Taanit 5a — the Talmud in English

Rava said: Once he began

mentioning the rains on the eighth day, which is possibly the seventh,

he no longer stops

mentioning them; rather, he mentions them in all the prayers from then onward.

And likewise Rav Sheshet said: Once he began

mentioning the rains,

he no longer stops.

And Rav too retracted his position

[he returned from] what he had said initially, that he stops mentioning it in the afternoon prayer.

And from where do we know that he retracted?

For Rav Hananel said in the name of Rav:

This is how a person must conduct himself concerning the mention of the rains:

He counts

continuously

twenty-one days

from the first day of Rosh Hashanah,

just as one counts eighteen days from Rosh Hashanah until the day of

Yom Kippur ,

beginning to count those ten days from the first day of Rosh Hashanah , and then Yom Kippur arrives.

And

from then onward—that is, from the twenty-second day, which is the end of Sukkot—

he begins

to mention it.

And once he began

to mention it,

he no longer stops .

Thus we have that Rav retracted, and he too holds that once he began, he no longer stops.

And the halakha

[and the ruling of the halakha concerning this matter] is:

Once he began

to mention it,

he no longer stops.

Mishna:

Until when

—until what time of year—

does one ask for the rains

by saying, “And grant dew and rain for a blessing”?

Rabbi Judah says: Until

the festival of

Passover has passed.

Rabbi Meir says: Until

it has gone out and the entire month of

Nisan has passed.

As it is stated

in the Book of Joel: “And the children of Zion rejoice and are glad in the Lord your God, etc.”

“And He will bring down rain for you, the early rain

and the latter rain in the first month.”

And “the first” means the month of Nisan, which is the first of the months . Thus, the entire month is a time fitting for rains .

Gemara:

Our Mishna brought the verse, “And He will bring down rain for you, the early rain and the latter rain in the first month,” from which it appears that the falling of the early rain is in the month of Nisan.

He wondered, and

Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac:

Is it so that the time for the falling of the

early rain, in

the month of

Nisan, is?

But the time of the

early rain is in Marcheshvan!

For it was taught in a beraita: The early rain,

which is the first rain of the rainy season, its time is

in

the month of

Marcheshvan.

And the latter rain,

which is the final rain, its time is

in

the month of

Nisan!

He said to him,

Rabbi Isaac to Rav Naḥman:

Thus said Rabbi Yoḥanan:

Indeed, the usual time of the early rain is in Marcheshvan. But

in the days of Joel son of Pethuel, this verse was fulfilled

that was brought in the Mishna. For then, in an unusual manner, both the early rain and the latter rain fell in the month of Nisan.

For it is written concerning him

in Joel, who prophesied thus concerning Israel: “Hear this, elders, and give ear, all inhabitants of the land, etc.”

“What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust ate, etc.”

That is, there would be a very severe plague of locusts, and there would be a great famine for seven years.

And indeed, so it was. A severe plague of locusts came, and there was a famine for seven years.

In

that year,

the seventh year of the famine,

the month of

Adar

passed, and

still

no

rain

had fallen at all.

The first rainfall fell for them

[this is what the beginning of the falling of the rains is called ]

on the first of Nisan .

The prophet

said to them,

the

prophet Joel,

to

the people of

Israel: “Go out”

to the fields,

“and sow”

the kernels of produce that still remained in your possession, so that they should bring forth produce through the rains that are now falling.

They wondered, and

the people of Israel said to him:

Israel

who has

only

a kav

of wheat, or kavs of barley

, should he eat it

now, satisfying his hunger,

and live

for the present,

or

perhaps

should he sow it

[that same kav of wheat or barley], and meanwhile, until the produce grows, he will have nothing to eat

and die?

Is it not preferable to eat the kernels of produce now?!

He said to them:

Indeed, logic says so, as you say. But

nevertheless, go out and sow

what you have in your possession.

Israel obeyed his voice, and they went out and sowed what they had in their possession.

A miracle occurred for them

, and there was revealed to them

kernels of produce,

what

the mice had stored

in the walls

[in holes in the walls of the houses],

and what was in the holes of ants

[what the ants had stored for themselves in their holes].

And the fact that they

went out and sowed

the produce in their possession was on the days of

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

of the month of Nisan.

And the second rainfall fell for them

[the second falling of the rains]

on

the day of

the fifth of Nisan.

And the produce grew in so short a time that they were already able to reap it on the sixteenth of Nisan, and

they offered

the

Omer on the sixteenth of Nisan

from new produce.

And during that period of time, while they waited for the new produce to grow, they ate from that produce that had been revealed to them in the walls and in the holes of the ants .

It follows that produce which grows

ordinarily

in

six months,

from Tishrei until Nisan

, grew

that year

in eleven days.

From the fifth of Nisan until the sixteenth thereof .

It follows that the Omer that was offered

ordinarily

from produce of

growth lasting

six months was offered

that year

from produce of eleven days.

And concerning that generation he says

in the Book of Psalms:

“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy; going he shall go and weep, bearing the measure of seed, etc.”

That is, the members of that generation, who sowed in tears—for they sowed the final kernels of produce that they had left to eat—in the end reaped their produce in joy.

The Gemara asks:

What,

what is the explanation of the words of the verse:

“Going he shall go and weep, bearing the measure, etc.,

he shall surely come in joy, bearing his sheaves”? For it was already stated earlier: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy”!

Rabbi Judah said:

This verse speaks of the

ox

that was in that generation.

When it was plowing

the furrow,

it went and wept

because of its hunger.

And

the produce grew so quickly that already

upon its return

[when the ox returned over that same furrow that it had previously plowed] ,

it ate

it

new growth

[cut grain ]

from the furrow

that it had sown while going. For immediately upon the seed’s falling, it had already begun to grow .

And this is “He shall surely come in joy.”

For when the ox returns, it returns in joy.

The Gemara continues and asks:

What is “bearing his sheaves”?

If the intention is that now they had sheaves of produce to eat, was it not already stated, “They shall reap in joy”?

Rav Ḥisda said, and some say that a tanna taught in a beraita:

There was another great miracle at that time. The length of the ear of grain [the part of the wheat in which the kernels are found] was twice the length of the stalk supporting the ear. The length of the

stalk was

a span ,

and the length of the

ear was

two spans

[twice the length of a span]. This was unlike all ordinary produce, in which the length of the stalk is three or four times the length of the ear .

Since the Gemara brought the question that Rav Naḥman asked Rabbi Isaac, which concerns our subject, the Gemara brings additional questions that Rav Naḥman asked Rabbi Isaac, although they do not concern the matter of the falling of the rains.

Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: What is the meaning of that which is written

in the Book of Kings, in the days of Jehoram son of Ahab, when the prophet Elisha said:

“For the Lord has called for a famine, and it has also come upon the land

for seven years”?

During those seven years—

what did they eat

[what did they eat during those seven years of famine]? For it is impossible to survive seven years without eating at all!

He said to him: Thus

[so]

said Rabbi Yoḥanan:

In the

year

of the

first

of the years of famine

, they ate what

they still had

in the houses.

In the

second year,

when nothing remained for them in the houses

, they ate what

remained

in the fields.

In the

third year,

when nothing remained in the fields, they ate

the meat of kosher animals.

In the

fourth year,

when no kosher animals remained for them, they were forced to eat

the meat of non-kosher animals.

In the

fifth year,

when not even a non-kosher animal remained for them,

they ate

the meat of creeping things and crawling creatures .

In the

sixth year,

when nothing remained for them to eat, part of the people ate

the flesh of their sons and daughters .

In the year

of the Sabbatical year,

they ate

the flesh of their arms

because of their great hunger.

to fulfill what is stated: “Each man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.”

And Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: What is the meaning of that which is written [ [מהו ביאורו של המקרא] בספר הושע, שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא] [what is the explanation of the verse] in the Book of Hosea, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, said:

what is the explanation of the verse] in the book of Hosea, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, said:

“Holy in your midst, and I shall not come into the city”?

In its plain sense, “holy in your midst” means that you yourself are holy, and your deeds are good and upright. If so, one must wonder: Is it because

“you are holy in your midst,”

that you improve your deeds

, “I shall not come into the city” [ [לא יבוא הקדוש ברוך הוא בעיר] [the Holy One, blessed be He, will not come into the city] ]?

that the Holy One, blessed be He, will not enter the city]?

He said to him,

Rabbi Isaac: The meaning of this verse is not according to its plain sense, as you understood it. Rather,

thus [ [כך] [thus] ]

is how]

Rabbi Yoḥanan said

in explaining this verse:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I shall not come into the Jerusalem

of above until I come into the Jerusalem of below .

And this is the meaning of the verse: Until there is “holy in your midst,” in the Jerusalem of below, “I shall not come into the city,” the Jerusalem of above .

The Gemara wondered:

And is there [ [וכי יש] [is there] ]

is it possible that there is]

a Jerusalem above?

And the Gemara says:

Yes [ [אכן כך] [indeed so] ].

[

For it is written: “Jerusalem, built like a city that was joined to it together.”

Namely, the city of Jerusalem is destined to be built like the city that was joined to it, which resembles it and is like it; that is, its counterpart and likeness. We thus have that another Jerusalem exists. And where is it, if not above?!

And Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: What is the meaning of that which is written [ [מהו ביאור הכתוב] [what is the explanation of the verse] ]:

[what is the explanation of the verse]:

“And in one thing they are brutish and foolish; the instruction of vanities is wood”?

Он сказал ему: «Так»

He said to him: Thus [ [כך] [thus] ]

[

Rabbi Yoḥanan said

in explaining this verse: One transgression

is one;

there is one transgression

, that burns

the

wicked in Gehinnom.

And this is “and in one thing they are burned”: through one transgression, the wicked are burned in Gehinnom.

What is it [ [איזו היא אותה עבירה] [which is that transgression] ]?

[Which transgression is this?]

Idolatry .

And this matter is learned by a gezera shava:

It is written here [ [כתוב כאן, במקרא שהבאנו] [it is written here, in the verse we brought] ]:

[here, in the verse we cited]:

“The instruction of vanities is wood.”

And it is written there [ [וכתוב שם] [and it is written there] ],

in another place, concerning idolatry:

“They are vanity, the work of delusions.”

And from the gezera shava of “vanity”—“vanities,” we learn that our verse too is speaking of idolatry.

And Rav Naḥman said to Rabbi Isaac: What is the meaning of that which is written

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Be astounded, O heavens, at this, etc.,

for My people have done two evils”?

And is it only

two [ [וכי רק שתי רעות היו, שעשה עם ישראל] [were there only two evils that Israel committed] ]?

And

twenty-four

transgressions that are mentioned in the section “Will you judge” [ [פרק כ"ב בספר יחזקאל, שמתחיל בפסוק: "ואתה בן אדם התשפט התשפט את עיר הדמים והודעתה את כל תועבותיה] [chapter 22 in the Book of Ezekiel, which begins with the verse: “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the city of blood and make known to it all its abominations”] ]

were left for them [ [הונח להם מהן, ולא נידונו עליהן] [they were let off from them and were not judged for them] ]?

[were they let off from them and not judged for them]?

He said to him

Rabbi Isaac:

Thus Rabbi Yoḥanan said: