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Taanis 11a

תענית י״א ע״א

Taanit 11a

Learn Taanis 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Taanis 11a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Sharing in communal suffering, divine judgment, and whether fasting is a sin or holy

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a discussion about why a traveler should eat little on the road. The גמרא shows when the 'stomach' reason and the 'food supply' reason give different results, and it tells us what רב פפא did and why. Next come teachings about famine years. רב says that someone who holds back from eating in a famine is saved from an unusual death. ריש לקיש says couples may not have relations in famine years, and a ברייתא adds that those with no children yet may. ברייתות then teach that a person must share the צבור's suffering, as משה did when he sat on a stone, and must never separate himself or party privately. They also describe who testifies against a person who sinned in secret, and they explain the fairness of ה׳'s judgment from 'אל אמונה ואין עול צדיק וישר הוא'. Finally the גמרא returns to fasting. שמואל says one who fasts is called a חוטא, and רבי אלעזר says he is called קדוש; both learn this from the נזיר. The גמרא then begins to question whether רבי אלעזר really holds this, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּיָתֵיב בְּאַרְבָּא.

Where he is sitting in a boat.

אִי נָמֵי, דְּקָאָזֵיל מֵאַוּוֹנָא לְאַוּוֹנָא.

Or else, where he travels from station to station.

רַב פָּפָּא — כׇּל פַּרְסָה וּפַרְסָה

Rav Pappa, for each and every parasang,

אָכֵיל חֲדָא רִיפְתָּא.

would eat one loaf of bread.

The steps (31)

  1. ResponseWhen the two reasons give different results
  2. StatementWhat רב פפא did on the road
  3. StatementHolding back from food in a famine saves from an unusual death
  4. ProofHow the פסוק teaches this: 'in famine' instead of 'from famine'
  5. StatementNo marital relations during famine years
  6. StatementException: couples without children
  7. StatementThe angels' curse on one who separates from the community
  8. StatementDo not say 'I will go home and eat and drink'
  9. StatementThe worse level: the wicked who hope tomorrow will be the same
  10. ProofThe proper way: sharing the pain, as משה did
  11. QuestionDid משה really have nothing softer to sit on?
  12. Responseמשה chose to suffer along with ישראל
  13. ConclusionThe reward: seeing the community's comfort
  14. QuestionWho could testify against me?
  15. ResponseThe stones and beams of his house testify
  16. StatementThe school of רבי שילא: the two angels testify
  17. Statementרבי חידקא: a person's own soul testifies
  18. StatementSome say: a person's own limbs testify
  19. Statement'A God of faithfulness': צדיקים pay for small sins in this world
  20. Statement'And without wrong': רשעים get paid for small מצוות in this world
  21. StatementAt death a person sees his deeds and signs on them
  22. StatementThe person agrees the judgment was fair
  23. Statementשמואל: one who fasts is called a sinner
  24. Proofשמואל's source: the נזיר is called a sinner
  25. ProofFrom the נזיר to the one who fasts
  26. Statementרבי אלעזר: one who fasts is called holy
  27. ChallengeChallenge to שמואל: The נזיר is called holy
  28. ResolutionThe holiness is about his hair
  29. ChallengeChallenge to רבי אלעזר: The נזיר is called a sinner
  30. ResolutionThe sin is becoming טמא
  31. ChallengeDid רבי אלעזר really say this?