CHAPTER 43

The commandments comprised in the eighth class are the commandments that we have enumerated in the Book of Times.¹ The [biblical] text gives the reasons for all of them except a few.

With regard to the Sabbath, the reason for it is too well known to have need of being explained, for it is known how great a rest it procures. Because of it the seventh part of the life of every individual consists in pleasure and repose from the fatigue and weariness from which there is no escape either for the young or for the old. At the same time it perpetuates throughout the periods of time an opinion whose value is very great, namely, the assertion that the world has been produced in time.

The fast [of the Day] of Atonement has also an evident reason consisting in establishing the notion of repentance. It is the day on which the Master of the prophets descended with the second Tables [of the Law] and brought them the good news that their [95b] great sin was forgiven. This day became forever a day of repentance exclusively consecrated to divine service. Therefore one must abstain on it from all corporeal pleasure and from all effort with a view to what is useful to the body — I mean from work in various crafts — and confine oneself to confessions — I mean to confessing one’s sins and to turning away from them.

The festivals are all for rejoicings and pleasurable gatherings, which in most cases are indispensable for man; they are also useful in the establishment of friendship, which must exist among people living in political societies. There is a particular reason for every one of these days.

The account of Passover is generally known. It lasts for seven days, for the period of seven days is a mean between the natural day and the lunar month. You know already that this period plays a great role in natural matters. It does so likewise in matters pertaining to the Law. For the Law always tends to assimilate itself to nature, perfecting the natural matters in a certain respect. For nature is not endowed with thought and understanding, whereas the Law is the determining ruling and the governance of the deity, who grants the intellect to all its possessers. This, however, is not the purpose of this chapter. We shall accordingly return to the matter with which we are dealing at present.

The [Festival of] Weeks is the day of the giving of the Torah. In order to glorify and exalt that day, the days are counted from the first of the festivals up to it, as is done by one who waits for the coming of the human being he loves best and counts the days and the hours. This is the reason for the counting of the ʿOmer2 from the day when they left Egypt till the day of the giving of the Torah, which was the purpose and the end of their leaving: And brought you unto Myself.³ This great gathering only lasted one day; accordingly [96a] it is commemorated every year during one day only. If, however, the eating of unleavened bread would only last for one day, we would not take notice of it and its meaning would not be made clear. For man often eats one kind of food for two or three days. Accordingly the meaning of [the eating of unleavened bread] only becomes clear and the account with which it is connected only becomes generally known through its being eaten for a complete period.

New Year lasts similarly for one day. For it is a day of repentance in which the attention of the people is called to their negligence. Therefore the shophar [horn] is blown on it, as we have explained in Mishneh Torah.⁴ It is, as it were, a preparation for, and introduction to, the Day of the Fast [of Atonement]. Accordingly it is generally accepted in the tradition of the religious community⁵ that the ten days from New Year to the Day of Atonement should be observed.

The [Festival of] Tabernacles, which aims at rejoicing and gladness, lasts for seven days, so that its meaning be generally known. The reason for its taking place in the season in question is explained in the Torah: When thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field;⁶ this refers to the season of leisure when one rests from necessary labors. In the ninth book of the “Ethics,”7 Aristotle states that this was the general practice of the religious communities in ancient times. He says literally: The ancient sacrifices and gatherings used to take place after the harvesting of the fruit. They were, as it were, offerings given because of leisure. This is literally what he says. In addition, it is possible to live in the tabernacle during that season, there being no great heat nor an uncomfortable rain. Both these festivals, I mean Tabernacles and Passover, inculcate both an opinion and a moral quality. In the case of Passover, the opinion consists in the commemoration of the miracles of Egypt and in the perpetuation of their memory throughout the periods of time. In the case of Tabernacles, the opinion consists in the perpetuation of the memory of the miracles of the desert throughout the periods of time. As for the moral quality, it consists in man’s always remembering the days [96b] of stress in the days of prosperity, so that his gratitude to God should become great and so that he should achieve humility and submission. Accordingly unleavened bread and bitter herbs must be eaten on Passover in commemoration of what happened to us. Similarly one must leave the houses⁸ and dwell in tabernacles, as is done by the wretched inhabitants of deserts and wastelands, in order that the fact be commemorated that such was our state in ancient times: That I made the children of Israel dwell in tabernacles, and so on.⁹ From this we went over to dwell in richly ornamented houses in the best and most fertile place on earth, thanks to the benefaction of God and His promises to our fathers, inasmuch as they were perfect people in their opinions and in their moral character — I mean Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For this too is one of the pivots of the Law, I mean the belief that every benefit that will be or has been granted is due to the merit of the Fathers, since they kept the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment.¹⁰

One’s going over from Tabernacles to a second festival, I mean to the Eighth Day of Assembly, can be accounted for by the consideration that in this way one can complete such rejoicings as are impossible in tabernacles but only possible in spacious dwellings and in buildings.

As for the four species that constitute a lulab,¹¹ the Sages, may their memory be blessed, have set forth some reason for this in the manner of Midrashim¹² whose method is well known by all those who understand their discourses. For these [namely, the Midrashim] have, in their opinion, the status of poetical conceits; they are not meant to bring out the meaning of the text in question. Accordingly, with regard to the Midrashim, people are divided into two classes: A class that imagines that [the Sages] have said these things in order to explain the meaning of the text in question, and a class that holds [the Midrashim] in slight esteem and holds them up to ridicule, since it is clear and manifest that this is not the meaning of the [biblical] text in question. The first class strives and fights with a view to proving, as they deem, the correctness of the Midrashim and to defending them, [97a] and think that this is the true meaning of the [biblical] text and that the Midrashim have the same status as the traditional legal decisions. But neither of the two groups understands that [the Midrashim] have the character of poetical conceits whose meaning is not obscure for someone endowed with understanding. At that time this method was generally known and used by everybody, just as the poets use poetical expressions. Thus [the Sages], may their memory he blessed, say: Bar Qappara teaches: [In the verse — ] And thou shalt bave a paddle [yathed] upon azenekha [thy weapon]13 — do not read azenekha, but aznekha [thy ear]. This teaches us that whenever a man hears a reprehensible thing, he should put his finger into his ear.¹⁴ Would that I knew whether, in the opinion of these ignoramuses, this Tannaite believed this to be the interpretation of this text, that such was the purpose of this commandment, that yathed [paddle] means a finger, and that azenekha [thy weapon] refers to the two ears. I do not think that anyone of sound intellect will be of this opinion. But this is a most witty poetical conceit by means of which he instills a noble moral quality, which is in accordance with the fact that just as it is forbidden to tell them, so is it forbidden to listen to obscene things; and he props it up through a reference to a [biblical] text, as is done in poetical compositions. Similarly all the passages in the Midrashim enjoining, Do not read thus, but thus, have this meaning. I have deviated from the subject, but this is a useful observation that may be needed by everyone endowed with intellect among those who profess the Law and are Rabbanites.¹⁵ I will return to the order of our discourse. What seems to me regarding the four species that constitute a lulab¹⁶ is that they are indicative of the joy and gladness [felt by the Children of Israel] when they left the desert — which was no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither was there any water to drink¹⁷ — for places in which there were fruit-bearing trees and rivers. For the purpose of commemoration, the finest fruit of these places was taken and the one that was most fragrant, as well as their finest leaves and finest verdure, I mean the willows of the brook. Three things are found in common in these four species. [97b] The first one is that at that time they were plentiful in the Land of Israel so that everyone could procure them. The second one is that they are beautiful to look at and full of freshness; and some of them, namely, the citron and the myrtle, have an excellent fragrance, while the branches of the palm tree and the willow have neither a good nor an offensive smell. The third one is that they keep fresh for seven days, which is not the case with peaches, pomegranates, asparagus, pears, and the like.