Resources for Rosh Hashana daf 19

Daf A Week

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

  1. The גמרא says at one point that the חכמים instituted and recorded in מגילת תענית a יו''ט on ג' תשרי to prohibit fasting on the prior day. The גמרא later asks that fasting on בּ' תשרי should have already been prohibited as it is the day after ראש חודש. The גמרא seems clear that one certainly cannot fast on ראש חודש It is interesting to note a מחלוקת ראשונים regarding fasting on ראש השנה. See the הגהות of the רמ"א to the מרדכי inאות תש"ח where he brings several ראשונים who held that you must fast on ראש השנה. See the טורי אבן who clearly proves from our גמרא that one may not fast on ראש השנה, minimally because it is also ראש חודש!

There is a fascinating רבינו ירוחם brought by the בית יוסף in סימן תי"ח who says that even though our גמרא said that “ראש חודש דאורייתא”, the איסור to fast on ראש חודש is only because it is listed in מגילת תענית. Therefore, since מגילת תענית is now בטל, it is מותר to fast on ראש חודש. The ב"ח there explains that when the גמרא says ראש חודש דאורייתא it just means it has a  דאורייתא סמך and therefore doesn’t need the חיזוק of prohibiting the day before and the day after. Nonetheless, the טורי אבן says that even without the fact that it is ראש חודש, it is clear that one cannot fast on ראש השנה, and our גמרא just asked from ראש חודש since there was a הוא אמינא that ר"ח would need חיזוק and would make the following day אסור בתענית.

  1. The גמרא says that one cannot fast on the day before or after a holiday recorded in מגילת תענית. Many of the ראשונים ask how can we fast on תענית אסתר when it is always the day before פּורים which is mentioned in מגילת תענית? See the ר"ן here who answers that פּורים is considered as מדברי קבלה which does not need חיזוק. See the רא"ש inפּרק בּ' דתענית  who says in the name of the ראב"ד that תענית אסתר was aזמן קהילה לכל  for תפילה. Therefore, it itself is considered part of the נס. In other words, the reason not to fast on the day before a יו''ט is presumably because it detracts from the שמחה of the holiday. In the case of תענית אסתר, it adds to the holiday since תענית אסתר was part of the נס See also theכל בו  in סימן מ"ה who says that any fast which is not for צער but rather for prayer or other reasons is מותר.
  2. The בית יוסף brings a רבינו ירוחם in סימן תקמ"ט who says that גדליה  was actually killed on ראש השנה but that the fast was pushed off until ג' תשרי so it would fall on a יום חול. See the יד אפרים there who asks that it is clear from our גמרא that when ב"ד is מקדש על פּי הראיה, the second day of תשרי is חול, so why didn’t they make the תענית on בּ' תשרי? In answering this question, we should see a fundamental מנחת חינוך inמצוה ש"א, אות ז. He says that the פּסוק from which we learn all fasts from nevers mentions a specific date. It only mentions the month in which the fast needs to fall. Consequently, the exact date of the month the fast would be observed was not that important. Therefore, when they instituted the fast at the outset, they made it on the third of תשרי which would work even for people who lived far away and had to keep two days of השנה ראש   due to ספיקא דיומא. With this יסוד he also explains the following: during the time of the first בית המקדש, the city walls were breached on ט' תמוז. It is during those times that the fasts were instituted. At the time ofבית שני, the walls were breached on י"ז תמוז. The reason we currently fast on י"ז תמוז, explains תוספות, is because בית שני is more חמור. The מנחת חינוך asks how we can be עוקר דברי קבלה? If the fast was set on the 9th, how can we later change to a different date? He answers that the specific date was never part of the דברי קבלה; only the month was important. Therefore, they were able to change the date later to be י"ז תמוז.

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