Study Rosh Hashanah folio 18B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דאמר רב חנא בר ביזנא אמר רבי שמעון חסידא, מאי דכתיב: ״כה אמר ה׳ צבאות צום הרביעי וצום החמישי וצום השביעי וצום העשירי יהיה לבית יהודה לששון ולשמחה״. קרי להו ״צום״, וקרי להו ״ששון ושמחה״! בזמן שיש שלום — יהיו לששון ולשמחה, אין שלום — צום.
As Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said that R' Shimon Ḥasida said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Thus said YHWH of hosts: The fast of the 4th month, and the fast of the fifth, and fast of the 7th, and the fast of the tenth, should become times of joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons, to the house of Judah” (Zechariah 8:19). It calls them days of “fast” and it calls them “times of joy and gladness.” How so? When there is peace in the world, they will be times of joy and gladness, on which eulogies and fasting are forbidden; but when there is no peace, they are days of fasting. In a time when there is no peace, why are messengers not sent out also for the 4th and tenth months, so that people can know when to observe the fasts?
אמר רב פפא, הכי קאמר: בזמן שיש שלום — יהיו לששון ולשמחה, יש שמד — צום, אין שמד ואין שלום — רצו מתענין, רצו אין מתענין.
Rav Pappa said that this is what it is saying: When there is peace in the world and the Temple is standing, these days will be times of joy and gladness; when there is persecution and troubles for the Jewish people, they are days of fasting; and when there is no persecution but still no peace, neither particular troubles nor consolation for Israel, the halakha is as follows: If people wish, they fast, and if they wish, they do not fast. Since there is no absolute obligation to fast, messengers are not sent out for these months.
אי הכי, תשעה באב נמי? אמר רב פפא: שאני תשעה באב, הואיל והוכפלו בו צרות. דאמר מר: בתשעה באב חרב הבית בראשונה ובשניה, ונלכדה ביתר, ונחרשה העיר.
The Talmud asks: If so, the 9th of Av should also be like the other fast days, that sometimes it is observed and sometimes not, depending upon the wishes of the community at the time. Why does the Mishnah state that messengers go out for the month of Av? Rav Pappa said: The 9th of Av is different, since the calamities that occurred on that day were multiplied. As the Master said: On the 9th of Av the Temple was destroyed, both the first one and the second one; on this day the city of Beitar was captured; and on this day the city of Jerusalem was plowed over by the enemies of the Jewish people, as a sign that it would never be rebuilt. Consequently, the fast of the 9th of Av is obligatory, and not optional like the other fasts. Messengers are consequently sent out so that people will know when to fast.