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Ta'anis 31
1) [line 2] HARUGEI BEITAR
(a) Beitar was a large city in Eretz Yisrael that was destroyed by the Romans
during the Jewish revolt (circa 122 C.E.). The blood of the men, women and
children killed is said to have flowed into the Mediterranean Sea, which was
a distance of one Mil away (Gitin 57a; according to Eichah Rabah 2:4 four
Mil; alt. 40 Mil). The Gemara (ibid.) records that the non-Jews in the
neighboring towns did not need to fertilize their vineyards for seven years
due to the quantity of blood that flowed into the ground.
(b) At first, the Roman Government did not let the Jews bury the bodies. One
emperor is said to have fenced in his vineyard with the dead bodies (Eichah
Raba 2:4). After quite some time, the next emperor let the bodies be buried.
It was seen as a sign of favor from HaSh-m that the Romans changed their
minds, and that the bodies did not decompose before they were buried. The
Chachamim established the Berachah of ha'Tov veha'Metiv to commemorate the
miracles.
2) [line 3] YAVNEH - the seat of the Sanhedrin immediately after the
destruction of the Beis ha'Mikdash
3) [line 6] MA'ARACHAH - the wood-pile on the Mizbe'ach on which the
sacrifices were burned
4) [line 8] TASHASH KOCHAH SHEL CHAMAH - the strength (heat) of the sun
becomes weak
5) [line 10] YOM TEVAR MAGAL - the Day of the Breaking of the Scythe, Sickle
(a Magal may also be a type of axe used for cutting down trees)
6) [line 11] D'MOSIF YOSIF - the one who adds hours of learning from the
night to his daytme learning, will add time to his life
b) [line 11] UD'LO MOSIF (YE'ASEF) YASEIF - and the one who does not add
hours of learning will die early
7) [line 21] YEFEIFIYOS - the beautiful ones
8) [line 24] SHE'TA'ATRUNU B'ZEHUVIM - that you will adorn us with golden
ornaments; i.e. that you will buy us nice clothes
9) [line 25] MACHOL - circular dance
*****HADRAN ALACH B'SHELOSHAH PERAKIM U'SLIKA LAH MASECHES TA'ANIS*****
******TAM V'NISHLAM SHEVACH LA'KEL BOREI OLAM*******
On to Megilah
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