Taanit 24 - December 6, 2 Tevet

Today's daf is sponsored by Earl Norman in honor of his wife Tamara Norman. "To my wife who is the embodiment of eishet chayyil." Today’s daf is also sponsored by Gabrielle and Daniel Altman in honor of the 85th birthday of their father and grandfather, Hon. Herbert Altman.  Stories are told of Rabbi Yosi from Yokrat. Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Avin was his student but leaves him to learn with Rav Ashi as he was scared of him after he showed no sympathy for his children. One day when Rabbi Yosi didn't return in time to feed his workers, his son prayed to God to have the fruits ripen early in order to have food for them. When Rabbi Yosi heard what his son did, he got angry at him for bothering God to ripen the fruits early and said that as a result, he will die before his time. His daughter was beautiful and there was a man who was looking at her through the fence saying, "If I can't marry her, at least I can look at her." Rabbi Yosi got upset that she was causing men to be tormented and told her to return to the ground. His donkey was rented out to others and was sent back to him daily with money from the rental but if any amount was missing or added, the donkey would refuse to move. Elazar Ish Birta would give all his money to charity so the charity collectors would avoid him so as not to leave him with no money. One day he was in the market shopping for his daughter's dowry and saw the charity collectors and gave them all the money but one zuz that he used to buy wheat for the wedding. A miracle happened from the small amount of wheat that he bought, but he wouldn't let his family benefit from it as he declared that it was sanctified since it came from a miracle. A number of stories are told where the rabbis pray for rain and yet it doesn't help at first. Only after giving up does the rain come. Rabbi Oshaya blames the house of the Nasi and the people for the fact that the rain doesn't come and gets the Nasi's servants very upset and they try to torture him. However, the people stand up for him. Other stories are told of rabbis who pray for rain and their prayers are not answered but then a chazan comes and due to his merits, the rains come. What deeds did they do that enabled this? Raba's prayers for rain go unanswered and he wonders why Rav Yehuda was able to bring rain so easily and he was not. Rava also was unsuccessful at bringing rain even after the people fasted so he has them fast through the night and from a dream someone has, he realizes the time is ripe for prayer and he prays and the rains come. Rava gave lashes to someone who slept with a non-Jewish woman and the person died from the lashes. This upset Shavor Malka, the Persian ruler and he wanted to punish Rava, but his mother, Ifrah Hermiz, warns him not to start up with the Jews as God answers their prayers. Upon his mother's suggestion, he gives them a test to see if this is in fact the case. Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa asks God to stop the rain so he can get home safely, even though the rest of the world needs the rain. When he arrives at home, he asks God to bring the rain for those who need it and the rains come. Rav Yosef points out how strong his prayers were as they overrode the prayer of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur when he asks that God not heed the prayers of the travelers. Even though Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa brought rain for others, he himself lived in extreme poverty.