Taanis 20a

תענית כ׳ ע״א

Taanit 20a

Learn Taanis 20a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Taanis 20a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

נקדימון's miracles, the sun breaking through for משה, and רב יהודה's harsh פסוקים read as blessings (the reed and the cedar)

Overview

The amud finishes the story of נקדימון בן גוריון. He prays in the בית המקדש and rain fills the twelve cisterns he borrowed for the עולי רגלים. When the official claims the sun had already set, נקדימון prays again and the sun breaks through, so his real name בוני became נקדימון. A ברייתא lists three people for whom the sun broke through: משה, יהושע and נקדימון. Three אמוראים then show where we learn it about משה. The גמרא returns to the משנה about a city without rain, and רב says both cities are cursed. This opens a series of רב יהודה's readings that turn harsh פסוקים into ברכות: ירושלים as a נדה, as a widow, Israel as lowly, and Israel as a reed. The reed that bends and survives is contrasted with בלעם's stiff cedar. A ברייתא teaches that a person should be soft like a reed. A story about רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון, proud of his learning, begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. StatementTwo men, two moods: the official at the bathhouse, נקדימון in the Temple
2. Statementנקדימון's first prayer brings rain
3. StatementThe official's new claim: the sun already set
4. StatementThe second prayer: the sun breaks through
5. ConclusionWhy he was called נקדימון
6. StatementThree people for whom the sun broke through
7. QuestionHow do we know the sun broke through for משה?
8. Responseרבי אלעזר: learned from the word 'I will begin'
9. Responseרבי שמואל בר נחמני: learned from the word 'to put'
10. Responseרבי יוחנן: learned from the verse about משה itself
11. StatementA city without rain: both cities are cursed
12. StatementJerusalem like a נדה: she will become permitted again
13. StatementJerusalem like a widow: her husband plans to come back
14. StatementLooked down on, but spared the worst jobs
15. StatementThe reed shaken in water is really a blessing
16. ProofA friend's curse is better than an enemy's blessing
17. StatementWhy the reed is a blessing
18. StatementWhy the cedar is a weaker blessing
19. StatementBe soft like a reed, not hard like a cedar
20. Statementרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון rides home feeling proud