Rosh Hashanah 37

ותיפוק ליה דהוה ליה יום שנהרג בו גדליה בן אחיקם אמר רב לא נצרכה אלא לאסור את שלפניו

But [if that is so], cannot the prohibition [of the third of Tishri] be derived from the fact that it was the on which Gedaliah the son of Ahikam was killed?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On which, as established above, fasting was prohibited in the period of the Temple.');">¹</span> - Rab replied: Its [insertion in the Megillath Ta'anith] was required only to prohibit the day before it also.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra.');">²</span> But the prohibition of the day before it can also be derived from the fact that it is the day after New Moon?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra.');">²</span>

שלפניו נמי תיפוק ליה דהוה ליה יום שלאחר ר"ח ר"ח דאורייתא ודאורייתא לא בעי חיזוק

- New Moon is ordained by the Written Law, and the ordinances of the Written Law do not require reinforcement, as it has been taught: 'These days which are mentioned in Megillath Ta'anith are forbidden [for fasting on] along with both the day before them and the day after them. As to Sabbaths and New Moons, they themselves are forbidden, but the days before and after them are permitted. What is the difference between one set and the other?

דתניא הימים האלה הכתובין במגילת תענית אסורין בין לפניהם בין לאחריהם שבתות וימים טובים הם אסורים לפניהן ולאחריהן מותרין מה הפרש בין זה לזה הללו דברי תורה ואין דברי תורה צריכין חיזוק הללו דברי סופרים ודברי סופרים צריכין חיזוק

The one set are ordained by the Torah,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Pentateuch.');">³</span> and the words of the Torah require no reinforcement, whereas the other are laid down by the Scribes, and the words of the Scribes require reinforcement'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the days before and after are prohibited lest one should come to fast on the actual day.');">⁴</span> But cannot the prohibition [of the second of Tishri] be derived from the fact that it is the day before the day on which Gedaliah the son of Ahikam was killed?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. p. 75, n. 1.');">⁵</span>

ותיפוק ליה דהוה ליה יום שלפני יום שנהרג בו גדליה בן אחיקם א"ר אשי גדליה בן אחיקם דברי קבלה הוא ודברי קבלה כדברי תורה דמו

- R'Ashi replied: The fast of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam is laid down in the later Scriptures,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Viz., Zechariah. Lit., 'words of Kabbalah. V. supra p., 23 n. 10.');">⁶</span> and the words of the later Scriptures are on the same footing as those of the Torah. R'Tobi B'Mattenah raised the following objection [against the statement that Megillath Ta'anith has been annulled]: '"On the twenty-eighth thereof [of Adar] came glad tidings to the Jews that they should not abandon the practice of the Law".

מתיב רב טובי בר מתנה בעשרים ותמניא ביה אתת בשורתא טבתא ליהודאי דלא יעידון מאורייתא שגזרה המלכות גזרה שלא יעסקו בתורה ושלא ימולו את בניהם ושיחללו שבתות מה עשה יהודה בן שמוע וחביריו הלכו ונטלו עצה ממטרוניתא אחת שכל גדולי רומי מצויין אצלה

For the Government [of Rome] had issued a decree that they should not study the Torah and that they should not circumcise their sons and that they should profane the Sabbath. What did Judah B'Shammu'a and his colleagues do? They went and consulted a certain matron whom all the Roman notables used to visit.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Probably the widow of Tineius Rufus (v. A.Z. 20a) whose home was in Caesarea, (Graetz, Geschichte IV, p. 169) ].');">⁷</span>

אמרה להם בואו והפגינו בלילה הלכו והפגינו בלילה אמרו אי שמים לא אחיכם אנחנו ולא בני אב אחד אנחנו ולא בני אם אחת אנחנו מה נשתנינו מכל אומה ולשון שאתם גוזרין עלינו גזירות קשות וביטלום ואותו היום עשאוהו יום טוב ואי ס"ד בטלה מגילת תענית קמייתא בטול אחרנייתא מוסיפין

She said to them: "Go and make proclamation [of your sorrows] at night time". They went and proclaimed at night, crying, "Alas, in heaven's name, are we not your brothers, are we not the sons of one father and are we not the sons of one mother? Why are we different from every nation and tongue that you issue such harsh decrees against us? " The decrees were thereupon annulled, and that day was declared a feast day'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Graetz, loc. cit. refers this to the withdrawal of the Hadrianic edicts by his successor Antonius Pius in 139 - 140. For other views v. Lichtenstein op. cit. p. 279].');">⁸</span>

וכי תימא הכא נמי בזמן שבית המקדש קיים והא יהודה בן שמוע תלמידו של רבי מאיר ור"מ בתר הכי הוה דתנן כלי זכוכית שניקבו והטיף לתוכן אבר אמר רשב"ג יהודה בן שמוע מטמא משום ר"מ

Now if you maintain that the Megillath Ta'anith<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., those days that were inserted in the list before the destruction of the Temple.');">⁹</span> was annulled, [is it possible that] after the earlier prohibitions had been annulled they should add new ones? And should you reply that this also was in the period when the Temple was still standing, [this cannot be], because Judah B'Shammu'a was the disciple of R'Meir, and R'Meir was after the destruction of the Temple. We know [that R'Judah was R'Meir's disciple] because it has been taught: 'If holes were made in a vessel of glass and filled up with lead, R'Simeon B'Gamaliel reports that R'Judah B'Shammu'a in the name of R'Meir declares it unclean,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Supposing it had been unclean, it now reverts to the uncleanness which it had lost when it was broken, v. Shab. 15b. Or it may mean vsuvh 'becomes capable of receiving uncleanness'. V. Rashi a.l. and Tosaf. s.v. .');">¹⁰</span>