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Week 43 - Monday - 18 September 2000

TA'ANIT: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 4

For the first he says, "He Who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah, He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Redeemer of Israel." For the second he says, "He Who answered our forefathers at the Red Sea, He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who remembers forgotten things." For the third he says, "He Who answered Joshua in Gilgal, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears the blowing of the shofar." For the fourth he says, "He Who answered Samuel at Mizpah, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears crying." For the fifth he says, "He Who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel, He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears prayer." For the sixth he says, "He Who answered Jonah from the belly of the fish, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who answers in time of distress." For the seventh he says, "He Who answered David and Solomon his son in Jerusalem, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who has mercy on the land."

Kehati

For the first - in the blessing "Look upon our affliction," in the Shemoneh Esreh prayer, where he begins to extend the prayer and add supplications, he says - in its conclusion, "He Who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Redeemer of Israel" - although this blessing is not one of the six additional ones, nevertheless since he begins here to extend the prayer, the mishnah begins with it to list the conclusions of the blessings, and calls it "the first" blessing.

For the second - in the second conclusion, with which he concludes the blessing of Zikhronot, he says, "He Who answered our forefathers at the Red Sea, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who remembers forgotten things" - since Israel felt abandoned in Egypt for many years and despaired of the Redemption, and the Lord remembered and redeemed them, he therefore concludes the blessing of Zikhronot with the above conclusion (Rashi).

For the third - in the third conclusion, with which he concludes the blessing of Shofarot (which is the second additional blessing), he says, "He Who answered Joshua in Gilgal, He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears the blowing of the shofar" - for Joshua was answered by shofarot in the war for Jericho while Israel was encamped in Gilgal (Rashi).

For the fourth - in the fourth conclusion, with which he concludes Ps. 120 ("In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me"), which is the third of the additional blessings, he says, "He Who answered Samuel at Mizpah, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears crying" - for it is written, "and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel; and the Lord answered him" (I Sam. 7:9).

For the fifth - in the fifth conclusion, with which he concludes "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains" (Ps. 121), which is the fourth of the additional blessings, he says, "He Who answered Elijah on Mount Carmel (the same theme as in "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains"), He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears prayer" - for it is written, regarding Elijah, "Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, Lord, are God" (I K. 18:37), and this is a prayer.

For the sixth - in the sixth conclusion, with which he concludes "Out of the depths have I called you, O Lord" (Ps. 130), which is the fifth of the additional blessings, he says, "He Who answered Jonah from the belly of the fish - (the same theme as in "Out of the depths have I called you"), He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who answers in time of distress" - for it is written, regarding Jonah, "I called out of my affliction to the Lord, and He answered me" (Jonah 2:3).

For the seventh - in the seventh conclusion, with which he concludes "A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints" (Ps. 102), which is the sixth of the additional blessings, he says, "He Who answered David (during the time of the famine - II Sam. 21:1, 14), and Solomon his son in Jerusalem (when he prayed, "When Heaven is shut up, and there is no rain…" [I K. 8:35], and similarly, "If there be in the land famine" (ibid., v. 37), He will answer you and He will heed the sound of your crying this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, Who has mercy on the land" - the Gemara explains that David and Solomon are mentioned last, because the concluding blessing is "Blessed…Who has mercy on the land," and David and Solomon prayed exceedingly for Eretz Yisrael.

TA'ANIT: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 5

It once happened during the time of Rabbi Halafta and Rabbi Hananyah ben Tradyon that one passed before the Ark and concluded the entire blessing, and they did not respond after him "Amen." "Blow, the priests, blow!" "He Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, He will answer you and heed the sound of your crying this day." "Sound the alarm, sons of Aaron, sound the alarm!" "He Who answered our forefathers at the Red Sea, He will answer you and heed the sound of your crying this day." And when the matter came before the Sages, they said, We did not behave thusly, save at the Eastern Gate and on the Temple Mount.

Kehati

It once happened during the time of Rabbi Halafta and Rabbi Hananyah ben Tradyon - a baraita quoted in the Gemara states that this was the practice of Rabbi Halafta in Tzippori and of Rabbi Hananyah ben Tradyon in Sikhni, that one passed before the Ark - on the last seven fastdays, and concluded the entire "Redeemer of Israel" blessing, and they did not respond after him "Amen" - but rather said, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever," as was the practice in the Temple (Gemara). And afterwards the supervisor of prayers in the synagogue said,

"Blow, the priests, blow!" And the Reader said, "He Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, He will answer you and heed the sound of your crying this day." And similarly, at the end of the blessing of Zikhronot the supervisor of prayers said,

"Sound the alarm, sons of Aaron, sound the alarm!" And the Reader said, "He Who answered our forefathers at the Red Sea, He will answer you and he will heed the sound of your crying this day" - and similarly at the conclusion of each of the additional blessings. According to Hameiri, they would blow on the shofar and sound the alarm before the Reader said, "He Who answered…"; according to other commentaries, first the Reader said, "He Who answered…," and afterwards they would blow on the shofar and sound the alarm (Rabbeinu Nissim; Ritva; Tiferet Yisrael).

And when the matter came before the Sages - whey they learned of the practice instituted by Rabbi Halafta and Rabbi Hananyah ben Tradyon, they said, We did not behave thusly, save at the Eastern Gate and on the Temple Mount - i.e., at the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount (Rashi). Another version reads, "at the Eastern Gates," which was interpreted to mean at the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount and at the Eastern Gate of the Temple Courtyard (Rambam, in his commentary on the mishnah; Bartenura). In Mishneh Torah, however, Rambam writes: "When they would pray according to this order in Jerusalem, they would assemble on the Temple Mount, facing the Eastern Gate." To what did the Sages refer when they said, "We did not behave thusly"? The commentaries suggest varying answers to this question. According to one interpretation, this refers to responding not with "Amen," but rather with "Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom for ever and ever," only in the Temple (Rashi; Bartenura). The shofar was blown on fasts, between one blessing and the next, even in the area outside the Temple; in the Temple, however, they would blow with both shofarot and trumpets (see R. H. 3:4), while in the areas outside the Temple they would blow only with trumpets (R. H. 27a, Gemara and Rashi; Rambam, Hil. Ta'aniyot 1:4). According to Rashba, they would blow in the districts outside the Temple on either the shofar or trumpets. According to Rambam, "We did not behave thusly" refers to blowing, too, i.e., it was the practice to blow between one blessing and the next only in the Temple, but in the districts outside the Temple they would not blow between one blessing and the next, but only after the entire prayer.

One version of this mishnah reads, "and he concluded the entire blessing, and they responded after him "Amen." This is interpreted to mean that the difference in practice between the Temple and the non-Temple districts is as follows: in the non-Temple districts they would say "He who answered" before the conclusion of the blessing (as was taught in the preceding mishnah), and after the blessing would say "Amen" and blow. But in the Temple, since they responded with "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever" after each blessing, it would follow that the blowing would be for "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever," which is a blessing in its own right; and since they desired to link the blowing to the "He Who answered" prayer, the practice in the Temple was therefore to say "He Who answered" after the conclusion of the blessing, i.e., the Reader would first conclude the blessing, they would respond after it with "Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom for ever and ever," and the supervisor of prayers would say, "Blow, the priests!" and the Reader would first say, "He Who answered," and then they would blow.

It is also possible that prior to the conclusion they would say "He Who answered," but after the conclusion they would once again say "He Who answered," in order to connect the blowing to the prayer of the fast. This mishnah therefore teaches that Rabbi Halafta and Rabbi Hananyah ben Tradyon instituted in their localities the practice of saying "He Who answered" after the conclusion of the blessing, even though this was unnecessary, because "Amen" does not constitute an interruption between the blessing and the blowing; this then is the meaning of "We did not behave thusly, save at the Eastern Gate" (Rabbeinu Nissim). A baraita quoted in the Gemara explains why the mishnah uses both the word "tik'u" and the word "hari'u" (both meaning "blow" here): in the first blessing they would blow the notes teki'ah-teru'ah-teki'ah, while in the second blessing they would blow the notes teru'ah-teki'ah-teru'ah, and would alternate between the two sequences in all the blessings (in one the teki'ot would predominate, while in the next the teru'ot would predominate); this interpretation is cited by Rashi, Rambam, and Rabbeinu Nissim (see also Tosefot Yom Tov).

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