Chapter Overview
After Chapter 3 described the seven final public fasts for drought, Chapter 4 explains the special public service conducted on those days. The focus is not merely fasting, but creating a powerful atmosphere of repentance, humility, prayer, and communal awakening.
Halachah 1 – Bringing the Ark Into the Public Square
On each of the seven final fasts:
- The Ark is brought into the city square.
- The entire community gathers.
- People wear sackcloth.
- Ashes are placed on the Ark and on the Torah scroll.
The purpose is to humble the people and awaken sincere repentance.
Halachah 2 – Ashes on the Leaders
Ashes are placed first on:
- The Nasi (community leader)
- The Av Beit Din (head judge)
at the place where tefillin are worn.
This publicly humbles the leadership and inspires everyone to repent.
Afterward, each individual places ashes on his own head.
Halachah 3 – A Public Call to Repentance
A respected elder addresses the people.
If no elder is available:
- A scholar is chosen.
- If no scholar is available, a distinguished individual is chosen.
He tells them:
“It is not the sackcloth and fasting that bring salvation, but repentance and good deeds.”
He cites the people of Nineveh, about whom Scripture says:
“God saw their deeds” (Jonah 3:10),
not their fasting.
He also quotes:
“Rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:13).
Halachah 4 – Inspiring Real Change
The speaker continues speaking according to his ability until the people are emotionally moved and inspired toward genuine repentance.
The goal is inner transformation, not merely outward ritual.
Halachah 5 – Choosing the Prayer Leader
After the rebuke, the community begins prayer.
A suitable prayer leader is chosen.
If the speaker is qualified, he serves as prayer leader. Otherwise another person is appointed.
Halachah 6 – Qualifications of the Prayer Leader
The ideal prayer leader should be:
- Experienced in prayer
- Knowledgeable in Torah, Prophets, and Writings
- Poor or financially burdened
- Responsible for supporting a household
- Laboring honestly for a living
He should feel the community’s suffering personally.
Halachah 7 – Personal Character Requirements
The prayer leader should also:
- Have a clean reputation
- Come from a respectable family
- Be free of public scandal
- Be humble
- Be beloved by the people
- Have a pleasant voice
An elder possessing these qualities is especially preferred.
Halachah 8 – Beginning the Special Amidah
The prayer leader recites the Amidah normally until:
Go’el Yisrael (“Redeemer of Israel”).
He then inserts special prayers appropriate to the emergency.
Several Psalms are recited, including:
- Psalm 120 (“To Hashem in my distress…”)
- Psalm 121 (“I lift my eyes to the mountains…”)
- Psalm 130 (“Out of the depths…”)
- Psalm 102 (“A prayer of the afflicted…”)
Halachah 9 – The First Additional Blessing
The prayer leader concludes:
“May He who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah answer you and hear your cry on this day.”
He then concludes:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Redeemer of Israel.
Halachah 10 – Six Additional Blessings
Six extra blessings are inserted into the Amidah.
Each includes:
- Supplications
- Verses
- Relevant prayers
The prayer leader customizes them according to his ability.
Halachah 11 – First Three Added Blessings
First Added Blessing
Recalls:
Moses and Israel at the Red Sea
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who remembers the forgotten.
Second Added Blessing
Recalls:
Joshua at Gilgal
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears the shofar blast.
Third Added Blessing
Recalls:
Samuel at Mitzpah
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears a cry.
Halachah 12 – Fourth and Fifth Added Blessings
Fourth
Recalls:
Elijah on Mount Carmel
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who hears prayer.
Fifth
Recalls:
Jonah in the fish
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who answers in times of distress.
Halachah 13 – Sixth Added Blessing
The final added blessing recalls:
David and Solomon in Jerusalem
Conclusion:
Blessed are You, Hashem, Who has mercy on the Land.
After each blessing the congregation answers:
Amen.
Halachah 14 – Completing the Prayer
The seventh blessing resumes the regular Amidah:
“Heal us, Hashem, and we shall be healed.”
The service then continues as normal.
Afterward, trumpets are sounded.
This procedure applies wherever these fasts are observed.
Halachah 15 – The Special Practice on the Temple Mount
In Jerusalem, during Temple times, the ceremony was conducted on the Temple Mount near the Eastern Gate.
The blessing formula differed:
Instead of answering “Amen,” the people responded:
Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto Le’olam Va’ed.
Trumpet blasts accompanied the blessings.
Halachah 16 – Alternating Trumpet Calls
Following each blessing, announcements were made:
Sometimes:
“Priests, blow!”
Other times:
“Sons of Aaron, sound the alarm!”
The sequence alternated between teki’ah and teru’ah patterns throughout the service.
Halachah 17 – Temple-Mount Exclusivity
This elaborate order of alternating blessings and trumpet signals was unique to the Temple Mount.
There:
- Trumpets and shofars were sounded together.
- The pattern was repeated through all seven blessings.
Outside the Temple this precise procedure was not performed.
Halachah 18 – Visiting the Cemetery
After the prayers, the people would go to the cemetery.
There they would:
- Cry
- Pray
- Reflect
The message was:
If we do not repent, we are like the dead before us.
The Rambam also notes that every communal fast for calamity includes the prayer of Ne’ilah.
Halachah 19 – When Enough Rain Has Fallen
If rain begins falling during these fasts, the fasts cease once sufficient rainfall has penetrated the ground.
The required depth depends on the condition of the soil:
| Soil Type | Required Penetration |
| Dry soil | 1 tefach |
| Average soil | 2 tefachim |
| Worked/plowed soil | 3 tefachim |
At that point the public knows that their prayers have been answered.
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