Mishneh Torah (Moznaim)
Featuring a modern English translation and a commentary that presents a digest of the centuries of Torah scholarship which have been devoted to the study of the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides.
Mishneh Torah (Moznaim)
Featuring a modern English translation and a commentary that presents a digest of the centuries of Torah scholarship which have been devoted to the study of the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides.
Samuel and David (Ta’anit 27a).
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4:2), the Rambam writes: “Their intent and their goal was involvement in Divine service and prayer. They were not occupied with their own concerns. Their minds and their thoughts were on the sacrifices.”
Ma’amad literally means “standing,” because they would stand over the sacrifice or stand in prayer, as stated in Halachah 5. The term also has the connotation ofdignified position.
So that they would have the energy to make their Sabbath preparations.
This would weaken them exceedingly (ibid.).
Neilah means “closing.” Hilchot Tefilah 1:7 states that the Men of the Great Assembly ordained “a prayer after the afternoon service [to be recited] close to sunset on fast days only to increase supplication and pleading due to the fast. This is called the neilah service, as if to say the gates of heaven are being closed.” Since the men of the ma’amad were observing an ordained fast, they would recite this service as well.
The Ra’avad differs and maintains that there was not an extra service ordained especially for the men of the ma’amad. If the Mishnah spoke of Musaf, the additional service, in this context, the intent was a day like Rosh Chodesh when Musaf would be recited by the entire Jewish people. The Radbaz supports the Rambam’s opinion, explaining that during this prayer service they would pray that the sacrifices be accepted and that Jews in situations of danger be saved.
They would not bless the people in the afternoon service, because generally, it was suspected that a priest might be intoxicated in the afternoon and it is improper to bless the people in such a state. Hence, our Sages forbade the recitation of the priestly blessing in the afternoon service at all times. They allowed it to be recited in the Neilah service, because the Neilah service is only recited on a fast day. In later generations, it became customary to recite the priestly blessing (or in the Ashkenazic community, the passage Eloheinu V’Elohei Avoseinu) in the afternoon service, because at present, it is customary to recite the afternoon service late on a fast day. Hence, it resembles the Neilah service and will not be confused with an ordinary afternoon service. See the Rambam’s Commentary to the Mishnah (Taanit 4:1), Hilchot Nesiat Kapayim 14:1-2.
The Ra’avad differs here as well and states that there is no extra service and, hence, no extra Torah reading, except on a day when Musaf is recited.
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit.:2), the Rambam explains that this subject was chosen, because the ultimate fulfillment of existence is the service of sacrificial worship, as implied by Ta’anit 27b: “Were it not for the sacrifices, the heavens and the earth would not be maintained.”
On each day, they would read the passage associated with that and the following day of creation.
I.e., three aliyot were given out for each reading. If the passage was large—i.e., it contained eight verses—two aliyot were given in it and the third aliyah was given for the second passage that accompanied it.
I.e., read from the Torah or recite the readings by heart [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit.:4)].
Since they would recite the Hallel prayers that day. As Taanit 4:4 states: Whenever Hallel was recited [and the Musaf service was not recited (the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah)], there was no ma'amad. The rationale is that since the recitation of Hallel took time, no further obligations were imposed on the men of the ma'amad.
I.e., on the intermediate days of the festivals and on Rosh Chodesh.
For they were occupied with the sacrifice of the Musaf service.
See the following halachah.
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit.:5), the Rambam refers to Nechemiah 10:35 which speaks of casting lots for the wood offering. Implied is that different families were allotted the responsibility for bringing wood for the altar and were given different days to bring that wood. On that day, in addition to the wood, they would bring other sacrifices, as the Rambam proceeds to explain.
For bringing wood is considered equivalent to bringing a sacrifice and the day on which a person brings a sacrifice is considered as his private festival.
And certainly on Friday (Rambam LeAm).
See Hilchot Bi’at HaMikdash 1:17, 12.