2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

I love this book! Ta’anit has so many good stories. We had the two bloody stories yesterday, tomorrow, we will have another fabulous story, and today, we have one of my favorite stories. This is the story of Honi, or as he is better known, Ḥoni HaMe’aggel – Honi the Circle Drawer. We have been reading so much of drought. Today’s Mishnah teaches us of other things that may cause a fast from famine, pestilence, an invading army, to catepillars! It also gives us this story:

The mishna relates: An incident occurred in which the people said to Ḥoni HaMe’aggel: Pray that rain should fall. He said to them: Go out and bring in the clay ovens used to roast the Paschal lambs, so that they will not dissolve in the water, as torrential rains are certain to fall.

He prayed, and no rain fell at all.

What did he do? He drew a circle on the ground and stood inside it and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until You have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain.

Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets.

He said: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves with enough water to last the entire year.

Rain began to fall furiously.

He said: I did not ask for this damaging rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity.

Subsequently, the rains fell in their standard manner.

(This is often where we stop telling the story- but it’s not the end.)

The rain continued unabated, filling the city with water until all of the Jews exited the residential areas of Jerusalem and went to the Temple Mount due to the rain. They came and said to him: Just as you prayed over the rains that they should fall, so too, pray that they should stop. He said to them: Go out and see if the Claimants’ Stone, has been washed away. In other words, if the water has not obliterated the Claimants’ Stone, it is not yet appropriate to pray for the rain to cease. (The Claimant Stone is a story in and of itself, it’s a large stone located in the city, upon which proclamations would be posted with regard to lost and found articles – another gem!)

The people are not happy with Honi and all this rain,

Shimon ben Shetaḥ, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin at the time, relayed to Ḥoni HaMe’aggel: Were you not Ḥoni, I would have decreed that you be ostracized, but what can I do to you? You nag [mitḥatei] God and He does your bidding, like a son who nags his father and his father does his bidding without reprimand. After all, rain fell as you requested. About you, the verse states: “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice” (Proverbs 23:25).

Ha! Be careful what you ask for. Since we often stop telling the story after the rain falls properly, we don’t see how the miracle worker comes to be resented by the community. How true that is! And how true that too much of a good thing can become destructive as well.

The stories continue tomorrow.

This small book, Ta’anit, is a reminder of how many mini-fast days our people used to observe, and, as we learn on today’s daf, of holidays we used to observe! Warning – today’s daf has blood, gore, and vengeance. It gives us two holidays that were once celebrated that are no longer. The first is a holiday derived from the Hasmonean revolt and victory over the Greeks! That’s right! The Hanukkah story with a separate mini-holiday.

First, the mention of the two holidays:

The Gemara states that it is already prohibited to fast on the thirteenth of Adar (due to Purim), as it is Nicanor’s Day, which is a commemorative day in its own right. But rather, you will say that the mishna is referring to those residents of cities who normally read on the fourteenth, but who read it early that year, on the twelfth; however, the twelfth of Adar is also a commemorative day, as it is Trajan’s Day.

Later, the Gemara asks what we, the readers are asking: What is the origin of Nicanor’s Day and what is the origin of Trajan’s Day? As it is taught in a baraita: Nicanor was one of the Greek generals, and each and every day he would wave his hand over Judea and Jerusalem and say: When will this city fall into my hands, and I shall trample it? And when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame the Greeks and emerged victorious over them, they killed Nicanor in battle, cut off his thumbs and big toes, and hung them on the gates of Jerusalem, saying: The mouth that spoke with pride, and the hands that waved over Jerusalem, may vengeance be taken against them. This occurred on the thirteenth of Adar.

Wow!!! Share that one at your Hanukkah table tonight. I often tell my students that the Torah is a PG-13 document and they’ll get the full story when they’re B. Mitzvah age or older – but this? Definitely rated R for graphic violence. As is the next story . . .

What is the origin of Trajan’s Day? They said in explanation: When Trajan sought to kill the important leaders Luleyanus and his brother Pappas in Laodicea, he said to them: If you are from the nation of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, (you may know them as Shadrack, Mishack, and Abendego who were thrown into the fiery furnace but came out alive) let your God come and save you from my hand, just as He saved Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Luleyanus and Pappas said to him: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were full-fledged righteous people, and they were worthy that a miracle should be performed for them, and Nebuchadnezzar was a legitimate king, and it is fitting that a miracle be performed through him. But this wicked man, Trajan, is a commoner, not a real king, and it is not fitting that a miracle be performed through him. Luleyanus and Pappas continued: And we are not wholly righteous, and have been condemned to destruction by the Omnipresent for our sins. And if you do not kill us, the Omnipresent has many other executioners. And if men do not kill us, the Omnipresent has many bears and lions in His world that can hurt us and kill us. Instead, the Holy One, Blessed be He, placed us into your hands only so that He will avenge our blood in the future. Even so, Trajan killed them immediately. It is said that they had not moved from the place of execution when two officials [diyoflei] arrived from Rome with permission to remove Trajan from power, and they split his skull with clubs. This was viewed as an act of divine retribution and was established as a commemorative day.

What!? This general threatens these two men and tells them that if they believe in our God then they should pray and have a miracle happen from them as happened in the Tanakh. They respond that they’re not fully righteous and so God will kill them one way or another and that God is simply using this general so God can seek vengeance for their murders. What does he do? Murders them and then is immediately killed.

Again, not for children. Again, probably not what most people think of when they think of reading Talmud. Whoever thought a book of Jewish law could be boring? Certainly not those of you who are reading every day.

Happy Hanukah.

‘And the sign said
“Long-haired freaky people
Need not apply”
So I tucked my hair up under my hat
And I went in to ask him why
He said, “You look like a fine upstandin’ young man
I think you’ll do”
So I took off my hat and said, “Imagine that
Huh, me workin’ for you”‘

(“Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band)

Today’s daf gets a bit “hairy” as it discusses how Priests could not drink wine, nor grow out their hair when it was their turn to serve in the Temple. One might think that, given that the Temple is no loner standing, a priest can drink and grow his hair as long as he wants! But, no – why? It is due to the hope: May the Temple be speedily rebuilt, and we will require a priest who is fit for the Temple service . . .

I couldn’t help but think of the song “Hair” from the Musical “Hair” as well as “Signs” quoted above as I read this daf. Is that aversion to long hair on men really this ancient?

The mishna teaches: It is prohibited for both the members of the priestly watch and the members of the non-priestly watch to cut their hair or launder their garments throughout the week, but on Thursday they are permitted to cut their hair and launder their clothes in deference to Shabbat. The Gemara asks: What is the reason for these prohibitions? Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: These prohibitions were enacted in order to ensure that the priests will cut their hair and launder their clothes during the week before their service, so that they will not enter their priestly watch when they are unkempt.

So, when the Tempe stood, we wanted the priests to look their absolute best – fresh cut for Friday. So, they would need to time their hair cuts accordingly.

The Sages taught: A king cuts his hair every day, a High Priest cuts his hair every Friday, and a common priest once every thirty days. (Due to how often they serve and are seen as conduits of holiness.)

So, what’s a little hair growth? Well . . .

And these are the transgressors who are punished by death at the hand of Heaven: Priests who enter the Temple to serve who have drunk wine, and those priests who have long hair while they serve.

Pretty intense! Today we are much more liberal with hair length – but I found this both amusing and interesting in how we continue to live out these ancient norms today.

But for me

“Gimme a head with hair
Long, beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming
Streaming, flaxen, waxenGive me down to there (Hair!)
Shoulder length or longer hair (Hair!)
Here baby, there mama
Everywhere daddy daddy”

During Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the story of Jonah. Jonah is commanded by God to tell the evil people of Nineveh to repent and change their ways. He doesn’t want to and runs away. When he eventually gets there – they completely repent. On our daf today, they are held up as an example to the fasting Jews of the present and future as to what really gets God to act with mercy:

This is as we find with regard to the people of Nineveh, that it is not stated about them: And God saw their sackcloth and their fasting. Rather, the verse states: “And God saw their deeds, that they had turned from their evil way” (Jonah 3:10).

God doesn’t care so much about the theatrics, God cares that we change our ways. the daf continues:

The verse states: “And let them turn, every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3:8). What is the meaning of the phrase “and from the violence that is in their hands”? Shmuel said that the king of Nineveh proclaimed: Even if one stole a beam and built it into his building, he must tear down the entire building and return the beam to its owner. Although the Sages decreed that one need only pay financial compensation in a case of this kind, these people wanted to repent completely by removing any remnant of stolen property from their possession.

I love this!!! Talk about a gorgeous metaphor for structural change. And the question remains: What do we do when the structures that have been built are based on theft, crime, a history of sin? Here, we get two ideas: 1) financial compensation for those who were stolen from, sinned against, abused; or 2) tear it down.

Our rabbis are revolutionaries . . . or they are just reflecting what God wants of us.

Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the city of churches, I would often go to church with my friends after spending the night or when they were having a fun youth group event. There weren’t many Jews. Maybe that’s why, the first image I thought about when I read today’s daf were my Catholic friends on Ash Wednesday with the cross smudged in ashes on their forehead. . .

And on the final seven fasts they remove the ark to the main city square and place ashes upon the ark, and on the head of the Nasi, and on the head of the deputy Nasi, and each and every member of the community takes ashes and places them upon his head. Rabbi Natan says: They would bring specifically burnt ashes. . . The Gemara asks: And where exactly are the ashes placed upon their heads? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: On the place of the phylacteries of the head, as it is stated: “To appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them an ornament [pe’er] instead of ashes” (Isaiah 61:3).

The parallels are kind of astonishing to me. In both situations the community is fasting. In both you put burnt ashes right in the center of the forehead between the eye. And, while Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of lent, a special “fast” period where Catholics give up something of worth until Esther – the Talmud has already taught that we only continue to fast for rain until the end of the rainy period, i.e. Passover! (Easter and Passover were the same time until the church shifted Eater to the Sunday after the new moon – so, still always around the same time but not exactly.)

Some pretty awesome parallels.

I remember thinking, the first time I saw the ashes on a friend, that my friend had a dirty forehead – until I saw another person, and then another, with the same smudge. I went from thinking it strange to being curious to pretty fascinating. I wonder, if other Jews who grew up studying Talmud from a young age, would see Catholics on Ash Wednesday and think – the Jewish people used to do this. . . this is what it may have looked in times of fasting when the temple stood.

I know that’s what I will be thinking.

The whole idea that we can do something, like fast, to make God bend to our will is a bit chutzpadik. Really, when we fast, we are showing that we are submitting to God’s will. But today’s daf shows that we need to be careful in how we behave when we are trying to inspire Divine Mercy.

We that we can and should be humble and mournful:

And the mishna further taught that they decrease greetings between one another. The Sages taught: Ḥaverim, members of a group dedicated to the precise observance of mitzvot, do not extend greetings between each other at all. Amei ha’aretz, common, uneducated people, who extend greetings to ḥaverim, do so while unaware that this is inappropriate. The ḥaverim answer them in an undertone and in a solemn manner. And ḥaverim wrap themselves and sit as mourners and as ostracized ones, like people who have been rebuked by God, until they are shown mercy from Heaven.

But, in the Hebrew Bible, we see often people falling on their faces or sitting in mourning who are answered by God. Shouldn’t we do that as well?

Rabbi Elazar said: An important person is permitted to fall on his face and humiliate himself in front of the community only if he is certain that he will be answered like Joshua, son of Nun, as it is stated: “And the Lord said to Joshua, Get you up, why are you fallen upon your face?” (Joshua 7:10). One who is not absolutely certain that he will be answered may not fall on his face in public, as if he is unanswered he will become an object of derision.

And Rabbi Elazar said: An important person is permitted to gird himself in sackcloth as a sign of mourning and to pray for mercy only if he is certain that he will be answered like Jehoram, son of Ahab, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes, now he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh” (II Kings 6:30). Although he was wicked, Jehoram was later answered and the suffering of the Jews was alleviated.

And Rabbi Elazar further said: Not all are worthy to petition God by rending their garments, and not all are worthy of falling on their faces in times of trouble. Moses and Aaron were worthy of petitioning God by falling on their faces, whereas their students Joshua and Caleb prayed by only rending their garments.

I liked this passage. As we continue to learn about fasting (for rain as well as what we learn today: scabs, plagues of locusts, flies, or hornets, or mosquitoes, or infestations of snakes or scorpions) it’s important to remember that we are to assume a humble position in all of this. We act, but it’s only by God’s mercy that we’re answered.

It reminds me of a joke, and I will leave you with it:

One day a rabbi, in a frenzy of religious passion, rushed into the synagogue and fell to his knees before the prayer sanctuary. Beating his breast, he cried out, “I’m nobody!  I’m nobody!”

The cantor of the synagogue, impressed by this example of spiritual humility, joined the rabbi on his knees, shouting, “I’m nobody!  I’m nobody!”

The shamus (custodian) watching from the corner, couldn’t restrain himself either.  He joined the other two on his knees, calling out, “I’m nobody!  I’m nobody!”

At which point the rabbi, nudging the cantor with his elbow, pointed at the custodian and said, “Look who thinks he’s nobody!”

The daf begins to discuss similarities between fasting days and days of mourning. There is a question of if we are really permitted to bathe, and if so, full body? With warm water (or just cold)? And then we get today’s gem

A grown woman, who is old enough to be married, is not permitted to render herself unattractive during the days of mourning for her father, as this would adversely affect her chances of marriage. The Gemara infers that this halakha applies only to a grown woman, whereas a young woman, a girl between the ages of twelve and twelve and a half, who is not yet old enough to be married, is permitted to render herself unattractive.

Are you kidding me!? I am at once offended and find this hilarious. I am imagining picking up men at shivah. Well, there would be a lot of men in the house to honor her father . . . so look her best? Or is it just, smell her best?

What, is it not referring to the prohibition against bathing? And in what kind of water may a grown woman bathe? If we say that the baraita is referring to hot water, is a grown woman not permitted to render herself unattractive by refraining from washing in hot water? But didn’t Rav Ḥisda say: It is prohibited for a mourner to insert even his finger into hot water for the purpose of washing. Rather, is it not the case that it is permitted for a grown woman to bathe in cold water, from which it may be inferred that it is not permitted for a young woman to bathe even in cold water. The Gemara answers: No, the baraita is not speaking of bathing at all. Rather it is referring to painting the eyes and dyeing [pirkus] one’s hair, which it is permitted for a grown woman to do during mourning.

Oy vey. Well ladies – go ahead and look your best. Paint your eyes and hair.

Interesting to read this in a time of body positivity and women trying to wear less make up and be more natural (well, some women – I wear more every year).

I woudl be curious to hear your reactions to this teaching. And to wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

Remember that chart I made on Ta’anit 10 to show the differences between a major fasts (like Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av) and individual or communal fasts (we learn on today’s daf that, if these communal fasts do not “work” after three fast days, that we become more stringent that previously stated)? The chart said that for an individual fast we can still wear our leather shoes. It also said that for communal fast days, we can wear leather shoes. Well, not everyone agrees and our gem comes from Rav Sheshet’s reaction to learning that sages are wearing their leather shoes on a fast day:

The Gemara relates: The Sages said to Rav Sheshet, who was blind: We see Sages who wear their shoes and go to the study house on a communal fast day. Rav Sheshet became angry and said to them: Perhaps they even ate! if you saw them treating the fast lightly.

I love his righteous anger and can’t help but feel it is connected to his blindness in that people were violating his ruling right in front of him and he did not know. That sense of betrayal . . . ah, so painful – and yet his reaction is also humorous. The Gemara continues and we learn more about the shoe wearing habits of those who fast, how some who wear their shoes wear the incorrectly to mark their fast, while in Babyonia they only don’t wear shoes on Tisha B’Av.

The Gemara further relates: Abaye and Rava would enter the synagogue while wearing sandals on the leather [apanta] of their shoes, i.e., they would wear their shoes upside down. Mareimar and Mar Zutra would switch the right shoe for the left and the left for the right. By contrast, the Sages of the school of Rav Ashi would go out wearing shoes in their usual manner. They hold in accordance with that which Shmuel said: The only completely stringent communal fast in Babylonia is the Ninth of Av alone.

Remember Kris Kross? Those cute little boy rappers from the 90s? they wore their overalls backward. This started a whole trend. I can’t help but think of Abaye and Rava starting a trend by wearing their shoes upside down. They were heavy hitters and looked up to by the other sages. They lived the generation before Mareimar and Mar Zutra who switched their shoes and wore them on the wrong feet. Rav Ashi lived at the same time as the latter two and refused to wear his shoes on the wrong feet. I don’t blame him – very uncomfortable. You know what else was uncomfortable? Wearing overalls backward. I still remember the perils of trying to use the bathroom. Not all trends are good. the one’s that connect you to God, however, deserve some attention. Because if we change nothing, then, like Rav Sheshet worries, we might miss the whole point of what we are trying to accomplish, like eating on a fast day.

Hillel the elder, in Pirke Avot 2:5, gives a fundamental teaching in Judaism: “Al tifrosh min hatzibur” – Do not separate yourself from the community. On our daf today, we get a taste of what that means.

The Sages taught in a baraita: When the Jewish people is immersed in distress, and one of them separates himself from the community and does not share their suffering, the two ministering angels who accompany a person come and place their hands on his head, as though he was an offering, and say: This man, so-and-so, who has separated himself from the community, let him not see the consolation of the community.

It is taught in another baraita: When the community is immersed in suffering, a person may not say: I will go to my home and I will eat and drink, and peace be upon you, my soul. . .

When do we need community most? In times of joy – yes – but even more so in times of pain and distress. This text speaks so vividly to the irony of the times we live in. We turn on the news and are exposed to so much pain . . . as we sit on our plush couches in our air-conditioned (or heated for you northerners) homes watching our movie-theater sized televisions. There is a dissonance. The baraita teaches – when the Jewish people are in destress, don’t hunker down in your homes and enjoy your personal plenty and let your soul not have a worry! When one of us hurts, our souls should not be at peace. This is true too of all human suffering. Don’t separate yourself – these people are part of you, they need you.

The baraita continues: Rather, a person should be distressed together with the community. As we found with Moses our teacher that he was distressed together with the community during the war with Amalek . . . Moses said as follows: Since the Jewish people are immersed in suffering, I too will be with them in suffering. The baraita adds: And anyone who is distressed together with the community will merit seeing the consolation of the community.

Moses could have opted out, but he participated as he could. He couldn’t be a fighter, but he raised his arms – and as he raised his arms, the Jewish people would win. If we cannot be there, in the fight, what does it look like for us to “raise our arms”? What can we do?

The baraita further states: And lest a person say, I have acted in secret; who will testify against me on the Day of Judgment? The tanna explains that the stones of a person’s house and the beams of a person’s house will testify against him, as it is stated: “For a stone shall cry out from the wall, and a beam out of the timber shall answer it” (Habakkuk 2:11). In the school of Rabbi Sheila they say: The two ministering angels who accompany a person will testify against him, as it is stated: “For He will give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalms 91:11).

Who will testify against you? Our Gemara warns us – nothing is secret. The very wall of your house will testify against you. The angels will testify against you. My favorite:

Rabbi Ḥidka said: A person’s soul will testify against him, as it is stated: “Keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom” (Micah 7:5). And some say: A man’s limbs will testify against him, as it is stated: “You are My witnesses, says the Lord” (Isaiah 43:10).

That soul that is housed within our body wants to do good. That soul cares. That soul will testify against us when we deny it by turning our backs on other people.

. . . the Sages said: At the hour of a person’s departure to his eternal home, all his deeds are enumerated before him and are rendered visible to him once again, and the deeds themselves say to him: You did such and such, in such and such a place, on such and such a day, and he says: Yes, that is exactly what happened. And they say to him: Sign a statement that this is correct, and he signs it, as it is stated: “He makes the hand of every man sign” (Job 37:7). And not only that, but after one has been shown all his deeds, he justifies the judgment upon himself, and says to them: You have judged me well. This response serves to fulfill that which is stated: “That You may be justified when You speak and be right when You judge” (Psalms 51:6).

May we all live lives that reflect our souls desire not to be separate from our community. And may we live lives that make it so that when we are judged, we need not be ashamed.

Our book on fasts finally gets into the nitty-gritty of how to fast!

MISHNA: If the seventeenth of Marḥeshvan arrived and rain has not fallen, individuals, but not the entire community, begin to fast three fasts for rain. How are these fasts conducted? As the fast begins in the morning, one may eat and drink after dark, and one is permitted during the days of the fasts themselves to engage in the performance of work, in bathing, in smearing oil on one’s body, in wearing shoes, and in conjugal relations. If the New Moon of Kislev arrived and rain has still not fallen, the court decrees three fasts on the entire community. Similar to the individual fasts, everyone may eat and drink after dark, and they are permitted to engage in the performance of work, in bathing, in smearing one’s body with oil, in wearing shoes, and in conjugal relations.

So, these fast days are very different from the fast day of Yom Kippur:

	Yom Kippur	Other fast days
Eat and drink after dark	NO	Yes
Permitted to work	NO	Yes
Permitted to bathe	NO	Yes
Permitted to smear body with oil	NO	Yes
Permitted to wear leather shoes	NO	Yes
Permitted conjugal relations	NO	Yes

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: Who are these individuals mentioned in the mishna? Rav Huna said: This is referring to the Sages, who are held to a higher standard and are expected to undertake fasts even when ordinary people do not. And Rav Huna further said: The individuals who fast the three fasts do so on a Monday, and on the next Thursday, and again on the following Monday.

The Gemara asks: What is Rav Huna teaching us? . . . The Gemara answers: Rav Huna’s comment is necessary, lest you say that this applies only to a community, but that in the case of an individual, no, the series of three fasts does not have to start on a Monday.

So, we finally learn what a fast looks like, when we fast (Mondays and Thursdays – market days) and who fasts!

Another lesson I pull from this is that when things are not going well in society, leaders need to step in, but if change does not happen, then it will take the actions of the whole community to make a difference. And, it will often take the sacrifice of the whole community to bring change and bounty to the whole community.

Think of our societal ills. It’s not enough for a few righteous people to fight for change and to sacrifice – we all need to if we want to tackle the big problems. What are you willing to sacrifice for the causes you believe in?