In this session we discussed the mitzvah of eating on Erev Yom Kippur.
The mitzvah to eat on Erev Yom Kippur is in itself remarkable. This is how the Gemarah describes it:
דתני חייא בר רב מדפתי ועניתם את נפשותיכם בתשעה וכי בתשעה מתענין והלא בעשירי מתענין אלא לומר לך כל האוכל ושותה בתשיעי מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו התענה תשיעי ועשירי
The דרשה of חייא בר רב מדפתי is remarkable for two reasons. First, it imparts significance to the ninth day of Tishrei, which is not a special day in and of itself. Second, not only does he teach that it is a mitzvah to eat on the ninth day of Tishrei, but eating on the ninth day of Tishrei is as significant as the fast of Yom Kippur. This is astonishing. The fast of Yom Kippur is day on which we anticipate Hashem’s forgiveness for our sins. How can eating on the ninth day of Tishrei have such significance?
The שם משמואל says that to understand the teaching of חייא בר רב מדפתי we need to understand its place in its suggyah. The suggyah discusses the difficulty in a פסוק in פרשת אמור:
ויקרא פרק כג
(לב) שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן הוּא לָכֶם וְעִנִּיתֶם אֶת נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם בְּתִשְׁעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ בָּעֶרֶב מֵעֶרֶב עַד עֶרֶב תִּשְׁבְּתוּ שַׁבַּתְּכֶם:
This pasuk is discussing Yom Kippur. What is peculiar is that the pasuk says that the fast starts on the evening of the ninth day of Tishrei, when Yom Kippur is on the tenth day of the month. So Rabbi Yishmael derives a halacha from this incongruity:
ורבי ישמעאל מוסיפין מחול על קדש מנא ליה נפקא ליה מדתניא ועניתם את נפשתיכם בתשעה יכול בתשעה תלמוד לומר בערב אי בערב יכול משתחשך תלמוד לומר בתשעה הא כיצד מתחיל ומתענה מבעוד יום מלמד שמוסיפין מחול על קדש
Rabbi Yishmael says that the fast of Yom Kippur begins on the evening of the ninth day of Tishrei and extends throughout the following tenth day of Tishrei. Some of the holiness of the tenth day of Tishrei is imparted to the ninth day of the month. This is the principle of מוסיפין מחול על קודש, we add from the non-holy onto the sacred. The principle of מוסיפין מחול על קודש is not uniquely Rabbi Yishmael’s, Rabbi Akiva acknowledges it, but he derives it from a different pasuk. This being the case, the Talmud asks what Rabbi Akiva would derive from the anamoly in Rabbi Yishmael’s pasuk. The Talmud answers that from Rabbi Yishmael’s pasuk Rabbi Akiva learns the law taught by חייא בר רב מדפתי.
The insight of the שם משמואל is that he sees a common theme in the two laws learned from Rabbi Yishmael’s pasuk. The mitzvah of eating on the ninth of Tishrei is an extension of the idea of מוסיפין מחול על קודש.
מוסיפין מחול על קודש is a concept that in the literature of the Halacha applies only to time. Observant Jews know that though Shabbat begins at sundown, we light the Shabbat candles before sunset. We sanctify a bit of Friday by accepting Shabbat early. Chasidut extends this idea to all areas of life. Everything that I do can be done for a selfish, hedonistic reason or for a holy reason. I can eat because I am hungry, or because I simply enjoy eating. Alternatively, I can eat because I need to be healthy in order to serve Hashem to the best of ability. My motive can make even an apparently non-holy activity a holy one. This sanctification is based on the idea of מוסיפין מחול על קודש.
Yom Kippur provides the textual basis for the idea of מוסיפין מחול על קודש. The holiness of the tenth of Tishrei can be and is imparted to the ninth day. That is why eating on the ninth day of Tishrei has the holiness of the fast of the tenth.
The שם משמואל goes on to say that when we seek forgiveness on Yom Kippur, it is not limited to seeking forgiveness for sins. We also ask Hashem to elevate all of the acts which we did without the proper motivation. If we gave charity in order to impress our neighbors, we ask Hashem to ignore our crassness and to elevate the mitzvah. Similarly, we ask Hashem to accept our everyday activities as mitzvoth. This transformation was done in the time of the Temple by the High Priest.
The שם משמואל also quotes Rabbeinu Yonah’s explanation for the sanctity of eating on the ninth day. Yom Kippur is a holy day and as a rule we celebrate on holy days. We learned last week that when the Jews returned to Israel in the time of Ezra they cried on Rosh Hashanah after hearing Ezra read the Torah to them. Ezra and Nechemiah needed to persuade the people that for all its solemnity, Rosh Hashanah is a holy day. Crying on such a day is inappropriate. Rather, the people should have festive meals and share their meals with the poor.
Rabbeinu Yonah says that there should be a festive meal on Yom Kippur. However, Hashem decreed that on Yom Kippur we must fast. This being the case, when should we celebrate Yom Kippur? Rabbeinu Yonah says that the celebration of Yom Kippur is on the ninth day of Tishrei. The mitzvah of eating on the ninth of Tishrei is not a merely “practical” mitzvah, aimed at making the fast easier to bear. The ninth day of Tishrei is when we celebrate Hashem’s mercy.
May we all have a גמר חתימה טובה.
Stuart Fischman