Taanit

: Why is Hallel different that it suspends its own Ma'amad1 while Musaf does not supersede its own Ma'amad?2 — R. Ashi replied: If [Musaf] suspends the Ma'amad of a service of which it is not part, [i.e., Minhah] all the more should it suspend its own Ma'amad? — R. Kashisha then said: This is what I mean to say: Let it [Musaf] suspend its own Ma'amad only!3 — R. Ashi replied: There is R. Jose who holds the same view as you. For it has been taught: R. Jose says: Any day on which there is Musaf there is also a Ma'amad. Now which Ma'amad [is here referred to]? Shall I say the Ma'amad of the Shaharith? [Surely] the first Tanna [of our Mishnah] also says likewise! Is it the Ma'amad of the Musaf? Does not Musaf suspend even its own Ma'amad! Is it the Ma'amad of Minhah? But this is already suspended because of the Wood-Festival!4 It must then surely be the Ma'amad of Ne'ilah. Hence the conclusion therefrom that Musaf suspends its own Ma'amad but it does not suspend the Ma'amad of any other service. Hence it is proved. Let [the Mishnah] also state that there was no Ma'amad on the first of Nisan, because there was Hallel,5 and Musaf offering and the wood-offering? — Raba replied: This proves that the recital of Hallel on New Moon is not a Biblical injunction.6 For R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Jehozadak, On eighteen days in the year the individual [worshipper] completes the Hallel7 and they are, the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the eight days of Hanukkah, the first day of Passover,8 and the Festival of Pentecost; but in the Diaspora9 [the Hallel is completed] on twenty-one days, and they are, the nine days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the eight days of Hanukkah, the first two days of Passover and the two days of Pentecost. Rab once came to Babylonia10 and he noticed that they recited the Hallel11 on New Moon; at first he thought of stopping them but when he saw that they omitted parts of it he remarked: It is clearly evident that it is an old ancestral custom with them. A Tanna taught: The individual should not deliberately begin to recite [the Hallel] 12 but once he has begun he should complete it. FIVE MISFORTUNES BEFELL OUR FATHERS ON THE SEVENTEENTH OF TAMMUZ etc. Whence is it known that the Tables [of the Law] were shattered [on the seventeenth of Tammuz]? For it has been taught:13 On the sixth of the month [of Sivan] the Ten Commandments were given to Israel; R. Jose says: On the seventh of the month. He who says that they were given on the sixth takes the view that on the sixth they were given and on the seventh Moses ascended the mount. And he who says that they were given on the seventh holds that they were given on the seventh and on the seventh Moses ascended the mount. For it is written, And the seventh day he called unto Moses,14 and it is further written, And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.15 The [remaining] twenty-four days of Sivan and the sixteen days of Tammuz make altogether forty. On the seventeenth of Tammuz he came down [from the mountain] and shattered the Tables, as it is written, And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf . . . and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.16 [THE DAILY OFFERING] WAS DISCONTINUED. This is a tradition. A BREACH WAS MADE IN THE CITY. Did this then happen on the seventeenth? Is it not written, In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city etc.,17 and in the following verse it is written, Then a breach was made in the city etc.! — Raba said: This is no contradiction. The one refers to the First Temple and the other to the Second Temple. For it has been taught: In the First Temple the breach was made in the city on the ninth of Tammuz, but in the Second Temple on the seventeenth of Tammuz. APOSTOMOS BURNED THE SCROLL OF THE LAW. This is a tradition. AND PLACED AN IDOL IN THE TEMPLE. Whence do we know this? — For it is written, And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away and the detestable thing that causeth appalment set up.18 Was there then only one detestable thing? Is it not written, And upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appalment?19 — Raba replied: There were two [idols] and one fell upon the other and broke its hand and upon it was found inscribed Ma'amad of Minhah and Ne'ilah.] Nisan the Ma'amad prayers were read as usual at the Shaharith. This proves that the recital of the Hallel on New Moon is but a custom that had sprung up and is not a Biblical institution, otherwise the Hallel would eliminate the Ma'amad. I-XI of Psalms CXV and CXVI were omitted. Babylonia and Palestine.