Megillah, Daf Kaf Bet, Part 3
Introduction
The Mishnah does not tell us how many people read on a public fast day. In the Talmud a "public fast day" refers mainly to fasts called due to lack of rain. However, the word can also be used in reference to Tisha B’av and the other fasts, not including Yom Kippur, on which six people read, as we learned in the Mishnah.
זה הכלל כל שיש בו מוסף וכו’. איבעיא להו: תענית צבור בכמה? ראש חדש ומועד דאיכא קרבן מוסף – ארבעה, אבל הכא דליכא קרבן מוסף – לא, או דלמא: הכא נמי איכא מוסף תפלה?
This is the general rule: whenever there is a musaf etc.
They asked: How many read on a public fast day? On Rosh Hodeah and the intermediate days of the festival when there is an additional sacrifice four read, but here where there is no additional sacrifice this is not the case?
Or here also there is an additional prayer [and therefore four read]?
The question is what category do we put public fast days in? On the one hand, there is no additional sacrifice on public fast days, so they are lesser than Rosh Hodesh and Hol Hamoed. This would indicate that three should read. On the other hand, there are additional prayers on public fast days. This might indicate that like Rosh Hodesh and Hol Hamoed which also have an additional prayer (the musaf prayer).
תא שמע: בראשי חדשים ובחולו של מועד קורין ארבעה, הא בתענית צבור – שלשה!
אימא רישא: בשני ובחמישי, ובשבת במנחה קורין שלשה, הא תענית צבור – ארבעה!
אלא, מהא ליכא למישמע מינה.
Come and hear: On Rosh Hodesh and on the intermediate days of festivals four read. Thus on public fasts only three read
But what about the previous clause: On Mondays and Thursdays and on Shabbat at minhah three read. Thus on public fasts four read!
Rather we cannot learn from here.
This section seems to just prove that we can’t learn one way or another from the mishnah. If we deduce from the absence of public fast days in the second section listing days on which we read four, we would conclude that we read three. But if we were to deduce from the previous section and its absence from the list of days on which three are read, we would conclude that we read four. So we can’t learn anything.
תא שמע, דרב איקלע לבבל בתענית צבור, קם קרא בסיפרא, פתח בריך, חתים ולא בריך. נפול כולי עלמא אאנפייהו. ורב לא נפל על אפיה. מכדי רב בישראל קרא, מאי טעמא חתם ולא בריך? לאו משום דבעי למיקרי אחרינא בתריה?
Come and hear: Rav happened to be at Babylon during a public fast. He got up and read in the scroll [of the Torah]. He blessed when he began but he did not bless when he finished. The whole congregation [afterwards] fell on their faces, but Rav did not fall on his face. Since Rav read as a lay Israelite, why did he not bless after finishing?
Was it not because another was to read after him?
In order to understand this section, we must remember that in the time of the Talmud (or at least in the beginning of this period) the first reader would bless and the last leader would bless. Those reading the intermediate aliyot would not bless at all. We hear in this story that Rav came to Babylon and blessed in the beginning and not at the end. Since we know that Rav was not a Kohen, we can assume that he did not read the first or second Aliyah. He assumedly read the third Aliyah. The fact that he didn’t bless after is for now explained by the fact that there will be a fourth reader on a public fast day.
[For now put aside the question of why Rav would bless before if he was reading the third Aliyah. Also put aside the issue of "falling on the face". The Talmud will do with this later on this page of Talmud].
לא, רב בכהני קרא, דהא רב הונא קרי בכהני.
בשלמא רב הונא קרי בכהני – דהא אפילו רב אמי ורב אסי, דכהני חשיבי דארעא ישראל, מיכף כייפו ליה לרב הונא. אלא רב, הא איכא שמואל, דכהנא הוה ודבר עליה! – שמואל נמי מיכף הוה כייף ליה לרב, ורב הוא דעבד ליה כבוד. וכי עביד ליה – בפניו, שלא בפניו – לא עביד ליה.
No, Rav read as kohen, for R. Huna also read as kohen.
I can understand that R. Huna read as kohen, because even R. Assi and R. Ammi who were important kohanim of Eretz Israel were subject to the authority of R. Huna.
But as for Rav, there was Shmuel, who was a kohen and who took precedence over him? Shmuel also was subject to the authority of Rav, and it was Rav who of his own accord honored him. But he would do so only in his presence, but not when he was not present.
The Talmud rejects the idea that Rav read the third Aliyah. Rav read the first Aliyah, usually reserved for kohanim. The same is true for R. Huna who also read the first Aliyah despite his not being a Kohen.
The Talmud notes that only a rabbi to whose authority all other rabbis are subject should read the first Aliyah. Rav doesn’t seem to fit this category, because he showed deference to Shmuel, his contemporary and also a Kohen. He should not be reading the Kohen Aliyah.
The answer is that Shmuel was subject to Rav’s authority, but Rav nevertheless showed him deference. However, he would do so only when in front of Shmuel. When not in front of him, he did not show such deference and thus he would read the Kohen Aliyah.
הכי נמי מסתברא דרב בכהני קרא, דאי סלקא דעתך בישראל קרא – לפניה מאי טעמא בריך? – לאחר תקנה. – אי הכי לאחריה נמי לבריך? – שאני היכא דיתיב רב, דמיעל עיילי מיפק לא נפקי.
It is also reasonable to assume that Rav read as kohen, because if you should think that he read as an Israelite, why did he say a blessing before reading?
It was after the enactment.
If so, he should have said a blessing after reading also?
It is different where Rav was present, because people came in [late] but did not go out [during the Torah reading].
The Talmud now bolsters our assumption that Rav read the first Aliyah. As I stated above, originally only the first person said the blessing before reading. Since we know that Rav blessed before reciting the Aliyah, we can assume that he read the Kohen (first) Aliyah.
Now the Talmud retracts this last statement by asserting that Rav may have lived after the "enactment." This refers to the enactment to bless before and after each Aliyah as we do to this day. The reason for this was lest people who leave early or come late miss out on the blessing before or after and don’t realize that one blesses before and after reading the Torah in public. The Talmud posits that Rav may have lived after the enactment, and therefore may have blessed before reading the third Aliyah. Of course, now we have to figure out why he didn’t bless after. The answer the Talmud provides is that Rav didn’t have to worry about people leaving where he was. They might come in late, therefore the rabbis instituted that everyone should bless before reading. But once in they would stay till the end, therefore only the last reader needed to bless.
I should note that the Talmudic editors are willing to play with history to solve difficulties. Talmudic historians know that Rav lived before this change in halakhah, and that is why he said only one of the blessings. But the Talmud wants to raise all possibilities for explaining his behavior. This is typical of the Talmud. It wishes to explore all theoretical possibilities and is less concerned (if concerned at all) with what actually happened.