1)

(a)We just learned that, according to the Tana Kama, if one town has sufficient rain, but its neighbor does not, then, apart from the fact that both towns must fast and blow the Shofar, all the surrounding towns must fast too, but not blow the Shofar. According to Rebbi Akiva - they blow the Shofar but do not fast.

(b)Rebbi Akiva and the Chachamim engage in the same Machlokes - by pestilence and by the walls of a town and of its houses falling due to storm-winds.

(c)In a town of five hundred inhabitants - three people dying on three consecutive days constitutes a plague of pestilence.

2)

(a)If 'Shidafon' and 'Yerakon' (plagues that affect the produce), or a plague of locusts, occurred in one town, one fasts and blows the Shofar everywhere - because these are plagues that spread. Note: This is how the commentaries of the Mishnah explain 'Masri'in' here and in all the subsequent cases (except for those that refer to Shabbos). Rashi interprets 'Masri'in' here to mean reciting 'Anenu'. See also Rashash 22a. on Rashi 'Shidafon v'Yeirakon'.

(b)This Halachah also applies to - a plague of wild animals and to a town that has ben ravaged by the sword.

(c)And the obligation of fasting and blowing the Shofar even extends to other countries - because we see in our Mishnah that the Chachamim decreed fasting and blowing the Shofar from the land of the P'lishtim and from Eiver ha'Yarden to Eretz Yisrael (see also Rashi DH 'Masri'im b'Chol Makom').

(d)The Tana Kama relates how they decreed a fast in Eretz Yisrael because wolves devoured two children in Eiver ha'Yarden. Rebbi Yosi says - that they did not actually devour them. It was because the wolves were merely seen that they decreed the fast.

3)

(a)One cries out (by reciting 'Anenu') even on Shabbos - if the town is besieged by the enemy, if a river overflows its banks and threatens to swamp the town, or for a sinking ship. (See Tosfos Tom-Tov regarding the Din in these cases during the week).

(b)Rebbi Yosi says that one may call for help but not cry out to Hash-m (see above, 14a.).

(c)Shimon ha'Teimani adds pestilence to this list, though the Rabanan do not agree with him.

4)

(a)The only calamity for which one does not fast or blow the Shofar - is too much rain.

(b)Choni ha'Me'agel ...

1. ... instructed the people - to take in their Korban Pesach ovens (which were made of earthenware, and would melt in the rain), when they first asked him to pray for rain.

2. ... drew a circle - when initially no rain came, stood in the middle, and swore to Hash-m that he would not move out of it until He sent rain.

3. ... pointed out, when only a trickle came - that what he had asked for was enough rain to fill the water-pits, not just a trickle.

4. ... said, when it came down in torrents - that what he had asked for was rain of goodwill, not of anger.

(c)He was loathe to pray for the rain to stop. Before he did so - he instructed the people to go and see whether the Even ha'To'en (a large stone in Yerushalayim, next to which lost articles would be announced) had been covered by the rain-water.

(d)Shimon ben Shetach subsequently sent him a message that - if he had not been who he was (and a member of Hash-m's family circle, so to speak, who was allowed the privilege of behaving in a familiar manner with his Father), he would have placed him in Cherem (for the brazen way in which he spoke to Hash-m).

5)

(a)According to the Tana Kama, if the rain began fall only after sunrise, they would nevertheless continue fasting. According to Rebbi Eliezer - as long as it began falling before mid-day, they would stop fasting.

(b)When, during a fast for rain, it began to rain before mid-day - Rebbi Tarfon once ruled in Lud that they should go and eat and declare that day a Yom Tov (like Rebbi Eliezer).

(c)After they had eaten - they re-gathered, and they recited Halel ha'Gadol ('Hodu la'Shem Ki Tov' - which we say on Shabbos morning).

6)

(a)To avoid clashing with a Beraisa, Rav Yehudah (or Rav Huna, emends and) explains our Mishnah to mean - that it is only if the first, second and third dates have passed and there has been no rain that the order of fasts prescribed by our Mishnah applies.

(b)The reason that the Tana mentioned the first fall of rain at all - is because of the continuation of the Mishnah, which obligates an immediate fast in a case where the rain did fall on the first date, and then the crops changed.

(c)Rav Nachman establishes our Mishnah specifically in a case when the crops actually changed, but not when the produce dried up - because then, there is no point in fasting, because it is too late for Tefilah to have any effect.

(d)We explain Rav Nachman's Chidush to be in a case 'd'Hadar Ikun' - which means that, after it became dry, it grew a little, and we might have thought that, since it began to grow a little, Tefilah will be effective after all; so the Tana teaches us that, once the grain has dried, it will never grow properly, in which case there is no point in Davening, fasting or blowing the Shofar (because of the principle 'Ein Somchin al ha'Nes').

7)

(a)The Tana of our Mishnah rules that, if the rain began to fall in good time, but then stopped, one fasts and blows the Shofar, because it is Makas Batzores (scarcity). This is not technically correct. What he actually means is - that it is a Makah that will lead to Batzores.

(b)The difference between having to transport grain down the river from one town to another (which has no food of its own), on the one hand, and having to transport it from one country to another by donkey, on the other is - that in the former case, where the food is transported easily and efficiently, it falls under the category of Batzores (that will not lead to starvation - see Tosfos DH 'Nahara'), and for which does not therefore blow the Shofar (though presumably, one does fast); whereas in the latter case, where transporting the food is difficult and tedious, it falls under the category of starvation and one fasts and blows the Shofar.

8)

(a)Rebbi Chanina describes a case of 'a Se'ah for a Sela, but it is available', as 'Batzores' - because a Se'ah for a Sela is an exorbitant price.

(b)He then goes on to describe 'famine' - as when the grain is hard to come by, even if it is going at the cheap price of four Se'ah for a Sela.

(c)Rebbi Yochanan commented on the latter case - that the previous distinction only applies to when the grain is expensive and the money is steady; but in the reverse case, one fasts and blows Shofar immediately. He recalled from his early days in Teverya - how the grain was once very cheap, yet the people were starving because there was a shortage of money.

9)

(a)Elaborating on our Mishnah, we conclude that a light rain is good for the plants but not for the trees. Rain that is good for ...

1. ... the trees but not for the plants - is a heavy rain.

2. ... the trees and the plants but not for the water-pits - is when there is first a heavy (but short) downpour, and then a light rain.

3. ... the water-pits but not for the trees and the plants - when a lot of falls in the form of an extremely heavy downpour, which damages the plants and the trees.

(b)If there is insufficient water for ...

1. ... the trees - one blows the Shofar and begins fasting around Pesach-time.

2. ... to fill the pits - around the following Sukos time.

3. ... to drink - one begins to fast immediately.

(c)'Immediately' cannot be taken literally - because the fasts always follow the sequence of 'Monday, Thursday, Monday'.

(d)The neighboring towns do not need to blow Shofar and fast, too.

10)

(a)The Beraisa discusses two kinds of Askara (croup) - one fasts and blows the Shofar for the type which kills, but not for the type which does not.

(b)Guva'i and Chagav are two kinds of locusts - the former is more devastating; it totally destroys the crops, whereas the latter does not. Consequently, one fasts and blows the Shofar for even the smallest amount of the former, but not for the latter (unless they appear in large hordes), according to the Tana Kama.

(c)But Raban Shimon ben Elazar maintains - that one fasts and blows the Shofar for even the smallest amount of Chagav, just as one does for Guva'i.

11)

(a)One fasts and blows the Shofar for ...

1. ... water to fill the water pits in the Shemitah (despite the fact that the rain will also water the earth) - but not ...

2. ... for the trees (according to the Tana Kama) - seeing as the fields are Hefker.

(b)According to Raban Shimon ben Gamliel - one fasts and blows the Shofar even for the trees and the wild seeds in the Shemitah (even though they are not valuable), because the poor (presumably this refers to everyone, since nobody owns land in the Shemitah) rely in them for their food.

(c)Rebbi Elazar ben Prata says 'mi'Yom she'Charav Beis Hamikdash, Na'aseh Geshamim Tzimukin', meaning that sometimes there is plenty of rain, sometimes there is a shortage; sometimes the rain falls in its time, sometimes it does not. He compares a year when ...

1. ... the rain falls in its time - to a slave to whom the master gave his sustenance already on Sunday, giving him ample time to bake his dough for Shabbos, with the result that his Chalah is well-baked, and tastes nice.

2. ... it does not - to one whom the master gives his sustenance only on Friday, so that he does not have sufficient time to bake the dough properly. Consequently, his Chalah is not well-baked and it does not taste nice.

(d)According to the first Lashon, he compares a year when there is sufficient rain to a slave who receives his sustenance all in one go, so that only one lot of flour is absorbed by the mill (and similarly, the rain-water is absorbed by the earth and the wind only once); and a year when there is insufficient rain to a slave who received his sustenance little by little, so that each time he kneads, he loses more flour (and so it is with the rain-water). In his second Mashal - he compares the former case to a mixer who mixes cement using ample water, in which case, the water mixes with the cement without any problem; whereas in the latter case, the same mixer uses only little water, in which case he runs out of water and the cement is still not properly mixed.

12)

(a)The Beraisa tells the story of Nakdimon ben Gurion, who asked the Roman aristocrat - for a loan of twelve water-wells. Should it not have rained by a certain date - he promised to give him in return twelve Kikar (thirty-six thousand Shekels) of silver.

(b)When first the morning of the given date arrived, then noon and then late afternoon, and no rain was forthcoming - he continually assured the aristocrat that there was still time.

(c)The third time that Nakdimon gave him that answer, the aristocrat replied - that if had not rained the whole year, what made him think that it would rain now?

(d)A sad-looking Nakdimon was going to the Beis Hamikdash - to ask Hash-m to have mercy and send rain, when he met a happy-looking aristocrat going to the bathhouse.

13)

(a)The gist of Nakdimon's prayers was - that Hash-m should take into account the fact that he (Nakdimon) had not acted on his own behalf, but in honor of Hash-m, so that water should be available for those who went to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov.

(b)Hash-m answered Nakdimon's prayers, and even more rain fell than was needed to fill the twelve water-wells. The aristocrat reacted to that however - by arguing that the rainfall had come after nightfall, too late to let Nakdimon off the hook from paying his debt.

14)

(a)Returning to the Beis Hamikdash to pray a second time - Nakdimon asked Hash-m to demonstrate that He had good friends in the world.

(b)In response to his prayers, the clouds dispersed and the sun appeared. The aristocrat then said that - had the clouds not dispersed, allowing the sun's rays to shine, he would have forced Nakdimon to pay.

(c)Even though his real name was Buni - he was nevertheless called 'Nakdimon' because the sun shone on his account (and 'Nakdimon' is an acronym of 'Nikderah Chamah [Ba'avuro]').

(d)Nakdimon demanded from the aristocrat - the excess water that he had received over and above the loan.