Taanit 61

לאיזה שירצו יעלו

Let them go up to whichever shrine they desire. R'Mattenah said: It is the day when permission was granted for those killed at Bethar to be buried.

רב מתנה אמר יום שנתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה ואמר רב מתנה אותו יום שנתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה תקנו ביבנה הטוב והמטיב הטוב שלא הסריחו והמטיב שנתנו לקבורה

R'Mattenah further said: On the day when permission was granted for those killed at Bethar<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' During the Bar Kochba War. Cf. Git. 57a.');">¹</span> to be buried [the Rabbis] at Jabneh instituted [the recitation of] the benediction,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The fourth benediction of the Grace after Meals.');">²</span>

רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרוייהו יום שפסקו מלכרות עצים למערכה (תניא) רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר מחמשה עשר באב ואילך תשש כחה של חמה ולא היו כורתין עצים למערכה לפי שאינן יבשין

'Who art kind and dealest kindly etc.' ; 'Who art kind': Because their dead bodies did not become putrid;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [During the long period in which the slain were left lying in the open field owing to Hadrian's decree forbidding their interment.]');">³</span>

אמר רב מנשיא וקרו ליה יום תבר מגל מכאן ואילך דמוסיף יוסיף ודלא מוסיף (יאסף) (תני רב יוסף) מאי יאסף אמר רב יוסף תקבריה אימיה:

'And dealest kindly': Because permission was granted for their burial. Rabbah and R'Joseph both said: It is the day on which [every year] they discontinued to fell trees for the altar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Undried wood harbours woodworms and this makes the wood unfit for the altar. After the fifteenth of Ab the rays of the sun are not sufficiently strong to dry the fresh-cut logs and therefore the felling of trees for the altar was discontinued as from this date. Cf. Mid. II, 5.');">⁴</span>

שבהן בנות ירושלים כו': ת"ר בת מלך שואלת מבת כהן גדול בת כהן גדול מבת סגן ובת סגן מבת משוח מלחמה ובת משוח מלחמה מבת כהן הדיוט וכל ישראל שואלין זה מזה כדי שלא יתבייש את מי שאין לו:

It has been taught: R'Eliezer the elder says: From the fifteenth of Ab onwards the strength of the sun grows less and they no longer felled trees for the altar, because they would not dry [sufficiently]. R'Menashya said: And they called it the Day of the Breaking of the Axe.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The name signified that there was no longer any need for the woodcutter's axe.');">⁵</span>

כל הכלים טעונין טבילה אמר רבי אלעזר אפילו מקופלין ומונחין בקופסא:

From this day onwards,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The nights grow longer and people have more time for study.');">⁶</span> he who increases [his knowledge through study] will have his life prolonged, but he who does not increase [his knowledge] will have his life taken away.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Aboth. I, 13.');">⁷</span>

בנות ישראל יוצאות וחולות בכרמים תנא מי שאין לו אשה נפנה לשם:

What is meant by 'taken away'? - R'Joseph learnt: Him his mother will bury.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He will die prematurely.');">⁸</span> ON THESE DAYS THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM etc. Our Rabbis have taught: The daughter of the king borrows [the garments] from the daughter of the High Priest, the daughter of the High Priest from the daughter of the deputy High Priest,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Segan, v. Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 97, n. 1.');">⁹</span>

מיוחסות שבהן היו אומרות בחור וכו': תנו רבנן יפיפיות שבהן מה היו אומרות תנו עיניכם ליופי שאין האשה אלא ליופי מיוחסות שבהן מה היו אומרות תנו עיניכם למשפחה לפי שאין האשה אלא לבנים מכוערות שבהם מה היו אומרות קחו מקחכם לשום שמים ובלבד שתעטרונו בזהובים

and the daughter of the deputy High Priest from the daughter of the Anointed for Battle,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Priest anointed as Chaplain of the Army in time of war, and part of whose duty it was to make the necessary proclamations for the exemptions from military service. Cf. Deut. XX, 2ff.');">¹⁰</span> and the daughter of the Anointed for Battle from the daughter of an ordinary priest, and all Israel borrow from one another, so as not to put to shame any one who may not possess [white garments].

אמר עולא ביראה אמר רבי אלעזר עתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא לעשות מחול לצדיקים והוא יושב ביניהם בגן עדן וכל אחד ואחד מראה באצבעו שנאמ' (ישעיהו כה, ט) ואמר ביום ההוא הנה אלהינו זה קוינו לו ויושיענו זה ה' קוינו לו נגילה ונשמחה בישועתו:

ALL THE GARMENTS REQUIRE RITUAL DIPPING: R'Eleazar said: Even though they lay folded in a box.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which would show that they were new and had never been worn.');">¹¹</span> THE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL CAME OUT AND DANCED IN THE VINEYARDS.

<br><br><big><strong>הדרן עלך בשלשה פרקים וסליקא לה מסכת תענית</strong></big><br><br>

A Tanna taught: Whoever was unmarried repaired thither. THOSE OF THEM WHO CAME OF NOBLE FAMILIES EXCLAIMED, 'YOUNG MAN etc.' Our Rabbis have taught: The beautiful amongst them called out, Set your eyes on beauty for the quality most to be prized in woman is beauty; those of them who came of noble families called out, Look for [a good] family for woman has been created to bring up a family; the ugly ones amongst them called out, Carry off your purchase in the name of Heaven, only on one condition that you adorn us with jewels of gold. Ulla Bira'ah said in the name of R'Eleazar: In the days to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will hold a chorus for the righteous and He will sit in their midst in the Garden of Eden and every one of them will point with his finger towards Him, as it is said, And it shall be said in that day: Lo, this is our God, for whom we waited, that He might save us; this is the Lord for whom we waited, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXV, 9. ');">¹²</span>