On three occasions during the year Cohanim recite the priestly blessing four times a day: shacharith, mussaf, minchah, and "the closing of the gates" (ne'ilah) — fast days, ma'amadoth, and Yom Kippur. [This is the intent: On three occasions — fast days, ma'amadoth, and Yom Kippur (see below) — Cohanim recite the priestly blessing in each prayer: shacharith, minchah, and ne'ilah. And there is one day of these when they recite the priestly blessing four times during the day — Yom Kippur, where there is a mussaf prayer. The Mishnah is in accordance with R. Meir, who says that the priestly blessing obtains for the minchah of fast days and ma'amadoth. For the reason that there is no priestly blessing at minchah every day is (that the priestly blessing is not to be delivered in a state of) inebriation, but on a fast day there is no inebriation. And R. Yossi differs and says that we decree (that the priestly blessing not be recited on) the minchah of a fast day by reason of the everyday minchah. The halachah is in accordance with R. Yossi in respect to fast days, and in respect to ma'amadoth, and Yom Kippur, where there is a ne'ilah prayer. But on a fast day where there is no ne'ilah prayer, the priestly blessing is recited at minchah. For since the minchah prayer (on such a fast day) is recited close to sunset, it is similar to ne'ilah, and thus, not apt to be confused with the everyday minchah, for which reason it was not decreed against. ("fast days, ma'amadoth, and Yom Kippur":) This is the intent: And these are the "three occasions" — fast days, ma'amadoth, and Yom Kippur. ("ma'amadoth":) the men of the ma'amad fasted four days a week (4:3)].

Why were the ma'amadoth instituted? It is written (Numbers 28:2): "Command the children of Israel and say to them: 'My offering, My bread, etc.'" How could each man's offering be offered if he himself could not stand over it? For this reason the early prophets instituted twenty-four watches, for each of which there was a ma'amad in Jerusalem of Cohanim, Levites, and Israelites. [A portion of the tribes of Israel, divided into twenty-four parts, were sent from all of Israel to stand at the offering together with the Cohanim and the Levites of that watch. When the time came for a certain watch to go up, the Cohanim and the Levites went up to Jerusalem, and the Israelites in that watch [those who were far from Jerusalem, and could not go up to stand at their offering] would gather in [the houses of prayer] in their cities, and would [fast and pray and] read [in the Torah every day] in [the section of] the creation [by way of affirming that the world stands on the Temple service.]

And the men of the ma'amad would fast four days a week (eating at night) from Monday to Thursday. And they would not fast on Sabbath eve because of the honor of the Sabbath. [And it goes without saying (that they did not fast) on Sabbath itself. (And also) not on Sunday, it being the third day of (man's) creation. For man was created on Sabbath eve, and on the third day of his creation (Sunday), he is especially weak, viz. (Genesis 34:25): "And it was on the third day, when they were in pain, etc." Or else, because on Sabbath he is given an additional soul, and at the conclusion of the Sabbath, it is taken from him, so that if they fasted on Sunday, they would be placing themselves in danger. (And every day, the men of the ma'amad would recite the ne'ilah prayer.)] And they would not fast on Sunday, so that they not go from rest and pleasure to toil and fasting, and die. On the first day, they would read (the section of) "In the beginning" and "Let there be a firmament." On the second day: "Let there be a firmament" and "Let the waters be gathered." On the third day: "Let the waters be gathered" and "Let there be luminaries." On the fourth day: "Let there be luminaries" and "Let the waters swarm." On the fifth day: "Let the waters swarm" and "Let the earth give forth." On the sixth day: "Let the earth give forth" and "And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all of their hosts." A large section is read by two readers, and a small one, by one. [In the section "In the beginning, etc.", after the first reader has read three verses, the second goes back and reads the third verse read by the first and concludes that section, and the third reads "Let there be a firmament." On the second day, the first reads "Let there be a firmament," and two read "Let the waters be gathered"; and so with all.] This, for shacharith and mussaf; but for minchah, they enter and recite orally. [This speaks of all the other ma'amadoth, which were outside Jerusalem, that they read regularly in the (account of) the creation, even on a day when there was a mussaf offering, for they were not preoccupied with it. But the ma'amadoth in Jerusalem did not read it for mussaf on a day when there was a mussaf offering. As stated below: When there is a mussaf offering, there is no reading for minchah. Now if the mussaf offering pushes off the reading of the minchah ma'amad, which is not its own, how much more so the reading of its own ma'amad! ("for shacharith and mussaf, etc.":) This is what is meant: It is for shacharith and mussaf that a Torah scroll is brought and two read a large section and one, a small one. But for minchah, a Torah scroll is not brought, because of the strain of the fast, but it is recited orally.] Sabbath eve before minchah, they would not enter [the house of prayer, and they would not recite it at all], because of the honor of Shabbath [i.e., because of their preoccupation with preparing for Shabbath].

Every day when there is Hallel, [such as the days of Channukah, when there is Hallel, but not mussaf], there is no ma'amad for shacharith [i.e., Those in Jerusalem did not read any section for shacharith, there being no time for them to form their ma'amad, Hallel overriding it.] When there is a mussaf offering, there is no ma'amad for ne'ilah. [On Rosh Chodesh, when there is a mussaf offering, they did not read any section for ne'ilah. And, it goes without saying that they did not read the section for mussaf itself and for minchah, which comes before ne'ilah, the mussaf offering overriding it.] (Whenever there is) a wood-offering, there is no ma'amad for minchah. [That is, on a day where there is a wood-offering (see below) and there is no mussaf offering, it overrides the ma'amad of minchah, but not that of ne'ilah.] These are the words of R. Akiva. Ben Azzai said to him: Thus did R. Yehoshua teach: When there is a mussaf offering, there is no ma'amad for minchah. When there is a wood-offering, there is no ma'amad for ne'ilah. [The wood-offering overrides the ma'amad of nei'lah, and, it goes without saying, the ma'amad of minchah. For the wood-offering of the Cohanim (i.e., the gift-offering accompanying it) was sacrificed before the afternoon tamid. And if it overrides the ma'amad of nei'lah, it goes without saying that it overrides the ma'amad of minchah, which is closer to it.] — whereupon R. Akiva retracted and taught according to Ben Azzai, [holding that since the mussaf offering is Torah-ordained, it is understandable that it should override only the ma'amad of minchah; for there is no reason to fear that the offering will be overridden, Torah ordinances not requiring strengthening. But the (institution of the) wood-offering is like an ordinance of the scribes, and it is understandable that it should override both the ma'amad of minchah and of ne'ilah, requiring strengthening so that it itself not be overridden. I have not fathomed Rambam's interpretation of this Mishnah, according to which it appears that the men of the ma'amad recited an additional prayer every day between shacharith and minchah, which was called the "mussaf" prayer. I have found this neither in Bavli nor in Yerushalmi.]

The times for the wood (offering) of the Cohanim and the people are nine: [When the men of the exile came up, they did not find wood in the lishkah (the wood bin), and these (men that follow) arose and contributed from theirs. And the prophets among them stipulated that even if the lishkah were full of wood, these (men) were to contribute from theirs. And on the day that they bring the wood, they bring with them a gift-offering and make that day a yom tov. And thus is it written, viz. (Nechemiah 10:35): "And we cast lots for the wood-offering — the Cohanim, the Levites, and the people — to bring it to the house of our G d, to the house of our fathers, at fixed times, year by year":] on the first of Nissan, the sons of Arach ben Yehudah; on the twentieth of Tammuz, the sons of David ben Yehudah; on the fifth of Av, the sons of Parosh ben Yehudah; on the seventh of Av, the sons of Yonadav ben Rechev; on the tenth of Av, the sons of S'na'ah ben Binyamin; on the fifteenth of Av, the sons of Zatu b. Yehudah; and with them, Cohanim and Levites and whoever "erred" in his tribe [Not knowing with which one to go, (he goes with the sons of Zatu.)], and the "pestle-stealers," the "fig cutters." [The gemara explains that once the foe decreed shmad on Israel, not to bring first-fruits to the Temple. And they stationed sentinels on the road to this end. And the G d-fearing men of that generation brought baskets of first-fruits, covered them with dried figs, and placed a pestle upon their shoulders. When they were accosted by the sentinels, they said to them: "We are going to make two fig-cakes in the mortar-pit ahead of us with this pestle on our shoulders." And thus they would bring the first-fruits to Jerusalem — for which reason they were called "the 'pestle-stealers'"; that is, those who "stole the hearts" of the sentinels with the pestle on their shoulders. ("the fig cutters" - "kotzei ketzioth":) [thus called because they trimmed fig-cakes with a tool called a "maktzua." And these men themselves arose another time when they decreed shmad — not to bring wood for the woodpile — and they fashioned ladders and said to the sentinels who accosted them: We are going to get two pigeons from yonder coop with this ladder on our shoulders" — for which reason they were called "the ladder breakers." For they broke the ladders after eluding the sentinels and brought from them wood for the wood pile. And all of these brought wood with the sons of Zatu.] On the twentieth of Av, the sons of Pachath-Moav ben Yehudah; on the twentieth of Elul, the sons of Adin ben Yehudah. On the first of Teveth, the sons of Parosh returned a second time. [For after they finished, they cast lots for who would be last, viz.: "And we cast lots for the wood offering."] On the first of Teveth, there was no ma'amad, for there were Hallel, the mussaf offering and the wood-offering. [For the first of Teveth always falls on Channukah, and on Channukah the full Hallel is recited. But the Hallel of Rosh Chodesh, where the reading of the Hallel is only a custom, does not override the ma'amad. And for this reason Rosh Chodesh Nissan is not mentioned (here as overriding the ma'amad, even though Hallel, the mussaf offering, and the wood-offering also obtain then.)]

Five things (i.e., calamities) befell our forefathers on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five on the ninth of Av. On the seventeenth of Tammuz, the tablets were broken [For on the sixth of Sivan, the Ten Commandments were given, and early on the seventh, he (Moses) went up (to Sinai) to receive the rest of the Torah and remained there forty days, which are thus found to have ended on the seventeenth of Tammuz; and upon his descent, he broke the tablets.], the tamid (the daily burnt-offering) was abolished, [no lambs being available, the city being under siege], the city was breached, and Apostamus burned the Torah and placed an image in the sanctuary. [Amoraim differ on this in the Yerushalmi. One says, the image of Menasheh, in the first Temple. Another, the image of Apostamus, one of the later Greeks, in the second Temple.] On the ninth of Av, it was decreed upon our ancestors not to enter Eretz Yisrael, the first and second Temples were destroyed, Betar was captured, and the city was plowed up. When Av enters, joy is diminished.

On the week that the ninth of Av falls out, it is forbidden to cut one's hair and to wash (clothing) [that entire week until the end of the fast.], and (if the ninth of Av falls out) on Thursday, [(when they sanctified the New Moon by sighting)], it is permitted [to wash on the Thursday before the fast] because of the honor of the Sabbath.] On the eve of the ninth of Av, one may not eat two cooked foods [Only something which is not eaten raw is forbidden (when cooked); but something which is eaten raw, such as milk and cheese and moist pulse, is not forbidden even when cooked.], and he may not eat meat and he may not drink wine [after mid-day, in the concluding meal, when he does not intend to eat a regular meal thereafter. But before mid-day, even in the concluding meal, or in a meal which is not the concluding one, even after mid-day, it is permitted to eat two cooked foods, and to have meat and wine. R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: He should make some change (in his eating). [If he were accustomed to eat two cooked foods, he should eat one; if he were accustomed to drink two cups of wine, he should drink one. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Shimon b. Gamliel.] R. Yehudah makes it obligatory to turn over the bed [on its face, and not lie on it, but on the ground.] The sages did not concur, [and the halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.]

R. Shimon b. Gamliel said: There were never such (joyous) festivals for Israel as the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur [("the fifteenth of Av":) for on it the dying in the desert ceased in the fortieth year, the checkpoints that Yeravam ben Nevath had set up to prevent Israel from making the festival pilgrimage were abolished, those killed in Betar were permitted to be buried, and they stopped cutting wood for the wood pile, for from that day the power of the sun weakens so that it cannot rid the wood of its wetness. ("and Yom Kippur":) for on that day the second tablets were given, and it is a day of pardon and forgiveness.], on which (days) the daughters of Israel would go out in borrowed white garments [All of them borrowed, even the rich ones,] so as not to embarrass those who could not afford their own. All of the garments required immersion [before they could be worn, for not everyone knew whether or not her friend was a niddah.] And the daughters of Jerusalem went out and danced in the vineyards [viz. (Jeremiah 31:12): "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance."] And what did they say? "Young man, lift up your eyes and see what to choose for yourself (as a bride). Do not look for beauty; look for family." (Proverbs 31:30): "Favor is false, and beauty vain; a G d fearing woman — she is to be praised." (Ibid. 31): "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her deeds praise her in the gates." And thus is it written (Song of Songs 3:11): "Go out and see, O daughters of Zion, the King Shelomoh, [the Holy One Blessed be He, with whom shalom ("peace") resides], with the crown wherewith His mother [the congregation of Israel] crowned Him, on the day of His wedding and on the day of the rejoicing of His heart": "on the day of His wedding" — the giving of the Torah, [Yom Kippur, when the second tablets were given]; "and on the day of the rejoicing of His heart" — the building of the Temple, [which was consecrated on Yom Kippur.] May it be rebuilt, speedily, in our days, Amen!