Siman 579

On each day of the last seven fasts for rain or for other troubles, when they act according to this order (see in the Tur and Beit Yosef and Bach), they pray according to this order: They bring out the teivah, which is the holy ark in which the sefer Torah is placed. And it appears that they bring it out with the sefer Torah. And to where do they bring it out? To the city square, in order to be humbled in public with this modest vessel. And also because of exile. Therefore, even if it is not possible to bring it out to the square—they bring it out to another place. And all the people gather and cover themselves in sackcloth because of the distress, as it is written regarding Mordechai: "And he put on sackcloth and ashes." And they place burnt ashes upon the teivah, that is, ash from a burnt object, and upon the sefer Torah, in order to increase the weeping and to humble their hearts. And also so that He shall remember the ashes of Yitzchak (15a).

And one of the people takes ash and places it on the head of the Nasi. And why does the Nasi not take it himself? Because the shame is greater when one is disgraced by others. And it is all in order to increase the sorrow. And so too, he places ash on the head of the Av Beit Din. And he places the ash upon them in the place of the laying of the tefillin, so that they will be more ashamed; for it is upon the leaders of the generation to bear the iniquities of the generation, because their merit was not sufficient to stop the evil. And each and every individual shall also place ash on his own head in the place of the laying of the tefillin (see Gemara 21b).

And afterward they place an elderly sage between them, and they sit. If an elderly sage was not there—they place a sage, even if he is not elderly. And if even a sage alone was not there—they place before them a person of distinguished stature. And he says before them words of admonition: Our brothers! It is not sackcloth and fasting that cause the decree to be nullified, but rather repentance and good deeds. For so we find that it was not said of 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 tradition of the words of the prophet it says: "Rend your hearts and not your garments" (Joel 2:13). And he adds to these matters according to his ability, until he humbles their hearts and they return in complete repentance. And after he finishes these words of admonition—they stand in prayer. And so too on every fast or on the eve of Rosh Chodesh when they say words of ethical instruction, they should say them before the Mincha prayer.

And they appoint a shaliach tzibbur who is fit to pray on these fasts. And if the one who says the words of admonition is fit to pray, in that he has the ability to pray before the amud—he shall pray. And if not—another shall pray. And who is the one fit to pray on these fasts: a man who is accustomed to the prayer of a shaliach tzibbur, so that he will not err. And he should be accustomed to reading in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, and burdened with young children, and he has no wealth, and through this his heart is broken within him. And he has toil in the field or in another livelihood. And there shall not be among his children, or the members of his household, or all his relatives and those joined to him a transgressor, but rather his house shall be empty of transgressions. And an ill reputation did not go out against him in his youth. Humble, and acceptable to the people. And he has a pleasantness that draws the heart, and his voice is sweet. And if he was an elder with all these qualities—he is most glorious. And if he is not an elder, since he possesses all these qualities—he prays. And if they do not find one with all the qualities—they shall appoint, in any event, the one who is better in good deeds than others.

The shliach tzibbur stands, and begins and completes the prayer until "Goel Yisrael." And he says Zikhronot related to the distress, and likewise Shofrot. And in the Tur it is explained that earlier, in the blessing of "Selach Lanu," he says Selichot and confessions until "Ezra HaSofer," and afterward says "Re'eh Ve'onyenu... Aneinu...". And the Rambam did not mention "Aneinu" because he holds that the six blessings stand in place of "Aneinu" (Bach). And for Zikhronot he says "Atah Zokher" as on Rosh Hashanah, and for Shofrot "Atah Nigleita" as on Rosh Hashanah. And afterward he says from "Shir HaMa'alot" these three: "El Hashem BaTzarata Li...", "Essa Einai El HeHarim...", "MiMa'amakim Keratikha...". And afterward he says "Tefillah LeAni Ki Ya'atof...", and says words of supplication according to his ability. And he says "Re'eh Na Ve'onyenu, VeRiva Riveinu, UMaher LeGa'aleinu." And he supplicates and says at the end of his supplications: "He who answered Avraham Avinu on Mount Moriah – He shall answer you, and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, Goel Yisrael." And they answer "Amen." And according to the opinion of the Tur, they blow here tekiah-teruah-tekiah with the shofar, and they say "Hayom Harat Olam...". And according to the Rambam, they do not blow during the prayer at all, but rather after the prayer they sound the trumpets. And we have already written this at the beginning of siman 576, see there.

And know that according to what we have written—so it is explained in the Rambam, that Zikhronot and Shofrot, and the three "Shir HaMa'alot," and "Tefillah Le'Ani"—he says before "Goel Yisrael." And so it is explained in the Mishnah at the beginning of the second chapter. But the Tur did not write so, but rather he says Zikhronot upon the blessing after "Goel Yisrael" that will be explained, which are from the six additional ones, and he concludes in the first "Zokher HaBerit." And he says in this blessing Zikhronot as on Rosh Hashanah, only that he does not conclude "Zokher HaBerit" as on Rosh Hashanah, but rather "Zokher HaNishkakhot." And the second he concludes with "Shomea Teruah" and says Shofrot there. And in the third he says "Shir HaMa'alot BeTzarata." And in the fourth "Essa Einai." And in the fifth "MiMa'amakim." And in the sixth "Tefillah Le'Ani," see there. And it must be said that the Tur interprets that what the Mishnah said, that he should say Zikhronot and Shofrot and four psalms, is not before the blessings, but rather it refers to all the six blessings that will be explained. For in the first he says Zikhronot, and in the second Shofrot, and in the third "BeTzarata," and in the fourth "Essa Einai," and in the fifth "MiMa'amakim," and in the sixth "Tefillah Le'Ani." And so it is implied from the commentary of Rashi, see there.

And after he finishes the blessing "Who redeemed Israel," he begins to add the six blessings, and he supplicates in each of them with supplications and verses from the Prophets and the Writings. And he concludes each of them as will be explained: In the first one, he says before the conclusion, "He who answered Moses and your fathers at the Sea of Reeds, He shall answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who remembers forgotten things." And they answer: "Amen." And according to the Tur, they blow the shofar, tekiah-teruah-tekiah, as I have written. And know that in the Mishnah, Moses is not mentioned, but rather "He who answered our fathers at the Sea of Reeds," and so we say in the Selichot. But in the Rambam and the Tur, Moses is also mentioned, and it requires investigation: for did not Moses our teacher not cry out, and on the contrary, Moses said to them, "Hashem will fight for you, and you shall remain silent" (Exodus 14:14).

In the second, he concludes: "He who answered Yehoshua in Gilgal, He... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears the teruah." In the third, he says: "He who answered Shmuel in Mitzpah, He... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears the cry." In the fourth, he says: "He who answered Eliyahu on Mount Carmel, He... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears prayer." In the fifth, he says: "He who answered Yonah in the belly of the fish, He... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who answers in a time of distress." In the sixth, he says: "He who answered David and Shlomo his son in Jerusalem, He... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who has mercy on the land." And after every blessing the congregation answers "Amen," and according to the Tur they blow the shofar as I have written. And afterward he says the blessing of "Refaeinu" until the end of the prayer. And according to the Rambam they blow trumpets afterward, and according to the Tur there are no blowings after the prayers.

And according to the Tur, one adds this version in "Shome'a Tefillah": "Answer us, Creator of the world, in Your attribute of mercy, You who chose His nation Israel to make known His greatness and the splendor of His glory. Shome'a Tefillah, grant dew and rain..." until "for You hear," and it is printed in the prayer books for a drought. And afterward, they read from the admonition of "Im Bechukotai." And the maftir reads in Jeremiah regarding "the matter of the droughts." And after the prayer, they say "Lecha Dumiyah" before the Kaddish. And it seems to me that the reason is that this is in place of the daily song, relevant to the matter of the day, because it is written therein: "Shome'a Tefillah, unto You all flesh shall come" (Psalms 65:3), and it is further written therein: "You have remembered the earth... the stream of God is full of water, You prepare their grain... its growth You bless, You crown the year of Your goodness..." (ibid. 65:10-12).

And at Mincha, the Tur wrote that they read "Vayechal" and read the haftarah of "Shuvah," see there. And I do not know why they would not read the haftarah of "Dirshu" as in every public fast. And the shaliach tzibbur shall repeat the prayer as in Yotzer, with viduyim and seven blessings... and there is no nesiat kapayim at Mincha, see there. And it is explained that at Mincha as well they add the six blessings. And that which he wrote "seven," his intention was from "Goel Yisrael," with which they begin to add. And they say pizmonim, selichot, and Tehillim until Ne'ilah. And for Ne'ilah they shall pray eighteen blessings and "Anenu." And after the prayer, each person shall say the viduy of "Mah anu, mah chayenu." And the shaliach tzibbur shall repeat the prayer until "Selach lanu," the viduyim, "Ashamnu mah anu," "Atah hivdalta," as on Yom Kippur. "Vaya'avor," "Ezra HaSofer," "Re'eh ve-onyenu," and seven blessings as in Yotzer. "Retzei" and "Modim" and Birkat Kohanim, and "Sim Shalom." Kaddish Titkabel, "Ta'anu ve-te'ateru min ha-shamayim," "Tikabel tza'akatchem ve-tishama tefillatchem." And afterward the Maariv prayer, see there.

That which we wrote, that according to the Rambam they do not blow for every blessing – this is in the provinces. But in the Mikdash, the Rambam wrote there, and this is his wording: When they would pray according to this order in Jerusalem, they would gather at the Temple Mount opposite the Eastern Gate, and pray according to this order that has been explained. And when the emissary of the congregation reaches the point of saying "He who answered Abraham," he says "Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, G-d of Israel, from world to world. Blessed are You, Hashem, Redeemer of Israel." And they answer after him "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever" (for they do not answer "Amen" in the Mikdash). And the attendant of the synagogue says to the blowers: "Blow, sons of Aaron, blow!" And the one praying returns and says: "He who answered Abraham...", and afterward the Kohanim blow a tekiah, a teruah, and a tekiah. And so too in the second blessing, which is the first of the six blessings, he concludes "Blessed is Hashem G-d... Blessed are You, Hashem, Who remembers forgotten things." And they answer "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever." And the attendant of the synagogue says to them: "Sound the teruah, sons of Aaron, sound the teruah!" And the emissary of the congregation returns and says: "He who answered Moses...", and afterward they sound a teruah, a tekiah, and a teruah. And so too with every single blessing; in one he says "Blow" and in one he says "Sound the teruah," until he completes all seven blessings. It turns out that the Kohanim sometimes blow a tekiah-teruah-tekiah, and sometimes a teruah-tekiah-teruah, seven times. And they only perform this order on the Temple Mount alone. And when they blow and sound the teruah there – they blow with a shofar and trumpets as one. Thus far his words. And the Ra'avad wrote that in the Mikdash they did not blow together, a teruah with a tekiah or a tekiah with a teruah, but rather a tekiah alone or a teruah alone, see there. And it appears that he interprets what we say in the Gemara (16b): in one he says "Blow" and in one "Sound the teruah," see there, as being nothing but a literal tekiah-tekiah, and a literal teruah-teruah. However, in our version of the Gemara there, it is explicitly stated "tekiah-teruah-tekiah" and "teruah-tekiah-teruah," see there, and this is like the words of the Rambam. And also in the Mikdash itself they would blow tekiah-teruah-tekiah, as is explained in the Mishnah of the Flute (53b), see there and in the Gemara.

Regarding these seven fasts, after they pray, all the people go out to the cemetery, and they weep and supplicate there. Meaning: behold, you are as if dead if you do not repent from your ways. According to this, if there are no Jewish graves—they go to their graves. And in the Gemara (16a) there is another reason: so that they shall pray for us, and this is only relevant regarding Jewish graves (Magen Avraham subsection 11).