Yerushalmi Taanit 1:4 ירושלמי תענית א׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: When the Seventeenth of Marḥeshwan arrived without rainfall, particular people¹⁵⁷As described in the Halakhah. started to fast. They eat and drink while it is dark and are permitted work, washing, and anointing, and wearing sandals¹⁵⁸During daylight time when they were fasting. “Sandals” stand here for any leather shoes. Any of these fast-days are either Monday or Thursday. The Babli version is “started to fast three fast-days.” The version in the editio princeps of the Yerushalmi and reproduced here, identical to Maimonides’s autograph Mishnah, seems to imply that they were fasting every Monday and Thursday between Marḥeshwan 17 and Kislew 1., and sexual intercourse.

HALAKHAH: These are the particular people, those who were appointed overseers¹⁵⁹The classical Arabic vocalization is פִרנָאס “village head”. The Babli 10a/b admits only rabbis worthy to be appointed to public office. over the public. Because he was appointed overseer over the public he will be heard when he prays? But since he was appointed overseer over the public and found to be honest, he is worthy to pray and be heard.

A person was tithing following the rules¹⁶⁰Which not may people did.. Rebbi Mana said to him, stand up and say, I removed the sancta from the house¹⁶¹Deut. 26:13. One has to explain that this happened during a prayer for rain, and R. Mana wanted him to recite the entire passage, ending with v. 15: Look down from Your holy Place, from Heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the Land which You gave us as You had sworn to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey..

A person came to a relative of Rebbi Yannai and said to him: Rabbi, acquire merit with me¹⁶²By giving me alms.. He said to him, did your father not have money¹⁶³And you are barred from taking alms.? He answered, no. He told him, it is deposited with me. He told him, I heard about it that it was [repayment¹⁶⁴It is not known what the original text of the scribe was. The editio princeps has סרקון, Arabic סרק “to steal”. The beggar did not want to take the money, either following the editio princeps because his father stole it, or following the corrector’s text in the ms. because it was not the father’s money since it came to the hand of the holder as repayment of a loan. The second version is preferable. (Cf. Peah8:9, Šeqalim5:6 Note 99.)]. He said to him¹⁶⁵Depending on the interpretation of the previous sentence, the pious party should be the leader in prayers for rain., you are worthy to pray and be heard.

It was seen by the rabbis¹⁶⁶In a dream., a certain donkey driver should pray¹⁶⁷Be the reader in the services, described in Chapter 2, of a public fast for rain as described in Mishnah 6. This service contains parts reserved for the reader alone. and rain will come. The rabbis sent and brought him. They asked him, what is your profession? He said, I am a donkey driver. They asked him, what good deed did you do? He told them, once I rented out my donkey to a certain woman, and she was crying on the road. I asked her, what is your problem? She said to me, this woman’s husband is jailed and I have to see what to do to free him¹⁶⁸To bribe the jailer.. I sold my donkey, gave her its value¹⁶⁹Greek τιμή. and told her, this is yours; free your husband and do not sin. They told him, you are worthy to pray and be heard.

It was seen by Rebbi Abbahu, Pantokaka¹⁷⁰Greek παντόκακος, “all bad”. shall pray and rain will come. Rebbi Abbahu sent and brought him. He asked him, what is your profession? He told him, five sins this man commits every day. He rents out prostitutes¹⁷¹Usually gentile slaves., maintains the theater¹⁷²Greek θέατρον., brings their garments to the baths, claps his hands and dances before them, and plays cymbals¹⁷³Greek βαβούλια (Liebermann.) The Hebrew word is misspelled in the editio princeps and all printed editions depending on it. before them¹⁷⁴Either the customers of his bordello or the public in the theater.. They asked him, what good deed did you do? He told them, once I was maintaining the theater, when a woman came and stood behind a pillar, crying. I asked her, what is your problem? She said to me, this woman’s husband is jailed and I have to see what to do to free him. I sold my bed, and my bed-spread, gave her its value, and told her, this is yours; free your husband and do not sin. They told him, you are worthy to pray and be heard.

¹⁷⁵Like in the preceding paragraphs the pure Aramaic of the text shows that this is suggested text of sermons. A very similar story is told in the Babli 23a/b of Abba Ḥilkiah the son of Onias the circle-drawer, a mythical holy man from Hasmonean times. It was seen by the rabbis that the pious man of Kefar-Immi shall pray and rain will come. The rabbis went up to him. His house-companion¹⁷⁶His wife. told them, he is working on the mountain. They went out to him. They said to him “much success” but he did not answer. He sat down to eat and did not invite them to partake. When he finished he made one load of firewood and put the coat on top of the load. He went and said to his house-companion, these rabbis here want us to pray that rain should fall. But if I shall be praying and rain would fall, it would be a shame for them, and if not it would be a desecration of the Name of Heaven. Therefore come, I and you shall go up and pray. If it will rain, we shall say to them, Heaven already did wonders; and if not, we shall say to them, we are not worthy to pray and be heard. They went up, prayed, and it rained. He descended to them and asked them, why did the rabbis trouble themselves here today? They said to him, we ask that you should pray that it rain. He answered them, do you need my prayer? Heaven already did wonders. They asked him, when you were on the mountain, we said to you “much success” but you did not answer us? He told them, I was occupied in my work and did not want to divert my thoughts from my work. They asked him, and when you sat down to eat, why did you not invite us to partake? He answered them, because I had with me only my portion. What could I say to you in flattery? They asked him, why when you finished you put the coat on top of the load? He told them, because it is not mine. It is borrowed so I could pray wearing it. Why should I denigrate it? They asked him, why while you were on the mountain your wife wore dirty clothing, but when you came from the mountain she wore clean clothing¹⁷⁷They took her dirty clothing as a sign that she was impure having her period and were taken aback noticing suddenly that she was pure without any purification.? He told them, while I was on the mountain your wife wore dirty clothing so no man should turn his eyes to her; but when I came from the mountain she wore clean clothing so I should not look at another’s wife. They told him, it is correct that you should be heard when praying.

It was stated¹⁷⁸Discussion of Mishnaiot 5 and 6, the daytime fasts. Parallel texts are Tosephta 1:6, Babli 12a/b. In the Babli sources the author is not Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel but R. Eleazar ben R. Simeon and no stipulation which allows eating after a night’s sleep is accepted.: “One is permitted to eat until the East is illuminated, the words of Rebbi. Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, until the cock calls¹⁷⁹Approximately astronomical dawn..” What means “until the cock calls”? If he slept and awoke he is forbidden. That is, if he did not stipulate, but if he stipulated it is permitted.