Commento su Esodo 12:16

...Exodus 12:16: We say in our prayers: "from His place He will turn to us in mercy." There's a higher world called "Hoo," which lacks angels and seraphs [a different type of angel], which has only G-d [since this world is on such a high spiritual plane]. That's the meaning of the verse, "eaten by every soul," [this is like when a person] doesn't want to enjoy any worldly pleasure and [focuses on] giving life to his soul. This is like Hillel the Elder, who would do "kindness to his shameful body" by eating; [he was] only eating [for the sake of his soul]. All the needs of a person of such caliber are taken care of by Hashem. As it says, "He will do for you"-- He will take care of all your needs. The sages add that it's "for you only," and not for the wicked. This divine flow comes down from the world of Hoo, which can't be attacked by kelipa [demonic forces] to derive energy. Similarly, Yitzhak says to Yaakov, "how did you find [the wild game] so quickly"? Yaakov responded with "Hashem your Gd brought it before me." The Midrash expounds: Hashem takes care of your sacrifices--how much more so of your food." Why? Because the food of a tzaddik is more important than a sacrifice.

מקרא קדש — The word מקרא is an infinitive and the translation is, “And on the first day there shall be “a calling it holy”, which implies: call it holy in regard to eating and drinking and raiment (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:16:1).

NO MANNER OF WORK SHALL BE DONE IN THEM. Rashi commented: “Even by the agency of others.”
I do not understand this. If these “others” are Israelites, they themselves are commanded not to work on the Festival, and I am not bound to ensure that my work is not done through them. It is only where one deceives another in a matter which is prohibited — whether it be in the deceiver’s work or in that of the deceived that the deceiver transgresses the prohibition, Before the blind do not put a stumbling-block.²⁰²Leviticus 19:14. For fuller discussion of this commandment see “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 277-8. And if these “others” are non-Israelites, we are by law of the Torah not admonished at all against their working either on a Festival or on a Sabbath, except that there is a prohibition by the Rabbis if we tell him [the non-Israelite] to do the work, just as the Rabbis have said:²⁰³Shabbath 150a. “Telling a non-Israelite [to do work on the Sabbath or Festival] is prohibited by law of the Rabbis,” and this is a principle clearly established in the Gemara.²⁰⁴The Gemara (literally: “teaching”) is the collected discussions of the Rabbis centering around the Mishnah. The Mishnah and Gemara combined are known as the Talmud. After the Mishnah was compiled in the Land of Israel by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (about the year 200 of the Common Era), the Mishnah was studied in all academies of learning in Babylon and in the Land of Israel, and finally the teachings were gathered together in the Gemara. The teachings of the Rabbis of the Land of Israel on the Mishnah were assembled in the Jerusalem Talmud, while those of Babylon were gathered together in the Babylonian Talmud. To this day, Talmudic study is devoted almost exclusively to the Babylonian Talmud. This is because the Babylonian Talmud was compiled after the Jerusalem Talmud, and therefore its decisions were reached after having taken the teachings of the Palestinian Rabbis into consideration. [How then could Rashi derive this principle of prohibiting telling a non-Israelite to do work for us on a Festival from a verse in the Torah, when it is only prohibited by Rabbinic law?]
However, I have found this text in the Mechilta:²⁰⁵The Mechilta is a Tannaitic Midrash on the Book of Exodus, beginning with Chapter 12, Verse 1. It does not, however, cover the entire Book of Exodus. The text mentioned by Ramban is found here on the verse before us. “No manner of work shall be done in them. This means that neither you nor your fellow-Israelite shall do any work, nor shall a non-Israelite do your work. You so interpret it to mean that neither you nor your fellow-Israelite shall do any work, nor shall a non-Israelite do your work, but perhaps it rather means that neither you nor your fellow-Israelite shall do any work, and the non-Israelite shall not do even his own work! Scripture therefore says, Six days shall work be done.²⁰⁶Leviticus 23:3. The verse continues, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of work. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 330, for a detailed explanation of how the principle discussed is derived from the language of the verse. This teaches that neither you nor your fellow-Israelite shall do any work [on the Sabbath], but the non-Israelite may do his own work. These are the words of Rabbi Yashiya. Rabbi Yonathan says that there is no need for this proof. Has it not already been said, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work?²⁰⁷Further, 20:9. Now by the syllogism of kal vachomer,²⁰⁸Literally: “a minor and major.” This is a form of reasoning by which a certain stricture applying to a minor matter is established as applying all the more to a major matter. Conversely, if a certain leniency applies to a major matter, it must apply all the more to the minor matter. It is one of the thirteen rules by which the Torah is interpreted. we proceed as follows: If on the Sabbath, in regard to which the Torah is so strict, you are not admonished against a non-Israelite’s work as you are against your own work, [it is logical to assume that on a Festival-day, in regard to which the Torah is not so strict — inasmuch as preparation of food is permitted on a Festival-day but not on the Sabbath — you are surely not admonished against a non-Israelite’s work as you are against your own work].” Thus far extends the text of this Beraitha.²⁰⁹Literally: “outside.” A teaching of the Tannaim that for some reason had not been included in the Mishnah by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. The teachings contained in the Mechilta on the Book of Exodus, Sifra on Leviticus, and Sifre on Numbers and Deuteronomy fall into the category of Beraithoth. Now surely this is but a case of a mere asmachta, [a Scriptural text used as a mere support for a Rabbinical enactment]. Since they aimed to prohibit, by law of the Rabbis, telling a non-Israelite to do our work [on a Sabbath or Festival], they used this verse as a support, [but it is actually a Rabbinical law]. It is however permissible for a non-Israelite to do his own work. And thus we incidentally learn that the Rabbinical enactment against telling a non-Israelite to do work applies only to doing our work, but one may tell him to do his own work and he may do it. So did Rashi explain it in the Gemara²⁰⁴The Gemara (literally: “teaching”) is the collected discussions of the Rabbis centering around the Mishnah. The Mishnah and Gemara combined are known as the Talmud. After the Mishnah was compiled in the Land of Israel by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (about the year 200 of the Common Era), the Mishnah was studied in all academies of learning in Babylon and in the Land of Israel, and finally the teachings were gathered together in the Gemara. The teachings of the Rabbis of the Land of Israel on the Mishnah were assembled in the Jerusalem Talmud, while those of Babylon were gathered together in the Babylonian Talmud. To this day, Talmudic study is devoted almost exclusively to the Babylonian Talmud. This is because the Babylonian Talmud was compiled after the Jerusalem Talmud, and therefore its decisions were reached after having taken the teachings of the Palestinian Rabbis into consideration. of [Tractate] Baba Metzia.²¹⁰Baba Metzia 90a.
There in the Mechilta it further says:²¹¹Mechilta on Verse 17. “I know only that work which can be regarded as labor is prohibited. Whence do we learn that activities which are prohibited by Rabbinical enactment [are also forbidden]? Scripture therefore says, And ye shall observe this day,²¹²Verse 17. including all activities prohibited by Rabbinical law.” Now Beraithoth²⁰⁹Literally: “outside.” A teaching of the Tannaim that for some reason had not been included in the Mishnah by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. The teachings contained in the Mechilta on the Book of Exodus, Sifra on Leviticus, and Sifre on Numbers and Deuteronomy fall into the category of Beraithoth. like these, [if not accompanied by a proper interpretation], may lead one into a mistaken opinion and should not be quoted literally, for this Beraitha too apparently is a mere asmachta, and I have a correct interpretation thereof. I will yet discuss it, with the help of G-d.²¹³In Seder Emor (Leviticus 23:24). Ramban’s interpretation there of this topic has been called by the Ritba (see Vol. I, Preface, x), “a gem which has come down to us from the teachings of our master Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman.”

אך אשר יאכל לכל נפש, the permission to cook on the festivals is the reason that the work prohibition in connection with festivals is always worded as כל מלאכת עבודה לא תעשו instead of כל מלאכה לא תעשה as on the Sabbath or Day of Atonement, which means: “no manner of work must be performed, [preparation of food involving use of fire being included. Ed.]

The word מקרא is an infinitive. . . It means declaring holiness. I.e., you shall declare it holy with regard to [wearing] special clothing, eating, and drinking. But מקרא should not be explained as an adjective, meaning that the day is declared holy by Hashem. For then, it should have said היום (the day) rather than ביום (on the day).

V. 16. מקרא קדש, wie oben zu קדוש החדש bemerkt, wurden durch Bestimmung der jüdischen Gesamtheitsrepräsentanz die Moëdtage zum erneuten Zusammenfinden mit Gott geweiht. Durch diese Gesamtheitsbestimmung wird daher ein jeder Jude als Glied dieser Gesamtheit an diesen Tagen zum Heiligtume berufen, d. h. aufgefordert, sich persönlich, oder, wo dies nicht geboten war, doch im Geiste um den gemeinsamen Mittelpunkt ihrer gemeinsamen heiligen Bestimmung zu sammeln. Es ist dies die stets wiederkehrende Förderung der Verwirklichung jenes Urzweckes der ganzen Erlösung aus Ägypten: ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאקלי׳. Während am Peßach- und Mazzafeste die Konstituierung zum Volke durch Gott, durch Peßach und Mazza immer erneut vollzogen wird, soll die Aufgabe dieses Volkes, והייתי לכם לאלקי׳, sich in allen seinen Lebensbeziehungen von Gott leiten zu lassen, durch diese periodisch immer wiederkehrende Berufung der Gesamtheit zur Bundeserneuung mit Gott und dem von Ihm gestifteten Heiligtume ihre positive Förderung finden. Alle die aus der jüdischen Geschichte hervorgegangenen Moëdtage sind daher zugleich מקראי קדש. Das Zusammenfinden mit Gott ist eben ein Zusammenfinden mit seinem Heiligtume. An diesen Tagen ist daher ein jeder Jude ein zu Gott in seinem Heiligtume "Geladener (קרוא)", und diese Idee findet auch ihren sinnlichen Ausdruck in erhöhter Erscheinung eines jeden in Kleidung, Genuss und häuslicher Umgebung. Es hat sich ein jeder an einem solchen Tage in dem eigentlichen Werte seiner Persönlichkeit zu fühlen und diesem Werte in seiner Erscheinung Ausdruck zu leihen. (כבדהו במאכל ובמשתה ובכסות נקיה, Mechiltha.)

כל מלאכה, “all manner of work;” Rashi explains the word כל, “all,” as including work performed for the Israelite in question on his behalf by others. Rabbi Moshe had difficulty with Rashi’s commentary here seeing that the Talmud in tractate Shabbat folio 150 states that the prohibition to ask gentiles to perform work for us on the Sabbath is of rabbinic origin, so how could it have been described from a verse in the Torah? We must therefore assume that what Rashi meant is that he understood the word כל as only what is known as an assmachta, a “support” from a word in the text, not a direct command. Alternately, what Rashi meant when he wrote: על ידי אחרים, “by others,” referred to other members of his household such as sons or daughters who are still minors. Although this prohibition has been spelled out in Exodus 20,10 in the Ten Commandments, this might have been understood as referring only to work performed on the Sabbath, the penalty for which is far more severe. The word כל, here therefore includes days of a festival.

מקרא קדש, “a holy convocation.” According to its translation into Aramaic, this expression means: מארע קדיש, “a festival.” On that day holy things occur.כל מלאכה לא יעשה בהם, “no creative kind of work may be performed on these days. This formulation, according toRashi, includes that no gentile perform such work on behalf of or for the benefit of a Jew. If that were correct, the Torah would have legislated for the gentiles, and this would contradict the statement in the Talmud Shabbat folio 150, that asking a gentile to perform work for you on the Sabbath is a Rabbinical and not Biblical prohibition.

לא יעשה בהם NO WORK SHALL BE DONE ON THEM, even by the agency of others (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:16:2).

SAVE THAT WHICH MAY BE EATEN BY EVERY BEING, [THAT ONLY MAY BE DONE FOR YOU]. “Even [the food eaten] by cattle [may be prepared on the Festival-day]. One might think that [food may be prepared] for non-Israelites too. Scripture therefore states, for you: [you are permitted to prepare food only for that which belongs to you and for which you have the responsibility of feeding].” Thus the language of Rashi. This too is not in accordance with the final decision of the law. Rather, [the word lachem (for you) signifies]: for you and not for non-Israelites, for you and not for cattle.

It, but not the preparations for it. . . [Rashi knows this] because it says הוא , which implies only the work itself but not the preparations. Yet it also says לכם , which implies that [work may be done for] all your needs, [including the preparations]. How is this [self-contradictory verse to be explained]? Where only the work itself is permitted, is when the preparations can be done before Yom Tov. And where even the preparations are permitted, is when the preparations cannot be done before Yom Tov.

Wie bereits im Jeschurun (V. 13 ff.) motiviert, ist ein Kreis von sieben Tagen immer ein solcher, innerhalb dessen die Gewinnung einer neuen oder zu erneuenden Stufe zum Abschluss gelangt. Wenn einem Moëd ein solcher siebentägiger Kreis geweiht ist, so sollen die mit dem ersten Tage zur neuen Belebung eintretenden Gedanken und Gesinnungen mit dem siebenten Tage die Höhe ihrer Klarheit und Kraft erreichen und mit dieser erreichten Höhe und Lebendigkeit uns dann dem täglichen Leben zur Betätigung und Erfüllung wiedergeben. Daher tritt diese "Berufung zu Gott und seinem Heiligtume" am ersten und siebenten Tage in voller Mächtigkeit hervor. Am ersten, der uns eben aus unserm täglichen Leben herausrufen und die zu belebende Idee in vollkräftiger Macht zum Bewusstsein bringen, und am siebenten, der uns diese Idee in vollendeter Aneignung für den Wiederzurücktritt ins tägliche Leben mitgeben soll. —

הוא לבדו יעשה לכם, “only it may be performed for you.” The apparently extraneous word ל-בדו is meant to remind us that the first day of Passover must not occur (i.e. The rabbis arranging the calendar must see to this) on either the second, the fourth, or the sixth day of the week. [The reason is connected to the inconvenience caused the people then with the days on which Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur would occur. Ed.]

בהם, “on them.” On the first and the seventh day of the festival, these types of work are forbidden to be performed.

הוא לבדו THAT ALONE — that and not such acts preliminary to it (to the preparation of food) as it was possible to do on the eve of the Festival (Beitzah 28b).

Even for an animal. You might think for non-Jews as well. . . You might ask: Perhaps the opposite is true, [i.e., for non-Jews it is permitted and for animals it is not]? The answer is: It is more logical to include [our domesticated] animals in the permission to do work, for they are dependent on us [i.e., we are responsible] to feed them, and to exclude non-Jews, for they are not dependent on us [i.e., we are not responsible] to feed them.

Aus diesem מקרא קדש-Begriff fließt die hier nun folgende doppelte Bestimmung des איסור מלאכת עבודה amי׳׳ט und des מלאכה .היתר אוכל נפש, wie bereits zu Bereschit 2, 1 erläutert, von מלאך, Bote, der mit der Ausführung des Gedankens eines andern Beauftragte, heißt: die Gestaltung eines Stoffes zum Träger und Ausführer unseres Gedankens, d. h. dass er fortan ein Mittel zur Verwirklichung eines bestimmten Gedankens sei. Somit ist מלאכה nicht Arbeit, sondern Werk. Was מלאך persönlich ist, ist מלאכה sachlich: ein sachlicher מלאך. Ist der Stoff ein zur menschlichen Nahrung dienender und die Gestaltung desselben eine die Genießbarkeit desselben (nach dem רשב׳׳א unmittelbar, mit dem Ausschluß der קצירה usw.) vermittelnde (wozu auch Feuerbereitung gehört): so ist es מלאכת אוכל נפש, ein die menschliche Nahrung bezweckendes Werk. Ein jedes andere Werk, mit welchem der Mensch nicht direkt für die Persönlichkeit des Menschen schafft, sondern zunächst nur im Dienste der die Erdwelt umgestaltenden, ihm übertragenen Kulturaufgabe — לעבדה ולשמרה — wirkt, heißt im Gegensatz zu מלאכת עבודה :מלאכת אוכל נפש. So heißt es sonst für die Moëdtage, mit Ausschluss des כל מלאכת עבודה לא תעשו :י׳׳כ. Hier bedarfs dieser Beifügung nicht, weil מ׳ אוכל נפש ausdrücklich in dem Verbot ausgenommen ist. Es heißt nun nicht: אך אשר יאכל לכם וגו׳ sondern אשר יאכל לכל נפש und ist darin ein Doppeltes niedergelegt. Einmal, daß nur ,דבר השוה לכל נפש. h. nur für einen solchen Genuss ein Werk zu schaffen gestattet ist, der ein dem Durchschnitt der Menschen gewöhnlicher ist, nicht aber ein solches, das nur eximierten Ständen und Gewöhnungen angehörig, ein nur erkünsteltes Bedürfnis befriedigt (Ketubot 7 a.). Ferner der (Peßach. 46 b.) behandelte Grundsatz: dass nur das Werk an sich bei Beurteilung der Strafbarkeit in Betracht kommt, ob nämlich im Momente des Schaffens es noch am Moëdtage irgend einem Menschen zum Genusse kommen kann (הואיל ומקלעי ליה אורחים). Die Bedingungen הוא לבדו und לכם beschränken die Gestattung des Genusswerkes, dass nur für jüdische Menschen ein Genusswerk und dafür auch nur solche Hilfswerke (מכשירי אוכל נפש) geschaffen werden dürfen, deren Herstellung vor י׳׳ט nicht möglich ist. Somit spricht sich das מלאכה-Verbot an den מקרא קדש-Tagen des Moëd dahin aus: Der zum Heiligtume geladene Jude wird eben damit mit seiner Tätigkeit aus dem schaffenden Dienst der Erde herausgerufen. Geladen zu עבודת ד׳ tritt er hinaus aus עבודת הארץ. In dem Umkreis seines heiligen Mittelpunktes, von dem aus erst der Impuls zu seinem ganzen Wirken ausgehen soll, soll er erst immer den Geist und die Weihe der Kraft für seinen weltgestaltenden Lebensdienst aufs neue empfangen. Das erhöhte Bewusstsein der jüdischen Persönlichkeit gehört aber mit zu dieser erneuten Weihe, und Genussbereitung für den jüdischen Menschen ist selbst mit ein Teil des durch מקרא קדש Bedingten. Und zwar wird da der jüdische Mensch in seiner Allgemeinheit דבר השוה לכל נפש begriffen, nicht eximierte Stände und Menschen sind die Geladenen, und keine sybaritischen Menschen setzt diese Ladung voraus, und es hat sich jeder Jude nicht als den allein, sondern als den in Gemeinsamkeit mit allen jüdischen Menschen Geladenen zu begreifen, und was nur noch irgend einem jüdischen Menschen am Tage des Moëd zum Genusse kommen kann (הואיל), ist kein verpöntes Schaffen.

אך אשר יאכל לכל נפש, “However (work needed) for preparing the food for the person is permitted to be performed also on those two days. The reason why the Torah had to add this line is because it had written previously that כל מלאכה, every manner of work is prohibited on these two days, it had to spell out the exception to that rule. On another occasion (Leviticus 23,7) where the festivals are discussed, the work prohibition was mentioned already with the term מלאכת עבודה, the type of menial work performed on the week days, instead of the Torah writing: כל מלאכה “all manner of work.” The Torah wishes us to know that preparing food is not considered “menial work.” The only days on which even this kind of work is forbidden are the Sabbath and Yom Kippur, (which is also called Sabbath) [and had been forbidden in the desert before the Torah had been given as soon as the manna had fallen on the sixth day. Ed.]

לכל נפש BY EVERY BEING — even by cattle. One might think that also food may be prepared for non-Israelites! Scripture however states, (in this verse) לכם (i. e. לכל נפש לכם) for every being that belongs to you (the responsibility for feeding which belongs to you) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:16:4).

לכל נפש, “for every soul,” according to Rashi the word “for all,” includes preparing food for one’s domestic animals. When the Talmud in Beytzah folio 20, interprets the word לכם for you (pl) to include your dogs, the reason is that the dogs are able to forage for themselves and it is not making animals suffer if they are not being fed, or if food is not prepared for them on that day. Seeing that this is so, we might have thought that the domestic animals that cannot forage for themselves and depend on their owners for their food we would be able to provide for on the festivals, the Torah therefore had to write לכם, “for yourselves,” (you prepare food on the festivals but not for the gentiles (as they are able to look after themselves). Both verses are necessary as I might have thought that while it is forbidden to prepare food for a gentile independently, it is permitted a to add extra amounts for gentiles to that which you are preparing for your own family, the Torah writes לכם, i.e. only for your own family not for gentiles.

That is that He commanded us to bring two breads of chametz to the Temple with the sacrifices that come with the bread on Shavuot - which is fixed for the bringing of the sacrifice, as it appears in Leviticus - and that the priests eat the two breads, after their waving, with the lambs of the peace offering. And that is His, may He be exalted and may His name be blessed, saying, "You shall bring from your settlements bread as a wave offering" (Leviticus 23:17). And it has already been explained in Menachot (Menachot 45b) that this sacrifice that comes because of the bread is separate from the additional sacrifice of the day, and that this one is different than that one. And we ourselves have already explained this with sufficient elucidation in the commentary on Tractate Menachot (Commentary on the Mishnah). And the regulations of this commandment have already all been explained in Tractate Menachot, Chapters 4, 8 and 11. (See Parashat Emor; Mishneh Torah, Daily and Additional Offerings 8.)