Eruvin

and, similarly, if the eve of the Ninth of Ab1 fell on a Sabbath a man may eat and drink as much as he requires and lay on his table a meal as big as that of Solomon in his time. If the Ninth of Ab fell on the Sabbath eve [food] of the size of an egg must be brought and eaten [before the conclusion of the day] so that one does not approach the Sabbath in a state of affliction’. 2 It was taught:3 R. Judah stated: We were once sitting in the presence of R. Akiba, and the day was a Ninth of Ab that occurred on a Sabbath eve, when a lightly roasted egg was brought to him and he sipped it without any salt. And [this he did] not because he had any appetite for it but in order to show the students what the halachah was.4 R. Jose, however, ruled: The fast must be fully concluded.5 ‘Do you not agree with the’, said R. Jose to them, ‘that when the Ninth of Ab falls on a Sunday one must break off6 while it is yet day?’7 — ‘Indeed [it is so]’, they replied. ‘What’, he said to them, ‘is the difference between8 beginning the Sabbath9 when one is in a state of affliction10 and between letting it out11 when one is in such a state?’12 ‘If you allowed a person’,13 they replied: ‘to let it out11 [when in such a state] because he has eaten and drunk throughout the day, would you also allow a person14 to begin it9 when in a state of affliction, though he has not eaten or drunk all day?’ And in connection with this Ulla ruled: The halachah agrees with R. Jose. 15 But do we act in agreement with the view of R. Jose seeing that such action would be contradictory to the following rulings: No fast day may be imposed upon the public on New Moons, Hanukkah16 or Purim,16 but if they began [the period of fasting prior to these days] there is no need to interrupt it;17 so R. Gamaliel. Said R. Meir: Although R. Gamaliel laid down that ‘there is no need to interrupt it’, he agrees nevertheless that [the fasts on these days] must not be concluded,18 and the same ruling applies to the Ninth of Ab that falls on a Sabbath eve.19 And it was further taught: After the death of R. Gamaliel,20 R. Joshua entered [the academy] to abrogate his ruling,21 when R. Johanan b. Nuri stood up22 and exclaimed: ‘I submit23 that "the body must follow the head";24 throughout the lifetime25 of R. Gamaliel we laid down the halachah in agreement with his view and now you wish to abrogate it? Joshua, we shall not listen to you, since the halachah has once been fixed in agreement with R. Gamaliel!’ And there was not a single person who raised any objection whatever to this statement.26 — In the time27 of R. Gamaliel the people acted in agreement with the views of R. Gamaliel but in the time27 of R. Jose28 they acted in agreement with the views of R. Jose. But [could it be maintained] that ‘in the time of R. Gamaliel the people acted in agreement with the view of R. Gamaliel’? Was it not in fact taught: R. Eleazar son of R. Zadok29 stated: ‘I am one of the descendants of Seneab of the tribe of Benjamin. Once it happened that the Ninth of Ab fell on a Sabbath and we postponed it to the following Sunday30 when we fasted but did not complete the fast because that day was our festival.’31 The reason [then32 was] that [the day had been their] festival, but on the eve of [their] festival33 they did complete the fast, did they not?34 Rabina replied: A festival of Rabbinic origin35 is different [from a Sabbath]. Since it is permitted to fast for a number of hours on the former36 it is also permitted to complete a fast on its eves;37 [but as regards] the Sabbath, since it is forbidden to fast on it even for a few hours, it is also forbidden to complete a fast on its eves.38 ‘I have never heard’, said R. Joseph, ‘that tradition’,39 Said Abaye to him, ‘You yourself have told it to us40 and you said it in connection with the following: "No fast may be imposed upon the public on New Moons etc." and it was in connection with this that you told us, "Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: This is the view of R. Meir41 who laid it down in the name of R. Gamaliel; but the Sages ruled: One must complete the fast". Now does not this42 refer to all the days mentioned?43 — No; only to Hanukkah and Purim. This may also be supported by a process of reasoning forbidden to eat more than one cooked dish nor is it permitted to drink wine or eat meat on that day. in agreement with the view of R. Jose? MS.M. Eliezer’, omitting his father's name. wood for the Temple altar. The families that were entitled to such a privilege kept the respective days allotted to them as a family festival. (V. Rashi a.l. and cf. Ta'an. 26a, 28a). festival. of a festival a fast was completed even in the days of R. Gamaliel, certainly be allowed on it a fast lasting only a portion of an hour. fasting on a Sabbath, however short the duration of that fasting might be. rulings he had imparted to them in his earlier days. a Sabbath eve. by the plural noun of ‘Sages’ it is obvious that he intended the halachah to be in agreement with his view.