4 [1] On each and every day of the seven last fasts for rain, we pray in this order: We remove the ark to the town square and all of the people gather and cover themselves with sackcloth. And they place burnt ashes upon the ark and on top of the Torah scroll in order to increase the crying and to humble their hearts. And one of the people takes from the ashes and places it on the head of the *nassi* (leader) and on the head of the head of the court in the place of where the tefillin lay, so that they will be embarrassed and repent. And each and every [member of the community] takes [ashes] and puts [it] on his head. [2] And afterwards they should have a sage elder stand up among them [while] they sit. [If] there was not a sage elder there, they stand up a sage. [If] there was neither a sage nor an elder there, they stand up a man of stature. And he says words of submission in front of them: Our brothers, it is not sackcloth or fasting that cause [a divine punishment to end], but rather repentance and good deeds. As so did we find with Nineveh -d it is not stated about the people of Nineveh, "And God saw their sackcloth and their fasting"; but rather, "And God saw their deeds" (Jonah 3:10). And in the received tradition, it states (Joel 2:13), "Rend your hearts and not your garments." And he adds to these topics according to his ability, until they humble their hearts and repent with a complete repentance. [3] And after this one finishes the words of submission, they stand in prayer. And they put up a prayer leader fit to pray on these fasts. If that one who said the words of submission is fit to pray, he should pray. But if not, they bring down another [to do so]. [4] And who is fit to pray (lead the prayers) on these fasts? A man who is accustomed to pray, and accustomed to reading the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. [One who has] dependent [children] but does not have [the means to support them], so he toils in the field. And there should not be a [habitual] sinner among his children or his household or all of his relatives who are attached to him. Rather his house should be empty of sin. And a bad reputation should not have gone out about him in his youth. He should be humble, accepted by the people, musical and have a pleasant voice. And if he was an elder with all of these traits, it is surely magnificent. But if he is not an elder, he should pray [nevertheless] — since he has all of these traits. [5] And the prayer leader begins and prays until, "Who redeems Israel" (the seventh blessing of the daily Amidah prayer). He [then] says the Remembrances and the Shofarot similar to the trouble. And he [also] says, "In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me" (Psalms 120:1); "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, etc." (Psalms 121:1); "Out of the depths I have called You, O Lord" (Psalms 130:1); [and] "A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints” (Psalms 102:1)." [6] And he says words of supplication according to his ability. And he says, "Please see our poverty and fight our fight and be quick to redeem us." And he supplicates and says at the end of his supplications, "He Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, He shall answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, Redeemer of Israel." [7] And he [then] begins to add six blessings that he adds one after [another]. And he supplicates in each one of them with words of supplication and verses from the [Prophets] and from the [Writings], according to that with which he is familiar. And he concludes each one with these endings: [8] In the first, he concludes, "He who answered Moses and our forefathers by the Red Sea, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who remembers the forgotten." [9] In the second, he concludes, "He who answered Joshua at Gilgal, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who hears the teruah blow." [10] In the third, he concludes, "He who answered Samuel at Mitspah, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who hears the cry." [11] In the fourth, he concludes, "He who answered Elijah at Mount Carmel, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who hears prayer." [12] In the fifth, he concludes, "He who answered Jonah in the innards of the whale, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who answers at a time of trouble." [13] In the sixth, he concludes, "He who answered David and his son, Solomon, in Jerusalem, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Lord, who has mercy upon the Land." And all of the people answer, "Amen," after each and every blessing — in the way that they answer after all blessings. [14] In the seventh, he says, "Heal us and we shall be healed, etc." And he finishes the prayer in [its] order, and [then] sound the trumpets. And we do according to this order in every place. [15] When they would pray in this order in Jerusalem, they would gather at the Temple Mount across from the Eastern Gate and pray according to this order: So when the prayer leader reached to say, "He Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah," he would say, "Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed are You, Lord, Redeemer of Israel." And they would answer after him, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever." And the sexton says to those blowing, "Blow, Sons of Aaron, blow." And the one praying (the prayer leader) repeats and says, "He Who answered our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, He shall answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day." And afterwards the priests blow tekiah, teruah and tekiah blows. [16] And likewise with the blessing second to this [one] — which is the first of the six that he adds — he would conclude with, "Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed are You, Lord, who remembers the forgotten." And they would answer, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever." And the sexton says to those blowing, "Blow, Sons of Aaron, blow." And the prayer leader repeats and says, "He who answered Moses and our forefathers by the Red Sea, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day." And afterwards the priests blow teruah, tekiah and teruah blows. [17] And likewise with each and every blessing — with one he would say, "Blow a teruah (first)"; and with one he would say, "Blow a tekiah (first)," until he finished all of the seven blessings. And it would come out that the priests would once blow tekiah and teruah and tekiah blows, and once blow teruah, tekiah and teruah blows — seven times (in all). And we only do this order on the Temple Mount exclusively. And when they blow tekiah and teruah blows there, they blow with trumpets and with the shofar together — as we have mentioned. [18] In every place where we decree these seven fasts: After they pray, all of the people go out to the cemeteries, and cry and supplicate there. [This is] to say, "You will surely die like these, if you do not repent from your ways." And on any fast from the fasts about troubles that we decree upon the community, we pray the *neilah* (closing late afternoon) prayer [service] in every place. [19] [If] rain fell for them, until when must it fall for the community to stop the fast? From when it sinks the depth of a handbreadth into dry land, two handbreadths into average [soil]; and until it sinks the depth of three handbreadths into worked (soft) [soil].
Version: Sefaria Edition. Translated by R. Francis Nataf, 2019
translation Source: Nataf translation
License: CC-BY