Pesachim 108

בגדו של אדם הראשון

Adam's raiment.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This probably refers to Gen. III, 21: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them (Rashi) .');">¹</span> Our Rabbis taught: Seven things are hidden<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'covered'.');">²</span> from men.

ת"ר שבעה דברים מכוסים מבני אדם אלו הן יום המיתה ויום הנחמה ועומק הדין ואין אדם יודע מה בלבו של חבירו ואין אדם יודע במה משתכר ומלכות בית דוד מתי תחזור ומלכות חייבת מתי תכלה

These are they: the day of death, and the day of comfort,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' No man knows when he will be relieved of his anxieties.');">³</span> the depth [extent] of judgment;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sc. Divine Judgment (Rashi) .');">⁴</span> and a man does not know what is in his neighbour's heart; and a man does not know from what he will earn; and when the Davidic dynasty will return;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This was probably said in order to discourage those who tried to calculate the advent of the Messiah on the basis of Scripture; cf. Sanh. 97a.');">⁵</span>

ת"ר ג' דברים עלו במחשבה ליבראות ואם לא עלו דין הוא שיעלו על המת שיסריח ועל המת שישתכח מן הלב ועל התבואה שתרקב וי"א על המטבע שיצא:

and when the wicked kingdom<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A covert allusion to Rome (Rashi) .');">⁶</span> will come to an end. Our Rabbis taught: Three things [God] willed to come to pass,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'came up in (God's) intention to be created'.');">⁷</span>

<big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> מקום שנהגו לעשות מלאכה בתשעה באב עושין מקום שנהגו שלא לעשות מלאכה אין עושין ובכל מקום תלמידי חכמים בטלים רשב"ג אומר לעולם יעשה אדם עצמו תלמיד חכם:

and if He had not willed them, it would be but right that He should will them. And these are they: Concerning a corpse, that it should become offensive; and concerning a dead person, that he should be forgotten from the heart; and concerning produce, that it should rot;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If kept too long. This is necessary in order to restrain the producer from withholding supplies and thus artificially raising the prices.');">⁸</span> and some say, concerning coins, that they should enjoy currency.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the benefit of the poor who have no other means of obtaining sustenance (v. Marginal Glosses) .');">⁹</span>

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> אמר שמואל אין תענית ציבור בבבל אלא תשעה באב בלבד למימרא דסבר שמואל ט' באב בין השמשות שלו אסור והאמר שמואל תשעה באב בין השמשות שלו מותר וכי תימא קסבר שמואל כל תענית ציבור בין השמשות שלו מותר והאנן תנן אוכלין ושותין מבעוד יום למעוטי מאי לאו למעוטי בין השמשות לא למעוטי משחשיכה

<big><b>MISHNAH: </b></big>WHERE IT IS THE CUSTOM TO DO WORK ON THE NINTH OF AB,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is a fast-day in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple.');">¹⁰</span> ONE MAY DO IT; WHERE IT IS THE CUSTOM NOT TO DO WORK, ONE MAY NOT DO IT. AND IN ALL PLACES SCHOLARS CEASE [FROM WORK ON THAT DAY].

נימא מסייע ליה אין בין תשעה באב ליום הכיפורים אלא שזה ספיקו אסור וזה ספיקו מותר

R'SIMEON B. GAMALIEL SAID: A MAN MAY ALWAYS MAKE HIMSELF A SCHOLAR.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he may abstain from work even if he is not a scholar.');">¹¹</span> <big><b>GEMARA: </b></big>Samuel said: There is no public fast in Babylonia save the Ninth of Ab alone.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., if a public fast is proclaimed, it does not commence on the previous evening, nor is work forbidden, even where it is the practice not to work on the Ninth of Ab. (The Day of Atonement, of course, stands in a different category entirely.) In the whole of the subsequent discussion 'public fast' does not mean one of the statutory fasts, but a fast proclaimed on account of drought or disaster etc.');">¹²</span> Shall we say that Samuel holds, [with regard to] the Ninth of Ab, its twilight is forbidden;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., it is forbidden to eat at twilight on the eve of the fast, since he regards the twilight as possessing the full rigours of a fast-day. Twilight is a period of doubt, and it is not certain whether it is day or night.');">¹³</span>

מאי ספיקו מותר לאו בין השמשות לא כדאמר רב שישא בריה דרב אידי לקביעא דירחא הכא נמי לקביעא דירחא

but Samuel said: [with regard to] the Ninth of Ab, its twilight is permitted? And should you say, Samuel holds, The twilight of every public fast is permitted, - surely we learned: One must eat and drink while it is yet day. Now what is this to exclude is it not to exclude twilight?

דרש רבא עוברות ומניקות מתענות ומשלימות בו כדרך שמתענות ומשלימות ביום הכיפורים ובין השמשות שלו אסור וכן אמרו משמיה דר' יוחנן ומי אמר ר' יוחנן הכי והאמר רבי יוחנן תשעה באב אינו כתענית ציבור מאי לאו לבין השמשות לא למלאכה

No: it is to exclude after nightfall. Shall we say that this supports him? [It was taught:] There is no difference between the Ninth of Ab and the Day of Atonement except that with the latter, its doubt is forbidden, while with the former, its doubt is permitted.

מלאכה תנינא מקום שנהגו לעשות מלאכה בתשעה באב עושין ובמקום שנהגו שלא לעשות אין עושין ואפילו רשב"ג לא אמר אלא דכי יתיב ולא עביד לא מיחזי כיוהרא אבל מיסר לא אסר

What does 'its doubt is permitted' mean? Surely [that refers to] twilight? - No, [but] as R'Shisha the son of R'Idi said,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' v. infra.');">¹⁴</span> It is in respect of the fixing of New Moon; so here too it is in respect of the fixing of the New Moon.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g., if a man is in the wilderness and does not know what day was fixed as New Moon, he must observe two Days of Atonement (his doubt could only be whether the previous month had consisted of twenty-nine days or thirty days) , but only one day as the Ninth of Ab.');">¹⁵</span>

אלא מאי אינו כתענית ציבור לתפילת נעילה והאמר ר' יוחנן ולואי שיתפלל אדם והולך כל היום כולו

Raba lectured: Pregnant women and suckling women must fast and complete [the fast] on that day [the Ninth of Ab], just as they fast and complete [the fast] on the Day of Atonement; and the twilight thereof is forbidden. And they said likewise in R'Johanan's name. Yet did R'Johanan say thus?

התם חובה הכא רשות ואיבעית אימא מאי אינו כתענית ציבור לעשרים וארבעה

Surely R'Johanan said: The Ninth of Ab is not like a public fast. Surely that means in respect of twilight? - No: in respect of work.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On the fast-day itself. On a specially proclaimed public fast work is forbidden, whereas on the Ninth of Ab it is permitted.');">¹⁶</span> [You say], 'Work'! we have learned it: WHERE IT IS THE CUSTOM TO DO WORK ON THE NINTH OF AB, ONE MAY DO IT; WHERE IT IS THE CUSTOM NOT TO DO WORK, ONE MAY NOT DO IT.

רב פפא אמר מאי אינו כתענית ציבור אינו כראשונות אלא כאחרונות ואסורה

And even R'Simeon B'Gamaliel merely says that if he sits and does not work it does not look like conceit, yet he certainly does not forbid it? - Rather, what does 'is not like a public fast' mean? In respect o the Ne'ilah service.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On specially proclaimed public fast-days an extra service was added at the end of the day', called ne'ilah, which means 'closing'. R. Johanan states that there is no ne'ilah on the Ninth of Ab.');">¹⁷</span> But surely R'Johanan said: Would that a man would go on praying all day!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If a man does not remember whether he has recited his statutory prayers, R. Johanan rules that he should recite them now, though there is an opposing view that a man must not pray when in this doubt. Now, since R. Johanan holds that a man must pray when in doubt, why should there not be a ne'ilah service on the Ninth of Ab, seeing that it is like a specially proclaimed public fast in many respects?');">¹⁸</span>

מיתיבי אין בין תשעה באב ליום הכיפורים אלא שזה ספיקו אסור וזה ספיקו מותר מאי ספיקו מותר לאו בין השמשות שלו אמר רב שישא בריה דרב אידי לא לקביעא דירחא הא לכל דברים זה וזה שוין

- There it is a [statutory] obligation, whereas here It is voluntary.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On a public fast-day ne'ilah is obligatory; on the Ninth of Ab a man may recite it if he desires.');">¹⁹</span> Another alternative [answer] is, 'What does 'it is not like a public fast' mean? In respect of the twenty-four [benedictions].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On public fast-days six benedictions were added to the usual eighteen which constituted the 'Prayer' par excellence (Ta'an. 15a) . R. Johanan teaches that these are not recited on the Ninth of Ab.');">²⁰</span>

מסייע לרבי אלעזר דא"ר אלעזר אסור לו לאדם שיושיט אצבעו במים בתשעה באב כדרך שאסור להושיט אצבעו ביום הכיפורים

R'Papa said: What does 'it is not like a public fast' mean? It is not like the first ones but like the last [ones].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In times of drought three public fasts were proclaimed, which began at daybreak. But if the drought nevertheless continued, another three were proclaimed, and these began the previous evening (v. Ta'an. Mishnah ');">²¹</span> An objection is raised: There is no difference between the Ninth of Ab and the Day of Atonement except that with the latter, its doubt is forbidden, while with the former, its doubt is permitted.

מיתיבי אין בין תשעה באב לתענית ציבור אלא שזה אסור בעשיית מלאכה וזה מותר בעשיית מלאכה במקום שנהגו הא לכל דבריהם זה וזה שוין ואילו גבי תענית ציבור תניא כשאמרו אסור ברחיצה לא אמרו אלא כל גופו אבל פניו ידיו ורגליו לא

Now what does 'its doubt is permitted' mean? Does it not refer to its twilight? - Said R'Shisha son of R'Idi: No: [It i meant] in respect of the fixing of New Moon. Hence in all [other] regulations they are alike.

א"ר פפא

This supports R'Eleazar. For R'Eleazar said: A man is forbidden to dip his finger in water on the Ninth of Ab, just as he is forbidden to dip his finger in water on the Day of Atonement. An objection is raised: There is no difference between the Ninth of Ab and a public fast except that on one work<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'the doing of work'.');">²²</span> is forbidden, while on the other work is permitted, where it is customary. This [implies that] in all [other] matters they are both alike; whereas in respect to a public fast it was taugh When they [the Sages] ruled, Bathing is forbidden, they spoke only of the whole body, but not of a man's face, hands, and feet?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which shows that on the Ninth of Ab washing of face and hands and feet is permitted.');">²³</span> - Said R'Papa: