Chasydyzm do Wyjścia 5:1

In the Mishnah (Taanit 4:8): Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said, "There were never such [joyous] holidays for Israel as the fifteenth of Av, etc." And afterward in the Gemara, they gave reasons for this, why there were not [other] holidays like this. But where do we find a hint in the Torah about this, that the fifteenth of Av is called a holiday? And it appears to me that it is from that which it is stated (Judges 21:19-21), "Behold, there is the festival of the Lord from year to year in Shilo, etc. behold, if the daughters of Shilo come out to dance in the dances, etc." And it does not specify which festival was from year to year. But the Radak (R. David Kimchi) explains it to be about Youm Kippur, about which the mishnah mentions, "And the daughters of Jerusalem went out and danced in the vineyards." But where have we have found that Yom Kippur is called a festival? Rather it is only called a holy convocation. As only the three pilgrimage festivals - the festival of matzot, etc - are called a festival (chag). As chag is always a term of joy. For that is why in the language of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, [the word,] chag by itself [always refers to] the festival of Sukkot; since it is the time of our joy. And it is like they said (Chagigah 10b), "chogu chaga" - which Rashi explains, "to increase joy." And that which Tosafot said - that "some say that it is a term of dancing, as in, 'they reeled (yachogu) and moved like a drunkard'" (Psalms 107:27) - also there is it a term of joy, since the heart of a drunkard is merry on account of the wine. And so is it written (1 Samuel 30:16), "eating, drinking and celebrating (chogegim) with all the spoils." That [means] that they were rejoicing with the spoils by way of eating and drinking, and dancing was also included. So it is distant to say that it is hinting to Yom Kippur. Hence it appears that the intention of "the festival of the Lord in Shilo, etc." is about the fifteenth of Av. For none of the festivals are called the festival of the Lord. And even [about] Sukkot, which is the time of our joy and on which the commandment of joy is explicit - it is written (Deuteronomy 16:14), "And you shall rejoice in your holiday." [Hence it embodies] the joy of Israel, in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. And we have only found Aharon saying, about the seventeenth of Tammuz, "It shall be a festival for the Lord tomorrow" (Exodus 32:5). For the forty first days - upon which our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, was on the mountain - ended then; and he said that he would descend from the mountain then with the two tablets in his hands. So were it not for the debacle (the golden calf), it would have then been the festival of the Lord. For 'the day of the joy of His heart' of the Holy One, blessed be He, was supposed to be then, like at the giving of the Torah. And it is like it was stated in Egypt (Exodus 5:1), "Send My people, so they may celebrate a festival (veyachogu) to Me in the desert." Yet we did not find that the Israelites made a festival in the desert. And if it is about the three pilgrim festivals that they observed - had they not already observed the festival of matzot in Egypt as well? Rather the intended content of, "so they may celebrate a festival to Me in the desert," is about the giving of the Torah (the tablets). And if there had not been the debacle with the calf and the tablets had not been broken, the seventeenth of Tammuz would have then been the festival of the Lord - for it is 'the day of the joy of His heart.' For then, what our Sages, may their memory be blessed, expounded about the verse, "engraved (charut) upon the tablets" (Exodus 32:16), [that the Torah would bring about] freedom (cheirut) from the angel of death and from the subjugation of the nations and that the words of the Torah would be inscribed into the heart of the Israelites, would have then come to pass. However after the debacle, [the less potent section of] the verse, "on the day of his wedding," was expounded about Yom Kippur - since it is the day upon which the second tablets were given. As there was not so much freedom or inscription upon the heart with the second tablets. So, "and upon the day of the joy of his heart," was [resultantly] only expounded about the building of the Temple - may it be built speedily in our days. As only then will everything be fixed.

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1) This can be explained according to what is written in the verse "I was asleep, But my heart was wakeful." (Song of Songs 5:2) This is the idea - every member of Israel should wake with great joy and powerful desire in the middle of the night to contemplate the following. If a king of flesh and blood wanted one to make him a crown, and they were able, and they knew that the king would take great pleasure and delight in this crown, and due to his joy the king would make them one of his intimate ministers, imagine with what alacrity they would arise, rejoicing and glad, to speedily make the crown. They would wipe the sleep from their eyes and neither rain, sleet, ice nor snow would stop them. All the more so this is true of the songs and praises from which a crown is made for the Kinng, king of kings, when they are a product of one's heartfelt will. The verse cries out "worship the LORD in gladness..." (Psalms 100:2) and it is explained in the holy Zohar 'even one who has sinned before their master and must return in repentance, confessing in brokenhearted bitterness, nevertheless must also fulfill "worship the Lord in gladness."' (Zohar 3:8a) The root of the matter is thus - when one prays the midnight fixing (tikkun chatzot) or when they confess, asking for pardon and forgiveness, they should do so with great weeping and bitterness of heart. In the same manner, when one says the songs and praises which were written by the sweet singer of Israel, their soul should ignite with tremendous joy that they merit to make a crown for the King, king of kings - just as King David said them in joy. It is also true that when one is occupied with Torah that they should be in a state of great joy. It is explained in the Reishit Chochmah (Sha'ar HaAhavah ch. 10) that one who desires to bring joy to their soul should seclude themselves for part of the day and contemplate the greatness of the letters of the four-lettered Name of God. A proof for this can be found in what David said "I have placed the Lord (four-lettered name before me continually...So my heart rejoices, my whole being exults..." (Psalms 16:8-9) This second part refers to the soul (neshama) because the neshama is an emanation from the four-lettered Name as it says "You are children of the Lord your God..." (Deuteronomy 14:1) Therefore when one contemplates the four-lettered name, the soul is illuminated and shines with a wondrous brilliance - this is joy. The power of this illumination has the strength to plant its sparks even with one's flesh, so that "...even my body rests secure," (Psalms 16:9) meaning that no rot will rule over it. These are his holy words, see there further. According to this our verse is explained 'Thus says the LORD (the four-lettered Name), the God of Israel, from whom the souls of Israel emanate, Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me - this is as its says regarding Sukkot "You shall rejoice in your festival..." (Deuteronomy 16:14)