Halakhah su Deuteronomio 16:14

The juxtaposition in a single verse of the commandments concerning the peace-offering and the obligation regarding rejoicing is regarded by the Gemara as establishing the principle that the "rejoicing" in the festival that is explicitly commanded (Deuteronomy 16:14) is that of partaking of the meat of the sacrifice.¹⁶According to most authorities, the parallel obligation on Shabbat is oneg or “delight” and does not mandate the eating of meat as an absolute obligation. See sources cited by R. Shalom Mordecai Schwadron, Da‘at Torah, Yoreh De‘ah 1:10. Yoreh De’ah 1:10, and Sedei Hemed, Asifat Dinim, ma’arekhet dining, sec. 1.

However, Rambam, Sefer ha-Mizvot, mizvot aseh, no. 54, adopts an entirely different position: "Included in His statement 'and you shall rejoice in your festivals' (Deuteronomy 16:14) is that which [the Sages] said to rejoice in them with [various] forms of rejoicing and [because] of this to eat meat, to drink wine, to don new clothes and to distribute fruits and sweets to children and women." Even more explicit is Rambam's statement in Hilkhot Yom Tov 6:18. After codifying the requirement of eating the meat of the festival-offering during the days of the Temple, Rambam turns to an explication of other ramifications of the commandment to rejoice in the festival: "How [is the commandment fulfilled]? Children are given parched corn, nuts and sweets; for women one buys beautiful clothes and ornaments in accordance with one's financial ability; and men eat meat and drink wine, for there is no rejoicing other than with meat and there is no rejoicing other than with wine." This view is also adopted by Tur Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Hayyim 529.

Bet Yosef, Oraḥ Hayyim 529, questions the requirement posited by Rambam and Tur regarding eating meat on the festival since the Gemara seems to indicate that, in our day, the commandment is satisfied by merely drinking wine.¹⁷Cf., R. Moshe Sternbuch, Mo’adim u-Zemanim, I, no. 29, and VII, no. 111, notes 1 and 2. The statement of Hagigah 8a " 'and you shall rejoice in your festivals' (Deuteronomy 16:14): to include all forms of rejoicing," is apparently understood by Rambam as creating a normative obligation beyond that posited in Pesaḥim 109a with regard to partaking of the meat of the festival-offering. Therefore, maintains Rambam, when meat of sacrificial animals is not available, ordinary meat must be eaten for purposes of fulfilling the commandment of rejoicing.¹⁸Cf., also, Bah, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 529. It is quite evident that the Sages maintained that the consumption of ordinary meat gives rise to joy since the Gemara, Sanhedrin 70a, declares that it is forbidden to eat meat or to drink wine on the day preceding the ninth of Ab.¹⁹It is certainly arguable that, even according to Rambam, a man who genuinely finds meat repulsive is not required to eat meat on Yom Tov. The obligation to eat meat subsequent to the destruction of the Temple is based upon the derivation “to include all forms of rejoicing” formulated in Ḥagigah 8a. The specific forms of rejoicing are not uniform to all people as evidenced by the fact that women are not obligated to eat meat but to rejoice with new clothes and jewelry. This halakhic provision reflects the judgment of the Sages that women do not derive the same pleasure from eating meat as is experienced by men. A male who does not derive pleasure from eating meat, arguably, must seek other forms of rejoicing. Cf. R. Moshe ha-Levi Steinberg, Ḥukkat ha-Ger (Jerusalem, 5741), Kuntres ha-Teshuvot, no. 1. This prohibition was later extended to prohibit the eating of meat beginning with the first day of Ab. However, if all appropriate forms of rejoicing are mandatory, why does the Gemara, Pesaḥim 109a, speak of wine as obligatory only in our day, but not when the meat of the festival offerings was eaten? Yam shel Shelomoh, Beizah 2:5, suggests that, when the Temple stood, rejoicing was possible without the inebriating effect of wine; only in exile is wine necessary to dispel melancholy and to generate joyousness in order to restore faith that God has not forsaken us. Yam shel Shelomoh fails to explain why Pesaḥim 71a speaks of an obligation with regard to drinking "old wine" prior to the destruction of the Temple.