004 - הִלְכוֹת תַּעְנִיּוֹת פֵּרֶק ד

Laws of Fasts, Chapter 4

1. On each of the seven final fast days for rain, the prayers are conducted in the following order: They bring the ark out to the city square, and all the people gather and wrap themselves in sackcloth. Ashes from a burnt substance are placed on the ark and on a Sefer Torah, in order to encourage weeping and to humble their hearts. One person from among the people takes some of the ashes and places them on the head of the nasi and on the head of the head of the Beis Din, at the spot where tefillin are placed, so that they will be shamed and repent. Each person also takes and places ashes on his own head.

2. After this, while they are sitting, they appoint among them an elder who is wise. If there is no elder who is wise, they appoint a wise person. If there is neither an elder nor a wise person, they appoint a person of stature. He addresses them with words of rebuke, saying: "Our brothers, it is not sackcloth or fasting that brings about the result, but repentance and good deeds. For so we find regarding the people of Nineveh, it is not written about them, 'And G‑d saw their sackcloth and their fasting,' but rather, 'And G‑d saw their deeds' (Yonah 3:10). And in the Prophets it says, 'Tear your hearts and not your garments' (Yoel 2:13)." He adds further on these matters, according to his ability, until he humbles their hearts and they return in complete repentance.

3. After the one who spoke words of rebuke finishes, they stand for prayer. They appoint as shliach tzibbur someone who is fit to pray in these matters. If the one who spoke the words of rebuke is fit to pray, he leads the prayer; if not, they appoint another.

4. Who is considered fit to pray in these matters? A man who is accustomed to prayer, and is accustomed to reading the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings; who is responsible for others and has no support; who works in the field with his own hands. None of his children, household, relatives, or those associated with him should be known as a transgressor—rather, his household should be free of sin. He should not have had a bad reputation in his youth, should be humble, pleasing to the people, have a pleasant voice, and his voice should be sweet. If he is an elder with all these qualities, he is especially praiseworthy; but even if he is not an elder, as long as he possesses all these qualities, he should lead the prayer.

5. The shliach tzibbur begins and prays until the blessing of "Goel Yisroel" ("Redeemer of Israel"). He recites verses of remembrance and shofar-blasts related to the trouble, and says: "To Hashem, in my distress I called" (Tehillim 120:1), "I lift my eyes to the mountains..." (Tehillim 121:1), "From the depths I called You, Hashem" (Tehillim 130:1), "A prayer for the afflicted when he faints" (Tehillim 102:1).

6. He says words of supplication according to his ability, and says: "See our affliction, plead our cause, and hasten to redeem us," and he pleads. At the end of his supplications, he says: "He who answered Avraham on Mount Moriah, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, Redeemer of Israel."

7. He then begins to add the six blessings that are added, one after another. In each of them, he pleads with words of supplication and verses from the Prophets and the Holy Writings, as he is accustomed, and concludes each one with the following conclusions:

8. In the first, he concludes: "He who answered Moshe and our ancestors at the Sea of Reeds, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, who remembers the forgotten."

9. In the second, he concludes: "He who answered Yehoshua at Gilgal, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, who hears the teruah."

10. In the third, he concludes: "He who answered Shmuel at Mitzpah, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, who hears the cry."

11. In the fourth, he concludes: "He who answered Eliyahu on Mount Carmel, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, who hears prayer."

12. In the fifth, he concludes: "He who answered Yonah from the belly of the fish, may He answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, who answers in a time of trouble."

Laws of Fasts, Chapter 4

13. In the sixth blessing, he concludes: "He Who answered David and Shlomo his son in Yerushalayim, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day; blessed are You, Hashem, Who has mercy on the land." And all the people answer "Amen" after each and every blessing, just as they answer after all blessings.

14. And he says "Heal us, Hashem, and we will be healed…", and completes the prayer in order; and they blow the trumpets. And in this manner, it is done in every place.

15. When they would pray in this order in Yerushalayim, they would gather on the Har HaBayis opposite the Eastern Gate; and they would pray in this order, and when the shliach tzibbur reached "He Who answered Avraham," he would say: "Blessed are You, Hashem, our G‑d, G‑d of Yisroel, from eternity to eternity; blessed are You, Hashem, Redeemer of Yisroel." And they would answer after him: "Blessed is the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever." And the chazzan of the congregation would say to the ones blowing: "Blow, Kohanim, blow." And the one praying would return and say: "He Who answered Avraham on Har HaMoriah, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day." And afterwards, the Kohanim would blow, and sound a teruah, and blow again.

16. And so in the next blessing, which is the first of the six that are added, he concludes: "Blessed are You, Hashem, our G‑d, G‑d of Yisroel, from eternity to eternity; blessed are You, Hashem, Who remembers the forgotten." And they answer after him: "Blessed is the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever." And the chazzan of the congregation says to them: "Sound a teruah, sons of Aharon, sound a teruah." And the shliach tzibbur returns and says: "He Who answered Moshe and our fathers at the Sea of Reeds, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day." And afterwards, they sound a teruah, blow, and sound a teruah.

17. And so for each and every blessing, in one he says "Blow," and in the next he says "Sound a teruah," until he completes all seven blessings; and it turns out that the Kohanim sometimes blow, sound a teruah, and blow, and sometimes sound a teruah, blow, and sound a teruah—seven times. And this order is only done on the Har HaBayis alone; and when they blow and sound a teruah there, they blow with trumpets and with a shofar together, as we have said.

18. These seven fasts—wherever they are decreed—after they finish praying, all the people go out to the cemetery, and weep and plead there, as if to say: "Behold, you are like the dead if you do not turn from your ways." And on every fast among the fasts of trouble that are decreed on the community, they pray the Ne'ilah prayer in every place.

19. If rain fell for them—until when should it continue to fall, and the community should stop fasting? Once it has soaked a tefach deep in the dry earth, and in average soil, two tefachim; and in plowed land, until it has soaked three tefachim deep.