mentioned in the Mishna,

the asking

for rain: “We do not ask for rain except close to the rains,”

and what was mentioned in the Mishna,

the

the mention

of rain: “From when does one mention the powers of rain, etc.,”

is one matter [

they are one matter]. And the intention is to the mention of rain, when one says in the prayer, “Who makes the rain fall.”

If so,

which tan[n]aitic authority,

who is the tan[n]aitic authority who holds that one mentions rain only close to its season, and not beforehand?

Rava said: It is Rabbi Joshua, who says

that one begins mentioning rain

from the time of putting down

the lulav . That is, from the day of Shemini Atzeret . And this is “close to the rains,” for from the end of the festival onward is the proper time for the rains to fall.

Abaye said to him: You may even say [

you can even say] that the tan[n]aitic authority of our Mishna is

Rabbi Eliezer,

who holds that one mentions rain from the first festival day of the festival.

For it is possible to say that asking and mentioning are not one matter, but

asking

is a matter

apart,

by itself, in which one requests, “And give dew and rain.” And this is not the mention of rain concerning which Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua disagree. Indeed, one asks for rain only close to the rains, from Shemini Atzeret.

And mentioning

is a matter

apart,

in which one says, “Who makes the rain fall,” and one mentions rain already from the first festival day of the festival.