Taanit 25

משום כיסופא הוה לה הך שיבבתא בישתא אמרה מכדי ידענא דלית להו ולא מידי מאי כולי האי אזלא וטרפא אבבא איכספא ועיילא לאינדרונא

due to embarrassment, to make it appear that she was baking, despite the fact that there was no bread in her house. She had a certain evil neighbor who said to herself: Now, I know that they have nothing. What, then, is all this smoke? She went and knocked on the door to find out what was in the oven. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa’s wife was embarrassed, and she ascended to an inner room [inderona].

איתעביד לה נסא דחזיא לתנורא מלא לחמא ואגנא מלא לישא אמרה לה פלניתא פלניתא אייתי מסא דקא חריך לחמיך אמרה לה אף אנא להכי עיילי תנא אף היא להביא מרדה נכנסה מפני שמלומדת בנסים

A miracle was performed for Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa’s wife, as her neighbor saw the oven filled with bread and the kneading basin filled with dough. She said to Rabbi Ḥanina’s wife, calling her by name: So-and-so, so-and-so, bring a shovel, as your bread is burning. She said to her neighbor: I too went inside for that very purpose. A tanna taught: She too had entered the inner room to bring a shovel, because she was accustomed to miracles and anticipated that one would occur to spare her embarrassment.

אמרה ליה דביתהו עד אימת ניזיל ונצטער כולי האי אמר לה מאי נעביד בעי רחמי דניתבו לך מידי בעא רחמי יצתה כמין פיסת יד ויהבו ליה חד כרעא דפתורא דדהבא חזיא בחלמא עתידי צדיקי דאכלי אפתורא דדהבא דאית ליה תלת כרעי ואיהו אפתורא דתרי כרעי

The Gemara further relates: Rabbi Ḥanina’s wife said to him: Until when will we continue to suffer this poverty? He said to her: What can we do? She responded: Pray for mercy that something will be given to you from Heaven. He prayed for mercy and something like the palm of a hand emerged and gave him one leg of a golden table. That night, his wife saw in a dream that in the future, i.e., in the World-to-Come, the righteous will eat at a golden table that has three legs, but she will be eating on a table that has two legs.

אמר לה ניחא לך דמיכל אכלי כולי עלמא אפתורא דמשלם ואנן אפתורא דמיחסר אמרה ליה ומאי נעביד בעי רחמי דנשקלינהו מינך בעי רחמי ושקלוהו תנא גדול היה נס אחרון יותר מן הראשון דגמירי דמיהב יהבי מישקל לא שקלי

When she told her husband this story, he said to her: Are you content that everyone will eat at a complete table and we will eat at a defective table? She said to him: But what can we do? Pray for mercy, that the leg of the golden table should be taken from you. He prayed for mercy, and it was taken from him. A tanna taught in a baraita: The last miracle was greater than the first, as it is learned as a tradition that Heaven gives but does not take back.

חד בי שמשי חזייה לברתיה דהוות עציבא אמר לה בתי אמאי עציבת אמרה ליה כלי של חומץ נתחלף לי בכלי של שמן והדלקתי ממנו אור לשבת אמר לה בתי מאי אכפת לך מי שאמר לשמן וידלוק הוא יאמר לחומץ וידלוק תנא היה דולק והולך כל היום כולו עד שהביאו ממנו אור להבדלה

The Gemara relates that one Shabbat evening, Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa saw that his daughter was sad. He said to her: My daughter, why are you sad? She said to him: I confused a vessel of vinegar for a vessel of oil and I lit the Shabbat lamp with vinegar. Soon the lamp will be extinguished and we will be left in the dark. He said to her: My daughter, what are you concerned about? He Who said to the oil that it should burn can say to the vinegar that it should burn. A tanna taught: That lamp burned continuously the entire day, until they brought from it light for havdala.

רבי חנינא בן דוסא הוו ליה הנך עיזי אמרו ליה קא מפסדן אמר אי קא מפסדן ניכלינהו דובי ואי לא כל חדא וחדא תיתי לאורתא דובא בקרנייהו לאורתא אייתי כל חדא וחדא דובא בקרנייהו

Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa had some goats. His neighbors said to him: Your goats are damaging our property by eating in our fields. He said to them: If they are causing damage, let them be eaten by bears. But if they are not eating your property, let each of them, this evening, bring a bear impaled between its horns. That evening, each one brought in a bear impaled between its horns.

הוה ליה ההיא שיבבתא דקא בניא ביתא ולא מטו כשורי אתיא לקמיה אמרה ליה בניתי ביתי ולא קמטו כשוראי אמר לה מה שמך אמרה ליה איכו אמר איכו נימטו כשוריך

Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa had a certain neighbor who was building a house, but the ceiling beams were not long enough to reach from one wall to the other. She came before Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa and said to him: I built my house, but my ceiling beams do not reach the walls. He said to her: What is your name? She said to him: My name is Ikku. He said: If so [ikku], may your beams reach your walls.

תנא הגיעו עד שיצאו אמה לכאן ואמה לכאן ויש אומרין סניפין עשאום תניא פלימו אומר אני ראיתי אותו הבית והוו קורותיו יוצאות אמה לכאן ואמה לכאן ואמרו לי בית זה שקירה רבי חנינא בן דוסא בתפלתו

A tanna taught: The beams were lengthened to such an extent that they not only reached the walls, but they continued until they jutted out a cubit from this side and a cubit from that side. And some say that they extended with segments [senifin], adding new walls at both ends of the beams. It is taught in a baraita that the Sage Palaimo says: I saw that house, and its beams jutted out a cubit on this side and a cubit on that side. And they said to me: This is the house that Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa roofed by means of his prayer.

ורבי חנינא בן דוסא מהיכן הוו ליה עזים והא עני הוי ועוד אמרו חכמים אין מגדלין בהמה דקה בארץ ישראל אמר רב פנחס מעשה ועבר אדם אחד על פתח ביתו והניח שם תרנגולין ומצאתן אשתו של רבי חנינא בן דוסא

The Gemara asks a question about one of the details of this story. And Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa, from where did he have goats? Wasn’t he poor, as stated above? And furthermore, the Sages have said: One may not raise small, domesticated animals in Eretz Yisrael, as they destroy the fields and property of others. How, then, could Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa raise goats? Rav Pineḥas said that this is how it came to pass: An incident occurred in which a certain man passed by the entrance of Rabbi Ḥanina’s house and left chickens there. And Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa’s wife found them and cared for them.

ואמר לה אל תאכלי מביציהן והרבו ביצים ותרנגולין והיו מצערין אותם ומכרן וקנה בדמיהן עזים פעם אחת עבר אותו אדם שאבדו ממנו התרנגולין ואמר לחבירו בכאן הנחתי התרנגולין שלי שמע רבי חנינא אמר לו יש לך בהן סימן אמר לו הן נתן לו סימן ונטל את העיזין והן הן עיזי דאייתו דובי בקרנייהו

And Rabbi Ḥanina said her: Do not eat of their eggs, as they are not ours. And the chickens laid many eggs, and chickens hatched from the eggs. And as the noise and mess of the chickens were distressing them, they sold them and bought goats with their proceeds. Once that same man who lost the chickens passed by and said to his companion: Here is where I left my chickens. Rabbi Ḥanina heard this and said to him: Do you have a sign by which to identify them? He said to him: Yes. He gave him the sign and took the goats. The Gemara concludes: And these are the very goats that brought bears impaled between their horns.

רבי אלעזר בן פדת דחיקא ליה מילתא טובא עבד מלתא ולא הוה ליה מידי למטעם שקל ברא דתומא ושדייה בפומיה חלש לביה ונים אזול רבנן לשיולי ביה חזיוהו דקא בכי וחייך ונפק צוציתא דנורא מאפותיה

§ The Gemara relates more stories of desperately poor righteous individuals. Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat was hard-pressed for money. Once an act of bloodletting was performed on him, but he did not have anything to taste afterward. He took a clove of garlic and put it in his mouth. His heart became weak and he fell asleep. The Sages came to inquire about his welfare. They saw him weeping and laughing, and a ray of light was shining from his forehead.

כי אתער אמרו ליה מאי טעמא קבכית וחייכת אמר להו דהוה יתיב עמי הקדוש ברוך הוא ואמרי ליה עד מתי אצטער בהאי עלמא ואמר לי אלעזר בני ניחא לך דאפכיה לעלמא מרישא אפשר דמתילדת בשעתא דמזוני

When he awoke they said to him: What is the reason that you were laughing and crying? He said to them: The reason is that in my dream the Holy One, Blessed be He, was sitting with me, and I said to Him: Until when will I suffer such poverty in this world? And He said to me: Elazar, My son, is it more convenient for you that I return the world to its very beginning? Perhaps you will be born in an hour of sustenance and not be poor.

אמרי לקמיה כולי האי ואפשר אמרי ליה דחיי טפי או דחיינא אמר לי דחיית אמרי לקמיה אם כן לא בעינא

I said before Him: You suggest doing all this, to return the world to its beginning, and even then is it only a possibility that things will be different, not a certainty? I said to Him: Are the years that I have already lived more numerous, or are that I will live more numerous? He said to me: Those years that you have lived are greater. I said before Him: If so, I do not want You to recreate the world for the sake of a brief few years.

אמר לי בהאי אגרא דאמרת לא בעינא יהיבנא לך לעלמא דאתי תליסרי נהרוותא דמשחא אפרסמון דכיין כפרת ודיגלת דמענגת בהו אמרי לקמיה האי ותו לא אמר לי ולחברך מאי יהיבנא אמרי ליה ואנא מגברא דלית ליה בעינא מחיין באסקוטלא אפותאי ואמר לי אלעזר ברי גירי בך גירי

He said to me: As a reward for saying: I do not want, I will give you in the World-to-Come thirteen rivers of pure balsam oil as large as the Euphrates and the Tigris for you to enjoy. I said before Him: This and no more? He said to me: But if I give you more, what will I give to your colleagues? I said to Him: And do I request this from a person, who does not have enough? You are omnipotent. He playfully snapped His finger [askutla] on my forehead and said to me: Elazar, my son, My arrows I cast upon you, My arrows. This touch caused the ray of light to shine from his forehead.

רבי חמא בר חנינא גזר תעניתא ולא אתא מיטרא אמרו ליה והא רבי יהושע בן לוי גזר תעניתא ואתי מיטרא אמר להו הא אנא הא בר ליואי אמרו ליה דניתי וניכוין דעתין אפשר דתברי ציבורא לבייהו דאתי מיטרא בעון רחמי ולא אתי מיטרא

The Gemara returns to the topic of fasting for rain. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina decreed a fast but rain did not come. They said to him: Didn’t Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi decree a fast and rain came? He said to them: This is I; this is a son of a Levite, i.e., we are two different people of unequal stature. They said to him: Let us come and focus our minds. Perhaps the hearts of the members of the community will break and rain will come. They prayed for mercy, but rain did not come.

אמר להו ניחא לכו שיבא מטר בשבילנו אמרו ליה הן אמר רקיע רקיע כסי פניך לא איכסי אמר כמה עזין פני רקיע איכסי ואתא מיטרא

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said to them: Are you content that rain should come on our account, and through our merit? They said to him: Yes. He said: Skies, skies, cover your face with clouds. The sky was not covered with clouds. He said in rebuke: How impudent is the face of the sky, to ignore me. The sky became covered with clouds and rain came.

לוי גזר תעניתא ולא אתא מיטרא אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם עלית וישבת במרום ואין אתה מרחם על בניך אתא מיטרא ואיטלע אמר רבי אלעזר לעולם אל יטיח אדם דברים כלפי מעלה שהרי אדם גדול הטיח דברים כלפי מעלה ואיטלע ומנו לוי

The Gemara relates a similar story. Levi decreed a fast but rain did not come. He said before God: Master of the Universe, You have ascended and sat up high, and You do not have mercy upon Your children. Rain came, but as a punishment for his harsh statement toward God, Levi became lame. Consequently, Rav Elazar said: A person should never cast harsh statements toward God on High, as a great person cast statements toward God on High, and he became lame. And who was this individual? Levi.

הא גרמא ליה והא לוי אחוי קידה קמיה דרבי ואיטלע הא והא גרמא ליה

The Gemara asks: And did this comment of Levi’s cause him to become lame? But it is stated that Levi demonstrated kidda, a particular type of bowing on one’s face, performed by the High Priest, before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and he became lame as a result (see Megilla 22b). The Gemara explains: Both this and that caused his lameness. As a punishment for acting improperly, he suffered an injury while he was attempting a difficult physical feat and was vulnerable.

רבי חייא בר לולייני שמעינהו להנך ענני דקאמרי ניתו וניתבי מיא בעמון ומואב אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם כשנתת תורה לעמך ישראל חזרת על כל אומות העולם ולא קיבלוה ועכשיו אתה נותן להם מטר שדו הכא שדיוה אדוכתיהו

The Gemara relates: Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Lulyani heard these clouds saying to one another, let us go and bring water for Ammon and Moab in Transjordan. He said before God: Master of the Universe, when You gave Your Torah to Your nation Israel, You approached all the nations of the world to see if they would accept the Torah, and they did not accept it. And yet now You are giving them rain. Throw the water here. The clouds threw the rain in their place in Eretz Yisrael.

דרש רבי חייא בר לולייני מאי דכתיב צדיק כתמר יפרח כארז בלבנון ישגה אם נאמר תמר למה נאמר ארז ואם נאמר ארז למה נאמר תמר אילו נאמר תמר ולא נאמר ארז הייתי אומר מה תמר

Since the Gemara has mentioned Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Lulyani, it cites a statement in his name. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Lulyani taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (Psalms 92:13)? If it is stated “palm tree” why does it state “cedar,” and if it is stated “cedar” why does it state “palm tree”? What is added by this double comparison? He explains: Were it stated “palm tree” and were it not stated “cedar,” I would say that just as in the case of a palm tree,

אין גזעו מחליף אף צדיק חס ושלום אין גזעו מחליף לכך נאמר ארז אילו נאמר ארז ולא נאמר תמר הייתי אומר מה ארז אין עושה פירות אף צדיק חס וחלילה אין עושה פירות לכך נאמר תמר ונאמר ארז

its shoots do not replenish themselves when its stump is cut down, so too, Heaven forbid, with regard to a righteous person, his shoots will not replenish themselves, i.e., he will be unable to recover from misfortune. Therefore, it is stated “cedar” in the verse. Just as the cedar grows new shoots after its stump is cut down, so too, a righteous individual will thrive again. Conversely, were it stated “cedar” and were it not stated “palm tree,” I would say that just as in the case of a cedar, it does not produce fruit, so too, a righteous man, God forbid, does not produce fruit, i.e., he will have no reward in the World-to-Come. Therefore, it is stated “palm tree” and it is also stated “cedar.”

וארז גזעו מחליף והתניא הלוקח אילן מחבירו לקוץ מגביהו מן הקרקע טפח וקוצץ בסדן השקמה שני טפחים בבתולת השקמה שלשה טפחים בקנים ובגפנים מן הפקק ולמעלה בדקלים ובארזים חופר למטה ומשריש לפי שאין גזעו מחליף

§ The Gemara asks: And do a cedar’s shoots really replenish themselves? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: With regard to one who bought a tree from another to chop it down for wood, without acquiring total ownership of the tree, he must lift his ax a handbreadth and chop there, so as to allow the tree to grow back? However, in a case where he purchased a large sycamore, he must leave two handbreadths. In the case of an untrimmed sycamore, he must leave three handbreadths. In a situation where one bought reeds or grapevines, he may chop only from the first knot and above. In the case of palms or cedars, one may dig down and uproot it, as its shoots will not replenish themselves. This baraita indicates that cedars will not grow new shoots after they have been cut down.

הכא במאי עסקינן בשאר מיני ארזים כדרבה בר הונא דאמר רבה בר הונא עשרה מיני ארזים הן שנאמר אתן במדבר ארז שטה והדס וגו׳

The Gemara answers: With what are we dealing here? With other species of cedars. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabba bar Huna, as Rabba bar Huna said: There are ten species of cedars, as it is stated: “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree and myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert cypress, the plane tree and the larch together” (Isaiah 41:19). The seven species mentioned in this verse are all called cedars, as are three additional species.

תנו רבנן מעשה ברבי אליעזר שגזר שלש עשרה תעניות על הצבור ולא ירדו גשמים באחרונה התחילו הצבור לצאת אמר להם תקנתם קברים לעצמכם געו כל העם בבכיה וירדו גשמים

The Sages taught: An incident occurred involving Rabbi Eliezer, who decreed a complete cycle of thirteen fasts upon the congregation, but rain did not fall. At the end of the last fast, the congregation began to exit the synagogue. He said to them: Have you prepared graves for yourselves? If rain does not fall, we will all die of hunger. All the people burst into tears, and rain fell.

שוב מעשה ברבי אליעזר שירד לפני התיבה ואמר עשרים וארבע ברכות ולא נענה ירד רבי עקיבא אחריו ואמר אבינו מלכנו אין לנו מלך אלא אתה אבינו מלכנו למענך רחם עלינו וירדו גשמים הוו מרנני רבנן יצתה בת קול ואמרה לא מפני שזה גדול מזה אלא שזה מעביר על מידותיו וזה אינו מעביר על מדותיו

There was another incident involving Rabbi Eliezer, who descended to serve as prayer leader before the ark on a fast day. And he recited twenty-four blessings, but he was not answered. Rabbi Akiva descended before the ark after him and said: Our Father, our King, we have no king other than You. Our Father, our King, for Your sake, have mercy on us. And rain immediately fell. The Sages were whispering among themselves that Rabbi Akiva was answered while his teacher, Rabbi Eliezer, was not. A Divine Voice emerged and said: It is not because this Sage, Rabbi Akiva, is greater than that one, Rabbi Eliezer, but that this one is forgiving, and that one is not forgiving. God responded to Rabbi Akiva’s forgiving nature in kind by sending rain.

תנו רבנן עד מתי יהו הגשמים יורדין והצבור פוסקין מתעניתם כמלא ברך המחרישה דברי רבי מאיר וחכמים אומרים בחרבה טפח בבינונית טפחיים בעבודה שלשה טפחים

§ The Sages taught in a baraita: How much rain must fall for the community to cease their fast for rain? If the rain penetrates the soil by the full depth of the blade of a plow until the spot where it bends, they may cease fasting; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. And the Rabbis say a different measurement: If the earth is completely dry, the soil must become moist to the depth of a single handbreadth. For average soil, they must wait until the moisture reaches a depth of two handbreadths. If it is worked soil, i.e., soil that has been plowed, the moisture must reach to a depth of three handbreadths.

תניא רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר אין לך טפח מלמעלה שאין תהום יוצא לקראתו שלשה טפחים והא תניא טפחיים לא קשיא כאן בעבודה כאן בשאינה עבודה

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: There is no handbreadth of rain from above toward which the water of the deep does not rise three handbreadths. The Gemara raises an objection: But isn’t it taught in another baraita that the water of the deep rises two handbreadths? The Gemara explains: This is not difficult. Here, in first baraita, it is referring to worked land, which water penetrates faster, whereas there, in the second baraita, it is referring to unworked land, which water does not penetrate as easily, and therefore the water of the deep rises only two handbreadths.

אמר רבי אלעזר כשמנסכין את המים בחג תהום אומר לחבירו אבע מימיך קול שני ריעים אני שומע שנאמר תהום אל תהום קורא לקול צנוריך וגו׳

Rabbi Elazar said: When the water libation was poured during the festival of Sukkot, these waters of the deep say to the other waters of the deep: Let your water flow, as I hear the voices of two of our friends, the wine libation and the water libation, which are both poured on the altar. As it is stated: “Deep calls to deep at the sound of your channels, all Your waves and Your billows are gone over me” (Psalms 42:8), i.e., the upper waters of the deep call to the lower waters of the deep when they hear the sound of the libations.

אמר רבה לדידי חזי לי האי רידיא דמי לעיגלא ופירסא שפוותיה וקיימא בין תהומא תתאה לתהומא עילאה לתהומא עילאה אמר ליה חשור מימיך לתהומא תתאה אמר ליה אבע מימיך שנאמר הנצנים נראו בארץ וגו׳

Rabba said: I have seen this angel in charge of water, Ridya, in the form of a calf whose lips were parted, standing between the lower waters of the deep and the upper waters of the deep. To the upper waters of the deep, he said: Distill your water and let it rain. To the lower waters of the deep, he said: Let your water flow from below, as it is stated: “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove [tur] is heard in our land” (Song of Songs 2:12). The appearance of flowers in this verse alludes to the libations, as both the blooming of flowers and pouring of these libations are annual events. The time of the singing is referring to the singing of the Festival. Finally, the term tur in Aramaic can also mean an ox; in this context, it is interpreted as a reference to the angel Ridya.

היו מתענין וירדו גשמים קודם הנץ החמה כו׳ תנו רבנן היו מתענין וירדו להם גשמים קודם הנץ החמה לא ישלימו לאחר הנץ החמה ישלימו דברי רבי מאיר רבי יהודה אומר קודם חצות לא ישלימו לאחר חצות ישלימו

§ The mishna teaches: If they were fasting for rain and rain fell for them before sunrise, they need not complete their fast until the evening. The Sages taught: If they were fasting for rain and rain fell for them before sunrise, they need not complete their fast, as the obligation to fast does not come into effect until sunrise. However, if rain fell after sunrise, they must complete their fast. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: If rain fell before midday, they need not complete their fast; however, if it rains after midday, they must complete their fast.

רבי יוסי אומר קודם ט׳ שעות לא ישלימו לאחר תשע שעות ישלימו שכן מצינו באחאב מלך ישראל שהתענה מתשע שעות ולמעלה שנאמר הראית כי נכנע אחאב וגו׳

Rabbi Yosei says: If rain falls before the ninth hour, three hours into the afternoon, they need not complete their fast; if it rains after the ninth hour of the day, they must complete their fast, as we found with regard to Ahab, king of Israel, who fasted from the ninth hour and onward, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying: Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before Me?” (I Kings 21:27–29). According to tradition, this occurred in the ninth hour.

רבי יהודה נשיאה גזר תעניתא וירדו להם גשמים לאחר הנץ החמה סבר לאשלומינהו אמר ליה רבי אמי קודם חצות ואחר חצות שנינו שמואל הקטן גזר תעניתא וירדו להם גשמים קודם הנץ החמה כסבורין העם לומר שבחו של צבור הוא

Rabbi Yehuda Nesia decreed a fast, and rain fell for them after sunrise. He thought to complete the fast, but Rabbi Ami said to him that we learned: Before noon and after noon, i.e., the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda. Shmuel HaKatan decreed a fast, and rain fell for them before sunrise. The people thought to say: This is a sign of the praiseworthiness of the community, as we merited rainfall even before we prayed.

אמר להם אמשול לכם משל למה הדבר דומה לעבד שמבקש פרס מרבו אמר להם תנו לו ואל אשמע קולו

He said to them: I will tell you a parable. To what is this matter comparable? To a situation where there is a slave who requests a reward from his master, either food or livelihood, and the master says to his ministers: Give him what he asks for and let me not hear his voice, as I would rather not have to listen to him. Here, too, evidently God has no desire to hear our prayers.

שוב שמואל הקטן גזר תעניתא וירדו להם גשמים לאחר שקיעת החמה כסבורים העם לומר שבחו של צבור הוא אמר להם שמואל לא שבח של צבור הוא אלא אמשול לכם משל למה הדבר דומה לעבד שמבקש פרס מרבו ואמר להם המתינו לו עד שיתמקמק ויצטער ואחר כך תנו לו

Again, on another occasion, Shmuel HaKatan decreed a fast, and rain fell for them after sunset. Based on his previous response, the people thought to say: This is a sign of the praiseworthiness of the community, as God listened to our prayers all day. Shmuel HaKatan said to them: It is not a sign of the praiseworthiness of the community. Rather, I will tell you a parable. To what is this matter comparable? To a situation where there is a slave who requests a reward from his master, and the master says to his ministers: Wait until he pines away and suffers, and afterward give it to him. Here too, the delay is not to the congregation’s credit.

ולשמואל הקטן שבחו של צבור היכי דמי אמר משיב הרוח ונשב זיקא אמר מוריד הגשם ואתא מיטרא

The Gemara asks: But if so, according to the opinion of Shmuel HaKatan, what is considered the praiseworthiness of the community; what are the circumstances in which approval is shown from Heaven? The Gemara explains: When the prayer leader recites: He Who makes the wind blow, and the wind blows; and when he recites: And the rain fall, and rain falls.

מעשה וגזרו תענית בלוד כו׳ ונימא הלל מעיקרא אביי ורבא דאמרי תרווייהו לפי שאין אומרים הלל

The mishna teaches: An incident occurred in which the court decreed a fast in Lod, and when rain fell they ate and drank, and afterward they recited hallel. The Gemara asks: And let us recite hallel at the outset, without delay. Why did they first go home and eat? Abaye and Rava both said: Because one recites hallel