Taanit 31 - Siyum Masechet Taanit - December 13, 9 Tevet

Siyum Masechet Taanit is sponsored by Rella Feldman and family “In honor of all the Daf Yomi learners internationally and the dedicated teachers who make it possible. Thank you Rabbanit Michelle Farber for your daily inspiration and to Ilana Kurshan for your shiur today.”  Siyum Masechet Taanit is sponsored by Sara Averick and Jose Rosenfeld in loving memory of Leah & Nathan Averick and Rochel & Walter Mark.  Two more reasons are given as to the significance of the day of Tu b’Av. One is that the people who were killed in Beitar in the Bar Kochva rebellion were allowed to be buried on that day. The other is that it is the last day they were able to cut wood for the Temple before the days began to get shorter and the sun would not be strong enough to dry the wood. If the wood was not dry enough, it could attract worms, thereby disqualifying it for use on the altar. When the days got shorter one who studies into the night will add years to one’s life and one who does not, shortens one’s life. On Yom Kippur and Tu b’Av when the young women would go out dancing, they would borrow clothing one from the other. A braita specifies who would borrow from who. They would purify the clothing first in a mikveh, even if they were folded in the cabinet, just in case they were impure. What would they say to the men in order to encourage them to marry the women? It depended on what the woman’s strengths were – beauty or good family lineage. What would they say if she had neither? In the future, there will be a circle of tzadikim who will sit around with God in the Garden of Eden, pointing at God saying, “This is our God, our salvation.”