{"id":10138,"date":"2014-05-03T00:04:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T21:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=10138"},"modified":"2020-09-14T13:23:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T10:23:02","slug":"15-03-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/15-03-04\/","title":{"rendered":"04. Celebrating with Clothes and Food"},"content":{"rendered":"
While Rosh Ha-shana is a yom<\/em> teru\u2019a<\/em> and a day of judgment, it is also a sacred occasion, which we are commanded to sanctify though food and drink and honor with nice clothes (Sifra<\/em>, Emor 12:4; Peninei Halakha: Festivals<\/em> 1:7). Half the day should be devoted to God, as on Shabbat and holidays. However, since the prayer services are very long on Rosh Ha-shana, they reduce the time available to study Torah, though it is important that prayer and study together amount to at least nine hours (as explained in Peninei Halakha: Festivals<\/em> 1:5-6).<\/p>\n Based on textual similarities in the Torah\u2019s description of the various holidays, the Gemara concludes that the holidays share several features (Shevu\u2019ot<\/em> 10a), and just as there is a mitzva to rejoice on the three pilgrimage festivals, so too, there is a mitzva to rejoice on Rosh Ha-shana by eating meat and drinking wine. It, too, is therefore called a \u201cfestival,\u201d as we read: \u201cBlow the shofar on the new moon, the covered moon for our festival day\u201d (Tehilim 81:4).<\/p>\n However, since it is also a day of teru\u2019a<\/em> and judgment, the level of happiness is not the same as on the rest of the festivals. This is why in the Amida<\/em> we do not add the phrase \u201cfestivals for rejoicing, holy days and seasons for joy\u201d as for other festivals (SA 582:8), nor do we recite Hallel<\/em>. The angels asked God about this: \u201c\u2018Why don\u2019t the Jews sing [Hallel<\/em>] before You on Rosh Ha-shana and Yom Kippur?\u2019 He replied: \u2018Is it conceivable that the King is sitting on the throne of judgment with the books of the living and the dead opened before Him, yet the Jews burst into song?\u2019\u201d (Rosh Ha-shana<\/em> 32b; Arakhin<\/em> 10b; SA 584:1; see Peninei Halakha:<\/em> Festivals<\/em> 2:7).<\/p>\n Therefore, there is a mitzva to serve two festive meals, one at night and one during the day, and joyfully consume meat and wine. However, Rishonim write that a person should not eat to satiety on Rosh Ha-Shana, so that he does not come to act frivolously. Rather, he should stand in awe of God (SA 597:1). We see that the meals on Rosh Ha-shana should be better and more joyful than those of Shabbat, but not as lavish as those of the pilgrimage festivals.<\/p>\n Similarly, there is a mitzva to wear nice clothes and to wash them before the holiday. However, we do not wear our nicest clothes as we do on the other festivals, because of the fear of judgment. Some have a custom to wear white on Rosh Ha-shana (SA 581:4; MB ad loc.<\/em> 25). One whose hair is too long and looks disheveled must get a haircut in honor of Rosh Ha-shana. One who is normally clean-shaven must shave before Rosh Ha-shana (SA 581:4).<\/p>\n The dual nature of Rosh Ha-shana can be learned from Ezra the Scribe, who, in addition to encouraging the people to repent, instructed them to rejoice on Rosh Ha-shana, as it is a day consecrated to God. Early in the time of the Second Temple, when the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael was becoming established after returning from the Babylonian exile, many of the simple people did not observe mitzvot<\/em> properly. On Rosh Ha-shana, Ne\u1e25emia the political leader and Ezra the spiritual leader gathered the nation together, men and women, to inspire them to repent. Ezra read from the Torah, starting in the morning and continuing until midday, explaining the Torah and mitzvot<\/em> to them. When the listeners understood that they had sinned, they were inspired to repent, and they began to mourn and cry. Ezra and Ne\u1e25emia emphasized that it was a day to rejoice in addition to repenting:<\/p>\n \u201cThis day is holy to the Lord your God; you must not mourn or weep,\u201d for all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Torah\u2026. \u201cGo, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in the Lord is the source of your strength.\u201d The Levites stilled the people, saying, \u201cHush, for the day is holy; do not be sad.\u201d (Ne\u1e25emia 8:9-11)<\/p>\n Ezra and Ne\u1e25emia instructed the people to eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks in fulfillment of the mitzva of eating meat and drinking wine. Additionally, this would serve as a good omen for abundance and sweetness for the entire year (Rosh, Rosh Ha-shana<\/em> 4:14). \u201cThen all the people went to eat and drink and send portions and make great merriment, for they understood the things they were told\u201d (Ne\u1e25emia 8:12). They understood that God was not interested in punishing them, but rather was happy with their repentance.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, in the times of the Ge\u2019onim and Rishonim there were pious and wise people who fasted on Rosh Ha-shana. It stands to reason that given the tribulations of exile, they felt the need to identify with the pain of the Shekhina<\/em>. How could they joyfully eat on the day of judgment while the Shekhina<\/em> was in exile? They wished to facilitate a more profound repentance by indulging in certain ascetic practices in the hopes of neutralizing evil. In practice, though, the accepted halakha <\/em>is that even during the bitter days of exile, there is a mitzva to have festive meals on Rosh Ha-shana, and it is certainly forbidden to fast.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n