Leviticus · Chapter 23

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

Speak with the children of Israel and say to them: The appointed times of Hashem, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations — these are My appointed times.

'דבר אל בני ישראל, מועדי ה SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL [AND DECLARE UNTO THEM] THE APPOINTED FESTIVALS OF THE LORD — This means, Regulate the festive seasons in such a manner that all Israel should become practised in them (their observance). Hence we derive the law that they (the Sanhedrin) proclaim a leap-year (i. e. intercalate a second Adar) for the sake of those living in the diaspora who have already left their homes in order to go up for the festival but have not yet arrived in Jerusalem (Sifra, Emor, Section 9 1; cf. Sanhedrin 11a).

SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. The priests have no greater duties with regard to the festivals than the Israelites, therefore He did not admonish Aaron and his sons in this section, but the children of Israel, a term which includes all of them together, since He did not explain the Additional Offerings [for the festivals] in this section. However, He mentioned the festivals here in Torath Kohanim (i.e. Book of Leviticus) because they are days of offerings, and He alludes to them, just as He said, And ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the Eternal, and at the end of this section He states, These are the appointed seasons of the Eternal, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to bring an offering made by fire unto the Eternal, a burnt-offering, and a meal-offering, a peace-offering, and drink-offerings. He did not, however, prolong the subject by explaining the Additional Offerings, since He did not want them to be binding upon the children of Israel when in the desert, and after He had counted [at the end of the desert period] those who were to come into the Land, as narrated in the Book of Numbers, and He commanded, Unto these the Land shall be divided, He then explained all the Additional Offerings in the section of Pinchas, which they were to offer in the Land immediately and throughout the generations. Therefore He said [here in this Book of Leviticus] with reference to [the Service on] the Day of Atonement, And he [i.e., Aaron] did as the Eternal commanded Moses, meaning that he did so in the desert [but the Additional Offerings for the other festivals were not binding in the desert].Now He mentioned in this section the “he-lamb of the sheaf” and the two lambs of the Festival of Shevuoth, because it is well-known that they were binding only in the Land, since they are brought on account of the bread [of the first-fruits] concerning which He said, When ye are come into the Land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, but the observance of the days themselves [as festivals] was binding immediately. He mentioned the Sabbath among the appointed seasons which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, [although the Sabbath is not proclaimed by the children of Israel, since its sanctity has been affirmed by G-d and is fixed throughout the generations], because it is also “an appointed day” [invariably fixed by G-d as the holy day] and we may thus refer to it as “a holy convocation.” Afterwards, He separated the rest of the festivals from the Sabbath, saying of them which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season, meaning on whatever day of the week they happen to fall, but the Sabbath is fixed and occurs [always] on the same day, hence it is not necessary that we proclaim it in its season. And in the opinion of our Rabbis, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season alludes to the intercalations [of an extra month in a leap year] so that you proclaim them as festivals. The correct interpretation...

"These are My appointed times" — because there are many Sabbaths in the year.

מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש, after the Torah had spoken on the subject of the animal offerings and the people offering them whose purpose it is to ensure that the Shechinah rests in/over the people of Israel. Compare Exodus 29,42 עולת תמיד לדורותיכם, פתח אהל מועד לפני ה' אשר אועד לכם שמה; “a regular burnt offering throughout the generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord.” The Torah spoke of the festivals, days on which one abstains from the pursuit of secular matters. On some of these days one has to abstain from such activities completely, on others only partially. For instance, on the Sabbath as well as on the Day of Atonement there is a total cessation of everything which is called מלאכה, work, in the sense of a productive activity. These days are meant for us to occupy ourselves exclusively with Torah and other sacred tasks. To this effect the Torah wrote (Exodus 20,9-10) “you shall labour for six days and conduct all your activities, whereas the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your G’d.” On that day your activities should concern spiritual matters. On some of the days described as holy convocations there is a partial prohibition of work, desisting basically from the kind of activity related to the kind of labour involved in earning one’s livelihood. One is to enjoy these days. Concerning such days, our sages coined the phrase חציה לה' וחציה לכם, “half for G’d and half for you.” (Pessachim 68) There is no doubt that when the Jewish people conduct themselves in this fashion that the Divine Presence will be at home among them. Assaph expressed this thought in Psalms 82,1 which commences with the words אלוקים נצב בעדת א-ל וגו', “G’d stands in the divine assembly. Among the divine beings He pronounces judgment.” The meaning of the word מקראי קודש when applied to the days the Torah calls מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש is: “days of assembles of the people for sacred undertakings.” The word מקרא refers to an assembly, just as the words שבת and חודש are understood as meaning assemblies both in Isaiah 1,13 and Isaiah 4,5 אלה הם מועדי, “these are the appointed dates on which I will demonstrate My pleasure in your company.” If you were to treat these dates as ordinary days, week days, they would turn from being מקראי קודש to מקראי חול assemblies devoted exclusively to the transient life on earth and the physical pleasures people want to experience in this life. They would then not be מועדי, “My appointed times,” but would turn into מועדיכם שנאה נפשי, “your appointed times, the ones My soul detests.” (same chapter in Isaiah 1,14)

מועדי ה׳ אשר תקראו אותם, "appointed seasons (festivals) of G'd which you shall proclaim, etc." G'd decreed that these festivals will come into force as a result of the court declaring them to be in force (Torat Kohanim). We need to understand why the Torah repeated the words אלה הם מועדי, "these are My festivals." We must also try and understand how the Sabbath (verse 3) fits into this chapter seeing it is most certainly not subject to the manipulations of the Jewish High Court! Moreover, why did the Torah have to write the words: "these are the festivals of the Lord" a third time in verse 4? I believe we must understand this verse in the following manner. In the first instance G'd informed the Jewish people that in principle the exact time (though not the calendar date) of these "appointed seasons" are subject to input by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. In view of this principle, the Torah feared that we might err and believe that even the Sabbath itself was subject to such input by the Sanhedrin, i.e. to postponement if it suited the court. The Torah therefore wrote: "these are My appointed seasons, you are to have work performed for six consecutive days and only the seventh day is the Sabbath on which you may not perform all manner of work." The Torah had to write once more: "these are the appointed seasons of the Lord which you are to proclaim," to inform us that we are entitled to adjust the part of the calendar dealing with those days to suit our needs. This is followed by the respective dates in the first month, the third month and the seventh month which are liable to be affected by adjustments made by the Sanhedrin. There may be yet another reason why the Torah repeated the formula אשר תקראו אותם, "which you are to proclaim (or may) proclaim." Maimonides writes as follows in chapter 4 of his treatise on the sanctification of the new month: "There are three considerations which justify lengthening the year by means of the insertion of an extra month. 1) Bringing it in line with the solar seasons of the year. 2) Ensuring that Passover occcurs in the spring as demanded by the Torah. 3) Enabling the period when the fruit of the trees ripen to occur in summer. Maimonides mentions some other reasons which may prompt the Sanhedrin to adjust the calendar, such as to enable travellers to make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem at a time when the roads are passable, etc., or at a time when the bridges are safe from flooding, etc. The secondary reasons are mostly connected to the fact that many Israelites lived in the diaspora. In other words, the two principal considerations for adjusting the calendar are A) climate-related reasons. B) people-related reasons. Seeing that the Torah described the Passover festival as occurring in the season of the spring, the religious authorities made the necessary adjustments to conform with this requirement. The Torah repeats the right of the Sanhedrin to proclaim when these dates should occur in order for...

דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel;” this is a call for them to assemble in order to hear what he has to say to them. Once they had assembled, the Torah tells Moses what he is to say to them, ואמרת אליהם, and say to them: אלה הם מועדי, “these are My appointed seasons.” The verse speaks of the Sabbath. The plural mode in the word מועדי, is used, as there are so many Sabbaths every year. (Ibn Ezra)

אלה הם מועדי, “these are My festivals.” The Sabbath is included here in the list of festivals seeing it is a fixed day in the calendar. The Torah describes the Sabbath here as שבת היא לה' בכל מושבותיכם, instead of the more customary חקת עולם לדורותיכם, “an eternal statute for your generations in all your dwellings,” as that wording would have implied that the work-prohibition on the Sabbath would apply universally in every location for all times. Under the circumstances, the wording suggests that the work-prohibition applies only in “your dwellings, not in the Temple, i.e. G’d’s dwelling.

“The appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations.” And adjacent to this is the commandment of the Sabbath, and Rashi explains “What is the connection between the Sabbath and the festivals, etc.” And I say that this is the explanation: For we have already explained above in Parashat Vayakhel (35:2) regarding what Rashi explained that the Torah mentions the Sabbath before the work of the Tabernacle to tell you that the Tabernacle does not override the Sabbath. For in every place, the earlier commandment overrides the later one. And this verse, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, speaks about establishing the year and the month and the matter of intercalation. And the Yalkut concludes in this section: “From where do we learn that we may violate the Sabbath to testify about them [the new moon]? The verse teaches: which you shall proclaim them in their appointed times. One might think that just as we violate the Sabbath to testify about them, so too we may violate the Sabbath to announce that they have been confirmed? The verse teaches which you shall proclaim, etc.” And therefore, the commandment of intercalation comes before the commandment of the Sabbath, to inform us that intercalation overrides the Sabbath. And after the Sabbath, it returns and details the commandment of intercalation in the verse These are the appointed times of the Lord, in order to place the commandment of the Sabbath before intercalation, to tell you that intercalation does not override the Sabbath, except for testifying about them, but not for announcing that they have been confirmed. And this law is also found in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, chapter 1. Another explanation: “which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” This proclamation refers to words of Torah, that they should engage in the laws of Passover during Passover, etc. Therefore it states at their appointed times, and concerning this proclamation it says These are My appointed times. However, when they are not engaged in them but rather only in eating and drinking, they are not the appointed times of God at all, and concerning them it is said Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates (Isaiah 1:14). And regarding what is written, These you shall offer to the Lord on your appointed festivals (Numbers 29:39), it is because one needs to give half to God and half for yourselves.

דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel;” Nachmanides writes that the reason the name of Aaron has not been mentioned in this paragraph is that in this paragraph the Torah did not mention the additional sacrifices, מוספים, which are offered on every one of the festivals mentioned here. The Torah contents itself with writing –in a general statement- והקרבתם אשה לה', “you are to offer fire-offerings to Hashem.” The details are spelled out only in Numbers chapter 28-29. The reason this has been delayed until there is that by then the details of the occupation of the land of Israel, the key to how to distribute the various parts of the land had been spelled out, and basically, the additional offerings are applicable in the central location where the Tabernacle/Temple would stand and the Israelites would have to make their pilgrimages to that location to honour the festival. In a manner of speaking, these מוספים represent acknowledgment of Hashem having given us our daily bread in the land of Israel. Although at this time, the land had not yet been conquered, the Torah in verses 9-22 speaks about offerings which could not possibly be brought prior to the land having been conquered, seeing that the ingredients are largely produce of that land, the message is that the legislation in the Torah being discussed here is for the duration, throughout the generations. It is noteworthy that the Sabbath, a day that is not connected to calendar considerations, is mentioned as part of these מועדים. The reason is to show that part of this legislation, such as the Sabbath, is capable of being honoured in the performance already immediately. The fact that after having mentioned the Sabbath the Torah reverts to telling the halachic authorities of the people אשר תקראו אותם במועדם, “the festivals that you have to proclaim as such at their appointed times,” makes the distinction between the Sabbath on the one hand, and the festivals on the other hand, quite clear. The reason that the Sabbath is introduced with the words אלה מועדי ה', “these are the appointed festivals of Hashem, etc.” in the plural mode is that the Sabbath occurs so frequently. It is reported in the name of Rabbi Chiya (hasefardi) that when mentioning the Sabbath the words מועדי ה' occur before the words אשר תקראו אותם, “that you are to proclaim,” whereas in connection with the festivals the words אשר תקראו אותם occur after the words מועדי ה'. This is a clear hint that unless the dates of the festivals have been publicly proclaimed in advance, these festivals i.e. their legal status, remains in doubt. It is necessary for the Highest Court of the land to declare the first day of that month as such in order for us to know when the dates mentioned as festivals do occur. Nachmanides mentions further that the words אלה מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם וגו' refer to what follows, [not as in Genesis 24, or Exodus 6,19 and many others where the word אלה sums up what had been reported before then. Ed.] This is the reason why the Torah felt compelled to repeat this line seeing it had interrupted its narrative with mention of the Sabbath. There is an essential difference between observing the Sabbath and observing the festivals, as on the Sabbath any manner of מלאכה, creative kind of activity, is prohibited, whereas on the festivals only activities defined as מלאכת עבודה, “work typically performed by slaves, servants,” are forbidden. This enables us to cook, fry, and use fire on the festivals. There is a further allusion in the text that when such a festival day occurs on the Sabbath, the rules pertaining to the festival do not supersede those of the Sabbath and all the activities normally prohibited on the Sabbath are then also prohibited on the day that is both Sabbath and part of the festival. We find a similar syntax in the Torah when the Torah writes אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם, “These are the things which Hashem had commanded to do them,” in connection with the building of the Tabernacle, (Exodus 35,1) as there too, the Torah had interrupted its narrative by referring to the rules of Sabbath observance. In light of the above we can understand very well why when introducing this legislation the Torah did not use the words והקרבתם אשה לה' when describing the Sabbath, [although such an offering is, of course tendered every Sabbath, Ed.] as it does at the end of the mention of each festival, and instead it writes at the end of the chapter (verse 37) אלה מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש להקריב אשה לה' מנחה זבח ונסכים דבר יום ביומו. מלבד שבתות ה' ומלבד מתנותיכם וגו' , “These are the appointed festivals of Hashem that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to offer a fire-offering to Hashem: a burnt offering, and its meal-offering, a feast-offering, and its libation, each day’s requirement each day. Apart from Hashem’s Sabbaths, and apart from your gifts, apart from all your vows, etc.” These verses make crystal clear that the Sabbaths are not included in the list of the festivals. If a further proof were needed you will find this in the very fact that the Torah wrote a separate paragraph commencing with practically the same words in verse 4. If the Sabbath could have been lumped together with the festivals, surely at least that verse could have been saved. מקראי קודש, “a holy convocation.” According to Nachmanides the exact meaning of this expression is that all the people will be assembled on that day in preparation of performing a sacred task. On such days it is a commandment for the people to assemble in or near the House of G’d [in accordance with the regulations governing ritual purity. Ed.] Public prayers would be recited, songs of praise for Hashem would be sung, etc. The people would honour such days by clean and appropriate clothing for the occasion. They would also observe the second part of the day as a day of feasting, eating and drinking well in honour of G’d. Onkelos views the origin of the word מקראי as related to a happening, rather than as related to “following a call.” He quotes אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית הימים, “what is going to happen to you at the end of days,” (Genesis 49,1) as another example of the word מקרא or יקרא having this meaning. In other words, “whenever such a day or date occurs, make a point of treating it as a holy day.” This day or these days are to be treated as something special, a fact that is reflected in one’s bearing, cleanliness, distinctive dress and superior food. All this is implied in Onkelos’ meaning.

אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש, which you are to designate as periods of sanctified time. Whenever the word קרא appears in connection with the festivals it means the fixing of certain dates in the calendar. We have an example of this in Lamentation 1,15 where the prophet Jeremiah refers to the date on which the Temple was destroyed as קרא עלי מועד,”G’d having fixed the date the Jewish people was to experience this traumatic event including the killing of the flower of its youth.” Yonathan ben Uzziel, in translating Kohelet 2,15 כםקרה הכסיל, normally translated as “like the fate of the fool,” renders these words as מערע קדיש, [my version of the Targum renders the meaning of the verse quite differently, in a fatalistic sense, i.e. that G’d decrees death regardless of whether one is a fool or as wise as Solomon. Ed.]

Six days shall work be performed, but on the seventh day it is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall perform no work — it is a Sabbath before Hashem in all your dwelling places.

ששת ימים SIX DAYS [MAY WORK BE DONE BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF STRICT REST] — What relation is there between the Sabbath (the day that is invariably fixed by God as the holy day) and the festive seasons (the times of which are variable, being dependent upon the proclamation of the Sanhedrin)? But by putting both into juxtaposition Scripture intends to teach you that he who desecrates the festivals is regarded as though he had desecrated the Sabbath, and that he who keeps the festivals is regarded as though he had kept the Sabbath (Sifra, Emor, Section 9 7).

"In all your dwelling places" — in your land and outside your land, whether in a house or on the road. The meaning of "it is a Sabbath to Hashem" I have already explained.

'שבת היא לה, He, the creator of light and darkness assigns these days in all your dwellings, wherever on earth. The reason this is spelled out is that we might have thought that just as days and nights are not constant, being longer in the summer than in the winter respectively, so that the hours of the first Sabbath in history might serve as the model for all future Sabbaths, and Jews over the world ought to observe the 24 hours which Jews in the land of Israel observe as their Sabbath. The Torah, by writing בכל מושבותיכם, indicates that the commencement and conclusion of the Sabbath depends on the local times of day and night, not on a central location. [as opposed to the determination of the monthly time when the new moon , i.e. the new month begins, which is related to its astronomical constellation in the sky over Jerusalem, which serves as the ”dateline” for the Jewish people.Ed.]

בכל מושבותיכם, “in all your dwellings.” The Sabbath laws apply regardless of whether you are in the Holy Land or in exile. Up to now the Torah had dealt with different kinds of vows made by people, resulting in those being offered as animal sacrifices on the altar in the Temple. On those days everybody is required to offer sacrifices in the Temple regardless of having vowed to do so or not. It also describes the type of work that must not be performed on these festivals.

These are the appointed times of Hashem, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons.

'אלה מועדי ה THESE ARE THE APPOINTED FESTIVALS OF THE LORD [EVEN CONVOCATIONS OF HOLINESS WHICH YE SHALL PROCLAIM] — Above (v. 2), where similar words are used, Scripture is speaking of proclaiming the year to be a leap-year, here it is speaking of the קדוש החדש, sanctification of the month (a technical expression denoting proclaiming when is the New Moon — the beginning of a month) (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 10 1).

After this He mentioned the appointed times and said, regarding the Sabbath, "these are My appointed times," while concerning the festivals He said "at their appointed time" — meaning, on whichever day of the week it falls. Now I will give you a general principle regarding the appointed times: while the Temple stood, the festivals were entrusted to the court. Do you not see that Scripture says concerning Hezekiah's Passover that the king took counsel, and after he had fixed the first of Nisan he intercalated the year — and for this the Sages criticized him, for it was not proper to intercalate Nisan within Nisan. The transmitters [of tradition] say that the court considered many factors in fixing the year, and they said of Rabbi Akiva that he established two leap years consecutively, as the hour demanded. There is no proof anywhere in Scripture for how Israel used to fix the months and festivals. What the Gaon [Saadia] said — that they relied on the intercalation calculation — is not true, for in the Mishnah and Talmud there are proofs that Passover fell on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and there are two actual incidents recorded there. The intercalation of years derives approximately from the excess of the solar year over the lunar year, and it is not according to the method of the ancients. The beginning of the calculation: year 14 — interpret: set together with BeHaRaD, 4 hours 876 parts, the molad will arrive — and 14, meaning an additional year is added, beginning from the calculation of BeHaRaD on account of the five days that preceded the creation of man, and one day in the year counts as a full year. This causes no problem, and therefore you cannot take that extra added year as an actual year, for there was none. The intercalation comes after a year and a half, and the intercalation is built upon the mean motion; therefore they said that at times it comes in the long arc and at times in the short arc. The fixed calendar does not follow the sighting of the new moon in Jerusalem, nor in the far east or the far west, at all — the proof being the place of the mean conjunction, which falls on Jerusalem. Moreover, we have seen many times that the moon in the month of Nisan was visible on the second night, and was visible thus throughout the entire world, yet the fixed determination of the month was the third night. This also occurred for the three months preceding Nisan, and was corrected in year 4793 on account of the postponement. Also, at times the determination of Tishrei fell on a Thursday, yet the moon was not seen on the night of the Sabbath even though the sky was clear. This happens every year when the molad falls close to midday and the moon is at the high half of its orbit. Furthermore, the fixed calendar is not built on the moment of conjunction of the luminaries, even in the mean motion — for years 4034 and 4793 prove this. Were I not concerned about prolixity I would explain the secret of intercalation and the secret of the stringent ruling that the new moon was born before noon. The general principle is that the Sages transmitted to us that in exile we rely on the calculation, and so we have received from the prophets, and we cannot do better than this. As for what they instituted — two days of the festival in exile — this is on account of doubt. And those who fast two days of Yom Kippur: what benefit do they gain from the postponements? For in year 4793, if one were to follow the molad, it would be fitting to fast on the eighth day by our fixed reckoning — so why should we distort our calculation that was given for another year? The same problem arises for them with the lunar sighting as well.

אלה מועדי ה' מקראי קודש אשר תקראו אותם, “These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations, which you are to proclaim, etc.” The Torah describes all the festivals as related to the attribute Hashem. The reason the word אלה is used to introduce them is that that word symbolises something permanent, enduring. The message is that these festivals will not become redundant through historic developments in the future. As long as this physical universe will continue to exist the Jewish people will continue to observe these festivals. This is also what is meant when the Torah wrote the words לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, “for us and our children forever” (Deut. 29,28), i.e. the laws of the Torah apply for all foreseeable future times. Tanchuma Pinchas 17 relates that a Gentile once asked Rabbi Akiva why the Jews were still celebrating the festivals when the prophet (Isaiah 1,14) had told the people that “G’d hated your new moons and your festivals, etc.” Rabbi Akiva answered that if Isaiah had spoken of “My new moons, My festivals,” instead of: “your new moons and your festivals,” he would have a point. What G’d hated were the festivals introduced by King Jerobam which were meant to supplant the festivals described in the Torah here. We have been told in Kings I 12,32 that King Jerobam introduced a festival in the eighth month (to supplant Sukkot in the seventh month), a month he had chosen of his own will (verse 34). Furthermore, it is written in verse 38 of our chapter “apart from the Sabbaths days of the Lord,, etc.” The repetition of the word אלה, “ these,” in verse 37 of our chapter plus the word מלבד in verse 38 are the Torah’s way of saying that no other festivals are to be considered as “G’d’s” festivals. The ones listed in our portion will never be abolished; this is why they are called “G’d’s festivals.” Concerning these festivals the psalmist said in Psalms 111,8: “they are well-founded for all eternity, wrought of truth and equity.” אשר תקראו אותם, “which you will proclaim.” The word meaning “them” is spelled without the letter ו, so that it may be understood as אתם, “you,” i.e. you will determine when to proclaim the proper time for these festivals. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 25 use this textual nuance to derive the authority of the Sanhedrin to rearrange the calendar in such a way that the festivals occur in the seasons determined by the Torah although if we were to follow the strictly lunar calendar this would prove utterly impossible. The authority of the Supreme Court in these matters is so great that even if they hand down an astronomically incorrect decision the decision is not revoked (Rosh Hashanah 25). The sages found an additional verse in Exodus 12,2 where the Torah wrote: “this month is for you,” as proof that G’d granted authority לכם, “to you,” i.e. to your leaders to determine the precise time when a new moon is to be declared. So too do we find in Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer (Chapter 8): “The universe [i.e. sun and the moon in their orbits to make the concept of time and a calendar meaningful, Ed.] was created starting with the 28th day in Elul. G’d was forced to make an adjustment to the commencement of the New Year [seeing that the 28th of Ellul was simultaneously the fourth day of creation so that Adam was created on the thirtieth of that month. Ed.] at which time He handed over the calendar manipulations to Adam. This is the meaning of the words זה ספר תולדות אדם, “this is the book of the descendants of Adam” (authority derived by man from the Lord) in Genesis 5,1. Adam passed on this authority to Chanoch as we know from Genesis 5,24 that “Chanoch walked with G’d.” Chanoch in turn passed on this authority to Shem, son of Noach. (According to Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer, Chanoch passed it on to Noach and Noach passed it on to Shem). Shem passed on this authority to tamper with the calendar to Avraham who in turn passed it on to Yitzchak who in turn passed it on to Yaakov where it remained until the latter left the land of Israel and descended to Egypt. While the Israelites were in Egypt they did not have the authority to tamper with the calendar. This is why Exodus 12,1 introduced a new chapter in Jewish history; this is also why the Torah stressed that the directives given there were given בארץ מצרים, “in the land of Egypt,” something that we would have known as the Israelites were in Egypt at the time. The word לאמור In Exodus 12,1 meant that G’d said to Moses that up until that time (since the descent to Egypt) He had kept the secret of how to make these calculations to Himself, whereas at that point in time He was releasing this information. As long as the Jewish people lived in the land of Israel they exercised this authority adding an extra month from time to time to bring the seasons into harmony with the lunar calendar, and to compensate for the fact that the moon’s orbit was 29 days and a fraction of the thirtieth day so that the month had to have either 29 or thirty days. When most of the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon or went to Egypt, the calendar manipulation was taken care of the by the few Jews remaining in the Holy Land. When the prophet Ezekiel requested permission from G‘d to perform this task in Babylon, G’d told him that no one was permitted to perform this task except within the Holy Land. This prompted the sages to establish the rule that whereas the wise men and righteous people in the diaspora do not have the authority to tamper with the calendar, even herdsmen in the land of Israel do have such authority. Even prophets outside the land of Israel lack this authority whereas laymen inside of the land of Israel do have the authority to adjust the calendar. Only when no Jew remained in the land of Israel did they begin to adjust the calendar in Babylon. As soon as Ezra moved to the land of Israel they began to adjust the calendar there, and when Ezekiel asked permission to do this in Babylon G’d told him (Ezekiel 36,17) that it was the exclusive prerogative of the people living in Israel, i.e. בית ישראל יושבים על אדמתם. [I have quoted more from Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer than the author, though not all. One of the most interesting things there is that it dates the move of Ezra to the land of Israel as far earlier than other traditional sources. Ed.] Something about the details of the procedure of adding an extra month to the year (still from Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer): They would bring a Torah scroll, form a (semi)-circle where the elders would be seated in order of their seniority. They would then face with their faces to the ground, rise and remain standing, extend the palms of their hands toward heaven. The most senior member of the assembly would pronounce the Ineffable Name (as part of the appropriate benediction to be recited) and a heavenly echo would be heard and confirm the authority of those assembled to proceed by reciting the verse in Exodus 12,1. If the respective generation were lacking in merits no heavenly echo would be heard. People who were present at the time the heavenly echo was heard were extremely fortunate as we know from Psalms 89,16 “hail to the nation who understand the meaning of the blast of the teruah, they walk in the light of Your presence O Lord.” This was an allusion to the people (performing this ceremony) enjoying G’d’s approval. Thus far (more or less) Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer. This is proof of the preference G’d accorded to the soil of the land of Israel and how dear it is to the Lord. We also have a quotation from the Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 1,2 where the words from Jeremiah 29,1 אל יתר זקני הגולה ordinarily translated as “to the remainder of the elders in the diaspora,” are understood to mean that “the prophet spoke to the most distinguished people of the diaspora (יתר=יותר); He said that a small band of Jews in the land of Israel is dearer to Me (G’d) than the elders of the Supreme Court (and their accumulated wisdom) in the diaspora, wherever that may be.” When the elders of the Sanhedrin used to assemble (in anticipation of the new moon) in the office near the Sanctuary called לשכת הגזית they used to intone the formula מקודש, “it has been sanctified” three times after the testimony of witnesses claiming they had seen the new moon had been accepted. This day then was accepted in the celestial regions as the new moon. G’d would sit in judgment of people on New Year (which was also new moon) in accordance with the determination made on earth. Concerning this acceptance by the heavenly court of calendar decisions made by the Sanhedrin on earth, Psalms 57,3 writes אקרא לאלוקים עליון לאל גומר עלי, “I call to G’d Most High, to G’d Who is good to me.” David acknowledged that G’d agreed with him. In Midrash Tehillim chapter 4 the verse selected to reflect the same idea is Deut. 4,7 כה' אלוקינו בכל קראנו אליו, “like the Lord our G’d whenever we call upon Him.” Rabbi Oshiyah said that there is no other nation which sets rules for its G’d as does the Jewish nation. As an example consider the matter of calendar manipulation. When the elders of the people sit down to determine that the beginning of the new year has to be deferred by a month G’d agrees with their decision and says that whatever Israel has decided is in order. Concerning this matter David said: “I call on the Supreme G’d and He agrees with me.” When is this matter effective? On New Year’s. When the Sanhedrin sit down to proclaim a certain day as the beginning of the new year G’d adapts Himself to this decision calling together His Supreme Court consisting of the requisite number of angels, saying to them: “go and check what the Sanhedrin on earth has decided.” When the angels report that the Sanhedrin on earth has decided that New Year’s day is to be on a certain day. G’d assembles His court on that day to sit in judgment of mankind. This is the meaning of Psalms 47,6 “G’d ascends amid the sound of the teruah.” Immediately after that the angels make all the appropriate arrangements for the celestial court to begin its deliberations. This is the meaning of Daniel 7,9: “I watched till thrones were set up and the Ancient of days (G’d) sat down. His garment white as snow, etc. etc.” Some of the angels acted as defenders of the Jewish people whereas others acted as accusers. All of this was initiated by the decision of the Sanhedrin as confirmed by the psalmist in Psalms 81,5 that “it is a law made by Israel, a ruling of the G’d of Yaakov.” The meaning of this line is that Israel decrees a law concerning Rosh Hashanah and G’d abides by Israel’s decision. Another proof that this is so can be derived from Numbers 29,1 יום תרועה יהיה לכם, “it will be your Day of Teruah,” i.e. you decide on the exact date. Whereas on other festivals the Torah describes these days as לה', “for the Lord,” in this instance the Torah describes the day as לכם, “for you, yours.” We also have the verse in our chapter (verse 4) “these are the festivals of the Lord which you will proclaim.” It is as if G’d said: “I have no festivals unless you have fixed the one which is yours.” All the other festivals are the Lord’s, whereas Rosh Hashanah is yours seeing you set the date. The word קראנו in Deut. 4,7 which we mentioned earlier is a reference to “what we proclaimed,” i.e the date the Sanhedrin decided. Thus far the Midrash Tehillim.

In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the suns, is the Passover offering before Hashem.

בין הערבים AT EVENTIDE — i. e. the period from six hours onwards (reckoning from six o’clock in the morning) (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 11 1; cf. Rashi on Exodus 12:6). פסח לה׳ [AT EVENTIDE] IS THE פסח OF THE LORD — i. e. the offering of the sacrifice which bears the name פסח.

"Between the evenings" — I have already explained this.

'בין הערבים פסח לה; although the day on which the Passover is being slaughtered is the 14th of Nissan, not one of the days listed as מקרא קודש, the Torah relates to it as if it were, seeing that this sacrifice, signifying the Exodus from Egypt, the redemption of the Jewish people from slavery, is at the root of the whole legislation governing the Jewish calendar. The sages are empowered to see to it that the annual calendar date which the Torah legislated for this sacrifice to be offered coincides with the month in which the spring equinox occurs, so as to ensure that we do not violate the concept of היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, “on this day you left (Egypt) it was during the month of spring.” The concept of “spring” and its message of resurrection of nature which had hibernated during the winter is so strong that it is part of the אלה מועדי ה' concept. (compare Deuteronomy 16,1)

בין הערבים פסח לשם, "at dusk it is the Lord's passover." This means that the part of the passover offering which belongs to G'd, i.e. the sprinkling of the blood and the burning of the fat parts of the lamb must occur on the eve of the 14th of Nissan. However, the part of that sacrifice which is to be consumed by every Jew has to occur after nightfall in conjunction with the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Furthermore, the expression "a passover to G'd" is a reminder of the very first passover sacrifice, the one the Jews slaughtered in Egypt. That Passover was of immediate benefit to the Jewish people so that the sacrifice could hardly be called "a passover for G'd." It included elements which were never repeated. In Shemot Rabbah 19 we are told concerning the Passover of Moses (not he personally but the one he commanded at the time) that it contained the fragrance carrried by the winds from Paradise. Compare what I have written in my commentary on Exodus 12,43 in this connection. In addition to that, the first Passover was responsible for G'd killing the firstborn of the Egyptians. Now that the Passover was merely a commemoration of what had occurred as part of the first Passover the people offering it could truly claim that they did so for G'd i.e. that it is a "passover for G'd."

בין הערבים, פסח, “at dusk, a Passover;” on the eve of the first day of Passover. The afternoon of the fourteenth and the night of the fifteenth of that month are called “Passover.” The reason is that during that time the people were busy slaughtering and consuming the meat of the Passover offering. The remaining days of that festival are called: חג המצות, “the festival of the unleavened bread.”

And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread before Hashem; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו, “you will eat unleavened bread for seven days.” The unleavened bread a person eats during those seven days are accounted as his fulfilling this commandment on Passover, the exception are the thanksgiving offerings, part of which are chametz, leavened bread, and mostly unleavened wafers which may not be offered on these days.

On the first day there shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall perform no labor of service.

YE SHALL DO NO MANNER OF ‘M’LECHETH AVODAH’ (SERVILE WORK). “[Not] even such work as is considered by you important and necessary work, because the neglect of it would involve a monetary loss, as for example a matter that will not permit delay. So I understood from the Torath Kohanim which teaches as follows: ‘I might think that on intermediate days of the festival it is also forbidden to do m’lecheth avodah (servile work) etc’” This is Rashi’s language. But this is not correct at all. For what reason is there that Scripture should say, “Do not do [on the festival days even] such work that will not permit delay,” and [the prohibition for] all other labors be deduced by a kal vachomer and if so it would have been proper to say it in the same way in the case of the Sabbath too! [However, with reference to the Sabbath it says Ye shall do ‘no manner’ of ‘m’lachah’ (work), and it does not say m’lecheth avodah (servile work) as in the case of the festivals!] Moreover, if it be [as Rashi explained it], then there is an allusion in the Torah to the effect that on the intermediate days of the festival it is permissible to do work that will not permit delay, but the Rabbis have said, “Scripture has handed over this matter [of determining which activities are forbidden and which are permitted on the intermediate days of the festival] only to the Sages,” which means that there is no allusion in the Torah as to which work is permitted and which is forbidden! Again, the term avodah (work) includes all kinds of labors and purposes, [as the following verses indicate]: ‘oveid’ (he that tilleth) his ground shall have plenty of bread; ‘va’avadcha’ (he shall serve thee) six years; ‘v’avad’ta’ (thou shalt serve) thine enemy — and nowhere does the term avodah mean only work that permits no delay, which, if not done today, can no longer be done on the following day [as Rashi had written]!Rather, the meaning of m’lecheth avodah (servile work) is all work that is not necessary in the preparation of food, similar to that which it is said, Six days ‘ta’avod (shalt thou labor), and do all thy work; and in all ‘avodah’ (manner of work) in the field; ‘v’ne’evadtem’ (and ye shall be tilled) and sown; but Cain was an ‘oved’ (tiller) of the ground. But work which is done in preparation of food is work of direct benefit, and is not [called] m’lecheth avodah (servile work). This [distinction] is clearly explained in the Torah. For with reference to the Festival of Unleavened Bread where He said at first, no manner of work shall be done in them, it was necessary to explain [in the same verse], Save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you; therefore with respect to the other festivals He shortened [the command] and said [as in the verse before us], ye shall do no manner of servile work, thus prohibiting all work which is not done in preparation of food, and informing us that the preparation of food is permissible on the festival days. And in no place does Scri...

מלאכת עבודה, “laborious work.” Rashi includes even activities which, if not performed on those days, result in the Israelite suffering irrevocable financial loss. Nachmanides disagrees, saying that what purpose would be served in the Torah telling us that we must not even perform activities that result in financial loss, so that activities that do not result in financial loss would be forbidden automatically? If this were a valid form of reasoning, we would apply it also to activities forbidden on the Sabbath! Furthermore, if correct, why did the sages have to rule that activities which result in irretrievable loss may be performed on the intermediate days of the festivals, thus providing us with an allusion in the text, whereas the sages contend that there is no such allusion in the text? (Compare Chagigah 18) In addition, the expression עבודה, includes all manner of work and activities, as we know from Proverbs 28,19 עובד אדמתו ישבע לחם, “he who works his soil will have enough to eat.” Or, Deut. 15,12 ועבדך שש שנים, “and he shall serve you for six years.” Nachmanides quotes a number of additional such uses of the word עבודה. On the basis of these examples he concludes that the expression מלאכת עבודה includes all manner of work except that involving the preparation of food. He draws a comparison between Kayin who was a עובד אדמה, tilled the earth, but did not do this for his amusement or satisfaction but out of necessity, and someone who prepares food, the objective being his enjoyment. Clearly, the two activities are not comparable, hence the expressionמלאכת עבודה describes the nature of the activity not its value to the person who performs it. It is noteworthy that when speaking of the festival of matzot, the very first of the festivals mentioned, in Exodus 12,16, the Torah writes כל מלאכה לא יעשה בהם, that on those days no manner of work may be performed. This is no contradiction, as the Torah immediately continues to exempt the kind of work needed to prepare food. On the contrary, it supports the theory that whenever the expression מלאכת עבודה is used this excludes activities involved in preparing food. Had this not been the intention of the Torah the word מלאכה would have sufficed. There is one exception to the wording used by the Torah in connection with the festivals, i.e. Deut. 16,8 where the eating of מצות is discussed, and where the Torah in prohibiting work on the seventh day of Passover uses the expression לא תעשה מלאכה. On the face of it, this sounds ambiguous, as the Torah omits the customary מלאכת עבודה on the one hand, but it does not write כל מלאכה לא תעשה, “that you must not perform all manner of work” either, as it does concerning the Sabbath or the Day of Atonement. The meaning of the words לא תעשה מלאכה is simply: “do not perform the manner of work I have already prohibited to you on the festivals in previous references to that day.”

And you shall bring an offering before Hashem for seven days; on the seventh day is a holy convocation — you shall perform no labor of service.

'והקרבתם אשה וגו BUT YE SHALL OFFER A FIRE-OFFERING etc. — This is identical with the additional offerings due on the first day of Passover which are mentioned in the section of פנחס (Numbers 28:19). But why are these referred to here? In order to intimate that the additional offerings do not impede one another (i. e. that if a particular animal of these מוספים cannot be sacrificed, it is still lawful to bring the others) (Menachot 49a), because it states: — 'והקרבתם אשה לה YE SHALL BRING THE FIRE-OFFERING OF THE LORD — bring it under any circumstances — if there are no bullocks available as prescribed, offer the prescribed rams; and if there are neither bullocks nor rams, offer the lambs (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 11 5). שבעת ימים SEVEN DAYS — Wherever the term שבעת is used it is a noun (not a cardinal numeral), so that the words here mean a septaine of days (a period of seven days), in old French Similar is the meaning of all the expressions שמנת ,ששת ,חמשת ,שלשת. מלאכת עבדה [YOU SHALL DO NO] SERVILE WORK — Not even such labors as are regarded by you as an obligation and a necessity, the neglect of which involves loss of money, as, for instance, a matter that may become lost (that cannot be postponed without irretrievable loss). I understand this (that the above is the meaning of מלאכת עבדה) from Torat Cohanim (on .v 36 of this chapter), since it states there: I might think from what Scripture states (vv. 36, 37) כָּל מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי that מלאכת עבדה is forbidden also on the intermediate days of Passover and Tabernacles (lit., the week-days of the festivals). Scripture, however, states, “it (the eighth day) is a festival and ye shall do no מלאכת עבדה” thus intimating that on a day which is not a festival such work is permitted. The intermediate days are not regarded as a festival and the rule is that דבר האבד may be attended to. Hence the very question: “may מלאכת עבדה be done on the intermediate days?”, implies that the term denotes דבר האבד.

AND YE SHALL BRING AN OFFERING MADE BY FIRE UNTO THE ETERNAL SEVEN DAYS. Scripture is stating that all seven days [of Passover] should be a festival to bring an offering made by fire unto the Eternal, but not that they are all equally forbidden as far as doing work, like on the first and seventh days. He did not explain [here the precise nature of] the offering, since He is going to mention it in a special section dealing with all the offerings of the festivals, when it is His wish that they should be binding on the children of Israel, and as I have explained. And the interpretation of our Rabbis is that [the intention of the verse here] is to state that we are to bring an offering under all circumstances, even if we do not have all the [required] Additional Offerings. This is a correct [explanation].

"A fire-offering to Hashem" — [this is explained] in the portion of Pinchas.

והקרבתם אשה לה' שבעת ימים, the offering of the mussaph offering for seven consecutive days is to remind us that the intervening days of this festival are not totally secular in nature, although only the first and seventh day have been accorded the title מקרא קודש. The whole matter of the mussaph, additional communal offerings, has not been gone into in detail here as this is a subject treated in Numbers when this legislation appears in detail in chapters 28-29. The reason why in connection with the New Year’s day the Torah does mention the offering of an אשה לה', is that this day already qualified for a mussaph offering, it being not only the first day of the new year but also the first day of the month of Tishrey. In Numbers 29,6 the Torah once more draws our attention to this fact, [presumably to tell us that New Year’s day does not replace the significance of the date of the new moon. Ed.] If you were to counter that אשה ה' is also mentioned in this chapter in connection with the day of Atonement, remember that what is referred to there are burnt offerings and sin offerings, both on behalf of the High Priest and the people but not by each individual member of the people as are sin offerings generally, not mussaph offerings which are mandatory communal offerings. The reason why the Torah listed the Sabbath and the festival of matzot in a single paragraph is that both were legislated prior to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Each of the other festivals has been accorded a paragraph of its own. The Torah commences its reference to the festival of weeks by speaking of the Omer, and the counting of the seven weeks from the Passover until that festival, seeing that the festival of weeks is also known as the harvest festival,חג הקציר and we thank the Lord for the שבועות חקות קציד, “who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for harvest” (Jeremiah 5,24). The principal reason for the festivals is to afford us an opportunity to express our gratitude in prayer and in deed. For instance, an example is the appointed time for the festival during spring when we pray to G’d giving thanks for His having given us our freedom at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Omer was an expression of gratitude for the barley harvest, the earliest opportunity to fulfill part of the bikkurim legislation, presenting the first of the ripened crop to G’d. This prayer also contains a request concerning the future. The counting of the 49 days between Passover and the festival of weeks reminds us of the need to offer such prayers on a daily basis. On the festival of Sukkot, the festival of ingathering, we thank the Lord for having enabled us to bring the year’s major harvest under our roofs.

והקרבתם אשה לה' שבעת ימים, “you shall bring a fire-offering to Hashem for a seven-day period.” The reason is that all the seven days of Passover enjoy the status of being festivals, חג, so that these additional publicly financed sacrifices are mandatory. On the other hand, the work prohibition applies only on the first and the seventh day of this festival. The components of this fire offering are not detailed here but in a separate section in Numbers chapters 28-29.

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

Speak with the children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest.

ראשית קצירכם THE FIRST FRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST — This means that it (the Omer) shall be the first thing to be harvested (cf. Sifra, Emor, Section 10 3). עמר — The tenth part of an Epha; this was its name (i. e. עמר has not the meaning of a sheaf here as is the meaning of the word e. g., in Deuteronomy 24:19: ושכחת עמר — but it denotes a certain measure), as we find (Exodus 12:18) “And they did measure it with the Omer”.

SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM: WHEN YE ARE COME INTO THE LAND. Since He establishes a new commandment here in connection with each of the festivals, in addition to their being days of rest and holy convocation, therefore He singled out for each festival a special section, which begins with the charge, Speak unto the children of Israel. And since the time of the Festival of Weeks is dependent upon the omer, therefore He stated it all in one section. And because the Day of Remembrance [i.e., the New Year] and the Day of Atonement are in one month [Tishri], and both relate to one subject — the [Divine] Judgment concerning man’s sins and the atonement [achieved] by those who do repentance — therefore He did not say concerning the Day of Atonement “speak unto the children of Israel,” since the first statement [about the New Year] was sufficient in this case. He made, however, two separate sections [of the omer and the Festival of Weeks, as also the New Year and the Day of Atonement], because they are different matters. AND YE SHALL REAP THE HARVEST THEREOF. This means that you are not to reap any harvest in the Land until you have reaped the omer and have brought it as the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. Similarly, from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain shalt thou begin to number seven weeks, means “from the time you begin to put the sickle to any standing grain, for it is forbidden to raise the sickle over standing grain until the day that you begin to count [seven weeks].”

The reason for mentioning "when you come to the land" is because they observed all the Sabbaths in the wilderness and Passover at Mount Sinai, for this passage follows directly upon the erection of the Tabernacle. The meaning of "speak to the children of Israel" is that they should assemble together, and only then — "and say to them."

... ראשית קצירכם, “the first fruit of your harvest;” it would not be good manners to eat of this harvest before your bringing a gift to the Lord acknowledging His share in your successful harvest.

דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the reason why the Torah devotes a separate instruction by G’d for each of these festivals instead of a single introductory heading for all of them, is that each festival contains some legislation which did not apply to the previous one, excepting the Sabbath. The common denominator of all of them is that all are called מקראי קודש, “holy convocations. Since there is no specific date given for the festival of Shavuaot, seeing that the Torah links it to the first day the omer was offered on the 16th day of Nissan and stipulates that the 50th day thereafter must be the festival of Shavuot, it is lumped together in the same paragraph as that legislating the omer offering, an offering which permits the new barley harvest for general consumption from that date on. Also, the fact that both Rosh Hahanah and Yom Hakippurim occur in the same month and represent the beginning and the end of the ten days of penitence, i.e. they cover basically the same subject, at least the words דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel,” are not repeated.

And he shall raise the sheaf before Hashem for acceptance on your behalf; on the day after the Festival the priest shall raise it.

והניף AND HE SHALL WAVE [THE OMER] — Every form of the root נוף used in connection with sacrifices signifies that one moves the latter about both horizontally (מוליך ומביא) and upwards and downwards (מעלה ומוריד); he moves it about horizontally to prevent (i. e. the act was symbolical of preventing) destructive winds, he moves it about upwards and downwards to keep away injurious dews (cf. Rashi on Exodus 29:24) (Menachot 62a). לרצנכם TO BE ACCEPTED FOR YOU — If you offer it according to this precept it shall effect favourable acceptance for you. ממחרת השבת ON THE MORROW AFTER THE DAY OF REST [THE PRIEST SHALL WAVE IT] — This must mean on the morrow of the first day of the Passover festival (on the 16th of Nisan); for if you say that it means on the morrow of the weekly Sabbath (i. e. on a Sunday) you do not know which particular Sabbath Scripture is referring to (Menachot 66a).

ON THE MORROW AFTER ‘HA’SHABBATH’ THE PRIEST SHALL WAVE IT. “That is, the morrow after the first day of the Festival of Passover. For if you are to say it means [on the morrow of] the Sabbath of Creation [i.e., the weekly Sabbath], you have no indication which Sabbath is meant.” This is Rashi’s language. And indeed, this is the greatest of the proofs mentioned in the Gemara [to show that ha’shabbath here is not to be interpreted literally as meaning the weekly Sabbath, but refers to the first day of Passover]; for what sense is there for Scripture to state that “when ye are to come into the Land … and shall reap the harvest thereof ye shall bring the sheaf on the morrow of the weekly Sabbath,” which would mean that at any time of the year when we come into the Land and reap its harvest, the priest shall wave the sheaf on the morrow of the first Sabbath after we have come into the Land! In that case the Festival of Weeks would have no [definite] starting point from which we are to count [the forty-nine days, so that on the fiftieth day we should celebrate that festival]! Moreover, according to this way we would not know even in the years following [our entrance into the Land] when we are to begin counting [the forty-nine days], but only from the day that we first put the sickle to the standing grain at our will. But these are meaningless words! If, however, the expression on the morrow after ‘ha’shabbath’ means “on the morrow after [the first day of] the festival,” in accordance with the tradition of our Rabbis, then the matter appears correctly. For at first Scripture commanded that we should observe in the first month the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days, and that on the first day there should be a solemn rest and on the seventh day a solemn rest, and we are not to do thereon any manner of servile work. Afterwards He stated that when we come into the Land we are to bring on the morrow of this rest-day [previously] mentioned, the sheaf of the waving, this being the first rest-day here mentioned. And He also taught that the [bringing of the] sheaf was not obligatory in the desert, nor outside the Land [since the section begins, When ye are come into the Land …]. However, the expressions, even unto the morrow after ‘ha’shabbath’ the seventh and seven ‘shabbathoth’ cannot possibly be interpreted as referring to a festival [as does the expression on the morrow after ‘ha’shabbath’ here in Verse 11 and also further in Verse 15.] Onkelos, however, rendered them as meaning “week”, but if so, there are two different usages of the same word in one verse! And the commentators have written that this is a literary expression [Scripture using one term in the same instance with two different meanings], such as: they rode on thirty ‘a’yarim’ (ass colts) and they had thirty ‘a’yarim’ (cities). And in another place Scripture clearly states, Seven weeks shalt thou number. Similarly, those that were to come in on ‘ha’shabbath,’ with those that were to ...

"On the morrow of the Sabbath" — the Sages said this means the morrow of the festival day. Those who dissent say it means literally the Sabbath. The believers [in the rabbinic view] brought proofs from the Sabbatical year, the Jubilee, the great fast [Yom Kippur], and the Day of Blowing, about which the word "shabbaton" is written — and likewise "shabbaton" is said of the first day of Sukkot and the eighth day. They also argue: "seven complete Sabbaths" — compare "those entering on the Sabbath together with those departing the Sabbath" (II Kings 11:9), which are two groups, yet the word "Sabbath" is used for both in a single verse; and similarly "thirty foals" (Judges 12:14). Their proof of the word "temimot" [complete] is [strong], and a sage in Rome brought a proof from "the morrow of the Passover" — matzot and parched grain [were eaten, thus the morrow of Passover precedes the Sabbath]. But he did not realize he was harming himself, for Passover is on the fourteenth and its morrow is the fifteenth, and likewise it is written: "They journeyed from Rameses in the first month" (Num. 33:3). And eating parched grain is forbidden until after the waving of the omer. The Gaon [Saadia] said that there are two Passovers — "the Passover of Hashem" and "the Passover of Israel" — and "the Passover of Hashem" is on the night of the fifteenth, so that "the morrow of the Passover" in Joshua (5:11) is the sixteenth. Thus the meaning of "the morrow of the Passover" written in the Torah would be the morrow of the Passover sacrifice. But this says nothing, for the festival is not called "Passover" except because Hashem passed over the houses, and its morrow at dawn is the fifteenth. As it is written: "all that day and all that night and all the next day" (Num. 11:32). The Gaon further said that the matzot and parched grain were from the old crop — and this is not far-fetched, for Scripture says regarding the waving of the omer that it should be "from when the sickle begins to be put to the standing grain" (Deut. 16:9). If the waving of the omer was on the fifteenth, when did they reap, and make matzot? Moreover, there was no harvest then, for it was the "beginning of the barley harvest" (Ruth 1:22). There is also something like a proof for his interpretation, namely that it says "from the produce of the land" — it is possible that this term was applied to the grain remaining from the previous year. The meaning of "from the produce of the land" would then be the land of Sihon and Og, the proof being that Scripture then says "from the produce of the land of Canaan" (Josh. 5:12). Furthermore, "roasted" [kalui] is not the same as "parched" [kali] — Scripture says: "bread, parched grain, and fresh grain you shall not eat" (Lev. 23:14), and the verse "roasted in fire" is not a proof [for the Gaon], for it describes the manner of preparation: grain that is "parched in fire" is called "roasted" [kalui]. Moreover, one may ask: how do we know that the priest waved the omer offering on the east bank of the Jordan, given that Scripture says "which I am giving to you"? Furthermore, it had not yet been given to them. And Scripture did not come to mention matzot and parched grain except because the manna ceased, and that is the meaning of the whole verse. The Gaon further argued: if "Sabbath" is to be taken literally, from which Sabbath do we begin to count? Yeshua answered that there are eighteen days on which a sacrifice is offered and which are called "appointed times," apart from the Sabbaths. Since there is a sacrifice on the day the omer is waved, it is a sign and witness that the waving is on one of the days of the appointed season of spring — but he forgot the sacrifices of the new moons, which are not mentioned [in this context]. Furthermore, Scripture says "so shall you do for seven days" (Num. 28:24), and it would have been fitting to say "besides the waving of the omer." But this objection does not [in fact] apply to us, for we rely on the tradition regarding the commandments. As for the fact that on the festival of Shavuot, the portion in Pinchas does not mention the peace-offerings of the lambs while above (Lev. 23:18–19) it mentions a bull, two rams, and in Pinchas two bulls and one ram — the believer [in the rabbinic view] can answer that through the spirit of prophecy Moses knew that the day of the omer-waving would be fixed as a Sabbath, and the proof is the showbread which was set out on the Sabbath. Scripture teaches how they reckoned in the first year — when they brought the peace-offerings and the burnt-offering mentioned here, and afterward those mentioned in Pinchas. After that it says: "in your weeks" [plural], and says "seven weeks," not "seven Sabbaths" — but there is no proof that the beginning of the week is necessarily the first day [Sunday]. The statement that a woman is impure "two weeks" (Lev. 12:5) proves this [i.e., "week" need not begin on Sunday]. Now I will hint to you a secret: all the festivals are tied to a specific day of the month, whereas the festival of Shavuot has no [such fixed date] mentioned — because the counting itself is a commandment. The Sages transmitted that at the festival of Shavuot the Torah was given, and of it was said: "for it is a feast of Hashem for us" (Ex. 32:5). Some say that "for your acceptance" [lirtzonchem] means: so that it may be as your acceptance, on account of "and he shall wave the omer before Hashem for your acceptance" — and the meaning is that you should wave it willingly. The meaning is that you should offer a lamb of the first year so that you may be accepted.

ממחרת השבת, “on the day following the first day of Passover.” We have one verse in which we are commanded to eat unleavened bread for seven days (here), and another in which we are commanded to eat leavened bread during six days. (Deuteronomy 16,8) How do we reconcile these two verses? During years when you are unable to eat from last year’s harvest (because there is none left) after the sh’mittah year, you are allowed to eat from the new harvest during the last 6 days of this festival. How do we fulfill the commandment of “on the day following the Sabbath?” We understand the word Sabbath here as the first day of the festival. (If we were to wait until after the whole of the festival has elapsed, we would have ignored the commandment contained in this verse. Annotation by Rabbi Chavell)

ממחרת השבת יניפנו הכהן, “from the day following the rest day the Priest shall wave it.” The word שבת In this verse does not refer to the שבת בראשית, the fixed Sabbath, the one which recurs every week, but to the first day of the Passover festival on which the performance of work is prohibited. This is also the way Onkelos understands the word when he writes: מבתר יומא טובא, “the day after the festival,” i.e. the day following the 15th of Nissan. The Torah prohibited eating from the new barley harvest until the 16th day of Nissan. This is the meaning of the line: “you shall not eat bread or roasted kernels or plump kernels until this very day, an eternal statute applicable to all your dwellings” (verse 14). This means that the prohibition to eat from the new barley harvest applies as a Biblical prohibition even outside the boundaries of the land of Israel throughout the ages (Compare Kidushin 37). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish states that there are three commandments which though primarily linked with our living in the Holy Land, also apply in the Diaspora. They are חדש-כלאים- ערלה, the prohibition listed here, the prohibition of cross breeding, and the prohibition of eating of the fruit of a tree during the first three years of its existence. The prohibition listed here is Biblical, whereas ערלה is known as decreed by Moses at Sinai, i.e. not derived through exegesis but through tradition, a decree of the sages effective since the time the Torah was given. The prohibition of cross breeding in its application outside the boundaries of the land of Israel is of later origin, a Rabbinical decree. (Compare Sifra Emor 10,11).

ממחרת השבת, “on the day following the rest-day.” The meaning of this expression is: “on the day following the first day of Passover.” The word שבת here does not mean: “a week,” as it does in verse 15 in שבע שבתות “seven weeks.” The reason the Torah refers to a week by the name of שבת is that each unit of seven successive days includes a “Sabbath,” and seeing that that is the central day of the week as far as Jews are concerned, it is not surprising to hear a “week” also referred to as a “Shabbat.” In any reference to the Jewish calendar, each day of the week is identified by its relation to the Sabbath, i.e. “the first day of the Sabbath”, “the second day of the Sabbath,” etc. Nachmanides writes that there is no problem even if we were to call the expression ממחרת השבת as “the day following the week,” as the day on which the omer is waved for the first time is the 16th day of Nissan, the day on which the counting of the seven new weeks begins. It follows that that day is the day following the completion of the previous week. Seeing that the first day of Passover is on the fifteenth of Nissan, the Torah quite correctly describes the sixteenth as the day following the week that had just expired.

ממחרת השבת, on the day following the first day of the Passover festival.

And on the day you raise the sheaf you shall prepare an unblemished yearling lamb as a burnt offering before Hashem.

ועשיתם... כבש AND YE SHALL OFFER… A LAMB — This came (was brought) as an obligatory sacrifice in connection with the Omer.

The dissenters say that "ben shanah" [son of a year] is not the same as "ben shnato" [son of its year], for "ben shnato" means it has not yet completed a year, while "ben shanah" means it has already completed a full year. But they did not read the section on the dedication of the altar — for there (Num. 7) it says "one lamb, ben shnato, for a burnt-offering," while in the final portion (Num. 29) it says "lambs, benei shanah, twelve."

And its grain offering shall be two tenth-measures of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering before Hashem, to be accepted with favor; and its libation shall be a quarter of a hin of wine.

ומנחתו AND THE MEAL OFFERING THEREOF — i. e. the usual meal-offering that was brought together with its drink-offering, שני עשרנים TWO TENTHS DEALS OF FLOUR — It was double as much as was usually required with a lamb (cf. Numbers ch. 28). ונסכו רביעית ההין AND THE DRINK OFFERING THEREOF OF WINE SHALL BE THE FOURTH PART OF HIN — Although its meal-offering was twice as much as usual its drink-offering was not double (Menachot 89b).

ומנחתו שני עשרונים סלת, and its gift offering, “two tenths of fine flour, etc.;” this was double the usual amount as it was the first offering presented from the new harvest. The additional amount of flour presented symbolizes that the harvest has been bountiful. Seeing that we do not find a parallel when it comes to the number of sheep offered on this occasion in addition to the breads, we mention in our mussaph prayers on the festival the respective components of each of these offerings. Some opinions hold that the one “tenth” of fine flour mentioned here was the “omer,” and they bring as proof that the libation accompanying that offering was not commensurate with the two “tenths” of fine flour mentioned here. This argument is without merit, as the two “tenths” mentioned here were wheat flour, whereas the “omer” consisted of barley. The expression סלת for finely ground flour is used exclusively with flour made from wheat. ונסכה יין רביעית ההין, “and its accompanying libation, one tenth of a measure known as hin, of wine." Rabbi Eliezer, in the Talmud, tractate Menachot folio 89, points out that the Torah uses the feminine mode for the word ונסכה, i.e. it is read as if it had been spelled with the masculine pronoun ending ו, although spelled with feminine ending ה. What is the reason for this strange phenomenon? The libation appropriate for a gift offering, known as מנחה in Hebrew is appropriately referred to in the feminine mode, seeing that the noun מנחה, gift offering, is a feminine noun. On the other hand, normally the libation accompanying the gift offering consists of oil, whereas here it consists of wine, יין. It is therefore not correct to speak of a doubling of the libation, as only the amount of flour has been doubled. Moreover, libations consisting of oil were a later addition in the history of the Jewish people in the desert, having been introduced only in Numbers chapter 28. ומנחתו ושני עשרונים, ונסכו יין, “and its gift offering, two tenths of fine flour and its libation, wine. Seeing that this libation was not introduced until Numbers 28, the reference to it here is grammatically ambiguous; we find another example of such an ambiguity in verse 18 of our chapter: שבעת כבשים ופר אחד ואילים שנים, “seven male sheep and one bullock and two rams,” which are offered on account of the two loaves representing the firstling fruit of the new wheat harvest on the festival of Shavuot; The Torah adds here: “and their respective gift offerings and libations,” (without spelling out what the latter consisted of.) All the other sacrifices offered on the festivals, mentioned here without specifics, are all described in the feminine mode, as only in Numbers chapter 28 they are considered as complete, as there the libations accompanying them are spelled out.

ומנחתו שני עשרונים, “with its meal offering including two tenth parts of an eyphah of fine flour;” our sages point out that this meal offering was different from all other meal offerings offered as an adjunct to offerings consisting of sheep which were only accompanied by meal offerings containing one tenth of an eypha of fine flour; although it was accompanied by a larger meal offering than other similar offerings, the libation that accompanied it was not larger than the normal one quarter of a hin of wine. This is also why when we recite in our Mussaph on the festivals that offerings of bullocks were accompanied by three measures of fine meal for such offering, whereas two measures accompanied offers consisting of a ram, and one such measure accompanying offerings consisting of a sheep. When listing the accompanying libation offerings in that same prayer, the text does not mention the amount of wine for the libations of each such sacrifice beyond saying “the appropriate amount for each.” When speaking of the libation for the “omer” offering, the Torah writes: ונסכה in the feminine mode instead of ונסכו, for Its libation offering” in the masculine mode as it refers to the whole meal offering, the word for that offering being מנחה, a feminine noun. In our prayers we do not refer to this distinction as it is the only exception. Actually, one half of the meal offering is intended to belong to the omer firstling of the barley harvest offering, whereas the other half is intended to be the meal offering which belongs to the sheep offering. The size of the libation accompanying this offering is the same as usual.

And bread, roasted grain, or fresh kernels you shall not eat until this very day — until you bring the offering of your God; it is an eternal statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

וקלי means flour made out of tender ears (כרמל); this is called קלוי because they dry them in the oven and so become scorched. וכרמל — these are ears themselves which are called grenailles in old French (Menachot 66a, b). בכל משבתיכם IN ALL YOUR HABITATIONS — The Sages differ in their opinions regarding this (the meaning of these words). Some learn from here (taking the words בכל משבתיכם in the sense "wherever you may live") that the law concerning the new crop applies also outside the Land of Israel; others, hold that it (the phrase) denotes “in all your settlements” and is only intended to teach that they did not become subject to the command concerning the new crop until after the land had become their inheritance and place of settlement (ישיבה) i. e. after they had subjugated the land and had parcelled it out amongst the tribes (Kiddushin 37a).

"Bread" — from the new [crop]; the proof being that on Passover one eats matzot and bitter herbs.

בכל מושבותיכם, the prohibition to eat from the new barley harvest before the 16th of Nissan applies even when there is no Temple and no Omer offering can be brought to G’d.

ולחם, “and the bread etc;” five species of grain when baked, qualify for the description “bread,” they are the ones that are liable to become chametz, leavened, if their dough are allowed to rise. “Baked dough” made from kitniyot, legumes, such as rice, maize, lentils, etc., the dough of which does not become leavened, does not qualify for the definition “bread” in the Torah. (Sifra)

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Festival, from the day you bring the sheaf of the raising — seven complete weeks they shall be.

ממחרת השבת FROM THE MORROW AFTER THE DAY OF REST — i. e. from the morrow after the first day of the Passover festival (Menachot 65b). תמימת תהיינה [SEVEN WEEKS] SHALL BE COMPLETE — This teaches that one has to begin counting in the evening, for otherwise they would not be complete (Menachot 66a).

AND YE SHALL COUNT ‘LACHEM’ (UNTO YOU). The meaning thereof is similar to the expression And ye shall take ‘lachem,’ thus establishing that the counting [of the forty-nine days of the omer] and the taking [of the lulav, ethrog etc. on the Festival of Tabernacles] be done by each and every person. Thus the counting must be done by word of mouth, and he should mention the number, just as our Rabbis have received it by tradition. This is unlike the expressions and he shall count ‘lo’ (to himself) seven days for his cleansing; then she shall number ‘lah’ (to herself) seven days [referring to a man or woman who suffered a flux, in which case the counting of the clean days does not have to be uttered by word of mouth], because if they so wish, they may remain in their impurity; they must only beware not to forget their impurity [and enter the Sanctuary or eat holy food in a state of defilement, which Scripture strongly forbids]. Similarly, And thou shall number ‘lecha’ (unto thee) seven Sabbaths of years etc. of the Jubilee, means [only] that you shall be heedful of the number so that you should not forget [when the Jubilee year falls, but the actual counting of the years does not have to be by word of mouth]. But in the Torath Kohanim I have found it said: “And thou shalt number unto thee — in the court.” Now I do not know if the intention is to state that the Great Court [of seventy-one judges] is obliged [actually] to count the years and the Sabbatical cycles at the beginning of every year, and to recite a benediction before the counting as we do at the counting [of the forty-nine days] of the omer; or it may be that the intention [of the Torath Kohanim] is to state that the court should be careful in the counting of the years, and sanctify the fiftieth year. Thus the number of days from the day of the waving of the omer until the day of the holy convocation [i.e., the Festival of Weeks], is identical to the number of years of the [seven] Sabbatical cycles until the Jubilee, and the reason for them is the same. Therefore ye shall number fifty days which means that one is to count seven weeks [comprising] forty-nine days, and sanctify the fiftieth day which he has counted [and make it a holy convocation], just as He said with respect to the Jubilee. This is the meaning of the word t’mimoth (complete) — [seven weeks shall there be ‘complete’], meaning that they be exactly that number, no less and no more, just as is the meaning of the expression: they shall be perfect, for anything additional or missing makes a thing imperfect. Thus the explanation of this section is that we are to begin counting the days in the beginning of the barley harvest, and bring of the first fruits of the harvest, of the fresh ears, a meal-offering unto the Eternal, and also to offer up with it an offering, and to finish the counting of the days in the beginning of the corn harvest, as a shock of grain cometh up in its season, and bring of it a meal-offering of fine corn f...

Were it not for the tradition, it would seem that the counting of the days is like the years of the Jubilee. The dissenters say that the meaning of "complete" [temimot] is that the count should not include the first Sabbath from which the count begins.

וספרתם לכם, "and you shall count for yourselves, etc." The reason the Torah adds the word "for yourselves" is that G'd commanded to count for seven weeks consecutively. We are told in the Zohar volume 3 page 97 that seeing the Jewish people were in a state of impurity and G'd wanted to betroth them to Himself He applied the legislation pertaining to a menstruant woman who is required to purify herself for seven days. He therefore commanded them to "purify" themselves for seven weeks by counting those days much as a menstruant counts the seven days. The count then was for the benefit of the Israelites in order that they would become G'd's "bride" as it were and would be able to step under the wedding canopy at Mount Sinai. The reason that the period of counting was seven weeks instead of seven days was the extraordinary amount of impurity the Jewish people had accumulated during their extended stay in Egypt. Another reason is that in this instance we speak about an entire people having to shed their accumulated impurities. I have explained on Exodus 19,1 that the word בצאתם was to be understood as a cause for G'd having delayed the giving of the Torah, i.e. the presence of the Israelites in Egypt for a long time necessitated the period of seven weeks during which the Jews prepared themselves for this event. The sentiment that the reason the Torah was not given immediately after the Exodus is supported by the words ממחרת השבת, that the Torah would not be given immediately after the Sabbath, i.e. Passover, but after a period described as the morrow of that day. The nature of this count is that the days have to be whole days, as opposed to parts of days. Seeing the 15th of Nissan at that time was a Sabbath and that on part of that day the Israelites were still in Egypt, the count of the seven weeks could not commence until the following day, i.e. ממחרת. While it is true that this consideration applied only to the generation of Israelites who left Egypt at that time, the Torah legislated that the same procedure be followed year after year starting with the year of the Exodus. Kabbalists understand why we have to re-enact history in this fashion. According to the plain meaning of the text the reason the Torah refers to "the day following the Sabbath" is a reminder of the fact that while in Egypt the Jews had to perform slave labour also on the Sabbath. You may do well to read what I have written on Genesis 2,2 in connection with the words ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי. A moral-ethical approach to our verse may be derived if we see in the word וספרתם the root ספיר, sapphire, the material the second tablets were made of (compare Vayikra Rabbah 32,2). The souls of the Jewish people are compared to the nature of sapphires which lose their lustre when they become dirty. As a result of sins committed by their owners (bodies inhabited by these souls) something similar happens to their souls. The message of the word וספרתם is that by means of the count the Jewish...

וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת, “you will begin to count for yourselves, commencing with the day after the first day of Passover;” seeing that there are seven weeks between the beginning of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, periods when the commandment of sh’mittah is observed in earnest, the prophet (Jeremiah, 5,24) has already categorized them as: שבועות חוקת קציר ישמר לנו, “Who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for the harvest.”Rashi comments: “seven weeks during which G-d decreed for us two laws, that of the harvesting of the “omer and the presentation of the first two loaves of the new wheat harvest.” He sees to it that we can harvest these two species at the appropriate time of the year. Seeing that such an important part of our livelihood depends on these two harvests, it is easy to understand that the Torah expects us to keep the counting of these days meticulously. Just as we have to count days we also have to count weeks, at the end of which period we sanctify the fiftieth day after completing the seventh week. We have to do the same concerning counting for the sh’mittah year and the arrival of the yovel year. The emphasis of this whole paragraph is on the respective concepts of sh’mittah and yovel. There are a total of 49 potential disasters that the Torah warns us of if we fail to observe these two basic positive commandments. [Thenumber 49 symbolizes the number of days we fail to assimilate the social significance of those laws to ensure that no extremes of rich and poor will become permanent features in our land. [My choice of words. Ed.] ממחרת השבת, if you were to say that these words refer to the day following the original Sabbath, i.e. the first day of the week, you would on occasion have to count fifty two days instead of forty nine days or even fifty four days or fifty six days, neither less nor more. This is why the first day of Passover cannot occur on either: Monday, Wednesday or Friday. How then could I fulfill the commandment implied in the words “on the day following the Sabbath?” This can only be done by understanding the word שבת, as referring to the first day of the festival.

וספרתם לכם, “count for yourselves, etc.” The construction of וספרתם לכם is similar to that of ולקחתם לכם, “take for yourselves” in verse 40. It means that each individual is to count, i.e. buy the four species of plants for Tabernacles. Counting has to be by mouth, not merely in one’s mind (Menachot 68). This is a different manner of counting from that which the Torah mentioned in connection with a woman who has to count seven days before ritual immersion (Leviticus 15,13 and similar). In that instance the Torah means that one must not forget to keep track of time. It would be adequate to note the dates on the calendar, etc., without mouthing the days each morning or evening. Not only that, in those instances if a woman decides not to immerse herself in a ritual bath and remain ritually impure she is at liberty to do so (with all the restrictions which this would impose upon her). The most important aspect of the commandment to count in our verse is that one must begin the count on the 16th of the month of Nissan. This is the first day of the reaping of the barley harvest. The first cut barley (of good grade) is offered as a communal offering as a gift to the Lord as described in verses 12-13. The number 50 (of counting) comes to an end with the harvesting of the first wheat from which again an offering is brought in the form of two loaves of bread which are baked as leavened loaves (as spelled out in verses 18-20). The principal part of the whole commandment is the ritual of the offering of these two loaves. The accompanying animal sacrifices were precisely that, they did not constitute the principal part of the combined offerings. If, for some reason, no new wheat was available on that date the accompanying animal sacrifices mentioned here would not be offered. The word חדשה, ”new,” which the Torah writes describing this gift-offering of two loaves of bread from the new wheat harvest which is to be brought on the fiftieth day of the count, constitutes the festival of Shavuot. When giving further details of this counting etc., the Torah adds that it is to be an “eternal statute in all your dwellings” (verse 14). Seeing that the performance of the Omer sacrifice is dependent on the subsequent offering of the two loaves on the Shavuot festival, it would have been easy to imagine that in the absence of a Temple where the latter could be offered, the former, i.e. the “count-down” would also become redundant; therefore the Torah had to write that this applies throughout the generations in all our dwellings, as distinct from “in your dwellings” (verse 17) which is the Torah’s wording for the applicability of the offering of the two loaves. Not only the counting but also the accompanying prohibition of eating from the new barley prior to the beginning of the count-down is applicable nowadays also. The commandment not to perform work on the Shavuot festival is also in effect just as it was when the Temple was standing, although the only commandment which dis- tinguishes that festival cannot be performed in our time. The common denominator of all the festivals listed in the Torah is that they apply both in the land of Israel and in the Diaspora and both when the Temple is standing and when it is not. If the Torah saw fit to emphasise that the Day of Atonement remains in effect throughout the earth and regardless of whether the Temple is standing, this may be due to the fact that our atonement is linked to the sacrifices offered on that day. Seeing we are not able to offer these sacrifices while we are in exile, we might have assumed that the day has lost its sanctity. The Torah therefore makes clear that the sacrifices are not the condition for the effectiveness of the Day of Atonement. In our portion the words “an eternal statute in all your dwellings” are not mentioned in connection with Passover, seeing this has already been mentioned in Exodus 12,14,17, where the Torah speaks of the consumption of unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Seeing that these parts of the ritual can be performed without the Temple, the Torah there had to spell this out. This is the commentary of Nachmanides on the Torah omitting the words “an eternal statute in all your dwellings” in connection with Passover in this portion.

וספרתם לכם, “you are to count for yourselves, etc.” Some commentators believe that the reason the Torah demanded this count is that seeing that these are days when the harvesting in the fields is in full swing, the common people, the farmers, might lose track of the exact number of days that had elapsed since the Passover. Seeing that during that period they are hardly ever at home, the messengers from the court might have difficulty in reaching them. These farmers might not find out if the month of Nissan had 29 days or thirty days, and similarly, they might not know if the High Court had extended the length of the month of Iyar or not. By counting until 50 they would be certain to observe the festival of Shavuot on the correct day. This is also the reason that the optimal time for counting these days was in the evening, as during the day they might have been to preoccupied with their harvesting activities. וספרתם לכם, according to Nachmanides the additional word לכם, “for yourselves,” was the reason why our sages decreed that every individual was to count these days, it was not enough for the members of the Court to do so on behalf of the people at large, as they did when they proclaimed the day of the New Moon. On the other hand, when the Torah writes וספרת לך in the singular mode, pertaining to the Jubilee year, that is a task reserved for the High Court exclusively. (Leviticus 25,8) The number of days from the first heaving of the omer offering corresponds exactly to the number of years in a Jubilee cycle. The seven years in that cycle, correspond to the seven weeks in the counting of the omer. Presumably, this is the reason why the Torah wrote תספרו חמישים יום, “you are to count 50 days, meaning that you count seven times seven days, i.e. 49 days, whereupon the 50th day is a holy convocation, again a wording which closely parallels the Jubilee legislation in chapter 25. The principal reason for mentioning the number 50 is to ensure that we do not count either less or more than the number stipulated by the Torah. ממחרת השבת, the word ממחרת is as if the Torah had written במחרת, “on the day following, etc.” This is quite accurate as the counting begins on the day following the first day of the matzah festival. The Torah adds: (actually at the end of verse 14) חוקת עולם לדורותיכם בכל מושבותיכם, “an eternal decree for all your generations wherever you will reside.” The decree referred to is 1) that of not eating of the new barley harvest before the day on which the omer offering has been presented. 2) To observe the fiftieth day as a festival on which the performance of work is prohibited. I might have thought that seeing that these laws have been linked to offering sacrifices, also to the offering of the first sacrifice of breads made from the new wheat harvest on Shavuot, that the other regulations do not apply when there is no Temple and when we are not dwelling in our own land. This is also the reason that the Torah stresses the same applicability of the prohibitions of the Day of Atonement, as there too, seeing that the atonement mentioned in the Torah is linked to special offerings and the ceremony of the scapegoat, that when these cannot be performed that the entire Yom Kippur legislation would be null and void. By writing these extra lines the Torah makes plain that this is not so. There was no need to specifically mention applicability of the prohibitions of New Year, Sukkot and chag hamatzot wherever Jews lived except in connection with the laws in Exodus chapter 12,17 seeing that it appeared to depend entirely on the availability of a male lamb in its first year for slaughter in the Temple. We might have thought that once there was no place available to offer the blood and fat of that lamb on the altar, the laws about unleavened bread and bitter herbs would also not apply, therefore the Torah had to write verse 17 to disabuse us of such an idea. As long as the Torah did not restrict a prohibition to periods when there would be a Temple, such prohibitions remain in force regardless. (Compare Kidushin 37)

Until the day after the seventh week you shall count fifty days, and you shall bring a new grain offering before Hashem.

השבת השביעת — Translate this as the Targum does שבועתא שביעתא THE SEVENTH WEEK. עד ממחרת השבת השביעת תספרו EVEN UNTIL THE MORROW AFTER THE SEVENTH WEEK SHALL YE NUMBER — until, but not including the day until which you count: thus there are 49 days (the seven complete weeks spoken of in the preceding verse). 'חמשים יום והקרבתם מנחה חדשה לה… FIFTY DAYS — AND YE SHALL OFFER A NEW OBLATION UNTO THE LORD — i. e. on the fiftieth day ye shall offer it. This, I say, is a Midrashic explanation, but the literal sense is: “Even unto the morrow of the seventh week which is the fiftieth day shall ye number”: the text has its phrases inverted. מנחה חדשה A NEW MEAL OFFERING — It was the first meal-offering that was offered from the new crop. And if you ask, “But surely the meal-offering of the Omer has already been offered on the 16th of Nisan”?! Then I reply: It (the Omer) was not like all the other meal-offerings — which, with one exception (cf. Numbers 5:15), were all brought of wheat — since it was brought of barley and therefore it is not taken into account (cf. Menachot 84b).

AND YE SHALL OFFER A NEW MEAL-OFFERING UNTO THE ETERNAL. The meaning of the expression a new meal-offering is that no meal-offering [of the new crop] is to be brought into G-d’s House until they bring this one, as our Rabbis have explained. It was necessary for Scripture to state, it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings with reference to the prohibition of [eating of] the new crop and the command to rest [from work] on the Festival of Weeks, because [the prohibition of eating of the new crop] depends on the waving of the sheaf, [and the Festival of Weeks is connected] with the new meal-offering [mentioned in the verse before us]. Thus this verse is intended to state that even after our exile to countries outside the Land, when the omer and the [new] meal-offering are no longer offered, He nonetheless commanded concerning the observance [of the law of the new crop and resting on the festival], for the [prohibition against eating of the] new crop applies by law of the Torah in all places. It was not necessary to mention this in connection with the Day of Remembrance [i.e., the New Year], and similarly in connection with the Festival of Tabernacles He did not mention [that it is to be observed] “in all your dwellings” [because these two festivals are clearly not dependent upon the offerings in the Sanctuary]. He did, however, mention it with reference to the Day of Atonement, because since He had made our atonement dependent upon the offerings, as he mentioned in the section of Acharei Moth, therefore He said here that the prohibition [of eating and working on that day] applies in all places [and at all times], as He stated it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you by fasting and resting from work, and [the absence of] the offerings does not prevent His [granting of] atonement. Similarly He did not mention here with reference to the Festival of Unleavened Bread: “it is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations,” but in the section of This month shall be unto you the beginning of months He did mention it, because since He had made there the matter dependent upon the Passover-offering, as it is said, and unleavened bread with bitter herbs they shall eat it, therefore He had to state that [the Festival of Unleavened Bread] is an ordinance forever, in all your habitations. He mentioned [here] with reference to the Sabbath that it is to be observed in all your dwellings, because since He had permitted work in the Sanctuary in the bringing of the Daily Whole-offering and the Additional Offerings, therefore He said that the prohibition [of work on the Sabbath] applies in all our dwelling places; for the intention of that expression is only to state: “in all your dwelling places, but not in the House of the Eternal.” And so the Rabbis have said in the Mechilta: “Ye shall kindle no fire in your dwelling places. In your dwelling places you may not kindle a fire, but you may kindle it in ...

"You shall count fifty days" — for that is how the Torah counts, and likewise "on the eighth day" everywhere [is inclusive of the first day].

תספרו חמשים יום, “you shall count fifty days.” We need to recite a blessing when we count, as opposed to when a woman after her period counts seven days of her purification days. Her count is not necessarily consecutive, as if she sees a drop of blood that emanated from her vagina, this invalidates the count. She has no control over this, whereas we, who are counting consecutive days, know beforehand that the sun rises every day consecutively. (Compare commentary of our author on Leviticus 15,28)

עד ממחרת השבת השביעית תספרו, “until the day after the seventh week you shall count.” You are aware already that the count extends only for 49 days. Therefore, the tone-sign under the word תספרו does not link the word to חמישים, “fifty” which follows it, but the word חמישים belongs to the word והקרבתם, “you shall offer a sacrifice,” which follows it. Forty-nine days are spent counting whereas the fiftieth day is spent offering the gift-offering of the two loaves of the new wheat and the animal offerings accompanying them. The Torah did not mention the Shavuot festival independently as it did with all the other festivals. We could have expected the Torah to write: בחודש השלישי בששי לחודש חג השבועות, “in the third month on the sixth of the month is the Shavuot festival,” just as it did with the other festivals. Seeing that the Torah did not refer to the festival Shavuot in that manner makes it plain that it is considered as a festival which is linked to the Passover, i.e. it completes what commenced on Passover and now that we have counted forty-nine days from the second day of Passover the time has come to celebrate the Shavuot festival. Looking at it from a spiritual point of view, the days between the last day of the Passover festival and the festival of Shavuot may be considered as somewhat like חול המועד, the intermediate days of the Passover and Sukkot festivals respectively.

“And you shall offer a new meal offering to the Lord.” This is a sign for the day of the Giving of the Torah, because the Torah needs to be new to a person every day, as if one received it from Mount Sinai today. And the reason why the Torah does not explicitly mention that this day is the Giving of the Torah, and similarly why the Torah does not explicitly mention that Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment — the reason for both is the same, as I wrote in my work Olalot Ephraim. Regarding the Giving of the Torah, God did not want to designate a specific day because a person needs to feel that on each and every day of the year, it is as if on that day one received the Torah from Mount Sinai. For indeed, our Sages of blessed memory said (Eruvin 54b) that the Torah is compared to a breast: just as an infant finds new taste every time it suckles, so too with the Torah — whoever studies it finds new taste in it every day. Therefore, it is proper that it should seem to one each day as if one received it from Mount Sinai today. Thus, every day is the Giving of the Torah for those who study it, and therefore it is not appropriate to designate a specific day for its giving. And thus our Sages of blessed memory said (Sifrei Devarim 6:6) that the words of Torah should be new to you, not like an old matter that a person’s heart grows weary of, because in truth you find something new in it each and every day. Therefore, the day of its giving is not explicitly stated in the Torah, beyond what is hinted at in the bringing of a new meal offering, indicating that the Torah is a new offering every single day. And there was in the two loaves of bread leavened dough, which the evil inclination is compared to, because in the language of our Sages (Berakhot 17a) it is called “the leaven in the dough,” because where Torah is present, the evil inclination cannot cause harm, as our Sages said (Kiddushin 30b): “The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: ‘I created the evil inclination, and I created Torah as its antidote.’” And if not for the evil inclination, the Holy One, Blessed be He, would not have brought down the Torah from the heavens to the earth, for with this argument Moses our teacher defeated the angels when they said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: “A hidden treasure You have, etc., and You wish to give it to flesh and blood?” And Moses replied to them: “Is there an evil inclination among you, etc.?” (Shabbat 88b-89a). His meaning was that there was a need to give the Torah to those below in order to provide them with an antidote for the evil inclination that clings to them, to fill their deficiency. Therefore it says leaven shall be baked. And this is also the reason for concealing the judgment day of Rosh Hashanah, so that a person will not follow the stubbornness of his heart and accumulate sins throughout the year, thinking he will correct his actions when approaching God’s day on which He sits on the throne of judgment. Rather, one should imagine in his soul as if every day God sits on His throne for judgment and his record is being examined. Through this, every day will be a day of repentance. And indeed, according to one opinion, a person is judged every day (Rosh Hashanah 16), as it is said, You remember him every morning, and test him every moment (Job 7:18). And in my aforementioned work, I elaborated on these two reasons because they are proper for those who seek understanding.

מנחה חדשה, to permit use of the new wheat harvest in the Temple, seeing this is the period when the wheat ripens.

From your dwelling places you shall bring bread of the raising — two loaves of two tenth-measures of fine flour they shall be, baked leavened — a first-fruit offering before Hashem.

מושבתיכם [YE SHALL BRING] OUT OF YOUR HABITATIONS [TWO WAVE LOAVES] — but not from outside the Land of Canaan (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 13 1; Menachot 83b). לחם תנופה WAVE LOAVES — i. e. heave loaves that have been heaved in honour of the Lord. It is these which constitute the “new meal-offering” mentioned above (v. 16). בכורים [THEY ARE] THE FIRSTLINGS — the first of all meal-offerings offered, the first even in relation to the “meal-offering of jealousy” (cf. Numbers 5:15) which was brought of barley; even that must not be offered of the new crop previous to the two loaves, although a barley offering had already been brought, viz., the Omer which was offered on Passover (Menachot 84b).

THEY SHALL BE BAKED WITH LEAVEN. Scripture commanded that these two loaves be leavened, because they are a thanks-offering to G-d for having kept for us the appointed time of the harvest, and a thanks-offering comes with cakes of leavened bread. Perhaps the [usual] prohibition of bringing leavened things as an offering is because leaven alludes to the attribute of justice, for it is called chametz (leaven), just as wine which sours is called ‘chometz yayin v’chometz sheichar’ (vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink), the word [chametz] being derived from the expression: the unrighteous ‘v’chomeitz’ (and ruthless man), for [vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink] are drinks whose original taste has been “robbed” from them, and they are therefore not suitable for [normal] drinking. Similarly, for my heart yithchameitz’ means that it was “in a ferment, and it lost its composure.” Now since the offerings are brought to be acceptable before the Glorious Name, they are therefore not to be brought from objects which possess a strong power to change natural properties of other things [such as leaven], and similarly they are not to be brought from things which are completely sweet such as honey. [Instead, they are to come] only from things which are blended of different qualities, just as the Rabbis have said with reference to the creation of the world “He combined the attribute of mercy with the attribute of justice, and created the world.” Now on the Festival of Weeks which is the day of the Giving of the Torah [on Mount Sinai], the offering [i.e., the two leavened loaves and the various burnt-offerings, together with their meal-offering which is of unleavened bread, as stated in Verse 18] comes in accordance with the law of the thanks-offering [which was brought with ten leavened cakes and thirty unleavened cakes], for it is the day of the solemn assembly. The student learned in the mysteries of the Cabala will understand. And this is the secret of which our Rabbis have said: “All offerings are destined to cease [in the World to Come], but the thanks-offering will never cease etc.,” for in it are both unleavened and leavened [cakes], comparable to the World to Come [in which the Divine attributes of justice and mercy will forever be in perfect harmony].

The word "tavi'u" [you shall bring] is unusual because of the dagesh in the aleph, for which we do not know any reason. "From your dwelling places" — we need the tradition [to know] from what place it should be taken and when it should be sought. "Bread of waving" — goes to the priest together with the lambs of the peace-offerings.

חמץ תאפינה, בכורים, the Omer was the first ripened barley; the offering mentioned in our verse here represented the first ripened stalks of the wheat harvest. This is why the festival of weeks is also known as יום הבכורים, “the day of the firstlings offering.” (compare Numbers 28,26 where this מנחה חדשה, “new gift offering” is described). The more appropriate translation would be the “gift offering consisting of the new (grain) harvest.” The reason that the Torah added the word לה', “for the Lord,” [after all, all offerings are exclusively for the Lord, so why single out this one by name? Ed.] is that after first presenting this offering to G’d, the whole people may now enjoy the new wheat harvest. The verse from Jeremiah 5,24 which we quoted earlier, referred to the סכנה, period of “danger” which this crop was exposed to while growing during which period so many things could have happened which would have ruined the eventual crop. Thanksgiving prayers are therefore called for, expressing our gratitude that nothing of what we worried about during those many weeks actually happened. [the word חקות in that verse may mean that the laws of nature according to which the crop would ripen was not upset by bad weather, and other climatic phenomena which would have ruined all of the farmer’s efforts during the season of ploughing and seeding. Ed.] The Torah, appropriately, legislated that in addition to the two loaves baked from the new wheat, which did not get on the altar, of course, also 2 sheep, etc., were offered as explained in connection with שלמי תודה, thanksgiving offerings in Leviticus 7,13.

And you shall bring together with the bread seven unblemished yearling lambs, and one young bull, and two rams — they shall be a burnt offering before Hashem, with their grain offerings and their libations, an offering accepted with favor before Hashem.

על הלחם means, on account of the bread — as an obligation connected with the bread (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 13 4; Menachot 45b). ומנחתם ונסכיהם WITH THEIR MEAL OFFERINGS AND THEIR DRINK OFFERINGS — according to the law of the meal offerings and the drink offerings which are distinctly set forth with reference to all animal sacrifices in the chapter dealing with drink offerings: (Numbers 28:12—14) “three tenth deals of flour for one bullock, two tenth deals of flour for one ram, and one tenth deal of flour for one lamb”: — this is the meal-offering. The drink-offerings were: “half a hin of wine for a bullock, the third part of a hin of wine for a ram, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a lamb”.

It is possible that Scripture repeated [the list of offerings] for the first year because it was the very beginning of the inception [of the commandment]. Some say that one should offer either a bull and two rams, or two bulls and one ram, at the priest's discretion. But we have never seen such a commandment, and I will explain the truth in [the portion of] Pinchas.

על הלחם, “with the bread.”

אשה ריח ניחוח לה', “a fire-offering, of sweet-smelling fragrance to the Lord.” The Torah adds that a male goat is to be offered as a sin-offering (verse 19). We need to understand why in addition to the animals described as אשה ריח ניחוח there was also a need for a sin-offering. This is especially important as in Numbers 28,26 where the offerings of all the festivals are listed there is no mention made of this male goat as a sin-offering in connection with the offerings listed as being brought on Shavuot. The sacrifice mentioned in Parshat Pinchas was addressed directly to the highest attribute of G’d, to Hashem, whereas the sacrifices mentioned here were addressed in the first instance to the Shechinah, (and to Hashem as the ultimate address). You will find that in Pinchas the word לה' is mentioned prior to the details of the offering being given, whereas here the Torah uses the reverse procedure, mentioning the word only after most of the animals have been mentioned. Here the Torah wished to include an allusion to an historical event which occurred on the first Shavuot, i.e. the revelation at Mount Sinai. At that time the Israelites experienced this revelation as a manifestation of the mountain burning, etc., i.e. as “fire.” Hence the emphasis here on the words אשה לריח ניחוח לה' as a reminder of that fiery experience. Also, in connection with the inauguration of the Tabernacle the Israelites experienced a vision of the כבוד ה', (Exodus 40, 34-35 where this is mentioned twice) similar to an experience they had seen at the revelation. We find that the prophet Isaiah refers to a manifestation of such glory, תפארת, in (Isaiah 64,10) in connection with the Temple. He calls it תפארת. Whenever the word עצרת occurs it refers to the manifestation of the Shechinah. The Temple was a permanent manifestation of this attribute. This concept is anchored in the Torah’s instruction that three times a year יראה כל זכורך, “all of your males shall be seen in the presence of the Lord, etc.” (Exodus 23,17), an allusion to the fact that there is an attribute of the Lord, i.e. the כבוד, also known as Shechinah, before whom these males are to appear. On the other hand, on the occasion of the day we know as שמיני העצרת, the day following the Sukkot festival, no mention is made of this אשה, fire-offering; the reason is that on that occasion no pilgrimage occurred, i.e. the Israelites did not separately fulfill the commandment of appearing before the Lord at the Temple.

חמץ תאפינה, “they shall be baked leavened.” Nachmanides, quoting Jeremiah 5,24 חוקות קציר ישמור לנו, “He who keeps for our benefit the laws of the periods appointed for the harvest,” sees in the offering a form of thanksgiving offering. Every thanksgiving offering contained 10 out of 40 loaves that were leavened. Nachmanides speculates that the normal prohibition to include anything leavened in our offerings may be related to leavening being viewed as outgrowths of spiritually negative influences, “creatures” or phenomena which have their origin in demonic forces, Satan. As such they are reminders of the attribute of Justice, the last thing we want to remind Hashem of when offering Him our sacrifices.

And you shall prepare one he-goat kid as a sin offering, and two yearling lambs as peace offerings.

ועשיתם שעיר עזים THEN YE SHALL SACRIFICE ONE KID OF THE GOATS — I might think that the seven lambs (cf. v. 18) and the goat mentioned here are identical with the seven lambs and one goat mentioned in the Book of Numbers (28:27—30). — This is, however, not the case, for when you come to the bullocks and the rams you will find that they are not identical (here, v. 18. we have one bullock and two rams, whilst there you have two bullocks and one ram). Consequently you must admit that these (the lambs and the goats mentioned here) form a group for themselves and the others form a group for themselves: these were offered on account of the loaves and the others as additional offerings for the day (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 13 6; Menachot 45b).

Since the slaughter of peace-offerings occurs on the festival day of Shavuot, which is a day of sacred assembly, it is demonstrated that slaughtering is permitted on all the festivals — contrary to the view of the Sadducees.

ועשיתם שעיר עזים, “you shall offer one he-goat;” Rashi comments here: I might have thought that the seven male sheep and the male goat mentioned here are the same as those mentioned in Numbers 28,27. However, when you look at the bullocks and rams, you will note that they are not identical, as there we read about two bullocks and one ram. Furthermore, if you were to assume that what is described here is part of the mussaph offerings presented on the festivals, what is the difference between the offering presented on Shavuot from the ones recorded in Parshat Pinchas? ושני כבשים בני שנה, and two male sheep less than a year old. Rabbi Shimon, quoted by Sifra, asks for what sin these two sheep are supposed to atone? He answers that they are to atone for inadvertent ritual impurity incurred in the Temple or in connection with the service in the Temple. He adds that if the first animal achieved atonement, what was the second one in aid of? He answers that it would atone for additional impurity incurred in the interval. He adds that according to strict rules such offerings should therefore be offered around the clock, as inadvertent impurity is liable to occur at any moment; however, G-d decided to save His people the additional expense. [There appears to be a misprint somewhere because while the male goats served for atonement, the male sheep were peace offerings, not sin offerings. The interested reader who finds this “misprint” incredible, is referred to Malbim’s commentary on this Sifra. Ed.]

And the priest shall raise them — together with the first-fruit bread — as a raised elevation before Hashem; together with the two lambs they shall be holy before Hashem, belonging to the priest.

והניף הכהן אתם... תנופה AND THE PRIEST SHALL WAVE THEM [WITH THE BREAD OF THE FIRSTLINGS] FOR A WAVE OFFERING — This teaches us that they (the offerings) require the waving whilst they are still living. One might think that all of them (the seven lambs mentioned in v. 18) have to be waved! It, however, states על שני כבשים “[and the priests shall wave them… upon the two lambs]” (cf. Menachot 62a). קדש יהיו THEY SHALL BE HOLY [TO THE LORD FOR THE PRIEST] — Because festival-offerings offered by a private person are holy only in a minor degree, Scripture was compelled to state of the festival-offerings of the community that they are holy in the highest degree.

והניף הכהן אותם, “the priest will wave them;” the two sheep for the Shavuot festival. על לחם הבכורים, “with the bread of the first fruit of the wheat harvest;” על שני כבשים, “with the two lambs.” Not literally with, but “next to,” as explained by the Talmud in tractate Menachot folio 62. קדש יהיה לה' לכהן, it will be holy to the Lord;” for the priest.” No non priest may eat any parts of them, as opposed to other types of peace offerings.

And you shall proclaim on this very day a holy convocation for yourselves; you shall perform no labor of service — an eternal statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

חקת עולם לכל מושבותיכם, even though no manner of sacrificial offering could be offered in any of the countries to which Jews were eventually exiled, the “counting” part of this legislation would not be abandoned on account of this.

וקראתם בעצם היום הזה מקרא קדש, “and you will proclaim a holy convocation on this very day.” The reason why the Torah does not spell out in which month this occurs, and on what date of this month, as it does with all the other festivals, is if it had done so, the people would not have been counting weeks and days, but would simply have contented themselves with observing the festival on its appropriate date. The counting was an important feature of these weeks as we have pointed out on verse 15. Nowadays, in the absence of the Temple, our being in exile, and having adopted (therefore?) a permanent calendar, the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover automatically occurs on the same date in the month of Sivan, the date on which the Ten Commandments (orally) were given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. In light of the fact that the counting is no longer associated with the date of Shavuot as that date was known, the benediction commencing with שהחיינו וקימנו לזמן הזה, “Who has kept us alive and well until this point in time,” is not recited.

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish off the edge of your field when you reap, and the gleanings of your harvest you shall not gather — for the poor and for the strangers you shall leave them; I am Hashem your God.

ובקצרכם AND WHEN YE REAP [THE HARVEST OF YOUR LAND, THOU SHALT NOT MAKE CLEAR RIDDANCE OF THE CORNER OF THE FIELD] — Scripture repeats the prohibition here (although it has already been mentioned above, 19:9) in order to make one who transgresses this law infringe two negative commands. R. Abdima the son of R. Joseph said: What reason had Scripture to place it (the law concerning the corner of the field) amidst those regarding the festival-sacrifices — those of Passover and Pentecost on this side of it, and those of the New Year, Day of Atonement and “the Feast” (Tabernacles) following on that side of it? To teach you that he who leaves the gleanings, the forgotten sheaf and the corner of the field to the poor as it ought to be, is regarded as though he had built the Temple and offered his sacrifices therein (cf. Sifra, Emor, Chapter 13 11). תעזב THOU SHALT LEAVE [THEM UNTO THE POOR] — leave these in front of them and they shall gather: you are not allowed to assist one of them to the injury of another poor man (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 3 5; Mishnah Peah 5:6). אני ה' אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, Who am faithful to pay you your reward.

AND WHEN YE REAP THE HARVEST OF YOUR LAND, THOU SHALT NOT WHOLLY REAP THE CORNER OF THY FIELD, NEITHER SHALT THOU GATHER THY GLEANING OF THY HARVEST: THOU SHALT LEAVE THEM FOR THE POOR. Rashi comments: “He repeats once more these prohibitions [although they have been mentioned above, 19:9] in order to make one liable for transgressing two negative commandments [in each case].” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that the reason [for the repetition] is because the Festival of Weeks is the day on which the first-fruits of wheat harvest [are brought as a meal-offering, in the form of the two leavened loaves], therefore He warned that “you should not forget what I have commanded you to do in those days.” The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the expression, And when ye reap the harvest of your Land alludes to “the harvest” mentioned at the beginning of this section, thus stating that when you will come into the Land and you reap the sheaf, the first-fruits of your harvest, thou shalt not wholly r,eap the corner of that field for the sake of the sheaf, neither shall you gather the gleaning, meaning to say that this commandment [of bringing the omer] does not override these negative commandments.

The reason for mentioning "when you reap the harvest of your land" a second time is because the festival of Shavuot is "the first-fruits of the wheat harvest" — He therefore warns, lest you forget what I commanded you to do during those days.

ובקצרכם , after giving thanks for the harvest and its successful storing of it in the barns, the Torah warns of what has to be done to ensure that the financial success which this harvest represents not be ruined. This is why the farmer is commanded to set aside, or simply not harvest, such incidentals as are referred to as לקט, שכחה, פאה, which in the words of our sages in Ketuvot 66 are viewed as מלח ממון חסר, ואמרי לה חסד. “money cannot be salted away (for safekeeping.)” Some people, in a play on words, change the word חסר for חסד, loving kindness, a kind of charity,” suggesting that the only way to ensure that one does not lose one’s own money is by engaging liberally in handing out charity to the deserving. The legislation in our verse then is this insurance for the farmer not to lose his crop even after he has already brought it into the barn. אני ה' אלוקיכם, the many faceted functions of G’d are alluded to here, i.e. that G’d’s supervision is needed at all stages of the growing of the crop,; He is the G’d of the reapers, the G’d of the collectors. G’d says that “My regulations are designed to be beneficial for you the grower, for the poor who collects the gleanings. I will deal beneficially with those who have already demonstrated their concern for others by complying with the legislation set forth here.”

ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם, "And when you reap the harvest of your land, etc." Why does the Torah introduce this kind of legislation at this juncture when it is totally out of context with the subject matter being legislated in this chapter? Perhaps the Torah wanted to inform us that the owner of a field from which the barley for the Omer sacrifice has already been taken is still subject to the variety of tithes the farmer is commanded to leave for the poor when he harvests his field. Had the Torah not written this I might have thought that inasmuch as this field had already become a sacrifice to G'd in that the Omer of barley had been offered from it on the altar it would no longer be subject to the legislation of the various donations which have to be separated from the harvest. Perhaps this is why only two of those gifts to the poor are mentioned here, i.e. פאה ולקט, the corner and the gleanings, both of which are duties which devolve on the actual field itself. This is different from the legislation of שכחה, already harvested sheaves, which the owner has forgotten to pick up. Our sages in Torat Kohanim say that the Torah alludes to the moral-ethical message that anyone who gives פאה, לקט, and שכחה is considered as if he had assured the continued existence of the Holy Temple and had offered sacrifices therein; thus far Torat Kohanim. The reason they mention the word שכחה although it does not even appear in our verse is because it is also a commandment similar to לקט ופאה. In this way they have hinted at what we have written above.

ובקוצרכם את קציר ארצכם, “when you reap the harvests of your land, etc.;” seeing that the principal period of harvesting commences around the time of Shavuot, the Torah chose to speak of this season first, when discussing special laws of benefit to the poor connected with the act of collecting the harvest. Examples are: leaving a corner of the field uncut for the poor to help themselves, and not gleaning anything the reapers had dropped by mistake. (B’chor shor)

ובקצרכם, “when you harvest, etc.” The reason the word קצר occurs twice in this verse is to teach that failure to observe the statute laid down here makes one guilty of two separate violations. Rabbi Avdimi son of Rabbi Yossi, asked: “why did the Torah see fit to mention this legislation of leaving the corner of one’s field for the poor in the middle of the paragraphs detailing the festivals so that Passover and Shavuot are before this legislation and Rosh Hashanah, Yom Hakippurim and Sukkot after it?” It is to teach that anyone who observed this legislation properly is considered as if he personally had built the Temple and offered sacrificial offerings in it. This is why the paragraph concludes with the words אני ה' אלוקיכם, “I am the Lord your G’d” (and can be depended upon to reward you for your performance of these commandments).

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, etc.” The connection of this verse to the section about the omer offering seems to be according to the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 17:5) which states that the Holy One, blessed be He, surrounded Israel with commandments in all their activities: when one goes out to plow, You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together; when one goes out to sow, You shall not sow your field with mixed seeds; when one goes out to harvest, You shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, etc. One might have thought that a field from which the omer offering has been harvested, and in which one commandment has already been fulfilled, is no longer obligated in another commandment. Therefore, the Torah teaches us, You shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, telling you that in any case, this commandment does not exempt you from [the obligations of] gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and corners. This also explains why the verse does not mention Do not gather the individual grapes of your vineyard because the omer harvest is not relevant to a vineyard, so there is no reason to exempt it. Strong evidence for our explanation is found in the Yalkut (Emor 23:10) citing the Torat Kohanim: Even after it has grown a third, one begins to harvest and is exempt from [the obligations of] gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and corners, etc. One might have thought that the entire field is exempt; therefore the Torah teaches us [that this is not the case]. Another explanation, as concluded in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16a): Rabbi Akiva said: Why did the Torah command to bring the omer offering on Passover? So that your grain in the field would be blessed. And through the two loaves [offering on Shavuot], the fruits of the trees would be blessed. And through the water libation on the festival [of Sukkot], the rains of the year would be blessed. And so that a person would not harbor a wicked thought in their heart, saying: “Since by virtue of the omer, the two loaves, and the water libation the produce of the year is blessed, why then should I give gifts to the poor so that God will bless me?” Therefore, Scripture states, When you reap [the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corner of your field, etc.]. For it is good to hold onto this and also not let go of that (Ecclesiastes 7:18), as both of these cause [blessing]. However, according to Rashi’s explanation, it is difficult to understand what connection sacrificial offerings have with gifts to the poor, although it appears there is some similarity between them, as most of the sacrifices are also eaten by the priests as a form of charity. And the Ramban explained that this is a hint that the omer harvest does not override the obligation of leaving gleanings and the corner of the field [for the poor].

ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם, “When you reap the harvest of your land, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that the reason the Torah introduces the subject of the harvest here is that the festival of Shavuot occurs right in the middle of the harvesting season, and the Israelite needs to be reminded of his duties vis a vis that festival at a time when he is so engrossed in bringing in his harvest. Nachmanides writes: the true reason, in my opinion is, that the introductory letter ו in the word ובקצרכם is a reference to the first time when the Torah commanded a mitzvah related to the harvest, when it spoke about the omer the offering of a sheaf of the early barley harvest on the second day of the Passover festival. At that time, the Torah had introduced the subject with the words כי תבואו אל הארץ...וקצרתם את קצירה in verse 10 of our chapter, implying that we must not shortchange the poor in order to fulfill the commandment of bringing that omer, by harvesting also the last corner of the field. Normally, when a positive commandment conflicts with a negative commandment and is due simultaneously, the positive commandment can override the negative commandment. In the example mentioned this is not so. (Compare verse 22)

ובקצרכם, on the day following the Passover, (16th of Nissan) after the Omer and the sheep which is part of that offering, had been offered on the altar.

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

The reason for separately mentioning "and Hashem spoke" regarding the Day of Blowing is because it is a festival unto itself: the festival of Shavuot is tied to the day of the omer-waving, whereas this one He mentions separately — as He does for the great fast [Yom Kippur] and for the festival of Sukkot.

וידבר ה' אל משה, “the Lord spoke to Moses;” The reason why this sequence has been interrupted by telling us that G-d addressed Moses separately about the days of New Year and the Day of Atonement, something He had not done when speaking about Shavuot, is because each one of those festivals is something in its own right, as distinct from Shavuot which is inextricably linked to Passover as the reaping of the beginning of the barley harvest begins on the second day of Passover and the counting of the seven weeks links Passover to Shavuot.

Speak with the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a rest for you, a memorial proclaimed with blasts, a holy convocation.

זכרון תרועה [THERE SHALL BE UNTO YOU] A זכרון OF SOUNDING THE CORNET — a mention (זכרון) of Biblical verses which speak of the Divine remembrance and Biblical verses which have reference to the blowing of the Shofar (a ram’s horn) on the occasion of important historical events (Sifra; Rosh Hashanah 32a) that I may recall to memory (זכרון) for you the offering (lit., the “Binding”) of Isaac in whose stead a ram was offered (cf. Rosh Hashanah 16a) having been caught by its horn (שופר).

IT SHALL BE UNTO YOU ‘SHABBATHON’ (A SOLEMN REST). This means that it is to be a day of rest, to repose thereon [from work]. And our Rabbis have said: “The word shabbathon (a solemn rest) amounts to a positive commandment.” Thus one who does work on a festival day transgresses both a negative commandment and a positive commandment, and one who rests thereon fulfills a positive commandment. And in their opinion [that of the Rabbis], all the festivals have been likened one to another, for the word shabbathon is not mentioned in connection with the Festival of Unleavened Bread, nor in connection with the Festival of Weeks. Now in the Mechilta on the section of Hachodesh I have seen the following text: “And ye shall observe this day. Why is this said? Has it not already been stated, no manner of work shall be done in them? From this I would know only about matters which are considered m’lachah [‘work’ on the Sabbath, and thus forbidden by the Torah]. How do I know about activities which are termed sh’vuth [as explained later on]? From the verse which states, and ye shall observe this day, which includes those activities which are termed sh’vuth. I might then think that on the intermediate days of the festival those activities known as sh’vuth are likewise forbidden, and the following reasoning would favor it etc; Scripture therefore states [with reference to the Festival of Tabernacles], On the first day shall be a solemn rest” [but not on the following intermediate days of the festival].Thus the Sages interpreted the word shabbathon as indicating a complete rest on that day, desisting even from those activities which are not of the chief labors or their derivatives. But this interpretation is not clear to me. For if you say that this Mechilta is a mere Scriptural support for a Rabbinic ordinance, what reason is there for the Rabbis to use this language [i.e., “How do I know about activities which are termed sh’vuth?” when instead they should have said, “How do I know about activities which are not regarded as m’lachah?”], for the term sh’vuth in the language of the Sages is always used with reference to activities forbidden by the Rabbis; and so how is it possible to say, “How do I know that activities which are forbidden on account of sh’vuth instituted by the Rabbis, are forbidden on the basis of a verse [in Scripture]!” The way in which such [Beraithoth make use of] Scriptural texts as a support for Rabbinical enactments, is by teaching [an interpretation in a verse] showing that they [such Rabbinical enactments] are based on the Torah, but they never say, “That activity which is forbidden by the Sages, from what verse in the Torah do we derive it?” Instead, this [Beraitha of the Mechilta] should have stated, “Activities which are not in the category of m’lachah (‘work’), whence do we know that they are forbidden? From the word shabbathon!”It appears to me that this interpretation intends to state that we are commanded by law of the Torah to h...

"In the seventh month" — because the counting begins from Nisan, for in it we went out of Egypt, and also because the barley ripens first, then the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, then "when you gather in the produce of the field" — and all these festivals are tied to their designated days. Now, since Scripture already said to sound the trumpets every month, the "remembrance of blowing" and the "day of blowing" are a commandment to sound the shofar — as is also done on Yom Kippur. Let me hint to you some secrets; attend carefully and perhaps you will understand them. The transmitters [of tradition] said that Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment, and the meaning of the blowing is a proclamation of the sovereignty of Hashem. Since the fundamental principle is that every new month is a Rosh Chodesh, Rosh Chodesh Nisan is preeminent — for in it the Tabernacle was erected — and in the future Ezekiel said: "in the first month, on the first of the month" (Ezek. 45:18), and likewise one does [certain things] on the seventh, on account of the square [cycle]. The fifteenth is opposite [the seventh], and the seventh day too is a square; and the first and second Passover alternate between the great and the small. Therefore Rosh Hashanah is greater than all of them — even though it is a Day of Judgment, it is forbidden to fast on it, and Ezra proves this. On Yom Kippur the lesser luminary [the moon] is in conjunction. Sukkot is like the festival of Passover, except that [Sukkot has] a Shemini [eighth day] and no seventh [independent day]. From this the secret will become clear to you — and also the secret of the Sabbath.

זכרון תרועה, a remembrance of the Royal t’ruah. When jubilating toward one’s king, one employs these blasts on the trumpets or shofars to demonstrate such regard for one’s king. Compare Psalms 81,2 הרניני לאלוקים עוזנו, הרנינו!, “stir up jubilation to G’d, our strength, raise a shout!” The expression זכרון, is an allusion to the fact that on this date G’d sits on the throne of Justice remembering the deeds of each one of His subjects and evaluating them as a judge. This is why the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 8 calls on us to recite verse 4 in the above mentioned chapter of Psalms which reads תקעו בחודש שפר בכסא ליום חגנו, כי חוק לישראל הוא משפט לאלוקי יעקב, “blow the horn on the new moon on the day the moon is veiled, on our feast day, for it is a statute for Israel a ruling of the G’d of Yaakov.” On such days we have additional reason to rejoice in the fact that He is our King, who inclines toward leniency, and is likely to find us as possessing sufficient merit to pass this examination of the way we led our lives in the year just concluded. Isaiah expresses these sentiments in referring to G’d as כי ה' שופטנו, ה' מחוקקנו, ה' מלכנו, “for the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King” (Isaiah 33,22)

באחד לחדש השביעי, “on the first day of the seventh month, etc.” you observe a festival, שבתון on the first day of that month and it occurs on a Sabbath, you are to observe a symbolic act as the substitute for blowing the shofar, called here זכרון תרועה, in accordance with the rules established by our sages. On account of this absence of blowing the shofar on the Sabbath, the sages added the extra words יום זכרון תרועה, in the relevant portions of the principal prayer known as עמידה, the prayer to be recited while standing. In the portion known as Pinchas, where all the sacrifices offered especially on the festivals are listed in detail, the word: זכרון, “in memory of,” is missing, the Torah describing that day only as יום תרועה, “the day on which the t’ruah sound of the shofar is to be blown. (Numbers 29,1) In other words, in regular years when that date does not occur on a Sabbath, the shofar is to be blown. The day is referred to in our relevant prayers as yom hazikaron, a day of remembrance, the means of that remembrance, the shofar not being stated. The purpose of the blowing of the shofar in all parts of the world, regardless of whether we are in exile, is to bring ourselves to favourable consideration by the Creator, Who, on that day decides which of us are going to survive the year about to commence. Moses was instructed about such a concept already when told to make two trumpets for himself in Numbers 10,9.

זכרון תרועה, “a remembrance with the blast of the Teruah.” On that day we are to recite verses which mention the blowing of the shofar and verses in which G’d is mentioned as remembering Israel. We are to remind the Lord of Yitzchak who was prepared to give his life for Him and in whose place the ram which had got entangled by his horns was offered up instead (Genesis 22,13). The Torah here does not mention whether this remembrance is to occur by means of the blast of the Teruah sound with the trumpet or with the shofar; besides we do not understand the significance of that sound in this connection. Moreover, the Torah does not reveal at this point that the date mentioned, i.e. the first day of the seventh month, is the Day of Judgment. All the Torah reveals here is that there is a work-prohibition similar to that of the Sabbath on that day, that it is a holy convocation. Clearly, the details of this legislation have been revealed only orally, Moses telling our sages. They have a tradition that the Teruah´s sound which the Torah speaks of is to be emitted by a shofar. The linkage to the written Torah is established via the Teruah sound blown by a shofar which is mentioned in connection with the Jubilee year (compare Rosh Hashanah 34). The fact that this is the date of the Day of Judgment is alluded to by the word זכרון, i.e. the day when G’d remembers all of man’s deeds of the previous year. The word זכרון occurs in connection with judgment also elsewhere. One such example is Numbers 5,15 מזכרת עון, “a remembrance of guilt. Another example is found in Ezekiel 21,28: והוא מזכיר עון להתפש, “and it shall serve to recall their guilt.” The word פקד also means “to remember,” and occurs in connection with sin being remembered such as in Exodus 20,5 פוקד עון אבות, “who recalls the guilt of the parents, etc.;” our sages in Rosh Hashanah 32 state explicitly that פקדונות הרי הן כזכרונות, the former word means the same as the latter word זכרונות. In other words, there are adequate hints in our verse that the day mentioned is the Day of Judgment. On that day it is appropriate for us to listen to the sound of the teruah blown on the shofar as stipulated by our sages. The reason that the wording of this paragraph is more enigmatic than any other paragraph dealing with the festivals is that it deals with fundamental aspects of our religion. You will find that the more mystical the subject matter the Torah deals with the more enigmatic does the written Torah verbalise this. Take as an example the commandment to put on phylacteries. The only few words that we find about this in the written Torah is the verse in Exodus 13,16 והיו לאות על ידיך ולטוטפות בין עיניך “they (the phylacteries) shall be as a sign on your hand and as a symbol on your forehead.” Were it not for our oral tradition we would not have the faintest idea what these phylacteries should be made of, what they should contain, what colour they should be, etc., etc. We would not even be sure what parts of the body exactly these phylacteries should be worn on. We have a similar problem with the commandment of ציצית, the fringes to be worn at the corners of four-cornered garments. The written Torah is very sparse with its information although our sages describe the commandment as equal in weight to all the other commandments combined (Menachot 43). Without the oral tradition we would not have known that each fringe is to consist of eight twisted threads, and that there were to be five knots on each of the eight threads. So here too, the first of the ten days which is to conclude with the Day of Atonement on the tenth of that month. There are numerous hidden aspects which have not been spelled out in the written text. One of the mystical aspects of the legislation is that nowhere does the Torah spell out matters relevant directly to the soul. The very fact that such a world of souls exists is only hinted at, never mentioned explicitly. The reason is simple. The written Torah was given to the multitude of the people, women and children alike. It was to be the property of all of them equally. It certainly would not have been appropriate for G’d to write in it matters which many people could not understand. The people as a whole do not have a clear understanding of the world of abstract beings such as souls. Even many individuals who have engaged in the study of the Torah experience great difficulty in understanding such concepts. We may compare this to the inability of a fish whose habitat is water to have an appreciation of the conditions of life prevailing on dry land. A fish familiar only with water, the element it is at home in, has no understanding of the element of fire, the very opposite of the element which it knows. Similarly, the world of the souls, the world in which there are only disembodied creatures are not within the range of what people who live in a physical universe can understand. As long as man is composed both of matter and an abstract soul which is attached to his body, he cannot have a clear understanding of the goings on in that other world. This is why the written Torah had to explain objectives to be attained by human beings so that they could be perceived with the physical eye in order to prepare man for an intellectual transition to a world he had not experienced with his five senses, a world which nevertheless represents the target, i.e. ultimate home for which man is destined. A Midrashic approach based on Vayikra Rabbah 29,7 understands the verse in terms of the patriarchs, suggesting that G’d is telling us that if we want to be found deserving when examined by G’d, our relationship to our patriarchs is the key. The words באחד לחודש is reminiscent of Avraham who was one of a kind as we know from Ezekiel 33,24 אחד היה אברהם, “Avraham was only one man.” The words זכרון תרועה are a reference to Yitzchak, whereas the words מקרא קודש, “a holy convocation,” are a reference to Yaakov. What the Midrash means is that the shofar blasts of Rosh Hashanah, i.e. the blasts of the teruah, are an allusion to certain attributes. Just as the attribute of fear pervading the celestial regions is surrounded by the attribute of Mercy, so our teruah sounds which are fear-inspiring are preceded and followed by the sounds known as tekiah, to parallel what occurs in heaven. Were this not so the earth would collapse completely as soon as G’d would commence sitting in judgment of mankind. If we would only blow the תרועה sounds this would be heresy of the first order, [i.e. as if we denied the presence of the attribute of Mercy. Ed.] Keeping this in mind we can understand that what is written here means that the Day of Judgment is the Day of the Teruah which is surrounded by the attribute of Mercy, called here זכרון. Having understood this it follows that the meaning of the words זכרון תרועה is equivalent to שופר תרועה and יום תרועה. (Compare 25,9 and Numbers 29,1 respectively).

A Sabbath, a memorial of blowing [of the shofar]. The Sages said (Rosh Hashanah 29b): It is written (Numbers 29:1) A day of blowing [the shofar] it shall be for you, and it is [also] written a memorial of blowing. This [latter phrase applies] when [Rosh Hashanah] falls on the Sabbath, while the former [applies when it falls] on a weekday. Therefore, it says a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing. This distinction between Sabbath and weekday specifically applies in the provinces [outside the Temple], but not in the Temple. Evidence for this is from the verse in Parashat Pinchas: A day of blowing it shall be for you. And you shall make a burnt offering, etc. This implies that it is speaking about a place where sacrifices are offered, which is the Temple, where Sabbath [prohibitions] are set aside for the sacrifices, and so they are also set aside for the shofar. But here it says a memorial of blowing, a holy convocation, you shall do no laborious work, and you shall offer [a fire offering to the Lord]. Since it separates the statement and you shall offer and connects the phrase memorial of blowing with the prohibition against work, this implies that it is speaking about the provinces, where only the prohibition of work applies and there is no sacrifice. We can also say further that there is a distinction between you shall make [ועשיתם] and you shall offer [והקרבתם, literally bring close]. For making means actually doing [the sacrifices] physically, which happens in the Temple. But bringing close can also refer to the remembrance of the sacrifices in prayer, through which Israel draws near to God, and this applies in the provinces.

יהיה לכם שבתון, “shall be a day of rest for you.” Nachmanides writes that this formula suggests that Rosh Hashanah is to be a day of rest for you in that you do not even perform some of the tasks that you do normally perform on the other festivals. For instance, if you were inclined to measure the size of the harvest you had brought in, not one of the 39 forbidden activities, you should not do this on Rosh Hashanah. Neither should you weigh fruit, etc. Avoidable physically tiring labour, should not be engaged in on that day. זכרון תרועה, “a remembrance including shofar-blasts. According to Rashi this is an allusion to the Biblical verse dealing with or mentioning this subject that are to be recited on that day. [We recite 10 each in the Mussaph service. Ed.] Among the things we bring to Hashem’s attention on that day is the selfless submission by Yitzchok on the altar on which his father was prepared to sacrifice him. Nachmanides writes that the comments by Rashi on that word are only to be understood as secondary meanings superimposed by our sages, the real meaning of the word זכרון תרועה being like the meaning of the words יום תרועה, i.e. that on that day we are to blow blasts of the shofar which in turn will bring our devotion to Hashem and our making a חשבון הנפש, a serious examination of our lifestyle our concern to His attention, an activity including remorse which will continue until the tenth of the month. G’d promised also in connection with our trumpeting blasts on the חצוצרות, Moses’ trumpets that He would take note of this, that it would serve for Him as a “reminder” and He would come to our assistance when the need arises. (Compare Numbers 10,10 et al) Seeing that on that occasion the reason was that we celebrated a day of rejoicing whereas here nothing is mentioned of the blowing of the shofar being the result of a particular expression of certain collective emotions, it is clear that the shofar blasts here are not spontaneous expressions of joy, etc., but are a duty the Torah imposes on us in connection with New Year’s Day, the Day of Judgment. Whenever the Torah mentions תרועה without going into details, the reference is to a shofar, not to the trumpets. Although the Torah does not mention why on this day it is more important that we bring ourselves to Hashem’s attention than on the other days of the year, the proximity of that day to the Day of Atonement 10 days later speaks for itself. The Torah also did not elaborate on why that day has been designated as a holy convocation. Seeing that it occurs in the month that it does and the day is the day on which traditionally first man was created, it is most plausible to accept the sages’ estimation that this is the day on which the Creator sits in judgment of man, His most precious creature. The prophets provide us with a number of allusions that on this day G’d assumes the mantle of supreme Judge, i.e. “dresses:” up in garments of Royalty, the garments worn by a judge. After Rosh Hashanah, during the days of penitence, the “King” will concern Himself with forgiving, or at least reducing the level of guilt of His subjects, those who truly repent their errors.

זכרון תרועה, you will be remembered by G’d as a result of your blowing the t’ruah from the shofar. This is spelled out more clearly in Numbers 10,9 והרעותם בחצוצרות...ונזכרתם...וגו', “when you will blow the sound of the t’ruah…. You will be remembered… etc.

You shall perform no labor of service, and you shall bring an offering before Hashem.

אשה והקרבתם AND YE SHALL OFFER A FIRE OFFERING — i. e. the additional offerings prescribed in the Book of Numbers (29:2 ff.).

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

However, on the tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall afflict yourselves, and you shall bring an offering before Hashem.

אך — The words אך and רק wherever they occur in Scripture have a limitative force; here the word implies: it (Yom Kippur) makes expiation for those who repent, but it does not make expiation for those who do not repent (אך... יום הכפורים הוא — in a limitative sense it is Yom Kippur) (Shevuot 13a; cf. Rashi on Exodus 34:7).

ACH’ (BUT) ON THE TENTH DAY OF THIS SEVENTH MONTH IS THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. “All expressions in the Torah of ach (but) and rak (only) indicate limiting qualifications, [and here the word ach indicates that the Day of Atonement] effects atonement ‘only’ for those who repent, but it does not effect atonement for those who do not repent.” This is Rashi’s language on the basis of the words of our Rabbis. And if so, the explanation of the verse is that on the first day of this month [Tishri] there will be for all of you a day of memorial of ‘t’ruah [a blowing of the quavering sound which signifies judgment], for you will all be judged then before Him, but for some of you [i.e., those who repent] there will be on the tenth day of this month a day of atonement. Thus the meaning of the word ach is like that of bilvad (“only,” “alone”). Similarly, Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my son ‘ach’ (only) this once. So also, ‘harak ach b’Moshe’ means “has He indeed spoken ‘only’ with Moses?” Likewise, ‘Ach’ on the fifteenth day of the seventh month means “only on the fifteenth day [of Tishri] ye shall keep the feast of the Eternal seven days, not consecutively,” for the Festival-offering [brought by the individual] does not override the Sabbath [and therefore it cannot mean seven days consecutively]. In the same way you are to explain [the word ach] in all the commandments, in accordance with the tradition of our Rabbis. Similarly, ‘ach’ he is torn in pieces means [that Jacob said] that nothing else [could have happened to Joseph] except that he was torn in pieces. So also, For the children of Israel and the children of Judah ‘ach’ have done that which was evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have ‘ach’ provoked Me, means that they have done nothing else. But by way of the plain meaning of Scripture the word ach means achein (“surely”), [a word which is used] to authenticate something, [as in the following expressions]: ‘achein’ (surely) the thing is known; ‘achein’ (surely) ye shall die like men. And here it means, “Surely on the tenth day of the seventh month is the day of atonement,” the expression constituting a [Divine] assurance on the authenticity of the matter, Scripture stating: “On the first day of the month is the day of judgment, but indeed on the tenth of the month is the day of atonement, therefore you shall afflict your souls, and you shall do no manner of work.” Similarly, ‘ach’ (surely) thou art my bone and my flesh; ‘ach’ (surely) it is the king of Israel; ‘ach’ (surely) G-d is good to Israel, even to such as are pure in heart. So also is the meaning of the verse, ‘ach’ ye shall keep My Sabbaths which declares: “Now I have commanded you concerning the work of the Tabernacle, but surely My Sabbaths you shall keep forever.” So also in all cases [where the word ach is mentioned] it may be explained to you in this way, if you will understand them.

The reason for the word "however" [ach] before "on the tenth" is because the day of sacred assembly is a day of joy, as is written in the book of Ezra: "Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet beverages" (Neh. 8:10). And "you shall afflict" — I have already explained this.

אך בעשור לחודש השביעי, even though on all the other days described in this chapter as מקראי קודש it is proper to express our joy on these days by means of food and drink, as we know from Nechemyah 8,10 where Ezra asks the people on New Year’s day אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים, “eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks,” the tenth of this month the day known as Yom Hakippurim, Day of Atonement, is a day devoted to confession of our sins and a day when a person comes to grips with the sins he has been guilty of. On this day it is not in order to preoccupy oneself with anything other than the quest to obtain G’d’s forgiveness and to achieve expiation of one’s sins. Instead of eating and drinking, the order of the day has been best expressed by Isaiah 58,3 הן ביום צומכם תמצאו חפץ וכל עצביכם תנגושו, “because on your fast day you see to your business and you oppress your labourers!” [the prophet sarcastically chastises the people who, while technically fasting, expect G’d to listen to their requests while they continue in their wicked ways, going only through the motions in their religious observance. Ed.]

יום הבפורים הוא מקרא קדש, "it is a Day of Atonement, a holy convocation." The reason the Torah writes the word הוא is to tell us that this day is in a class by itself, the date alone making it a Day of Atonement independent of any pronouncement. As a result one qualifies for reward by observing the second half of the verse, i.e. proclaiming it holy and afflicting oneself through abstention from food and drink, etc. This is an additional bonus apart from the atonement we are granted simply by being alive on that day.

אך בעשור לחודש, “however on the tenth of that month, etc.” whenever the Torah uses the word: אך, it is meant to exclude something. All of the other festivals have been called: מקראי קודש, “holy convocations;” this implies that on these days we would celebrate also by eating more and better food, drink some wine, etc.; and generally enjoy pleasurable experiences. This day has been called מקרא קודש, the last letter being missing. The Day of Atonement is an exception to all this. Instead of a day of enjoyment, we are to deliberately cause ourselves discomfort, i.e. ועניתם את נפשותיכם. Prior to the giving of the first set of Tablets which Moses had smashed, the Torah had written that the elite of the people when accompanying Moses before he ascended the Mountain to receive them, had “seen” G-d, had eaten and drunk,” (Exodus 24,11). It was stated there that G-d had not punished them for this on that occasion, a clear indication that they had deserved to be punished. As a consequence, when they made a golden calf and treated it as a deity and danced around it and ate and drank, the result was that at least some ended up treating that calf as a deity by prostrating themselves in front of it. (Exodus 32,6) As part of the atonement, a process completed on the 10th of Tishrey when Moses brought them the second set of Tablets, eating and drinking was absolutely prohibited on that day.

אך בעשור לחודש הזה, “However, on the tenth of this month, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text G’d says that whereas on the first day of the month, the Day of Judgment each one of you passes in front of Me like a flock of sheep, the tenth day of this month is the Day of Atonement, the day on which the decree penciled in on the Day of Judgment will be signed and sealed. A Midrashic approach based on Sifra Emor 14,12: whenever the Torah writes the words אך or רק, these words are meant to exclude something otherwise included. In this instance the meaning is that the ability of the Day of Atonement to forgive our sins is dependent on our sincere repentance. People who do not repent their sins do not have them forgiven in spite of having lived to this date and beyond it. The first of the month which is a Day of Judgment is applicable both to repentant sinners and those who do not repent. However, i.e. אך, the Day of Atonement and its benefits apply only to those who have repented.

However on the tenth day of the month etc., it is the Day of Atonement. All instances of “however [ach]” and “but [rak]” [in Scripture] are exclusionary terms. Since it states below, You shall afflict yourselves on the ninth day of the month at evening, and our Sages of blessed memory said (Berakhot 8b): “But do we fast on the ninth? Do we not fast on the tenth? Rather, this teaches that whoever eats and drinks on the ninth, Scripture considers it as if he fasted on both the ninth and the tenth.”So that you would not err and say: “Since the ninth day is also considered as if one fasted on it, perhaps it also atones like the tenth day,” the verse states: But on the tenth day of the month, etc. — telling you that only the tenth atones, not the ninth. This explanation is clearer than Rashi’s interpretation, who explained that it atones for those who repent, but does not atone for those who do not repent (see Shevuot 13a). I wish I knew how to understand how the word “ach” excludes those who do not repent, since the word “ach” refers to the tenth day and its meaning excludes the preceding days. To reconcile Rashi’s interpretation, I say that since it states However on the tenth, which comes to exclude the preceding days, we can deduce that the days before Yom Kippur are also called days of repentance. Otherwise, why would we think the preceding days would provide atonement, necessitating their exclusion? Rather, certainly the 10 preceding days are the 10 Days of Repentance, and one might think that the days of repentance atone immediately for all transgressions. Therefore, the verse teaches that there are transgressions for which repentance [only] suspends [punishment] and Yom Kippur atones, as it says: For on this day He will atone for you to cleanse you from all your sins (Leviticus 16:30). Even though they said in the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 30:7) that on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives one-third [of sins], and during the 10 Days of Repentance another third, but on Yom Kippur He forgives everything — therefore it says from all your sins. From this, you learn that Yom Kippur only atones for those who repent, because otherwise, why would we think they would receive atonement, requiring their exclusion? And even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah that the preceding days are days of repentance, nevertheless, the shofar of Rosh Hashanah serves as a warning for people to repent during the intervening days, as it is written: If a shofar is blown in a city, will the people not tremble? (Amos 3:6).

אך בעשור, “However, on the tenth, etc.” Rashi draws attention to the saying of our sages that every time the word אך or רק appears in the Torah it introduces the limitation, diminution, of some general principle mentioned previously. Nachmanides writes, that if this is so, the meaning of our verse must be that whereas on the first of that month the entire people observed a day of teruah, blowing the shofar, seeing that all of them came up for judgment on that day, by the tenth of that month only a small portion of the people still needed to ensure that their judgment too would be favourable. This day would complete the process of atonement. The meaning of the word אך in our verse then would be the same as בלבד, “excepting,” referring to something not included in the previously enunciated rule. Just as in Exodus 31,13, basically, the rule was that the construction of the Tabernacle does not override the prohibitions of performing work on the Sabbath, it exempted performance of circumcision if the eight’s day of the baby occurred on the Sabbath. The circumcision is not postponed. The meaning of the word אך in our verse is similar to when Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to pray for G’d to forgive him his sin one more time, He used the words: אך הפעם"” (compare Exodus 10,17) When we encounter the word אך again in verse 39, i.e. אך בחמשה עשר יום לחודש השביעי באספכם את תבואת הארץ תחוגו וגו', “only on the fifteenth of the seventh month when you gather in the yield of the earth, you are to celebrate, etc.”, the message is also that even though that date may occur on the Sabbath, this does not cause the first day of the Sukkot festival to be postponed. According to the plain meaning of the text, the word אך is to be understood as similar to “but in truth,” similar to the word אכן. That word appears in such a context in Genesis 28,16 when Yaakov becomes aware that G’d’s presence is manifest at the location where he had the dream of the ladder. It appears again in such a context when Moses had killed the Egyptian thinking that there had not been any witnesses, and on the morrow he found out that he had erred. (Exodus 2,14) In our verse the meaning of the word אך then is that on the tenth of the seventh month is Yom Hakippurim, on no other day. Ibn Ezra, understands the word אך here as meaning that in spite of the extremely serious nature of that day, seeing that it too has been described as a מקרא קודש, just like all the festivals, it too is a day on which (the latter part) we are to express our joy at feeling that we have been forgiven.

'אך בעשור וגו, on the other festival days preparation of food had been permitted and only מלאכת עבודה had been forbidden. Not so on Yom Kippur, a day of self denial when all manner of work is prohibited just as on the Sabbath והקרבתם אשה, as already mentioned in chapter 16 and again in Numbers 29,8-11.

אך בעשור לחודש, “but on the tenth of the month, etc.;” why do we need the word: “אך?” Seeing that all the other festival days are known as מקרא קודש, “holy convocation,” i.e. days for eating drinking and general enjoyment, whereas this is a day on which all these things are forbidden, the word אך introduces Yom Kippur as a contrast by letting us know that it is no less of a festival, מועד, although the emphasis is the atonement that is granted to the entire nation on that day. It is still called מקרא קודש on account of the day being honoured by the sacrifices being offered and by the abstaining from the normal weekday activities. On that day, we subject ourselves to afflictions and at the end of the day we all feel even better than at the end of any of the other days called מקרא קודש.

And you shall perform no work on this very day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to atone on your behalf before Hashem your God.

B’ETZEM’ OF THIS DAY. The commentators have said that the meaning of this phrase is “in this selfsame day.” Similarly, and ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears until ‘etzem’ this day means “until this selfsame day.” So also, ‘uch’etzem’ the heaven for clearness means “the very” heaven. But we cannot interpret that the word b’etzem here alludes to the essence and power of this day [which is at daytime], just as our Rabbis have said with reference to the verses: ‘b’etzem’ of this day entered Noah … into the ark [which the Rabbis interpreted to mean that because the neighbors threatened to kill him and destroy the ark should they see him entering it, therefore G-d told him to enter it ‘b’etzem’ of this day — in broad daylight]; ‘b’etzem’ of this day the Eternal did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt [which the Rabbis similarly interpreted “in broad daylight,” because of the previous threats of the Egyptians not to let them go — such an interpretation we cannot assume here], for it is written, and ye shall afflict your souls, in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even. Similarly, And ye shall make proclamation ‘b’etzem’ of this day a holy assembly [stated with reference to the Festival of Weeks] includes the night as well. Now He did not mention this phrase ‘b’etzem’ of this day with reference to the Sabbath nor the festivals, except for the Festival of Weeks and the Day of Atonement, and so also in the prohibition of chadash (the new produce) He said until ‘etzem’ of this day. The reason for this appears to be that since He had said of the Festival of Weeks, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving … ye shall number fifty days, and then He stated, and ye shall present a new meal-offering … Ye shall bring out of your dwellings, etc., and dealt at length with the commandments of the offerings [in Verses 17-20], therefore it was necessary to state, And ye shall make proclamation ‘b’etzem’ of this day a solemn assembly; meaning that the very day is holy and the doing of work is forbidden on it, and it is not dependent upon the sheaf [of the waving brought on the second day of Passover], nor on the offerings. Similarly in the case of the Day of Atonement, since He had said, and ye shall afflict your souls, and ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the Eternal, and in the section of Acharei Moth He made the [complete] expiation dependent upon the offerings and on the goat sent [to Azazel], therefore it was necessary to state here, And ye shall do no manner of work on that very day, for it is a day of atonement in itself to make atonement for you, besides the expiation effected by the offerings. Similarly, until ‘etzem’ of this day said in connection with the new produce [means that the prohibition of eating from the new produce continues] up to that very day, which is the day ye have brought the offering of your G-d, thus stating that even if the [meal-] offering [of the new ...

"To atone for you" — the meaning is that Yom Kippur effects atonement for you alone.

seeing that most of the people guilty of not practicing self denial do not do so to annoy G’d, but because they cannot resist the allure of the gratification beckoning to them, whereas most of the people violating the commandment not to work on the day do so because they want to indicate their independence of G’d’s dictates, the penalty of karet is in store for eating or drinking on the day of Atonement, whereas destruction of one’s soul is in store for people deliberately violating the work prohibition applicable on this day.

וכל מלאכה לא תעשו, "and you must not perform any work." The unusual way the Torah explains the reason for the work prohibition may be understood in light of something we have been taught in Sotah 40. The Talmud there states that the congregation is not to recite verses from scripture while the priests are pronouncing the blessing, as it would be equivalent to a slave receiving a blessing from his master while not even bothering to listen. We may understand the legislation here in a similar manner. Seeing that the Day of Atonement itself confers a blessing, i.e. forgiveness, it would be most inappropriate to observe "business as usual" on such a day. It is more appropriate to spend one's time contemplating the grandeur of the Lord of the universe who has set aside a day on which His creatures are rehabilitated.

וכל מלאכה לא תעשו, “and you must not perform any manner of constructive work on that day.” This day is equal to an ordinary Sabbath, when all manner of constructive work is also prohibited. Careful examination of the text will show that on all other festivals the work prohibition is termed מלאכת עבודה, i.e. the kind of work reflecting our dependence on physical, demeaning labour, in order to earn our livelihood. On those days we are allowed to perform most of the kind of work necessary to prepare our food. (verse 7 here and Exodus 12,16). The penalty for violating the work prohibition on the Day of Atonement is spelled out in verse 30, והאבדתי את הנפש ההיא מקרב עמה, “I will destroy that soul from membership among its people.”

וכל מלאכה לא תעשו בעצם היום הזה כי יום כפורים הוא, “and you must not perform any work on this day for it is a Day of Atonement.” The reason the Torah speaks of atonement and of עצם היום “the essence of this day,” is that without these words we could have thought that when no Temple is standing and the sacrifices appropriate for that day cannot be offered that we also forfeit its benefits, i.e. forgiveness. Therefore the Torah added these words to reassure us.

כי יום כפורים הוא לכפר עליכם, “for it is the Day of Atonement to provide atonement for you, etc.” The instruments that lead to your receiving atonement are the afflictions you have submitted to, the abstaining from pursuing any of your normal and considered important activities. It is important to realise that the absence of the requisite offerings in no way impedes the process of your being forgiven for your sins.

For any person who does not afflict himself on this very day shall be cut off from his people.

"For every person who is not afflicted" — this is in the passive binyan [grammatical construction], whose agent is not named. This is a sign that if we know of someone who is not observing this commandment as we observe it, we compel him to fast. The reason for the prohibition against performing labor: so that souls not be occupied with anything other than seeking atonement for their sins.

כי כל הנפש אשר לא תעונה, “for every person (soul) that does not afflict itself;” we have heard the warning previously; now we hear the penalty for disobedience, what is it? ונכרתה, “it will be cut off from the future of its people.” (Sifra)

בעצם היום הזה, “on this very day.” Nachmanides writes that the commentators generally understand the word בעצם as meaning “the substance of this day.” It would have that same meaning in verse 14 of our chapter ולחם וקלי וכרמל לא תאכלו עד עצם היום הזה, “you must not eat either bread, parched kernels or roasted kernels (from the new harvest) until this very day.” The word עצם does not appear in connection with the Sabbath day, or in connection with any of the festivals. It is only featured in connection with the festival of Shavuot and the Day of Atonement. The reason may be that just as the prohibition of eating from the new barley crop before the omer offering had been presented on the day itself, not the previous evening, it is parallel to the count which is to conclude 50 days after the time when the omer offering has been presented, when the new wheat harvest may be used for an offering. We might have thought that the various commandments attached to either the Day of Atonement or the festival of Shavuot are inextricably linked to the offering of the sacrifices the Torah tells us to offer on those days. By adding the rider בעצם היום הזה, the Torah teaches that each commandment in connection with these special days is standing on its own and has to be observed because of the date on which this day occurs, not because some other auxiliary commandments connected with these days. The word בעצם היום also implies that the night of the day in question is included in the special regulations pertaining to this day, unless of course, specifically excluded. Nachmanides adds that the word עצם is closely related to expressions denoting strength, toughness, etc., as in כחי ועוצם ידי, “my own power and the strength of my hand, [as opposed to G’d’s] Deut. 8,17). Another example is עוז ותעצומות לעם, Psalms Seeing that what supports the body is a certain toughness of character, attitude, etc., the Torah uses the expression עצם היום as in the “skeleton” of the day, the essence of it, when the occasion warrants it.

And any person who performs any work on this very day — I will cause that person to perish from the midst of his people.

והאבדתי I WILL DESTROY — This expression “destroying” is employed here because Scripture uses everywhere in similar cases the term כרת, “cutting off” without clearly defining it, so that I do not know exactly what it implies; but when it states here והאבדתי, it teaches in respect of the term כרת that it implies nothing else than becoming lost” (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 14 4).

"And I will destroy" — there is a difference between this and "and it shall be cut off," but I am unable to explain it.

You shall perform no work whatsoever; it is an eternal statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

'כל מלאכה וגו [YE SHALL NOT DO] ANY WORK — This is repeated (cf v. 30) in order to make one who does work on Yom Kippur transgress several negative commands. Or, it is repeated, in order to prohibit working in the night of Yom Kippur, just as well as working during the day itself (Yoma 81a).

The reason for repeating "you shall do no work" is to add the phrase "a statute forever throughout your generations."

בכל מושבותיכם, even though nowadays there is no way of obtaining atonement by means of the altar which is part of commandments applicable to this day.

כל מלאכה לא תעשו, “you must not perform any activity defined as m’lachah; the Torah has repeated this on account of what follows, i.e. חוקת עולם לדורותיכם, “a permanent statute throughout your generations.”

It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth of the month, in the evening — from evening to evening you shall observe your rest.

"You shall rest your rest" — this day [Yom Kippur] is not called "the Sabbath of Israel" but rather "the Sabbath of Hashem."

שבת שבתון הוא, “it is written (spelled) as is and read as is, as I explained on Leviticus 16,31. [The word שבת is generally in the feminine mode and we would have expected the pronoun referring to it as being spelled in accordance with that, i.e. היא. Compare how it is treated in the commentaries and in the Talmud. Ed.] ועניתם את נפשותיכם התשעה לחדש בערב, “you are to afflict yourselves on the ninth of the month in the evening;” our sages query how it is that we have to afflict ourselves on the day before the Day of Atonement, when the date set by the Torah for that day it the tenth? They conclude that what is meant here is that by eating and drinking on the day prior to the Day of Atonement we can fulfill the “festive” aspect of that day, which is after all part of the list of festivals. (Talmud Rosh Hashana, folio 9) they go as far as to state that treating the ninth day of that month as a festival, is equivalent having afflicted oneself with total abstention from food and drink on the tent of that month. On the other hand, when the Torah demands of us to eat matzot in the evening of the 14th15th of Nissan, Exodus 12,18) we cannot interpret that line in a similar manner, as in our verse the eating of food on the ninth day is linked to afflicting oneself, something that is not so in connection with Passover. בתשעה לחדש בערב, it is clear from the cantillation marks, i.e. the strongly dividing mark etnachta on the previous word: לנפשותיכם, makes it clear that the word בתשעה introduces a new subject, nothing to do with the words ועניתם את נפשותיכם. It clearly refers to the evening following part of the shabbat which lasts until the evening following. מערב עד ערב, “from this verse we have proof that the day follows the night. תשבתו, “you will observe spiritual rest; the entire period is part of the Day of Atonement, which is a festival so that you have to add a little time extra at its beginning and at its official ending. שבתכם, “your Sabbaths.” This day has been given to the people of Israel as a Sabbath and as a holy convocation. It says: 'שבת לה, “as a Sabbath for the Lord,” and it also said: “a special Sabbath for you.” The former is the Sabbath on which G-d had rested from the creation. The יום השביעי part of the Sabbath is never referred to as being Israel’s, it is always the Lord’s

And Hashem spoke with Moses, saying:

Speak with the children of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Booths, seven days before Hashem.

הזה חג הסכות, "this one is the festival of huts." The extraneous words are explained in Torat Kohanim. Please refer to my comment on this in connection with Leviticus 14,7.

On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall perform no labor of service.

מקרא קדש — This means: Hallow it (make it different from other days) by wearing fine clothes, and through appropriate prayer. In the case of other Festivals of which the same words are used, the expression מקרא קדש implies: Hallow them (distinguish them from other days) by your food and drink, by your fine clothes and appropriate prayers (cf. Sifra, Emor, Section 12 4).

For seven days you shall bring an offering before Hashem; on the eighth day there shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall bring an offering before Hashem — it is a solemn assembly; you shall perform no labor of service.

עצרת הוא — The word is derived from the root עצר “to hold back” and suggests: I keep you back with Me one day more. It is similar to the case of a king who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time arrived for them to take their departure he said, “Children, I beg of you, stay one day more with me; it is so hard for me to part with you!” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 29:36 and Sukkah 55b). כל מלאכת עבדה ANY WORK THAT IS AN עבדה — i. e. even such work which rests as an obligation (עבודה) upon you because if it is left undone it involves monetary loss (cf. Rashi v. 8), לא תעשו YE SHALL NOT DO: — One might think that it is forbidden to do such urgent work (מלאכת עבדה) also on the intermediate days of Passover and Tabernacles (which are Half-festivals)! Scripture, however, states: עצרת] הוא], “it (i. e. the eighth day) forms a restriction: [ye shall do no urgent work]” — but on the intermediate days such work is not forbidden (Sifra, Emor, Section 12 6).

IT IS ‘ATZERETH.’ “I keep you back before Me. It is similar to the case of a prince who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time came for them to leave, he said, ‘I beg of you stay with me for yet one more day, for your departure is so hard for me!’” This is Rashi’s language. And these are words of Agadah (homily) in Vayikra Rabbah. By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], for in six days the Eternal made the heaven and the earth, and the seventh day is the Sabbath which has no partner, and the congregation of Israel is its partner, as it is said, and the earth, this being the eighth day. It is ‘Atzereth,’ for there everything is assembled. Now with respect to the Festival of Unleavened Bread He commanded that it be observed for seven days, with the first and seventh [days] being holy, though they are all holy and the Eternal is among them. From then on [i.e., beginning with the second day of Passover] we are to count forty-nine days[of the omer], which are seven weeks comparable to the [seven] “days” of the world, and then to sanctify the “eighth day” [i.e., the Festival of Weeks] just as the eighth day of Tabernacles [is holy]; and [the forty-nine days] counted between them are in the “intermediate days” of the festival, in the interval separating the first day and “eighth day” of the festival, this being the day of the Giving of the Torah when He made them to see His great fire and His words they heard out of the midst of the fire. Therefore our Rabbis, of blessed memory, always called the Festival of Weeks by the name of Atzereth [a name here used in the verse for the eighth day of the Festival of Tabernacles], for it is on “the eighth” day of the festival, which Scripture here so called by that name. And this is the [intention of the] saying of the Rabbis: “The eighth day is a festival for itself” with respect to ‘p’zar k’shab,’ but yet it complements the first [seven] days since it is an emanation of the first days but is not like their unity. Therefore in the section of All the firstlings He mentions in speaking of the three festivals — the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tabernacles — [that the Festival of Tabernacles] is seven days and He did not mention the eighth day, for there He said, all thy males appear etc. This is thus clear.

"Seven days you shall offer a fire-offering" — though it is not equivalent to the fire-offering of the festival of Passover. "It is an atzeret" — some say its meaning is an assembly, like "the atzeret of traitors" (Isa. 1:13 / Jer. 9:1), meaning: the gathering of all Israel for the three pilgrimage festivals. But they have not spoken correctly, for it is written concerning Passover: "and on the seventh day is an atzeret," yet it is also written: "and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents" (Deut. 16:7) — which implies departure. The most plausible interpretation is that it is like "detained [ne'etzar] before Hashem" (I Sam. 21:8) — that one is withheld from all worldly affairs. Thus the meaning of "atzeret" is [reflected in what follows]: "you shall do no laborious work." And so it is written in the atzeret of the festival of Passover.

עצרת היא. The concept of עצירה is something apart from the concept of שביתות. The latter pertains to abstaining from ordinary secular activities, whereas the former entails spending a certain amount of time performing holy tasks, studying Torah, engaging in communal prayer, etc. The expression נעצר occurs in this context in Samuel I 21,8 ושם איש מעבדי שאול ביום ההוא נעצר לפני ה', “and there was a man, one of Saul’s officials detained before the Lord, etc.” In Yoel 1,14 we find the line קדשו יום, עצרו עצרה, “solemnize a fast, proclaim an assembly!” In Kings II 10,20 we find that Yehu proclaimed an assembly in honour of the Baal, [he meant to make sure that he could kill all those who would worship the Baal, which he succeeded in doing, eradicating this cult from Israel. Ed.] The invitation read: קדשו עצרה לבעל, “proclaim a holy assembly for the Baal.” It is in this sense that the Torah refers to the day following the seventh day of the Sukkot festival as Atzeret, an assembly for G’d, the pilgrims for the Sukkot festival to Jerusalem being detained there for an additional day. The joy on that day was to be a Torah inspired and oriented joy, akin to when David says in Psalms 149,2 ישמח ישראל בעושיו, “Israel rejoices in its Maker.”We find that the description of the family dinners held in the home of Job’s children, his seven sons and three daughters, at set intervals such festive get togethers were held. On the day after the completion of these festivities their father would send word to them to sanctify themselves and rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings to atone for the possibility that they might have been remiss and committed some misdemeanour which would have displeased their G’d. (Job 1,4-5) On the seventh day after the Exodus from Egypt the Israelites took time out to sing a song of thanksgiving to G’d for their final delivery from the pursuing Egyptians. Subsequently, in commemoration of that occasion, the Torah decreed that this day become an עצרת, a day devoted to contemplation of the great miracle on that first occasion. (Compare Exodus 15,1 and Deuteronomy 16,8). Again, on the fiftieth day after the Exodus when the Israelites in a great assembly at Mount Sinai spent the day contemplating their elevation to an almost supernatural people, this day was also subsequently observed as an עצרת, although in the Torah this day is never referred to as such. The reason why the Torah itself does not refer to this day as an עצרת may be the fact that shortly thereafter all the accomplishments of this day were lost and the Jewish people were even commanded to divest themselves of the “jewelry” they had worn in commemoration of that wonderful day. (Exodus 33,6)

עצרת היא, “it is a day of special assembly;” this is a parable describing a king whose children came to visit him for the first time; at that time the king said to them: “when are you going to visit me again?” they said to him: “in about a couple of months. ”Thereupon the king took his leave of them. When the children came again to see their father the king, he asked again when they would come to see him again. When they said that they would come again in about four months, the king again thanked them for their visit and bid them farewell. When this story repeated itself a third time and on that occasion the children told him that they would not visit him again until after about seven months, the king begged them to delay their departure for at least one additional day. They agreed and did so. He gave them a special blessing for having spent the extra time with him. This parable is supposed to explain why there is no day called עצרת after Passover and after Shavuot, but only after Sukkot, seeing that it is over six months until the next Passover. The reason there is no pilgrimage festival during the winter is to save the people having to travel to Jerusalem during the inclement winter months.

עצרת, a stoppage, i.e. a day when one must refrain from work.

These are the appointed times of Hashem which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to bring an offering before Hashem — burnt offerings and grain offerings, peace offerings and libations, each day's matter on its day.

עלה ומנחה A BURNT OFFERING AND A MEAL OFFERING — This means the מנחת נסכים (the meal-offering due with the drink-offering) that is brought together with the עולה (Menachot 44b). ביומו יום דבר EVERYTHING UPON ITS DAY (lit., the thing of the day, on its day) — the quantity definitely assigned to each day in the Book of Numbers (cf. Rashi on Exodus 16:4). דבר יום ביומו EVERYTHING UPON ITS DAY (which may mean the matter of the day shall be on its day) — consequently if its day (the day on which some particular one of these sacrifices is due) be past, it's (the day’s) offering is past (cf. Sifra, Emor, Section 12 9).

"These are the appointed times of Hashem" on which you are obligated to offer a fire-offering. The meaning is that all of them involve a burnt-offering, meal-offering, sacrifice, and libations — for until now [the text] has mentioned only the fire-offering alone, and it is possible for it to be a burnt-offering alone or a meal-offering alone.

מועדי השם, "the appointed seasons of the Lord, etc." Torat Kohanim on verse 35 quotes Rabbi Akiva as saying that these are the days on which the performance of work is prohibited. I believe this may also be the reason why the Torah concludes by writing: ומלבד מתנותיכם, "and beside your gifts, etc., which you will present to the Lord." These "gifts" include burnt-offerings. We know from Beytzah 19 that burnt-offerings may not be offered on festivals. The Talmud derives this from the word לכם, "for you," and "not for G'd." When we take this into consideration it is clear that verse 38 speaks of the intermediate days of the festivals of Passover and Sukkot.

אלה מועדי, “these are the appointed seasons, etc,” the reason why the Torah had to repeat this once more is because we do not find the verse והקרבתם אשה, “you are to present a fire offering” in connection with the offerings on the festival of Shavuot, (called Atzeret by the Torah). This verse is a reminder that it applies to all the festivals. The Torah had also not used that expression in connection with the Sabbath, at the beginning of the chapter dealing with the festivals. This is why in verse 38 it specifically exempts the Sabbath from this commandment. להקריב אשה לה' עולה ומנחה זבח ונסכים, “to bring an offering made by fire unto the Lord; a burnt offering and a mealoffering a sacrifice and libations ;” on all the מועדים, these four categories of offerings are to be presented; the expression זבח applies to meat offerings parts of which are to be consumed by the priests, who are allowed to eat parts of the communal sin offerings offered on these festivals.

Apart from the Sabbaths of Hashem, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your vows, and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give before Hashem.

"Your gifts" — at the three pilgrimage festivals, along with the communal and individual vows and their freewill-offerings.

However, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the festival before Hashem for seven days; on the first day a rest, and on the eighth day a rest.

אך בחמשה עשר יום... תחגו BUT ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY… YE SHALL OFFER A חג — i. e., a sacrifice of peace-offerings as a חגיגה (the pilgrims’ sacrifice on the Festivals) (Chagigah 9a). Since it states that this has to be brought on the fifteenth day of the month, one might think that it (the offering of קרבן חגיגה) shall set aside the Sabbath (supersede the Sabbath law, if that day be the fifteenth of the month)! Scripture, however, uses the word אך (the particle that implies a limitation; cf. Rashi on v. 27): suggesting that it must not be offered on Sabbath because it has a supplementary period consisting of all the seven days of the Festival. באספכם את תבואת הארץ [ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH] WHEN YE GATHER IN THE INCREASE OF THE LAND — This tells us that this seventh month (in which סכות occurs) must be at the time of the ingathering. Hence we learn that they are enjoined to intercalate the years if necessary (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 15 6), because if there be no such intercalation it (the seventh month) would sometimes fall in the middle of the summer or of the winter. תחגו YE SHALL CELEBRATE (OFFER) the peace-offerings of the חגיגה. שבעת ימים SEVEN DAYS (during seven days), meaning that if one has not brought them on one he may bring them on another of the seven days. But I might think that the meaning is that one has to offer them on each of the seven days! Scripture, however, states (v. 41): וחגתם אתו, “and ye shall make it the day of the חגיגה” — this implies one day and no more. Why, then, does Scripture say “seven”? In reference to the supplementary period (Chagigah 9a).

WHEN YE HAVE GATHERED IN THE INCREASE OF THE LAND. “[This is to state] that this seventh month [in which the Festival of Tabernacles occurs] must be at the time of the harvest. From here we learn that they were commanded to intercalate the years [with an extra month], because if there would be no such intercalation, the seventh month [i.e., Tishri] would sometimes fall in the middle of the summer, or in the winter.” This is Rashi’s language. And the words of the Torath Kohanim are as follows: “Intercalate the years so that you make the Festival of Tabernacles at the time of the ingathering of the fruits. I might think that this refers to the ingathering of all the fruits; Scripture therefore says, Thou shalt keep the feast of Tabernacles … after thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy wine-press — ‘from’ thy threshing-floor but not all thy threshing-floor, and ‘from’ thy wine-press, but not all thy wine-press. Now if I am to follow the expression after thou hast gathered in ‘from’ thy threshing-floor, I might think that even if only a little [of it has been gathered in, the Festival of Tabernacles may already be observed in that part of the year, and there is no need then for intercalating an extra month at the end of the preceding winter]; Scripture therefore says [here], when ye have gathered in the produce of the land. How can these be reconciled? [In the following manner]: Try to intercalate the year so that the Festival of Tabernacles occurs when most of the fruits have already been gathered in.” Now the Sages have already derived [the need for] intercalating the year from the verse Observe the month of ‘aviv’ (spring). But there Scripture taught about [the intercalation of the year because of] the spring [i.e., so that the celebration of the exodus occurs in the month when there are ripe ears already, so that the sheaf of waving can be brought on the sixteenth of Nisan from the new barley], and here it teaches concerning the fruits of the trees [that most of them must be ripened at the time of the Festival of Weeks, so that they are ready to be brought as first-fruits to the Sanctuary, and that most of them are to be gathered in before the Festival of Tabernacles]. For so did the Sages teach us: “The year is intercalated on account of three things: on account of ripe ears [that they be available at the time of Passover], fruits of the trees [at the time of the Festival of Weeks], and on account of the solstice [that the summer solstice should not occur after the passing of Tabernacles]. Thus the need for intercalation is deduced automatically [from the statement] that this festival [of Tabernacles] is at the time of the ingathering [and if an extra month is not added at the end of the winter season, the festival might sometimes occur in the middle of the summer or winter].The meaning, however, of the Scriptural verse here is as follows: It states, These are the appointed seasons of the Eternal all of which ye shall pr...

The reason for "however" [ach]: because the preceding portion mentioned affliction of the self [i.e., Yom Kippur], He now forbids fasting on the festival of Sukkot — for it is written there "and you shall rejoice" and "you shall rejoice" and "you shall be altogether joyful." "When you have gathered the produce of the land" — fields and vineyards. "You shall celebrate" — this is from the roots that double [i.e., a verb whose root-letters repeat], and its meaning concerns the sacrifices. "On the first day, a shabbaton" — this is a noun, and the phrase "it shall be for you" is implicit; had it been an adjective, it would have a heh instead of a bet.

אך בחמשה עשר יום, after the Torah had discussed the subject of the festivals in general terms, i.e. their common denominator being that these days are called מקראי קודש on which fire offerings on the altar are being offered on the altar in the presence of the Lord, the Torah continues 'אך בחמשה עשר יום וגו, by showing that the festival of Sukkot is different from all the other festivals: 1) the eighth day of that festival is called as we know from וביום השמיני שבתון, that the eighth day of that sequence of days is to be regarded as a kind of Sabbath. Such a concept does not exist as a special, day in the “week,” nor on the festival of matzot, neither in connection with months or years. In respect of all of these only the number seven has a connotation of holiness, not the number eight. 2) This is the only festival in which the Jew is required to change his home, move out of his regular home, as stated clearly in verse 42. 3) it requires that every Jew take four plants of specific categories and wave them in the 6 directions on earth. (compare verse 40)

אך בחמשה עשר יום, “but on the fifteenth day, etc.” the word אך, as usual, is meant to exclude something;” in this instance it refers to the fact that the Passover which must be eaten on the night of the 14th to the fifteenth of Nissan does not require the owners of these animals to spend an additional night in Jerusalem, seeing that the whole offering had already been consumed. The reason for this relaxation of the Torah’s standards is that the farmers are preoccupied with harvesting the barley in their fields at that time. The same is true on the festival of Shavuot. which occurs during the period of the wheat harvest. However on the fifteenth day of Tishrey, when all the harvests of the fields had already been brought into the barns, the pilgrims are required to rejoice for eight days in Jerusalem. (B’chor shor)

אך בחמשה עשר יום לחודש השביעי באספכם, “however, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month when you gather in, etc.” We are entitled to ask at this point that seeing the Torah told us already earlier in verse 34 that the Sukkot festival commences on that date, why repeat the date? However, it is the style of the written Torah when lengthy matters are discussed to re-insert the date after an interruption so that we should not forget that we still speak of the same date mentioned earlier in the same paragraph. I would add here that earlier in the paragraph the date seemed to relate to the offering of certain sacrifices, i.e. a procedure directed at G’d, stressing the element of “a holy convocation,” whereas what is discussed here are procedures aimed at our terrestrial universe and our gratitude for the harvest. Seeing that the taking of the palm frond is also an act of rehabilitation on behalf of our ancestor Adam who had sinned by abusing a plant G’d had had planted in Gan Eden, by reiterating the date mentioned in connection with the sacrifices offered on this festival being the same as that on which we take the palm frond, this shows that the taking of the lulav has a two-tiered significance. Apart from symbolising gratitude for the harvest being gathered in it also has an independent spiritual significance. This is further reinforced (verse 40) by the formula ולקחתם לכם, “take for you (spiritual rehabilitation).”

But on the fifteenth day, etc. Rashi explained: Could the festival [chagigah] sacrifice override the Sabbath? The verse teaches but [which comes to exclude]. This is difficult, as who mentioned [the Sabbath here in the Torah]? So it seems that the explanation is as follows: But on the fifteenth day of the month, when you gather in the produce of the land — meaning on the day when it is permitted to gather produce from the field, at least for the purpose of food consumption, that is on a festival day that does not fall on Sabbath. On such a day, you shall [partake of] the festival sacrifice, but not on a day when there is no gathering from the field in any way, even if one has nothing to eat, which is the Sabbath. And if the word but had not been stated, I would have said that when you gather refers to the season of gathering and not specifically to a day when gathering is permitted.

באספכם את תבואת הארץ, “when you gather in the yield of the land.” Rashi says that the purpose of the verse is to warn us that the seventh month of the year should coincide with the period when the last of the harvest is brought into the barns. This forms the basis of the sages on occasion, in tandem with the solar year’s requirements, inserting an extra month into our lunar calendar. Nachmanides argues that we already learned this from when the Torah instructed that Passover must occur during the period of the spring equinox, בחודש האביב, (Exodus 34,18) Actually, there it concerned the commemoration of the Exodus on the anniversary of when it had occurred, whereas here the concern of the Torah is that the Sukkot festival coincide with the last fruit of the orchards being harvested. The Torah here elaborates on the nature of true joy being that after a successful harvest we thank Hashem with visible symbols expressing our joy, the four species of plants being one such example. The 15th day of that month, being still part of the ingathering season we observe a festival, interrupting our work in the field, just as we do on the eighth day of the festival. We take time out to rejoice in the presence of the Lord, in Jerusalem. On the last day, a separate festival in many respects, we no longer sit in the Sukkah, nor use the four species of plants. תחוגו את חג ה', “you will celebrate Hashem’s festival.” The meaning of the somewhat strange sounding “Hashem’s festival,” is that we are to rejoice in the location where His presence manifests itself, in the Temple; we do not celebrate our success, but we proffer our thanks to Him, Who alone has made all this possible. The reason why the Torah repeats once more in verse 41 וחגותם אותו שבעת ימים חג לה', “you will celebrate it for seven days as a festival for Hashem,” is to link it to the commandment (verse 42) to dwell in the huts for seven days. Dwelling in the huts, waving the four species, etc., are all part of the manner in which we rejoice; they are all rated as the performance of a Divine commandment. [In other words, the joy is not the reward, but the Torah by making it mandatory, promises reward for our being joyful. Ed.]

אך בחמשה עשר יום לחודש השביעי, even though both New Year and the Day of Atonement are primarily designed to help the people achieve atonement for their sins and their being remembered favourably by G’d, Sukkot is for enjoyment and giving thanks to the Lord for having enabled them to fill their barns with good produce at the end of the harvest season.

אך בחמשה עשר יום, “but on the fifteenth day, etc.; the introductory word אך here is justified, as on Sukko,t when the harvests have all been brought in and stored, the degree of joy is much greater than on Pessach and Shavuot, the former being a festival when the word שמחה, joy, is not even mentioned, as no part of the year’s crops have as yet been harvested. On Sukkot we celebrate not only the material blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us but also the spiritual blessings, seeing that only four days before its beginning we have become relieved of the burdens of our sins. On this festival the expression שמחה is associated with these days no fewer than three times (including Deuteronomy 15,14). This joy is due to the harvests of our fields, orchards, and the forgiveness of our sins. This is why the Torah is able to urge us: והיית אך שמח, “you shall be joyous without any reservations.”

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the tree — citrons, and palm branches, and myrtle boughs, and willows of the brook — and you shall rejoice before Hashem your God for seven days.

פרי עץ הדר THE FRUIT OF THE TREE HADAR — a tree the wood of which (עץ) has the same taste as its fruit (פרי) (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 16 4; Sukkah 35a). הדר — It is called הדר because it is the tree whose fruit remains (הַדָּר) on the tree from one year to another (several years) — and this is the “Ethrog”. כפת תמרים A BRANCH OF PALM TREES — The word כפת is written defective (without ו, not כפות) to intimate that only one branch is intended (Sukkah 32a). וענף עץ עבת AND BOUGHS OF THE TREE עבת — i. e. of a tree whose boughs are, as it were, plaited (intertwined one with another) like ropes (עבתות) and cords; this is the myrtle plant which is indeed formed as a plait (three leaves issuing from one point of the branch and covering it) (Sukkah 32b).

AND YE SHALL TAKE YOU ON THE FIRST DAY ‘PRI EITZ HADAR’ (THE FRUIT OF GOODLY TREES). “[That is, a tree] whose bark has the same taste as its fruit. Hadar [a fruit] that ‘remains’ on its tree from one year to another, and this is the ethrog.” This is Rashi’s language. But these interpretations are merely Scriptural supports which our Rabbis taught as a basis for their tradition [that the reference here is to the ethrog]. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “And they [i.e., the masters of tradition] have said the truth [that pri eitz hadar refers to the ethrog], for there is no fruit of the tree more beautiful (hadar) than the ethrog. The Rabbis’ interpreted that hadar means [the fruit] that ‘remains’ on its tree [from one year to another], but this is merely a Scriptural support for a matter of tradition.”The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the tree which is called in the Aramaic language ethrog, is called in the Sacred Tongue hadar, for the meaning of the word ethrog is “desirable,” as [Onkelos] rendered: ‘nechmad’ (pleasant) to the sight —” dimrageig to see; “‘lo thachmod’ (Thou shalt not covet) — “thou shalt not theirog.” And we also say: “from all the best, arag (most desirable) properties.” And the terms hadar and chemdah are alike in meaning [“desirable”]. Thus the tree and the fruit [ethrog] are both called by one name [as hadar in Aramaic is ethrog], for such is the customary usage of names for most fruits: t’einah [denotes both the fig tree and the fruit]; egoz (nut); rimon (pomegranate); zayith (olive) and other fruits [in all of which cases both the tree and its fruit have the same name], and similarly this tree and fruit are both called in Aramaic ethrog, and in the Sacred Tongue they are called hadar. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture the verse is stating that we should take for ourselves a pri eitz hadar [“the fruit of a tree called hadar” in Hebrew, which is called ethrog in Aramaic], and that we take branches of palm-trees, and one bough of thick trees [known as hadas, the myrtle], and one bough of the willows of the brook [known as aravah]. Thus [we are to take] one of each of the [four] species, for the [plural] expression branches of palm-trees is connected with And ye shall take you, which refers to many people [so that each person is to take only one of these branches], since the final decision of the law is like Rabbi Akiba who says: “Just as only one palm-branch is needed and only one ethrog, so also [we need only] one myrtle-branch and one willow-branch.” Therefore Onkelos translated all these four species in the plural [ethrogin, lulavin, etc.], since they are all connected with the [preceding] phrase And ye shall take you, which refers to many people. And in [explanation of] the reason for this commandment, by way of homiletic discourse, the Rabbis have said that these [four] species are used to obtain the favor of G-d that He may give water. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the...

"And you shall take for yourselves" — we believe the words of the transmitters [the Sages], for they do not contradict the written text — although we do find "and let each man take a lamb for his father's house" (Ex. 12:3). They also transmitted that "the fruit of a goodly tree" is the etrog, and in truth there is no fruit more beautiful [hadar] than it. They expounded it homiletically as referring to a tree whose fruit clings [hadar] to it year-round, as an asmakhta, as I explained regarding the verse "to a foreign people" (Ex. 21:8). The Sadducees said that from these [species] you shall build the sukkah, and brought a proof from the book of Ezra. But they are blind of heart — do they not see that in the book of Ezra there is no mention of willow branches or fruit at all, only of leaves of five species, and no mention of myrtle leaves or the leaves of a "leafy tree" as an argument against the ancients? Furthermore, the myrtle is not a tall tree, so we have here two species: tall and short. One who has gone from the land of Kedar to the land of Edom — if he has eyes — will understand the secret of this commandment.

ביום הראשון, “on the first day, etc.; ”how can this day be described as the ‘first’ day seeing it is the fifteenth of the month? According to a well known Midrash, this is a hint that the count of our sins committed after the Day of Atonement on the tenth of the month, had been suspended until that day. Seeing that most people had been preoccupied with preparing for the festival of Sukkot during these four days, if inadvertent sins had been committed, they are “overlooked” on those days but from now on they will be counted. פרי עץ הדר, “both from the type of trees that produce fruit and from those which are pleasant to look at and which provide pleasant fragrance.” They are all to be tied together into one bunch. The moral lesson of this instruction is that both the pious people and those less pious but generally observant, are to join in carrying out G-d’s will. ושמחתם שבעת ימים, “you are to rejoice for seven consecutive days.” The reason for this is that each day is to be considered as a festival in its own right. The fact that the number of sacrifices offered during these days vary, is proof of this, compared with the offerings on the seven days of Passover.

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ עבות וערבי נחל, “take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of the tree hadar, branches of a date-palm, twigs of a tree surrounded by leaves and willow branches.” According to the plain meaning of the text all of these four plants grow near water and require to be irrigated by water more than other fruit or plants. This is why at this time when we offer special water libations on the Altar we take representatives of these plants to invoke G’d’s special blessing for their growth. This festival is the one when the annual rainfall for the land of Israel is determined (Rosh Hashanah 16). Presentation of these four plants will ensure that G’d looks upon us with favor at that time. Our sages in Sukkah 34 have a tradition that we are to take one etrog (citron), one palm frond, 3 myrtle branches, and two willow branches. It is possible to see these numbers reflected in the text of our verse. The fact that only one etrog is to be taken is reflected in the word פרי of the sequence פרי עץ הדר being in the singular. This reflects what the Talmud said that we are to take “one fruit, not two.” Similarly, the wording כפת עץ תמרים, where the word כפת is spelled without the letter ו which is the way we read it, i.e. as if it were in the plural. Strictly speaking, the Torah should have written כף תמר instead of כפת תמרים if only one single palm frond was meant. However, the Torah had to use this wording so that we would not think that a single leaf of the palm would have been sufficient. Therefore, by writing the word in the plural while spelling it as if it were in the singular the Torah gets its point across that we are to take a palm branch consisting of numerous leaves. The reason that the word תמרים is in the plural instead of תמר, seeing we take only the branch of one palm tree, is that palm trees are male and female and cannot produce fruit unless the female palm has received pollen from the male palm. In other words, one single palm is by definition only half a palm at best from the point of view of it bearing fruit. You cannot plant an orchard of male palms only or female palms only unless the opposite gender is nearby. According to the author all plants require both male and female strains in order to reproduce and even certain gemstones are subject to similar conditions. The reason that we find the number 3 for the myrtle branches alluded to in the text is the wording וענף עץ עבות. The word ענף refers to one, the word עבות in the plural means a minimum of two; as a result there have to be no less than three such branches. This allusion is not referred to in the Talmud, only in commentators such as Rashi on Sukkah 34. The word ענף in this instance means that the stalk is surrounded, covered, with leaves of that plant. If the stalk were not surrounded by leaves it would have to be referred to as עץ, ”tree,” instead of as ענף, “branch.” Seeing the Torah speaks of ענף עץ וגו', clearly ענף and עץ are quite different from one another. The term עץ can be applied to branches not covered by leaves even if, as in the case of the myrtle branch, the required minimum height is only about 40 centimeters (שלשה טפחים). The word עבות in our verse refers back to the number of leaves that are to grow at each level of that branch, i.e. the preferred quality of the plant is a variety where three leaves surround the branch at each level, the top of the leaves reaching the bottom of the next layer of leaves. This requirement is not mandatory but is suggested to people who want to fulfill the commandment of the four species of plants in the best possible fashion. As far as the Biblical requirement is concerned, as long as there are three moist leaves on the stalk the myrtle branch may be used (Sukkah 33). The minimum requirement is for each of the three stalks to have one good leaf at the top. At any rate we have shown that the wording of the verse alludes to the requirement of there being three such stalks of the myrtle tree. Furthermore, the origin of the halachic requirement that these three leaves should grow out of the same root is due to the spelling of the word עבת which, seeing it is in the plural, should really have been written with the letter ו following the letter ב, i.e. עבות. [The latter interpretation is that of Rashi, strenuously opposed by Tosaphot as too stringent a requirement, see Sukkah 32 and Rabbi Chavell’s comment] There are to be two branches of the willow tree; this is clear from the plural wording ערבי נחל. The minimum number possible to comply with the description ערבות, “willows” is two. A Midrashic approach based on Vayikra Rabbah (30,10): the words פרי עץ הדר are a reference to Avraham. The words כפת תמרים are a reference to Yitzchak, whereas the words ענף עץ עבות are a reference to Yaakov. The words ערבי נחל are a reference to Joseph. We need to understand this Midrash along the following lines: The Torah mentioned the word פרי, i.e. fruit in the singular thereby hinting that it was Avraham who paved the way for recognition of G’d as the “One” and only Creator. He spread the idea, i.e. his words bore fruit. The Torah cites proof of this at the beginning of Parshat Lech Lecha (Genesis 12, 5) crediting both Avram and Sarai with having “made” נפש souls, i.e. converting people to monotheism already while they were in Charan and before they moved to the land of Canaan. Furthermore, as we already mentioned, Avraham is referred to in Ezekiel 33,24 as אחד היה אברהם, “unique was Avraham, singular.” The word עץ, tree, in our verse of פרי עץ הדר refers to a unique feature about Avraham. Just as a tree stops giving fruit when there was no supply of water for its roots but is able to revive itself when provided with water, so Avraham, who had despaired of producing biological offspring and had “dried out,” was rejuvenated and sired a son at one hundred years of age. This is part of what the sages (Baba Metzia 86) had in mind that until the advent of Avraham the concept of old age was unknown. People had not been able to distinguish father and son from their exterior appearance as they looked as if both were of the same age. Avraham was granted the appearance of “old age,” so that henceforth one could distinguish (and honour) the aged on the basis of their appearance even if one did not know the individual in question personally. This is what the Torah (Genesis 24,1) had in mind when it wrote: ואברהם זקן בא בימים, “Avraham had become aged, advanced in years.” We have another verse in Proverbs 20,29 where Solomon elaborates on what the Torah wrote about Avraham. He says: והדר זקנים שיבה, “the majesty of old men is their gray hair.” The words כפות תמרים refer to Yitzchak seeing he had been bound, כפות, (on the altar). The word תמרים is related to תימרות עשן, “columns of smoke,” mentioned in Song of Songs 3,6 i.e. an allusion to the smoke rising from the remains of the sacrificial animal. He has always been compared to an “unblemished burnt-offering” in our history. The words ענף עץ עבות are a reference to Yaakov; just as the stem of the myrtle is surrounded by leaves, so Yaakov was surrounded by his sons, the twelve tribes. The words ערבי נחל refer to Joseph. Just as a willow, after a period of being full of juices shrivels and dries out, so Joseph after a brilliant youth as second in command to Pharaoh the mightiest King of his time, experienced the loss of his legendary father, losing the source of his inspiration. He “dried out,” i.e. he died earlier than his brothers who were senior to him in years. The point that the Midrash wants to make is that when we perform the commandment of taking the four species of plants and waving them in all directions we should remind G’d of the merit of these patriarchs so that their merit will assist us in securing the beneficial rainfall required for the year which has just commenced. Even Moses used to preface his prayers by asking G’d to remember the merits of the patriarchs, such as in Exodus 32,13. Another exegesis about the four species based on a similar line of approach sees in the four species symbols of four organs of our bodies which between them account for most of man’s activities. They are: the eyes and the heart, as we know form our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1,8 “the heart and the eyes are the two principal agents of sin,” as the Torah already warned us in Numbers 15,39: “do not follow the dictates of your heart and your eyes!” The third organ are the lips which also account for the performance of many of the commandments as well as for the commission of many sins. The fourth part of the body accounting for a great many of our activities is the spine, a central part of our bodies. The activities performed by means of the spine originate in the brain whence directions are issued which are carried out by the spine. Concerning all this the sages in Vayikra Rabbah 30,14 said that the etrog symbolises man’s heart, the lulav symbolises his spine; the myrtle symbolises his eyes, and the willow symbolises man’s lips. What the Midrash means is that when man gets involved in sins which were committed with one of the four organs listed he needs to atone for them by means of the respective one of the four species we wave on the Sukkot festival. The Midrash bases this on the principle we discussed in connection with desecrating the holy Name of the Lord (page 1784) that sins may be neutralised by the performance of commandments corresponding in some measure to the sin one has committed. We have a statement in Baba Batra 4 that when King Herod who had murdered tens of thousands of Jews asked Shimon ben Shetach if there was some way in which he could expiate for this, he was told that there was a way he could do this if he were to build (renovate) the Temple. The underlying consideration was that he who extinguished the light of the earth through murdering many people (including all the members of the Sanhedrin, the elite of the Jewish people), would have to provide light for the world in order to compensate for the darkness which he had caused previously. It is most reassuring to know that there are ways to compensate for wrongs we have committed and offsetting them by the performance of certain commandments with the express intention of expiating for corresponding sins Concerning the commandment involving the lulav which represents man’s spine, David said in Psalms 35,10: “all my bones shall say; ‘Lord who is like You?’” Yet another Midrash found in Vayikra Rabbah 30,12 comments on the words פרי עץ הדר by saying that the reason the etrog tree is called הדר, is that it is the epitome of beauty in that it dispenses fruit, good taste, and a pleasant fragrance. The species listed next to it in the Torah, i.e. the lulav, the palm frond, while not providing us with its fragrance does yield fruit. The third species listed in the Torah, the myrtle, while giving off a pleasant fragrance does not provide us with any fruit. Finally, the willow is a plant which does not offer us either fruit or fragrance. The etrog is taken to represent the righteous person who is both a scholar and performs deeds of loving kindness and observes the commandments. The lulav represents the Torah scholars (fruit) who do not however, excel in the performance of good deeds. The third plant, the myrtle is symbolic of people who do perform good deeds (fragrance) but who have not acquired a proficiency in Torah. Finally, the last plant, the willow, represents the Jews who have neither Torah knowledge nor good deeds to their credit. G’d said here: ‘let them all come and form one bunch in My presence and I will pardon them for all their sins.” We find a similar approach expressed by our sages when they examined the eleven spices which made up the incense offered in the Temple both mornings and evenings. The function of the incense was, of course, to provide a pleasant fragrance and for this purpose the Torah listed 11 different ingredients as well as the proportion in which these were to be mixed. Nonetheless, one of these ingredients is evil-smelling, not adding but detracting from the overall fragrance. The ingredient is known as חלבנה, galbanum. We have it on the authority of Keritot 6 that by itself this galbanum was exuding a bad smell. According to our sages there the reason that G’d wanted this ingredient to be part of the incense was to symbolise the fact that when sinners are part of a group of righteous people and surrounded by them, the fragrance of the good deeds performed by the righteous will neutralise the evil smell exuded by the sinner. When this is the case, G’d will accept the repentance from both the righteous and the sinners, each for the sins they are guilty of. Another exegesis by our sages in connection with these four species of plants: they are an allusion to the four kingdoms which host the Jewish people in exile. The author of that Midrash says that the four species waved by the Jewish people on Sukkot atone for the sins which resulted in the four exiles which we have been subjected to, and performance of that commandment redeems us from the respective exiles. The etrog represents the Babylonian Empire. Just as the etrog is the colour of gold, so the Babylonians set much stock by gold. Daniel 2,38 describes King Nevuchadnezzar by addressing him as “the head of gold.” The second species, the palm frond of the date palm, is symbolic of the kingdom of the Medes (exile under Achashverosh). The lulav is a long branch of the tree; Haman was hung on a gallows (tree) fifty cubits high. The third species, the myrtle branches, are symbolic of the exile under the Greeks. Just as the myrtle branch gives the appearance of consisting of a variety of plaits, so the Greek Empire was composed of a variety of fabrics. (i.e. each province was allowed its own king). The fourth species, the willow branches represent the Roman Empire, our present exile. Just as the colour of the willow branch (stem) is red, the Roman Empire is perceived of as “red,” i.e. the kingdom descended from the “red one,” Esau. Tanchuma Emor 20 in interpreting the somewhat enigmatic verse in Proverbs 30,18 that “four are amongst the things I do not know,” explains that Solomon speaks of the four species. [He meant that the significance of precisely the selection of these four plants as the ones with which we perform the commandment escaped him. Ed.] In Proverbs 30,24 Solomon adds the words: “four are the smallest of the world yet they are the wisest of the wise.” The Midrash understands these enigmatic comments to mean that although these four plants are seemingly some of the most insignificant phenomena on earth they are at the same time the most sophisticated, as by means of them the merits or demerits of people are deeply affected. They influence the decision made by the Creator regarding His creatures’ future lives. Still another comment based on this type of approach: etrog and lulav respectively are an allusion to the reward we can expect for performance of G’d’s commandments both here on earth and in the world to come, respectively. The myrtle and the willow branch are symbols of different ways of repentance, submitting to painful affliction and humbling oneself. The fruit of the tree called hadar points to the reward received for the commandments performed in this world as the tree grows from year to year, (compare Sukkah 35, that the fruit does not fall off the tree if not harvested). The words כפות תמרים are an allusion to the reward for merits accumulated in this life in the world after death, seeing that the lulav is so much bigger than the etrog and we have been assured that the reward in this life equals only dividends as compared to the capital payable in the life in the future. The leaves of the lulav grow in an ever upwardly direction, reminiscent of the greater value of the rewards it represents being so much greater in the hereafter. Moreover, the date palm does not yield fruit till after seventy years, a clear indication that it symbolises man’s reaping the “fruits” of a meritorious life in the hereafter. The average life span of man is seventy years as we know from Psalms 90,10. The myrtle branches (leaves) contain some bitter ingredient although its fragrance is very sweet; this is an allusion to the path of repentance containing painful episodes. Man is to afflict himself by means of fasting and self-flagellation. He who employs these means to assist in his path of repentance will ensure that his “fragrance” will waft heavenward. The willow branch is an allusion to humility and self-deprecation; to symbolise this we do not find the willow growing in mountainous parts of the earth; it grows only near water, low-lying areas. This is to remind the repentant sinner to humble himself as a result of which he will achieve atonement and will be forgiven. In accordance with this whole approach it is appropriate that one holds the three species lulav, myrtle, and willow in the right hand in order to point at the great reward in store for us in the hereafter, the eternal life; by the same token, the etrog which symbolises reward for our good deeds in this world is to be held in our left hand. Traditionally, the “left” describes the terrestrial world, whereas the “right” symbolises the celestial regions in which our souls will dwell after they leave our bodies. This is the way the Talmud Shabbat 63 interprets Proverbs 3,16: “Length of days is in the right hand, in her left hand riches and honour.” The way our sages arrive at this interpretation is by saying that those people who do the “right” things deserve to enjoy eternal life; the ones who concentrate on subordinate values, i.e. “leftists,” will be rewarded only with material rewards such as riches and honour in this world. A rationalistic approach to the commandment of waving the four species on the Sukkot festival: The moisture of a fruit is its life; this is why we have been commanded that all these four plants should be הדר, in a prime state, fresh, full of their original moisture. By means of four such different categories of plants we are to perform a ritual symbolising life and remaining alive. This is why the common denominator of all of these four plants is that they are evergreens, i.e. do not “die” at the end of a season. They excel in this respect when compared to other plants. The Torah which we have been given at Mount Sinai is called ארח חיים, a path to life. We, the recipients of the Torah are called “life,” as we know from Deut. 4,4: “and you who cleave to the Lord your G’d are all alive this day.” It is appropriate for us then at this time of year to take plants which represent life and acknowledge the fact that we have been inscribed for a year of life on the Day of Atonement just past. G’d Himself is also described as אלוקים חיים, the living G’d. What better way to exalt Him than with plants which symbolise the concept of life! If these plants had been dry they would not contain an allusion to life; it is their moisture which epitomises their life just as the blood in our veins proves that we are alive. No wonder then that we have been told in the Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 3,1 that a dried out lulav is not suitable for use as one of the four species of plants as David has already said in Psalms 115,17: “it is not the dead who praise the Lord.” Dryness symbolises death; hence dried out plants cannot be used for this ritual. A kabbalistic approach: the words פרי עץ הדר refer to a fruit which is similar in characteristics to the attribute כבוד of the Lord, an attribute which comprises 32 paths. [The word לב, heart, as well as the word כבוד, “majesty” have a numerical value of 32. Ed.].The reason the tree is called הדר, beauiful, is because it is הדר מכל הדר, “the most beautiful of all the beautiful trees.” This is comparable to Song of Songs 6,10: ”Who is this that gazes down from atop the Temple Mount, brightening like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, brilliant as the sun?” The words כפות תמרים are a reference to the emanation called סוף הבנין, popularly known as יסוד, the head of the domain of all that pertains to the terrestrial world [immediately above the emanation מלכות, i.e. the domain in which we live, the world of עשיה. Ed.] The lulav symbolises the spine seeing it is straight and upright, an essential critical part of the body similar to the קו האמצעי in the diagram representing the emanations. The reason the Torah speaks of תמרים in the plural although only one palm frond is used is to avoid confusion with the meaning of the word תמר in the normal sense, i.e. the plant, such as in several verses referring to this comparison, for instance: זאת קומתך דמתה לתמר, “such is your stature, comparable to palm tree,” (Song of Songs 7,8), or צדיק כתמר יפרח, “the righteous flourishes just like a palm tree” (Psalms 92,13). So much for the meaning of תמרים. The word כפת spelled with the letter ו is to alert us to the fact that the word תמרים is only written in the plural to avoid confusion with the examples of the word mentioned, but that actually only one palm frond is meant. Etrog is symbolic of heart, the palm frond is equivalent to the heart of that tree. According to the Sefer Habahir (176), the words ענף עץ עבות refer to the three emanations גדולה-גבורה-תפארת. This is an allusion to man whose two arms are used to protect his head. Between his head and his arms he has three protective organs. [I suppose the head is an organ with which man can protect himself intellectually, whereas the arms are organs with which he protects himself physically. Ed.] The word ענף refers to the left arm, the word עבות to the right arm, so that the עץ, tree, is in the middle. The reason it is called עץ is because it represents the root of the tree. The הדס is similar to man’s eyes, whereas the ערבי נחל allude to the emanations נצח and הוד which are described as למודי ה'. The shape of the leaf of the willow branch is similar to the shape of lips. The prophets receive their prophetic inspiration from these emanations but not from anything higher than the seven emanations which we have listed as paralleling the four species. The very word ערבה is also the name of the seventh (highest) of the seven heaves known to us as ערבות from Psalms 68,5: סולו לרוכב בערבות, “extol Him Who rides the clouds.” In defining the meaning of ערבי נחל the author of the Sefer Habahir (Rabbi Nechunyah Hakanah) item 177 writes that these 2 willow branches represent man’s thighs; the word נחל describes the place where all the seven plants forming the four species originate, [or which they represent allegorically. In a commentary on the Sefer Habahir I have found the word נחל as an abbreviation of the term נחלי אל, i.e. a description fitting all the seven emanations we have mentioned. If I understand it correctly the emanations are viewed as rivers of spiritual input originating with G’d, hence the term נחלי אל. Ed.] According to the author what he has written so far under this heading corresponds to the view of Nachmanides. An alternate kabbalistic interpretation considers that the ערבי נחל allude to the emanations גדולה וגבורה rather than to the emanations נצח והוד. Regardless of which set of allusions we accept the common denominator is that the four species which comprise seven plants allude between them to the seven lower emanations. The ערבה is the seventh in any event regardless of whether the emanation count commences with the highest or the lowest of the emanations. According to the combined views of the kabbalists the lulav and the other plants surrounding it form a total of seven units. Seeing that in the Talmud (Sukkah 45) the lulav symbolises the צדיק, the righteous person who grows straight like a palm and does not deviate to the right or to the left of the proper path, the sages have been more stringent in their requirements as to what constitutes a lulav fit for use and what does not. For instance, if the top of the lulav is lopped off it is unfit for use (Sukkah 29). On the other hand, if even three leaves of the myrtle branch are missing this does not disqualify the myrtle branch from performing its part in the four species halachically (Sukkah 34). The קטימה, lopping off of the top, is reminiscent of the word קציצה, “deliberate cutting off.” Seeing that the myrtle represents the emanations גדולה וגבורה, i.e. two emanations, if something is cut off from a plant which does not represent the concept of unity as does the lulav, this is reflected in the halachah that missing leaves or cut off leaves at the top do not disqualify it from use... [I have decided to curtail translation of the remainder of these details; the important thing is that our author uses existing halachah as reflecting the mystical concepts embodied in the entire legislation involving these four species. The reader is reminded that in most prayer books there is a paragraph to be recited before we utter the benediction prior to waving the lulav, etc., in which the reference to all the mystical aspects of this ritual is emphasized. Ed.] ... When considering all this we can understand the statement of our sages in Sukkah 45 that anyone who performs the commandments of the four species and binding them together as prescribed is considered as if he personally had erected the Altar and offered a sacrifice upon it. They base this on Psalms 118,27: אסרו חג בעבותים עד קרנות המזבח, “bind the festive offering to the horns of the altar with strong cords.” Seeing that the etrog and lulav are symbols of the concepts of זכור and שמור respectively, one should hold the lulav in the right hand and the performance of the commandment is applicable only by day. The etrog is to be held in the left hand. The manner of waving these plants is as follows: we wave in the four directions of the wind, horizontally, followed by waving it upward and downward. Each “waving” is performed three times successively. This amounts to a total of 18 such wavings. This alludes to the three letters י-ה-ו in the tetragram which represent G’d’s seal on the universe, i.e. one seal in each of the six directions. Even though we do not find the number of these wavings spelled out in the Talmud Sukkah 37 where the only thing we are told is that one is to wave the species forward, backward, down and up, the details have been derived from other rituals involving such “waving.” When the Torah writes אשר הונף ואשר הורם in Exodus 29,27 the words אשר הונף refer to horizontal forward and backward motion whereas the words אשר הורם refer to raising and lowering (seeing you cannot raise unless you have previously lowered). This is a symbolic way of presenting these plants to the One who owns all these horizontal directions (or winds) of the globe. The raising and lowering is an acknowledgement that both heaven and earth belong to G’d. By doing all this we affirm our belief in the unity of G’d, that He never had any partner. Seeing that Adam, the first human being had become guilty of heresy by eating of the etrog (alone, without any other plant), we add the other species so that the etrog is treated as part of the fruits (plants) with which we acknowledge G’d, His uniqueness, His being the source of all blessings, etc. In this way we hope to put G’d in a frame of mind where He grants us grace. We have already referred to Tanchuma Emor 20 in connection with Proverbs 30,24 and shown how the Midrash views the mystique in the “four” items which Solomon did not understand as the fact that the four species really represent the number seven, and how that number seven symbolises the wisdom which we derive from the seven emanations below that of חכמה. Performing the ritual reinforces the spiritual power of these attributes (emanations). The Talmud Sukkah 38 quotes Rava as saying that just as it is generally important to fulfill the commandments in all its details so also the performance of the commandment of the lulav (and other species) in all its details has direct beneficial results. [He meant that if one waves the lulav only twice in each direction instead of three times one does not shortchange G’d, but oneself, as we do not know precisely which benefit is the result of which waving. Ed.] Commenting on the precise nature of these “wavings,” Rabbeinu Chananel writes in his commentary on Sukkah 37: “how did this waving take place? He extends the lulav three times outward, brings it back, and extends it upwards followed by extending it downward. This is also the way Rabbeinu Hai Gaon described the procedure. We have adopted the principle of this procedure from the Jerusalem Talmud where we are told that the wavings consists of repeating this procedure three times in each direction. Rabbi Zeira queried whether waving forwards and backwards is not considered two wavings instead of merely one? The question remained unanswered. Seeing the question was not answered we adopt the more stringent possibility, i.e. that one waving consists of a motion which brings the species back to where the motion started.” Thus far the intelligible part of the author’s quotation of Rabbeinu Chananel. The reason that the sages insisted that the materials used to bind the species into one bunch (except for the etrog) must be of their kind, [not materials which could become contaminated or golden threads, etc., Ed.] is to emphasize that the whole 4 species represent only the seven emanations, etc.; any additional material used would negate the concept we are trying to convey. The reason that we loosen (at least) one of the loops woven around the lulav on the seventh day is a allusion to the קו האמצעי, which is the central line through the diagram of the emanations perceived as uniting what is on the right and what is on the left. We want to show that both the celestial forces (as represented by the highest three emanations) and the lower terrestrial forces are inseparably linked. Just as the leaves on the lulav cleave and adhere to the centre shaft of it, the שדרה, so everything in this whole universe is dependent on and must remain attached to the שדרה, of the diagram of the emanations. Seeing this is an important concept involving the significance of the seven emanations and the seven heavens, the seventh day of the festival is the one on which we draw attention to this symbolically, [as if to say that after having reached the seventh day these leaves remain attached without outside help. My words, Ed.] I have tried to derive some more messages by studying this commandment in detail and have come to the conclusion that there are both revealed as well as mystical dimensions to these species, just as there are revealed as well as mystical dimensions in the letters of the holy Name י-ה-ו-ה. The two revealed aspects of the legislation appear in their very names, i.e. כפות תמרים and ערבי נחל (their meaning is clear to the average reader). The two names which represent the mystical elements of the species are the words פרי עץ הדר and ענף עץ. These words contain so much mystery that without the help of our sages we would not have known that the plants referred to are the citron and the myrtle respectively. Similarly, when we contemplate the letters in the tetragrammaton there are mystical and revealed aspects. The three letters י-ה-ו have both hidden and obvious meanings. Each of these letters though when written as a single letter has only half the numerical value it has when it is spelled as a word, such as the letter י has a numerical value of 10, whereas the same letter spelled as a word, i.e. יוד, has a numerical value of 20. The same ratio is true of the letter ה. When simply spelled as a letter its numerical value is 5, whereas when we spell the letter as a word i.e. הה, its numerical value doubles. The same is true of the third letter in the tetragrammaton, the letter ו. This suggests that when it comes to the Unity of the Lord, as expressed in His holy Name the revealed and the mystical are not at odds with one another. Each letter is in a fixed ratio to the other both in its revealed form and in its hidden form. This same concept, that there are obvious as well as mystical dimensions in the commandment of the four species, is reflected in the enigmatic way the Torah writes about the two species the etrog and the myrtle. May the good Lord open our eyes and enable us to understand the mysteries hinted at in the written text of the holy Torah.

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree. The Rabbis said (Vayikra Rabbah 37) that it is called the first day for the accounting of sins. [They gave] a parable of a province that owed taxes to the king, etc. So too, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the great ones went out to meet him, etc., and during the ten days of repentance, the intermediate ones [went out], and on Yom Kippur, everyone goes out, etc. One must consider why [the author of this midrash] called it the first day for the accounting of sins when it commanded about these four species, and why it didn’t call it the first day for the accounting of sins when it commanded about the sukkah and the festival. And what did the author of this midrash see to make three divisions corresponding to three groups? And what would have been lacking if it had said that it is called the first day because on Yom Kippur everything is forgiven, and between Yom Kippur and Sukkot people don’t commit sins — therefore it is called the first day for the accounting of sins. It appears that the author of this midrash wanted to resolve two difficulties, both the question of whether it is really the first, and the question of for you [lachem]. He did not want to interpret for you [lachem] as “from your own” to exclude stolen items, because he holds that this is not the meaning of for you [lachem]. For “from you” [mikem] and “in you” [bachem] are two opposites, just as “from your own” [mishelachem] is “from you” [mikem], and “for you” [lachem] would mean “in you” [bachem]. Rather, it is certain that these four species correspond to four groups among Israel. The fruit of a beautiful tree [pri etz hadar] — which has both taste and smell, corresponds to those who possess both Torah and mitzvot, and they are the completely righteous. Willows of the brook [arvei nachal] — which have neither taste nor smell, correspond to the groups that have neither Torah nor mitzvot, and they are the completely wicked. Date palm fronds [kapot temarim] — which have food [taste] without smell, and branch of a thick tree [anaf etz avot] — which has smell without food [taste], both correspond to the intermediates who have either Torah without mitzvot or mitzvot without Torah. Therefore it says, And you shall take for yourselves [ulekachtem lachem] — meaning literally “for you,” just as we find among you these three groups, so shall you take four species that correspond to these three groups. And regarding this division, the verse informs us that this day is the first for the accounting of sins. If so, it is difficult to understand what one thing has to do with the other, unless indeed the one depends on the other — because there are among you these three groups, and they receive atonement one by one, this day becomes the first for the accounting. If the intention of the verse was to attribute all atonement to Yom Kippur alone, what would be the purpose of informing us at this point that Israel is divided into three groups? Rather, certainly the intention is to say that Yom Kippur does not atone for everyone at once, but rather little by little the Holy One, blessed be He, removes [sins] first by first, in the order mentioned regarding these four species. For first, He forgives the sin of the groups that are compared to the fruit of a beautiful tree — these are the great ones who first went out to meet Him, blessed be He, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. And afterward, He forgives a third for the sake of the intermediates who went out to meet Him during the Ten Days of Repentance, who are compared to date palm fronds and branch of a thick tree. And afterward, on Yom Kippur, He forgives everyone, even the wicked who are compared to willows of the brook, for then everyone goes out to meet Him and fasts. Therefore, the High Priest was not permitted to enter the Holy [place] on Yom Kippur except with the cloud of incense, because the [foul-smelling] galbanum was mixed with the ingredients of the incense to attach all the transgressors of Israel and make them one bundle with the good ones, so that they might atone for one another. As they said in the midrash regarding these four species: “It is impossible to destroy them, so let them be made into one bundle, and they will atone for one another.” And if one of these groups is missing, the High Priest has no way to enter the Holy [place]. And this is a very precious interpretation. And this bundle also includes the concept of repentance, for it is known that throughout the year, the Holy One, blessed be He, only accepts the repentance of the many, but the repentance of the individual is only accepted by the Holy One, blessed be He, during the ten Days of Repentance, as they learned (Rosh Hashanah 18a) from the verse Seek the Lord while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6). Therefore, the Scripture wants to provide a good reason and understanding as to why we need to be one bundle on this day more than on the preceding days. Thus, it comes as an explanation saying that this is “the first for the accounting of sins,” telling you that certainly it would have been appropriate to make them one bundle at the beginning of the year so that they would remain so throughout the year, preparing them for repentance throughout the year if they should sin. Then those who repent would be many, and their repentance would be accepted throughout the year. However, from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, there is not as much need to make them one bundle, since during those days even the repentance of an individual is accepted. And from Yom Kippur until Sukkot, they are occupied with the commandments of sukkah and lulav and do not commit sins. For a commandment, while one is engaged in it, protects and saves from all sin. During this time as well, there is not as much need for the repentance of the many. But on the first day of the festival, which is the first for the accounting of sins, it is necessary to make, on this very day, preparation for the repentance of the many. This is accomplished when all these four groups are in one bundle and atone for one another, and then their repentance is accepted throughout the year. And with this, all the questions are also resolved in a correct and clear way. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. There is no rejoicing before the Lord except when they are in one group, especially since the rejoicing is specifically on this festival because it is the time of gathering, which is naturally a time of increased joy. Therefore, He warned them that the rejoicing should be specifically before the Lord, not like the rejoicing of the empty ones whose every scheme is killing cattle and slaughtering sheep (Isaiah 22:13), who drink from wine bowls and increase division in Israel. With this kind of rejoicing they destroyed both Temples and went into exile at the head of exiles, as it is written For with joy you shall go out (Isaiah 55:12). As our Sages said (Kiddushin 81a), “The most dangerous time of the year is the festival,” because when they rejoiced not for the sake of Heaven, they brought about all manner of illness and affliction, like the incident of the etrog that was thrown at King Yannai (see Sukkah 48b). Concerning this kind of rejoicing, He said, “What is this that you have done? Is it not because of this that you shall go out at the head of exiles”? However, in peace — when they are united as one group with peace between them — you will be led forth. To the land, the mountains and hills — these are the leaders of high rank who have height and are respected (Ezekiel 1:18) — they will break forth before you in singing. For they will be first in all matters of holiness as is proper, and the youth will not push aside the elders as happened with the spies. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands — these are the four groups symbolized by these four species that come from the trees of the field. They will clap their hands to rejoice before the Lord. Similarly, in another place (Vayikra Rabbah 30:4), they interpreted the verse Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy (Psalms 96:12) as referring to these four species, and it hinted at this in the word then [az] — Aleph [has a numerical value of] one, Zayin [has a numerical value of] seven — that the lulav is taken in the Temple all seven [days] and in the outlying areas for one day.

פרי עץ הדר, “the fruit of a citron tree.” This tree is distinguished by the fact that the taste of its fruit is the same as the taste of its trunk if we were to eat it. Nachmanides writes that our sages used the word in order to provide us with an allusion to this peculiarity. The fact of the matter is that the tree that in Aramaic is called etrog, is known as hadar in classical Hebrew. The meaning of the word etrog is the same as the Hebrew חמדה, something lovely and precious. The words הדר and חמדה are almost identical in meaning. It is a fact that both the tree and its fruit are known by the same name, something that is common with certain fruit trees, such as the fig and the fig tree, the date palm, and its fruit, dates, etc. As to the reason for the choice of these four species, we have a tradition that by symbolically presenting these for species as expressions of our gratitude, the rainfall during the winter season will become beneficial instead of destructive.

וענף עץ עבות, the vowel kametz under the letter ע in the word עבות is similar to the same vowel in the word kadosh, קדוש or tahor, טהור, or amok, עמוק, i.e. a branch of a tree which possesses dense foliage.

ולקחתם לכם, “you shall take for yourselves, etc.” the sages explain the word לכם here as equivalent to מלכם, “from something that is yours;” these plants must neither be stolen or borrowed. If they were not legally yours, they would act as accusers rather than as advocates on your behalf. Tanchuma section 18 on this verse illustrates by the following parable: The king sent out one of his officers to collect taxes due to him. The officer proceeded to this but was waylaid on the way after having collected a considerable sum, and he was robbed both of his and of the king’s money. Some time later that same robber showed up at the entrance of the king’s palace where the official who had been robbed by him stood guard. He enquired what brought this man to the palace and was told that he had a problem that he wished to submit to the king’s judgment and he begged the official to support his request, or to hire someone to do so. He was then told by that official that as long as he had not made restitution for what he had stolen from him, there could be no question of his receiving any assistance. Thereupon the thief returned what he had stolen from this official. When on the morrow the erstwhile thief submitted his case to the king, the king asked him if he had anyone who could support his request. The petitioner pointed to the official and suggested that he could give testimony as to his character. When the king heard this, he turned to that official and asked him what he could have to say in favour of the petitioner. So the official proceeded to tell the king all that had happened between him and the petitioner. He pointed to some of the vessels that he had been robbed of, and which had been the king’s property originally and which had been returned to him on the understanding that he, this official, would plead on the petitioner’s behalf. All the people present then joined in saying: “woe to the accuser and woe to the accused who both have changed their role.” ביום הראשון, “on the first day (of the festival).” The palm frond, lulav, which we shake on that day is to symbolise the fact that we have been found deserving of atonement on the recent Day of Atonement. This is what the psalmist had in mind when he said in Psalms 96,12: אז ירננו עצי היער, “then all the trees in the forest shall shout for joy.” Who does this verse speak of? Of the Jewish people in the desert as well as the nations of the earth whom G–d had sat in judgment of on the Day of atonement, see verse 13 in the same chapter of Psalms: לפני ה' כי בא לשפוט הארץ, ישפוט תבל בצדק ועמים באמונתו, “in the presence of the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to rule the Earth; He will judge the world fairly and its people in faithfulness.” Both the Jewish people and the gentile nations have come up for judgment on that day, and we do not know which ones are the victors. G–d advises us to hold the lulav in our hands, so that everyone will know that we have been acquitted. Tanchuma on this verse illustrates this by a parable. Two men appear before the king for judgment. The people on the outside have no idea which one of them was successful. All they know is that if one of them holds a cane or an apple in his hand when he emerges from the palace, he is the victor. The Jewish people, being modest, waited for five days before showing that they had been the victors in their confrontation with the gentiles. (Tanchuma, section 18) פרי עץ הדר, “the fruit of the goodly tree;” the four species of fruit which we use on this festival differ in basic attributes, The citron, etrog, is the fruit of a tree which provides taste as well as a pleasant fragrance. It symbolises the righteous person who has both Torah learning and good deeds to his credit. The tree from which the palm frond has been taken provides fruit but does not provide fragrance. (Date palm) It symbolises the average Israelite, who, while having the performances of many commandments to his credit, has failed to acquire Torah knowledge, i.e. he does not exude fragrance. The myrtle branch, hadass, does not bear any fruit but provides us with a pleasant fragrance. It symbolises the person who did acquire Torah knowledge but did not translate it into the performance of its commandments. Finally, the willow branch, aravah, comes from a tree that neither provides fruit nor fragrance, (except shade). It symbolises the Jew who has neither acquired Torah knowledge nor acquired a list of merits for having performed good deeds. The reason that we bind all these four plants together before performing our ritual with them is, to demonstrate that we are aware that the Almighty does not really look down upon us with favour until we have managed to coexist peacefully, regardless of any shortcomings we perceive in one another. The prophet Amos 9,6 alludes to this concept when he wrote: הבונה בשמים מעלותיו ואגדתו על ארץ יסדה, למי הים וישפכם על פני הארץ, ה' שמו, “Who built His chambers in heaven and founded His vault on earth; Who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the land.” On this verse, Midrash Rabbah comments that G–d does all this when we, His people, form a united union. (Vayikra rabbah 30,12) Our author adds that it appears to him that this is also the reason why, on Rosh Hashanah, New Year’s day, in our prayer describing the essence of the day we insert the line: ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת, “they will all form a single band.” A different explanation: The lulav symbolises the human backbone, שדרה. The myrtle branch is a symbol of the eye, whereas the willow branch is a symbol of the lips. The citron, etrog, symbolises the heart, the most import part of the human body.

And you shall celebrate it as a festival before Hashem for seven days in the year; it is an eternal statute throughout your generations — in the seventh month you shall celebrate it.

In booths you shall dwell for seven days; every native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths.

האזרח THE NATIVE — Since this word means native-born, the word בישראל, ANYONE IN ISRAEL, serves to include the proselytes (cf. Sifra, Emor, Chapter 17 9).