Megillah, Daf Lammed Aleph, Part 4
Introduction
Today’s section deals with readings for the month of Av.
אמר רב הונא ראש חדש אב שחל להיות בשבת מפטירין +ישעיהו א‘+ חדשיכם ומועדיכם שנאה נפשי היו עלי לטרח. מאי היו עלי לטרח? אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא: לא דיין להם לישראל שחוטאין לפני, אלא שמטריחין אותי לידע איזו גזירה קשה אביא עליהם.
R. Huna said: If Rosh Hodesh falls on Shabbat the haftarah is "Your new moons and your appointed seasons are hateful to my soul, they are a burden for me" (Isaiah 1:14). What is the meaning of "they are a burden for me"?
God said: It is not enough for Israel that they sin before Me, but they trouble Me to figure out what punishment I shall bring upon them.
On Rosh Hodesh Av that falls on Shabbat we do not read the regular haftarah for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh. Rather, we read a haftarah from Isaiah.
Today we do not follow this custom. Rather we follow a custom mentioned in a midrashic source to read special haftarot from the 17th of Tammuz all the way through Rosh Hashanah. The first three are haftarot where we read of punishment and for the next seven we read messages of consolation.
The "burden" upon God mentioned in the verse from Isaiah is interpreted as the trouble of determining what punishment Israel is deserving of.
בתשעה באב גופיה מאי מפטרינן? אמר רב: +ישעיהו א‘+ איכה היתה לזונה, מקרא מאי? תניא. אחרים אומרים: +ויקרא כ"ו+ ואם לא תשמעו לי, רבי נתן בר יוסף אומר: +במדבר י"ד+ עד אנה ינאצני העם הזה, ויש אומרים: +במדבר י"ד+ עד מתי לעדה הרעה הזאת. אמר אביי: האידנא נהוג עלמא למיקרי +דברים ד‘+ כי תוליד בנים, ומפטירין +ירמיהו ח‘+ אסף אסיפם.
On the Ninth of Av itself what is the haftarah?
Rav said: "How (איכה) has she become a harlot" (Isaiah 1:21).
What is the section from the Torah?
It has been taught: Others say, But if you will not obey me" (Leviticus 26:14-46); R. Nathan b. Joseph says: "How long will this people despise me" (Numbers 14:11-25); and some say, "How long shall I bear this evil congregation" (Numbers 14:26-46). Abaye said: Nowadays the custom has been adopted of reading [from the Torah] "When you shall bear children" (Deuteronomy 4:25-40), and for haftarah, "I will utterly consume them" (Jeremiah 8:13-9:23).
This section contains various customs as to what we read in the Torah and for the haftarah on Tisha B’av. Today we follow the custom mentioned by Abaye.