וְאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: כׇּל הַמִּתְקַשֶּׁה עַל מֵתוֹ יוֹתֵר מִדַּאי, עַל מֵת אַחֵר הוּא בּוֹכֶה. הָהִיא אִיתְּתָא דַּהֲוָת בְּשִׁיבָבוּתֵיהּ דְּרַב הוּנָא, הֲווֹ לַהּ שִׁבְעָה בְּנֵי, מִית חַד מִינַּיְיהוּ, הֲווֹת קָא בָּכְיָא בִּיתִירֻתָא עֲלֵיהּ. שְׁלַח לַהּ רַב הוּנָא: לָא תַּעַבְדִי הָכִי! לָא אַשְׁגְּחָה בֵּיהּ. שְׁלַח לַהּ: אִי צָיְיתַתְּ — מוּטָב, וְאִי לָא — צְבִית זְוַודְתָּא לְאִידַּךְ מִית, וּמִיתוּ כּוּלְּהוּ. לְסוֹף אֲמַר לַהּ: תִּימוּשׁ זְוַודְתָּא לְנַפְשִׁיךְ, וּמִיתָא.
And Rav Yehuda said further in the name of Rav: Anyone who grieves excessively over his dead and does not allow himself to be consoled will in the end weep for another person. The Gemara relates that a certain woman who lived in the neighborhood of Rav Huna had seven sons. One of them died and she wept for him excessively. Rav Huna sent a message to her: Do not do this. But she took no heed of him. He then sent another message to her: If you listen to me, it is well, but if not, prepare shrouds for another death. But she would not listen and they all died. In the end, when she continued with her excessive mourning, he said to her: Since you are acting in this way, prepare shrouds for yourself, and soon thereafter she died.
איתמר רב ורבי חנינא אמרי בטלה מגילת תענית רבי יוחנן וריב"ל אמרי לא בטלה מגילת תענית רב ורבי חנינא אמרי בטלה מגילת תענית הכי קאמר בזמן שיש שלום יהיו לששון ולשמחה אין שלום צום והנך נמי כי הני רבי יוחנן ורבי יהושע בן לוי אמרי לא בטלה מגילת תענית הני הוא דתלינהו רחמנא בבנין בהמ"ק אבל הנך כדקיימי קיימי מתיב רב כהנא מעשה וגזרו תענית בחנוכה בלוד וירד ר"א ורחץ ורבי יהושע וסיפר ואמרו להם צאו והתענו על מה שהתעניתם א"ר יוסף שאני חנוכה דאיכא מצוה א"ל אביי ותיבטיל איהי ותיבטל מצותה אלא אמר רב יוסף שאני חנוכה דמיפרסם ניסא
§ It was stated that the Sages disagreed about the following matter: Rav and Rabbi Ḥanina both say: Megillat Ta’anit, a listing of days on which fasting and eulogizing are forbidden, has been nullified, as in the present period of exile there is no reason to celebrate the joyous events that these days commemorate. Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi say: Megillat Ta’anit has not been nullified. The Gemara explains: Rav and Rabbi Ḥanina say that Megillat Ta’anit has been nullified. This is what the prophet is saying: At a time when there is peace in the world, the dates listed will be times of joy and gladness, on which eulogies and fasting are forbidden; but when there is no peace, they are days of fasting. And those days mentioned in Megillat Ta’anit are also like these days of fasting, that is to say, the days of joy listed in Megillat Ta’anit are also nullified when there is no peace. Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi say that Megillat Ta’anit has not been nullified, and they reason as follows: It was those fast days mentioned in the Bible that the Merciful One makes contingent on the building of the Temple, but these festive days listed in Megillat Ta’anit remain as they were and have not been nullified. Rav Kahana raised an objection against Rav and Rabbi Ḥanina from a baraita: There was an incident and the Sages decreed a fast on Hanukkah in Lod, and Rabbi Eliezer went down on that day and bathed in the bathhouse and Rabbi Yehoshua went down and cut his hair to show that they did not accept the fast. Furthermore, these two Sages said to the others: Go out and fast another fast as an act of penitence for what you have already fasted, as the days of Hanukkah are days of joy, on which fasting is forbidden. Hanukkah is one of the Festivals listed in Megillat Ta’anit. Even after the destruction of the Temple Hanukkah is celebrated, demonstrating that Megillat Ta’anit has not been nullified. Rav Yosef said: Hanukkah is different, as there is the mitzva of lighting candles, and so, unlike the other days listed in Megillat Ta’anit, the festival of Hanukkah was not nullified. Abaye said to him: What is this argument? Let Hanukkah itself be nullified, and let its mitzva of lighting candles be nullified with it. Rather, Rav Yosef retracted his previous explanation and said: Hanukkah is different, as its miracle is well known, and it has become so widely accepted by all the Jewish people that it would be inappropriate to nullify it.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁמוֹנָה נְבִיאִים וְשֶׁבַע נְבִיאוֹת נִתְנַבְּאוּ לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלֹא פִּחֲתוּ וְלֹא הוֹתִירוּ עַל מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בַּתּוֹרָה, חוּץ מִמִּקְרָא מְגִילָּה.
The Sages taught in a baraita: Forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses prophesied on behalf of the Jewish people, and they neither subtracted from nor added onto what is written in the Torah, introducing no changes or additions to the mitzvot except for the reading of the Megilla, which they added as an obligation for all future generations.
מַאי דְּרוּשׁ? אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אָבִין אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קׇרְחָה: וּמָה מֵעַבְדוּת לְחֵירוּת אָמְרִינַן שִׁירָה — מִמִּיתָה לְחַיִּים לֹא כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן.
The Gemara asks: What exposition led them to determine that this was a proper mode of action? On what basis did they add this mitzva? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said that they reasoned as follows: If, when recalling the exodus from Egypt, in which the Jews were delivered from slavery to freedom, we recite songs of praise, the Song of the Sea and the hymns of hallel, then, in order to properly recall the miracle of Purim and commemorate God’s delivering us from death to life, is it not all the more so the case that we must sing God’s praise by reading the story in the Megilla?
אִי הָכִי, הַלֵּל נָמֵי נֵימָא! לְפִי שֶׁאֵין אוֹמְרִים הַלֵּל עַל נֵס שֶׁבַּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ. יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, דְּנֵס שֶׁבְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, הֵיכִי אָמְרִינַן שִׁירָה?
The Gemara asks: If so, our obligation should be at least as great as when we recall the exodus from Egypt, and let us also recite hallel on Purim. The Gemara answers: Hallel is not said on Purim, because hallel is not recited on a miracle that occurred outside Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara asks: If so, with regard to the exodus from Egypt as well, which was a miracle that occurred outside Eretz Yisrael, how are we able to recite songs of praise?
כִּדְתַנְיָא: עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִכְנְסוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָאָרֶץ — הוּכְשְׁרוּ כׇּל אֲרָצוֹת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה. מִשֶּׁנִּכְנְסוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָאָרֶץ — לֹא הוּכְשְׁרוּ כׇּל הָאֲרָצוֹת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה.
The Gemara answers: As it is taught in a baraita: Prior to the time when the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, all lands were deemed fit for songs of praise to be recited for miracles performed within their borders, as all lands were treated equally. But after the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, that land became endowed with greater sanctity, and all the other lands were no longer deemed fit for songs of praise to be recited for miracles performed within them.