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Week 44 - Wednesday - 27 September 2000

TA'ANIT: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 3

And the people of the ma'amad would fast four days during the week, from Monday until Thursday; and they would not fast on Shabbat eve, because of the honor of the Shabbat. And not on the first day of the week, so that they would not go out from rest and enjoyment to weariness and fast, and might die. On the first day - "In the beginning" and "Let there be a firmament"; on the second - "Let there be a firmament" and "Let the waters be gathered." On the third - "Let the waters be gathered" and "Let there be lights." On the fourth - "Let there be lights" and "Let the waters swarm." On the fifth - "Let the waters swarm" and "Let the earth bring forth." On the sixth - "Let the earth bring forth," "And the heaven…were finished." A large section - they would read it by two, and the small - by one, in Shaharit and in Musaf. And in Minhah they enter and recite by their mouths, as they recite the Shema. Shabbat eve at Minhah they would not gather, because of the honor of the Shabbat.

Kehati

In continuation of the preceding mishnah, we are now informed how the members of the ma'amad would conduct themselves.

And the people of the ma'amad would fast four days during the week, from Monday until Thursday - each day, until the evening;

And they would not fast on Shabbat eve, because of the honor of the Shabbat - so that they would not enter the Shabbat while hungry. And not on the first day of the week, so that they would not go out from rest and enjoyment to weariness and fast, and might die - this entire sentence, from "And the people of the ma'amad" to "and they would die," is missing from the version of the mishnah in the Jerusalem Talmud. From here on the mishnah explains how they would read from the Creation each day:

On the first day - they would read: "In the beginning" and "Let there be a firmament" - i.e., the first two sections, from Gen. 1:1 to v.5; on the second day: "Let there be a firmament" and "Let the waters be gathered" - repeating the second section, and continuing by reading the third section (vs. 6-13). On the third - "Let the waters be gathered" and "Let there be lights" (vs. 9-19). On the fourth - "Let there be lights" and "Let the waters swarm" (vs. 14-23). On the fifth - "Let the waters swarm" and "Let the earth bring forth" (vs. 20-31). On the sixth - "Let the earth bring forth," "And the heaven…were finished" (Gen. 2:1-3).

A large section - which contains more than three verses, they would read it by two people, and the small - section, by one - i.e., three people (a kohen, a Levite, and an Israelite) go up to read in the Torah each day. The halakhah states that one does not read less than three verses; therefore, in the first section, which contains five verses, the first reader says three, the second reader repeats the third verse (which had been read by the first reader) and completes the section, and the third reader says, "Let there be a firmament," which contains three verses. On the second day the first reader says the section of "Let there be a firmament," and the second and third read the section of "Let the waters be gathered," and so on for the other days; this reading from the Torah Scroll was in the prayer of Shaharit and also in Musaf - if a day in which there was a Musaf sacrifice occurred during their guard.

And - but - in Minhah - they do not bring a Torah Scroll, because of the difficulties of the fast, rather they enter the synagogue and recite the daily Torah portion by their mouths - by heart, as they recite the portion of Shema by heart.

Shabbat eve at Minhah they would not gather - in the synagogue, neither for prayer nor for the reading, because of the honor of the Shabbat - so that they could complete the preparations for Shabbat.

TA'ANIT: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 4

Every day on which there is Hallel, there is no ma'amad in Shaharit. A Musaf sacrifice - there is none in Ne'ilah. A wood offering - there is none in Minhah; the opinion of Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azzai said to him, "Thus would Rabbi Yehoshua learn: A Musaf sacrifice - there is none in Minhah. A wood offering - there is none in Ne'ilah. Rabbi Akiva retracted and taught as Ben Azzai.

Kehati

Every day on which there is Hallel - on which Hallel (Ps. 113-118) is recited, and on which there is no Musaf service, e.g., Hanukkah, there is no ma'amad in Shaharit - the members of the ma'amad do not read the passages from the Creation in Shaharit, for the reading of Hallel supersedes the ma'amad of Shaharit ("ma'amad" here refers to their standing [amidah] for prayer and supplicatory prayers and for the reading in the Torah [see Rambam, Hil. Kelei Ha-Mikdash 6:5]).

A day in which there is a Musaf sacrifice - e.g., Rosh Hodesh, there is none - no ma'amad, not even in - the prayer of - Ne'ilah - as was explained above, and certainly there is no ma'amad on it in the Musaf sacrifice itself and in Minhah, for the Musaf sacrifice supersedes the ma'amad of these prayers. Most of the commentaries explain that this mishnah refers to the members of the ma'amad in Jerusalem, who did not have the time to perform their ma'amad (the saying of supplicatory prayers and the reading of the section of Creation), because of Hallel and the Musaf sacrifice; the preceding mishnah, however, refers to all the other members of the ma'amad who were in the other cities of Eretz Yisrael, and it therefore teaches that they would read the section of Creation even during the Musaf prayer, on a day on which there was a Musaf sacrifice. This law also applies to Shaharit, even on a day on which there is Hallel (Rashi; Bartenura; Melekhet Shelomo, in the name of R. Yehonatan).

According to another interpretation, regarding the day on which Hallel is recited, there is not difference between the members of the ma'amad in Jerusalem and those outside the city, i.e., whenever Hallel is recited, there is no ma'amad (the saying of supplicatory prayers and the reading in the passage of Creation) in Shaharit, neither in Jerusalem, nor in the other places. Regarding, however, a day on which a Musaf sacrifice (or a wood offering - see below) is offered in the Temple, there is no ma'amad only for those in Jerusalem (Ritva; Rashash).

According to a third interpretation, the suspension of the ma'amad due to Hallel and the Musaf sacrifice applies only to the prayers and supplicatory prayers of the ma'amad, for on a day on which there is Hallel these prayers are not said during Musaf, Minhah, and Ne'ilah, neither by the members of the ma'amad in Jerusalem nor by those in other places in Eretz Yisrael; however, the reading of the Creation was never suspended, not even in Jerusalem (Ravad).

Rambam has yet another, entirely different, interpretation: according to him, the ma'amadot recited four prayers each day: Shaharit, Musaf, Minhah, and Ne'ilah (following the literal interpretation of mishnah 1, above), i.e., between Shaharit and Minhah there was an additional prayer; mishnah 3 therefore teaches that they would read in the torah both in Shaharit and in Musaf, (i.e., the additional prayer recited every day), while the present mishnah teaches that on a day on which the Musaf sacrifice is offered, there is no ma'amad, in Musaf, Minhah, or Ne'ilah.

A day on which there is

A wood offering - and on which there is no Musaf sacrifice, for there were families in Israel who would contribute wood for the altar on specific days of the year (see the following mishnah), and on the day the wood was brought they would bring a free-will burnt offering, which is called the "wood offering," and would celebrate it as a holiday for themselves; according to one interpretation, the wood itself that they brought was called the "wood offering" (Ritva; see Men. 20b; Rashash on the present mishnah). The mishnah teaches that on the day on which there is a wood offering, there is none - no ma'amad in the prayer of Minhah - but there is ma'amad in the prayer of Ne'ilah in it; the opinion of Rabbi Akiva.

Ben Azzai said to him - Rabbi Akiva, "Thus would Rabbi Yehoshua learn: A day on which there is a Musaf sacrifice - there is none there is no ma'amad in the prayer of Minhah - and certainly not in the Musaf prayer itself, but there is ma'amad in the Ne'ilah prayer. A day on which there is a wood offering - there is none - no ma'amad even in the prayer of Ne'ilah" - and certainly there is no ma'amad in the Minhah prayer, for the wood offering was offered close to Minhah, before the daily sacrifice offered at dusk (ben ha-arbayim). The Gemara explains the distinction between the Musaf sacrifice and the wood offering: since the Musaf sacrifice is by Torah law, it is not in need of additional reinforcement, and therefore it supersedes only the ma'amad of Minhah, which is close to it; since the wood offering is only by Rabbinic law, reinforcement was accordingly enacted for it, that it suspends even the ma'amad of Ne'ilah (Rabbeinu Gershom; Bartenura). According to another interpretation, the wood offering does not suspend the ma'amad of Minhah, but rather suspends only that of Ne'ilah. This opinion the Gemara explains as follows: since the Musaf sacrifice is by Torah law, it suspends the ma'amad of Minhah, which is also by Torah law, but the wood offering, which is by Rabbinic law, suspends only Ne'ilah, which also is by Rabbinic law, but it does not suspend Minhah, which is by Torah law (Rashi; Tosafot).

Rabbi Akiva retracted - his opinion, and taught as Ben Azzai, whose view he accepted.

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