Taanis 4:3 - 4:4

ולא היו מתענין בע"ש מפני כבוד השבת – and one does not have to mention the Sabbath itself. And not on Sundays, because it is the third day [from] the creation [of mankind], since on Friday, man was created. And on the third day of his creation, he was weaker, as it is written (Genesis 34:25): “On the third day, when they were in pain…” Alternatively, because man was given the additional soul on the Sabbath and on Saturday night it w as taken from him, if they would fast on Sunday, they would be endangered. S And on each day, the men of the post would recite the Neilah prayer.

פרשה גדולה קורין אותה בשנים – The portion of Genesis (i.e., the Creation story), after the first person read three verses, the second person would read the third verse that the first person read and complete the [first part] of the Creation [story]. And the third person would read (Genesis 1:6): “Let there be an expanse [in the midst of the water, that is separate water from water].” On the second day, the first person reads “let there be an expanse” (Genesis 1:6), and two read (Genesis 1:9), “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area,[that the dry land may appear],” and so too for all of them.

בשחרית ובמוסף כו' – Here we are speaking about the rest of the posts that were outside of Jerusalem when they read the Creation story according to the appropriate manner, even on a day when there is a Musaf sacrifice, for we don’t want to trouble them. But the posts in Jerusalem, on a day where there is Musaf sacrifice, they would not recite during Musaf the Creation story as is taught in the Mishnah further on – a Musaf Sacrifice which lacks a Minhah service. And now, the Musaf sacrifice which does supersede the Minhah post which is not his, his post, all the more so.

בשחרית ובמוסף ובמנחה כו' – This is how it should be read: At Shaharit and at Musaf when we bring a Torah scroll and read a large portion by two and a small portion with one. But at Minhah, we do not bring a Torah scroll , because of the trouble of the fast, but we recite it by heart.

ע"ש במנחה לא היו נכנסים – [they would not enter] the synagogue and would not read [Torah] at all, since they would be troubled to prepare the needs of the Sabbath.

יום שיש בו הלל – like the days of Hanukkah which have Hallel (Psalms 113-118) recited on them but they don’t have Musaf. No portion was read during Shaharit if they were in Jerusalem, since they don’t have free time to do their posts (through the division of popular representatives deputized to accompany the daily services in the Temple with prayers, and also a corresponding division in the country towns, answering to the divisions of Kohanim and Levites), since [the recitation of] Hallel supersedes them.

קרבן מוסף – Rosh Hodesh which has a Musaf sacrifice, they would not read any portion at the closing of the gates (“Neilah”), and all the more so, they would not read a portion during Musaf itself, nor at the Afternoon service which precedes Neilah, for the Musaf sacrifice would supersede them.

קרבן עצים אין בו מנחה – that is to say, a day on which there is a sacrifice of wood, as is found above, there would be no Musaf sacrifice, which supersedes the Ma’amad (i.e., the post) for the Afternoon service, but does not [supersede] the Neilah.

כך היה ר' יהושע שונה – The wood offering/sacrifice supersets the post of Neilah, and all the more so, it supersedes the post of the Afternoon service, as the sacrifice of the wood of the Kohanim would be offered prior to the daily continuous offering at the eventide (i.e., 3:30 pm), and if it supersedes the post of Neilah, it also supersedes the post of the Afternoon service which is near it.

חזר ר"ע להיות שונה כדברי בן עזאי – Who thinks that the Musaf sacrifice comes from the Torah and this law is not superseded other than the post for the Afternoon service, for one should not suspect lest a sacrifice is superseded, for the words of the Torah do not require strengthening. But the sacrifice/offering of the wood, is considered like the words of the Sages, and the law is that they supersede the post of the Afternoon Service and Neilah which require strengthening, for just as they are not superseded for the sacrifice of the wood. And I did not go down to the end of the words of Maimonides, in his commentary of this Mishnah, since from his words, it appears that the men of the post would recite an additional prayer each day between Shaharit and Minhah and it is called the Musaf prayer. And this fact I did not find either in the Babylonian or the Jerusalem Talmud.