parsha of the week: rabbi avi billet

Re’eh defines our holidays as times of joy

Posted

The end of Parshat Re’eh is one of the few times in the Torah that the holidays are presented. Noticeable is the instruction to be joyous on the holiday, a point noted once for Shavuot (16:11), and twice for Sukkot (16:14-15). Chagiga 1:2 (Jerusalem Talmud) says that this reference to rejoicing refers to the joy over peace offerings — a related note to how the Talmud elsewhere defines joy as the consumption of meat. Shlamim (peace offerings) are not brought on Pesach because they include an offering of bread.

Which is all fine and good. But the fact of the matter is that even those who do not eat or who do not prefer meat are instructed to rejoice. So the command to be joyous on the festival should extend to Pesach as well.

I once heard an explanation that all of the preparation for Pesach is a burden, so there is nothing to be joyous about. But this explanation is silly for many reasons. Firstly it is not objectively true. Second, there are many people who love the preparation for Pesach. Third, there is a heavy emphasis on joy in other areas of our Pesach experience.

Certainly G-d did not take us out of Egypt and smite the biblical Egyptians so that we can spend $50,000 on a Pesach program, but if that’s what makes people happy, no absence of the word simcha in the Torah is going to get in anyone’s way of doing just that.

There is an approach to the concept of simcha on the holidays which is outlined by some of the commentaries. Using the ideas of R’Yosef B’Chor Shor, the Hadar Zekenim and Baal HaTurim, we’ll create a full picture of how to define simcha relative to the holidays.

The holiday of Pesach is largely focused on remembering the exodus from Egypt and all the miracles associated with that event. However, during with Pesach’s arrival we have not yet experienced the joy that comes from bringing in the wheat.

Even though there may have been contributions to the poor from the barley crop — a point of joy — the joy remains incomplete.

Page 1 / 2