Taanis, Chapter 4, Mishnah 4. This mishnah deals with the anshei ma'amad - those men who would gather together, in Jerusalem and in other places in Eretz Yisrael, to pray and to read the account of Creation from the Torah. Our mishnah sheds light on the situations in which the ma'amad would not be held at all the times listed in the previous mishnah.
In the previous mishnah we learned that they would gather at Shacharis, at Musaf and at Minchah. At Shacharis and at Musaf they would read from a Torah scroll itself, and at Minchah they would recite the passage by heart. In addition, on fast days a Ne'ilah prayer was held after Minchah as well.
The words of Rabbi Akiva:
"Kol yom she'yesh bo Hallel - ein bo ma'amad b'shacharis" - on any day when there is an obligation to recite Hallel, such as Chanukah, they would not gather for the ma'amad of Shacharis, because of the extra time that reciting Hallel took. The ma'amad of Minchah, however, remained in place, as did the Ne'ilah prayer that followed it.
"Korban Musaf - ein bo bine'ilah" - on a day that has a Musaf offering, such as Rosh Chodesh, they would not hold the ma'amad at the time of Ne'ilah, and certainly not at the time of Musaf itself nor at Minchah. It emerges that the Musaf offering pushes aside the ma'amados of Musaf, of Minchah and of Ne'ilah.
"Korban etzim - ein bo b'minchah" - on a day when a wood offering was brought they would not gather for the ma'amad at the time of Minchah, but they would gather at the time of Ne'ilah that followed it.
Regarding the cancellation of the ma'amados because of the Musaf offering, it is worth noting: even though the previous mishnah taught that they would gather at Musaf as well, many of the commentators explain that this applies only to the anshei ma'amad in Jerusalem, who were directly involved in the bringing of the Musaf offering in the Beis HaMikdash or who watched it. But the anshei ma'amad in the other cities of Eretz Yisrael would hold the ma'amad at the time of Musaf too.
What is the wood offering?
At the beginning of the Second Temple period there was a need for wood for the arrangement on the altar, and various families volunteered and brought it, together with a burnt offering. This practice continued throughout the entire Second Temple period, and special days were fixed for it - these are the days of the wood offering, which we will learn about in the next mishnah.
The opinion of Ben Azzai in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua:
Ben Azzai said to him: this is how Rabbi Yehoshua would teach it:
"Korban Musaf - ein bo b'minchah" - on a day that has a Musaf offering the ma'amad would not gather at the time of Minchah, and certainly not at the time of Musaf itself, but the ma'amad of Ne'ilah remained in place.
"Korban etzim - ein bo bine'ilah" - on a day that has a wood offering they would not gather for the ma'amad even at the time of Ne'ilah, and certainly not at Minchah, since the wood offering was brought close to the time of Minchah.
It emerges that this opinion is the reverse of Rabbi Akiva's opinion: according to Rabbi Akiva the Musaf offering pushes aside more ma'amados than the wood offering does - on a day of Musaf even Ne'ilah is cancelled, whereas on a day of the wood offering only Minchah is cancelled and they gather at Ne'ilah. Ben Azzai, however, says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua that the wood offering is the more stringent one: on a day of the Musaf offering they do not gather at Minchah, while on a day of the wood offering they do not gather even at Ne'ilah.
The mishnah concludes: "Chazar Rabbi Akiva lihyos shoneh k'Ben Azzai" - Rabbi Akiva changed his position and ruled like the opinion of Ben Azzai.
The reason given in the Gemara:
The Gemara explains why the wood offering is treated with greater stringency - to the point that the ma'amad is cancelled even at Ne'ilah, and certainly at the other times - while on a day of the Musaf offering they still gather at Ne'ilah: the bringing of the wood offering is rabbinic, and something that is rabbinic requires added safeguarding, lest people become occupied with the ma'amad and not be careful to bring it. The Musaf offering, however, is from the Torah, and it does not require the same degree of added safeguarding, since there is no concern that its offering in the Beis HaMikdash will be pushed off. Therefore they are more meticulous about the wood offering, and even the gathering of Ne'ilah is set aside before it.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned the situations in which the ma'amados were cancelled: on a day that has Hallel there is no ma'amad at Shacharis; according to Rabbi Akiva the Musaf offering cancels even Ne'ilah while the wood offering cancels Minchah alone; and according to Ben Azzai in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua the Musaf offering cancels Minchah while the wood offering cancels even Ne'ilah - and Rabbi Akiva retracted and accepted this opinion. The reason for the stringency of the wood offering is that it is rabbinic, and a rabbinic matter requires more safeguarding than something that is from the Torah.
In the next mishnah we will deal with the wood offering itself and with the special days that were fixed for it.