Siman - Taanis Daf 30
- What a person can learn on Tisha B’Av
It was taught in a Baraisa: כל מצות הנוהגות באבל נוהגות בט' באב – All mitzvos that apply to a mourner, apply on Tisha B’Av. It is forbidden to eat, drink, anoint, wear leather shoes, and have marital relations, ואסור לקרות בתורה בנביאים ובכתובים – and it is forbidden to learn Torah, Neviim or Kesuvim, and to learn Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, Halachos and Aggadatah. אבל קורא הוא במקום שאינו רגיל לקרות – But one may read from Tanach in a place that he is not accustomed to read and learn Torah Shebal Peh in a place that he is not accustomed to learn . Rashi explains that he will be in pain since it is not easy for him to understand what he is learning. He may read from Kinos, Iyov and the upsetting sections in Yirmiyahu, ותינוקות של בית רבן בטלין – and schoolchildren must not learn. All of the above, is because it states in the passuk, "פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב" – The mandates of Hashem are straight, making the heart happy. Rebbe Yehudah says that one may also not read Tanach in the places that he is not familiar with, nor learn Torah Shebal Peh in the areas that he is not familiar with.
- כל המתאבל על ירושלים זוכה ורואה בשמחתה
It was taught in a Baraisa: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: כל האוכל ושותה בט' באב כאילו אוכל ושותה ביום הכפורים – Anyone who eats or drinks on Tisha B’Av is considered as if he ate or drank on Yom Kippur. Rebbe Akiva says: כל העושה מלאכה בתשעה באב אינו רואה סימן ברכה לעולם – Whoever works on Tisha B’Av will never see any sign of berachah . Rashi says that one does not see berachah from this melacha. The Chochomim say: כל העושה מלאכה בט' באב ואינו מתאבל על ירושלים אינו רואה בשמחתה – Anyone who works on Tisha B’Av and does not mourn over Yerushalayim, will not see her in her joy when the geulah occurs, as it is stated in the passuk, "שמחו את ירושלם וגילו בה כל אהביה שישו אתה משוש כל המתאבלים עליה" – Make Yerushalayim happy and rejoice with her, all who love her; be joyous with her, all those who mourn for her. From here Chazal said: כל המתאבל על ירושלים זוכה ורואה בשמחתה – All who mourn over Yerushalayim will merit and see her in her joy, ושאינו מתאבל על ירושלים אינו רואה בשמחתה – and all who do not mourn over Yerushalayim will not see her in her joy.
- What occurred on Tu B’Av?
The Mishnah on Daf 26b stated: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: לא היו ימים טובים לישראל כחמשה עשר באב וביום הכפורים – There were no days as festive to Yisroel as the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur. The Gemara here asks that while it is understandable that Yom Kippur was a festive day משום דאית ליה סליחה ומחילה שניתנו בו לוחות האחרונות – because there is selichah and mechilah and the second set of luchos were given, what occurred on the fifteenth of Av to make it a festive day? The Gemara brings six answers. 1. It is the day that the Shevatim were permitted to intermarry, as the Chochomim determined that the law that women who inherited property must marry within their tribe, only applied to the generation of בנות צלפחד. 2. It was the day that Shevet Binyamin were permitted to marry into the other tribes, after the incident of the פילגש בגבעה. 3. יום שכלו בו מתי מדבר – It is the day on which those who were destined to die in the midbar, finished dying. As long as people were dying, Hashem did not communicate with Moshe. 4. It is the day that Hoshea ben Elah removed the guards that Yeravam ben Nevat put on the roads to prevent the Jews from going up to Yerushalayim for the regalim. 5. It is the day that those who were slaughtered in Beitar were buried. 6. It is the day that they stopped cutting trees for the ma’aracha, since the sun’s strength weakens on this day, and therefore wood does not dry enough.
