Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 4, scan section 31

(which were numbered one by one). Said Rabba bar Bar Hana in the name of R. Johanan: " Under any circumstances they are mustered at a glance. And R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak said: Thus also we understand the words of our Mishna: " He that fashioned all their hearts alike" [Psalms, xxxiii. 15], i.e., the Creator, sees all their hearts (at a glance) and (at once) under- stands all their works. MISHNA: Messengers were sent out* for the following six months: for Nissan, on account of the Passover; for Abh, on account of the fast; for Elul, on account of the New Year; for Tishri, on account of appointing the order of the (remaining) festivals ;t for Kislev, on account of the Feast of Dedication; for Adar, on account of the Feast of Passover; also for lyar, when the Temple was in existence, on account of the minor (or second) Passover.:}: GEMARA: Why were they not also sent out for Tamuz and Tebheth (in which months there are also fasts) ? Did not R. Hana bar Bizna say in the name of R. Simeon the pious: What is the meaning of the passage [Zach. viii. 19]: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; the fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall become in the house of Judah joy and gladness," etc., that they are called fasts, and also days of joy and gladness ? Are we not to understand that only in the time of peace (cessa- tion of persecution) they shall be for joy and gladness, but in the time when there was not peace they shall be fasts ? Said * See Slekalim L i. t e.ji. Tabernacles. This was necessary since the Beth Din might have made the month intercalar}'. X Vide, Numb. ix. lo, ii. "NEW YEAR." 33 R. Papa : It means this: When there was peace, these days should be for joy and gladness; in the time of persecution they shall be fasts; in times when there are neither persecution nor peace people may fast or not, as they see fit. If that is so, why then (should messengers have been sent out) on account of the fast of Abh ? Said R. Papa: The fast (ninth day) of Abh is differ- ent, since many misfortunes occurred on that day, as the master said: " On the ninth of Abh, the first and second Temples were destroyed, Bether was captured, and the city of Jerusalem was razed to the ground." We have learned in a Boraitha: R. Simeon said: There are four matters that R. Aqiba expounded, but which I interpret differently; " the fast of the fourth " means the ninth of Tamuz, on which the city was broken in, as it is written [Jer. lii. 6, 7] : " In the fourth, in the ninth day of the month . . . the city was broken in," What does he mean by fourth ? The fourth of the months. " The fast of the fifth," means the ninth of Abh, on which the Temple of our Lord was burnt ; and what does he mean by calling it fifth ? The fifth of the months. " The fast of the seventh " means the third of Tishri, the day on which Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, was slain (and we fast), because the death of the righteous is equal to the loss of the house of our Lord. And what does he mean by calling it the seventh ? The seventh of the months. " The fast of the tenth," means the tenth of Tebheth, the day on which the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem, as it is written [Ezek. xxiv. I, 2]: "Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day; the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem." And what does he mean by calling it the tenth ? The tenth of the months, and actually this last event should have been placed first (since it occurred first). And why is it placed here last in order ? To mention the months in their regular order. Said R. Simeon: I, however, do not think so, but thus: " The fast of the tenth" means the fifth of Tebheth, on which day the news came to the exiles that the city was smitten, as it is writ- ten [Ezek. xxxiii. 21]: "And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth (month), in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying. The city is smitten," and they held the day on which they received the news equal to the day (on which the 3 34 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Temple) was burnt. And it seems to me that my opinion ie more satisfactory, for I speak of the first, first, and of the last, last; while he speaks of the last, first, and of the first, last; he mentions them in the order of the months, while I mention them in the order in which the calamities occurred. It was taught: Rabh and R. Hanina say: The Rolls of Fasts (which contained the names of minor holidays on which it was prohibited to fast) is annulled, but R. Johanan and R. Jehoshua ben Levi say: " It is not." When Rabh and R. Hanina say that it is annulled they mean : In the time of peace the (fast) days are days of joy and gladness, but in the time of persecution they are fast days, and so also with other (days men- tioned in the Rolls of Fasts); and when R. Johanan and R. Jehoshua ben Levi say it is not annulled (they mean) that those (four fasts mentioned in Zachariah) the Bible makes dependent on the rebuilding of the Temple ; but those (mentioned in the Rolls of Fasts) remain as they are appointed. R. Tobi b. Matana objected: In the Rolls of Fasts it is said that on the twenty-eighth of (Adar), the good news came to the Jews that they need no longer abstain from studying the Law, for the king (of Syria had earlier) issued a decree, forbidding them to study the Law, or to circumcise their sons, and com- pelling them to desecrate their Sabbath. What did Jehudah b. Shamua and his friends do ? They went and took counsel of a certain matron, whose house the celebrated people of the city frequented. Said she to them, " Go and cry aloud at night." They did as she advised and cried aloud, " Oh, heavens! Are we not all brethren ? Are we not all the children of one Father ? Are we not all the children of one mother ? Why should we be treated differently from other nations, and from all people who speak other languages inasmuch as ye issue such cruel edicts against us?" The decrees were annulled, and the day (on which this happened) they appointed a holiday. Now if it be true that the Rolls of Fasts has been annulled {i.e., the former [feasts] have been all abrogated), may then new ones be added ? There is a difiference of opinion among Tanaim on this question, as we have learned in the following Boraitha: The days recorded in the Rolls of Fasts, whether during or after the existence of the Temple, are not permitted (to be kept as fasts), so said R. Meir; R. Jose, however, said, so long as the Temple stood it