מאימתי מזכירין גבורות גשמים – Since the Mishnah teaches in the Tractate Rosh Hashanah that it happens from there that we are judged by the water on the holiday [of Sukkot], the Mishnah teaches here “from when do we mention God’s power to cause rain?” And because the rains are one of the powers of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written (Job 5:9-10): “Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed…Who gives rain to the earth,” because of this they call them “the power to cause rain [to fall].

מיום טוב אחרון של חג – But not [during] all seven days of the holiday [of Sukkot], for rain during the days of Sukkot is a sign of a curse. There is a parable telling of a servant who came to pour a cup for his master and the master spilled the pitcher on his face, that is to say, I don’t need your service (see Mishnah Sukkah 2:9).

אם כן – You state that we mention [God’s ability to cause the rain to fall], even though we don’t request [rain] since it implies [that we pray for rain] at its appropriate season; [for] even during the summer they mention God’s ability [to cause rain] and that you give a sign [for rain] from the first day of the holiday [of Sukkot]. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehoshua.

אין שואלין את הגשמים – that is we don’t mention the rains.

אלא סמוך לגשמים – that is the eighth day of the holiday [of Sukkot], for from the holiday and onwards is the time for rain, and the anonymous Mishnah is like the teaching of Rabbi Yehoshua. Another explanation: Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua argued above about the mentioning [of God’s power to cause] rain, but they admit that regarding the request/prayer, that is to say, “provide dew and rain” – we don’t make the request for rain until near the rainy season, that is on the third day of [the month of] Mar Cheshvan or on the seventh of it [Mar Cheshvan], as the Tannaim interpret further on in our Mishnah.

האחרון – He who recites the Musaf prayer mentions, “who causes the rain to fall.”

והראשון – He who recites the Morning Amidah prayer does not mention rain, but [only the prayer for] dew. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda, and since it is taught nearby in the Mishnah that Rabbi Yehuda says that [one makes the request for rain] until Passover passes, and here Rabbi Yehuda is speaking about the first day of the holiday of Passover; [in] the last prayer [i.e. Musaf], one does not mention [the request for rain]. These are two different Tannaim according to Rabbi Yehuda.

בשלשה במרחשון שואלין את הגשמים – We recite “ and grant dew and rain for a blessing” in the blessing of the years (the ninth blessing of the Amidah on weekdays), and these words (of reciting the prayer “and grant dew and rain for a blessing”) are in the Land of Israel. But in the Diaspora, we don’t request [for rain] until sixth days from the autumnal equinox, and on the sixtieth day itself, we begin to pray for rain.

האחרון שבישראל לנהר פרת – those who came up [to Jerusalem] for the festival [of Sukkot] who are returning to their homes, so that the rains don’t stop them [from traveling].

הגיע שבעה במרחשון – and three time periods have already passed – which are the third of Mar Cheshvan, the seventh [of Mar Cheshvan] and the seventeenth [of the month].

התחילו היחידים – scholars/Sages

שלש תעניות – Monday, Thursday [and the following] Monday.

אוכלים ושותים משחשיכה – They are permitted to eat and drink all the night of the fast until the crack of dawn all the while that they are not sleeping. But after one has had one’s fixed period of sleep, it is forbidden to each or drink if one didn’t make a condition [to do so] at first prior to going to sleep. And there are those who say that eating requires a condition made. Drinking does not require a condition made, for there is no fixed period for drinking and that makes sense.

שהן שלשה עשר תעניות על הציבור – for they already have fasted six [times] and the individual fasts are not part of the count.

מתריעין – with Shofars

בשני מטין – on the second of the fasts, they open the doors of the stores slightly towards evening. But they don’t take their wares outside.

ובחמישי מותרים – to open [the stores] all day long.

בבנין ובנטיעה – and specifically joyous building, such as a wedding hall to conduct his wedding; or joyous planting, such as a large tree throwing a shadow (forming a tent) over the ground (see Mishnah Ohalot Chapter 8, Mishnah 2) to carry the kings underneath. But a home to live in or the planting of a tree for its fruit is permitted.

יצא ניסן הגשמים סימן קללה – when rain did not fall at all prior to the end of Nisan. And all of these laws [apply] in the Land of Israel and areas similar to it, but the further islands – at the time when tie r rains are not like the time of the rains in the Land of Israel, each person prays for rain at the time that he needs them. And if the known time has passed and rains have not fallen, the Jewish court of that place decrees fasts on the community after individuals have fasted according to the order taught in our Mishnah.