Study Taanit folio 31A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
that they may ascend to wherever they wish, i.e., they may go to Jerusalem, Bethel, or Daniel
Rav Mattana said: There was an additional salvation on this day, as it was the day that the slain of Beitar were brought to burial, several years after the battle at Beitar (see Gittin 57a). And Rav Mattana said: On the same day that the slain of Beitar were brought to burial, they instituted the
It is Rabba and Rav Yosef who both say: The 15th of Av was the day on which they stopped chopping down trees for the arrangement of wood that burned on the altar, as it is taught in a baraita that R' Eliezer the Great says: From the 15th of Av onward, the strength of the sun grows weaker, and from
Rav Menashya said: And they called the 15th of Av the day of the breaking of the scythe, as from this date onward no more trees were cut down, and therefore it was a celebration for the trees. The Talmud adds: From the 15th of Av onward, when the days begin to shorten, one who adds to his nightly
§ The Mishnah taught: As on them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in white clothes, and on the 15th of Av they would go out to the vineyards and dance. A baraita states this tradition in greater detail: The daughter of the king borrows white garments from the daughter of the High Priest; the