Yom Tov (יום טוב) — the festivals

Core definition

Yom Tov ("a good day") is the festival's inner reality: the mochin (supernal intellects) of Imma (Binah) shining below. "The difference between Shabbos and Yom Tov is known: Shabbos is the mochin of Abba (Chochmah); Yom Tov is the mochin of Imma (Binah)" [66495/maamar_029 :: Summary — p. קפז]. The hint is in "אלה מועדי ה'" — "mother," the initials spelling "ami" (my mother) [66495/maamar_029 :: Summary — p. קפז; 58836/maamar_029 :: §41].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Chochmah vs. Binah. Binah is apprehension — "grasping the intellect in the brain's vessel through details, questions, and answers" — while Chochmah "is still above apprehension: a general point, a flashing lightning that is not grasped unless brought into Binah. Hence vessels are principally in Binah (letters are felt only in apprehension), and Binah is called 'bones' — the body to Chochmah's vitality" [66495/maamar_029 :: Summary — p. קפז]. This is also the difference of Shabbos and Yom Tov in the "nearness/distance of place": Shabbos is where "the revelation of the light of Ein Sof shines in the aspect of 'nearness of place,'" while Yom Tov is "where the light of Ein Sof shines in the aspect of 'distance of place'" [66495/maamar_029 :: §818–821].

Simcha vs. oneg. "Because Shabbos is the mochin of Abba, which is the aspect of delight (oneg), while Yom Tov, which is the aspect of the mochin of Imma, is the aspect of 'appointed times for joy'" [31674/maamar_026 :: §227–230]. The place of joy is in Binah ("אם הבנים שמחה"): "Therefore the festivals, which are in Binah as is known, are called 'appointed times for joy'" [31674/maamar_026 :: §12–14].

Named after the light. "It is called 'Yom Tov' after the aspect of the light, 'that it was good' (כי טוב) — which is the light created on the first day, which was hidden away (נגנז)" — per the Ramaz [66495/maamar_029 :: §860–863].

Chochmah within Yom Tov. "Nevertheless, in every Yom Tov — although it is from the aspect of Binah — nevertheless, the light of Chochmah is also enclothed in it"; "the holiness of Yom Tov depends on the holiness of Shabbos" — "in Yom Tov too there is of the aspect of Shabbos" [66495/maamar_029 :: §824–860; 58836/maamar_029 :: §867–909].

The mochin's revelation in the Nukva. "On every Yom Tov there is the revelation of the mochin of Abba v'Imma (או״א — Father and Mother) in the Nukva — but through Ze'ir Anpin"; this is Yackov and Yitzchak's mochin drawn to the Nukva — unlike Rosh Hashanah, where the mochin's revelation for Malchus's building is not through ZA [58846/maamar_002 :: §317; Overview].

"Morrow of the Shabbos." The Torah writes "from the morrow of the Shabbos" though the intent is "the morrow of Yom Tov," "giving the Sadducees room to err" — precisely because Yom Tov's holiness depends on Shabbos's [66495/maamar_029 :: Intro; 58836/maamar_029 :: Overview].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources