Gemara Clarity

Taanis 21b

תענית כ״א ע״ב

Taanit 21b

Learn Taanis 21b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Taanis 21b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When to fast for plagues and other dangers, and stories of humility and hidden merit

Overview

This amud opens with the end of a ברייתא: three deaths on one day, or spread over four days, are not a דֶּבֶר. In דרוקרת three people died on one day and רב נחמן בר רב חסדא declared a fast. רב נחמן בר יצחק pointed out that this fits only רבי מאיר's minority view about an ox's gorings. That exchange leads to a warm back-and-forth about who should move to whom, with רבי יוסי's teaching that a person honors his place, proved from הר סיני and the אהל מועד. Two stories follow, about a plague in סורא and a fire in דרוקרת. In each, a neighborhood was protected not by a great rabbi but by an ordinary person's kindness. Next come cases where אמוראים fasted over locusts, a pig plague, a distant plague in בי חוזאי, and a plague in ארץ ישראל. The גמרא explains why each danger could reach them. Finally, the story of אבא אומנא the bloodletter shows how his modesty, his care for the poor and his generosity to scholars earned him daily greetings from Heaven. The story of אביי's test of him continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּיוֹם אֶחָד אוֹ בְּאַרְבָּעָה יָמִים —

On one day or over four days

אֵין זֶה דֶּבֶר.

this is not a plague.

דְּרוֹקֶרֶת, עִיר הַמּוֹצִיאָה

Drokart, a city that sent out

חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת רַגְלִי הֲוַאי,

five hundred foot soldiers, was

The steps (32)

  1. StatementDeaths on one day or over four days are not a plague
  2. StatementThe story of דרוקרת and the fast
  3. ChallengeThis fast only fits the view of רבי מאיר
  4. StatementAn invitation to come and live with us
  5. ResponseA person honors his place
  6. ProofProof from הר סיני
  7. ProofSecond proof: the Tent of Meeting
  8. StatementThen I will come to you
  9. ResponseBetter the lesser lineage comes to the greater
  10. StatementA plague in סורא spares רב's neighborhood
  11. RejectionThe dream: it was the man who lent burial tools
  12. StatementA fire in דרוקרת spares רב הונא's neighborhood
  13. RejectionThe dream: it was the woman who shared her oven
  14. StatementLocusts arrive and רב יהודה declares a fast
  15. ChallengeThe people object that the locusts are not causing damage
  16. Resolutionרב יהודה answers that the locusts did not bring their own food
  17. StatementA plague among pigs and רב יהודה declares a fast
  18. QuestionDoes רב יהודה hold that a plague in one species spreads to all?
  19. RejectionNo, pigs are different because their insides are like humans'
  20. StatementA plague in בי חוזאי and שמואל declares a fast
  21. ChallengeThe people object that the place is far away
  22. Resolutionשמואל answers that nothing in between will stop it
  23. StatementA plague in ארץ ישראל and רב נחמן fasts in בבל
  24. ChallengeChallenge: why did שמואל fast for a place that is not the 'mistress'?
  25. ResolutionAnswer: caravans travel between those places
  26. Statementאבא אומנא received greetings from Heaven every day
  27. Statementאביי is upset, and is told he cannot do what אבא does
  28. QuestionWhat were אבא אומנא's deeds?
  29. ResponseHis care for modesty with patients
  30. ResponseA hidden box so the poor are not embarrassed
  31. ResponseFree treatment and money for תלמידי חכמים
  32. Statementאביי sends two rabbis to test אבא, and he hosts them warmly