Gemara Clarity

Taanis 30b

תענית ל׳ ע״ב

Taanit 30b

Learn Taanis 30b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Taanis 30b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Mourning practices of תשעה באב (work, eating, turning over the bed) and why ט״ו באב was a day of joy

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the story of how רבי יהודה בר אילעי ate his last meal before תשעה באב: he sat in the lowliest spot in the house, like a mourner. Next comes a משנה on doing work on תשעה באב. It depends on local custom, but תלמידי חכמים never work, and רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says everyone should act like a תלמיד חכם. Several ברייתות stress how serious the day is. Eating on it is compared to eating on יום הכפורים, and work done that day brings no blessing. Only those who mourn for ירושלים will see its future joy. The גמרא then discusses רבי יהודה's view that the bed must be turned over on תשעה באב. After a back-and-forth about who is able to do it and about the other beds in the house, רבא rules that the חכמים rejected רבי יהודה completely. Finally, the גמרא asks why ט״ו באב was one of the happiest days for ישראל. It brings several answers: the tribes were allowed to marry each other, בנימין was let back in, the deaths in the מדבר ended, and the road guards of ירבעם were removed. עולא's account continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בֵּין תַּנּוּר לְכִירַיִים וְאוֹכֵל,

between the oven and the stove, and he would eat,

וְשׁוֹתֶה עָלֶיהָ קִיתוֹן שֶׁל מַיִם,

and he would drink a jug of water with it,

וְדוֹמֶה כְּמִי שֶׁמֵּתוֹ מוּטָּל לְפָנָיו.

and he looked like one whose dead relative is lying before him.

תְּנַן הָתָם:

We learned in a mishna there:

The steps (26)

  1. StatementThe end of the story of the mourner's last meal
  2. StatementDoing work on the Ninth of Av depends on local custom
  3. ProofA ברייתא backs up רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and gives his reason
  4. StatementEating on the Ninth of Av is like eating on יום הכפורים; work brings no blessing
  5. StatementOnly those who mourn for ירושלים will see its joy
  6. ProofEating meat and drinking wine on the Ninth of Av is condemned
  7. StatementQuoting the משנה about turning over the bed
  8. ChallengeWhat about pregnant and nursing women?
  9. Resolutionרבי יהודה: I only meant people who are able
  10. ProofAnother ברייתא: both sides agree on able and unable
  11. QuestionSo what do they still argue about?
  12. ResponseThe difference: the other beds in the house
  13. ProofSource: a mourner turns over all the beds
  14. Conclusionרבא: the הלכה follows our משנה
  15. StatementThe happiest days: ט״ו באב and יום הכפורים
  16. QuestionWe understand why יום הכפורים is happy
  17. QuestionWhat was special about the fifteenth of Av?
  18. Responseשמואל: the tribes were allowed to marry each other
  19. QuestionHow did they learn that the restriction ended?
  20. ResponseThe rule applied only to that generation
  21. Responseרב נחמן: the tribe of בנימין was let back in
  22. QuestionHow could the oath be set aside?
  23. Response'Of us,' but not 'of our children'
  24. Responseרבי יוחנן: the deaths in the desert ended
  25. ProofOnce the deaths ended, ה׳ spoke to משה again
  26. Responseעולא: the day the road guards were removed