Ta'anit 27 The Priestly Watch and The Non-Priestly Watch

There are two major ideas that stay with me from today's daf.  The first is that the priestly watch is taken very seriously.  The second is that the non-priestly watch involves recitation of Torah verses and the rabbis are concerned that we always recite at least three Torah verses.

The non-priestly watches are observed by any Israelite, not necessarily a Kohen or Levi.  The rabbis explain that 24 priestly watches were established to ensure that the offerings made by the community were witnessed by the community.  David was the person who recommended 24 priestly watches over Galilee and Jericho.  Before his decision, Moses had instructed Itamar and Elazar that each would be responsible for four priestly watches - eight families in all.  

Each day, the fast was taken on by a representative of that priestly family. They would ascend to Jerusalem and pray that the daily offering would be received with favour.  Simultaneously, representatives from the non-priestly watch would stay in their assigned towns and fast, praying on different days.  On Mondays they prayed for those at sea, on Tuesdays for those in the desert, on Wednesdays for children with croup, and on Thursdays for pregnant and nursing women.  Fridays and Saturdays  were exempt because of Shabbat, and the rabbis debate about why Sundays were also free from fasting and specific prayer by the non-priestly watch. Fear of arousing anti-semitic fervour in their Christian neighbours comprise most of that discussion.

One of the more interesting reasons for foregoing the fast on Sunday is offered by Reish Lakish.  He suggests that we are given an extra soul on Fridays and Saturdays that allow us to enjoy the true glory of creation.  At the conclusion of Shabbat, that soul is taken away again.  Reish Lakish argues that we require Sunday to mourn the loss of that extra soul.  Personally, I love Reish Lakish's thinking in its practical applications: a full weekend!   

It is notable that sick children and pregnant/ nursing mothers are given special consideration.  Usually the discomfort of women and children does not merit the attention of our rabbis.  But here, the non-priestly watch is specifically asked to pray for these concerns.  Why?  Could it be that the non-priestly watch is more connected to the discomfort and the pain of the people? The priestly watch is made up of those who are often immersed in isolating tasks.

Our second focus is on the portions recited by the non-priestly watch.  The rabbis argue about which verses should be said.  They also argue about how those verses should be assigned.  We learned previously that the portions are sometimes shared by two people and sometimes said individually.  Some portions are made up of five verses.  Splitting the portion between the groups of chanters, sometimes only two verses of Torah are recited, but we know that we must recite at least three verses at a time.  The rabbis come up with creative and interesting suggestions to solve this challenge.