English translation — אמור א

Sicha 1<pg>127</pg>

A.

The order of the festivals in the portion of the festivals

(in our portion)

is according to the order of the months that begin with the month of Nissan

("It is the first to you, etc."¹)

: after the introduction of the commandment of Shabbat²

it explains the commandments of the holiday of Pesach³

(the 15th of Nissan),

the commandment of offering the Omer⁴

(the 16th of it),

the counting of the Omer⁵,

the offering of the two loaves of the holiday of Shavuot and the holy convocation of it⁶,

Rosh Hashanah⁷

Yom Kippur⁸

and Sukkot⁹.

And according to this order, Rabbeinu HaKadosh arranged several tractates in the Order of Moed,

as the Rambam wrote¹⁰

that "Rabbeinu HaKadosh followed the order of the Festivals in Emor"¹¹

— therefore he began with Tractate Shabbat,

and after Tractate Eruvin

("which is related to Shabbat"¹²)

he arranged Tractate Pesachim that "it is..

the second commandment after Shabbat in the section of Festivals etc."¹².

However, the Rambam in the Book of the Hand,

in the Book of Times which includes "all the commandments that are at fixed times such as Shabbat and Festivals"¹³,

arranged the laws differently — at the beginning of the Book of Times, the Laws of Shabbat and Eruvin

(as in the Mishnah),

and afterwards the Laws of the Rest of the Tenth

(Yom Kippur),

the Rest of the Festival,

Chametz and Matzah,

Shofar, Sukkah, and Lulav etc.

And the Magid Mishnah wrote

in explanation of this order,

that he began from the laws of Shabbat because "the commandment of Shabbat is stated in the Tablets with great publicity,

and because it is more stringent than the others..

and because Shabbat is frequent..

and because the reason for its commandment is the renewal of the world and it is a fundamental principle included in the faith of the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him"; and afterwards he arranged "the laws of Eruvin,

and it follows after the laws of Shabbat and its subject is related to Shabbat..

the laws of the rest of Yom Kippur and it would have been proper to precede them to the others because it is more stringent than the others..

and because it is a day of atonement..

and because the prohibition of work in it is equal to the prohibition of work on Shabbat..

it is proper to attach its laws to the laws of Shabbat..

the laws of the rest of Yom Tov,

and it includes the three pilgrimage festivals and Rosh Hashanah because the rest in them is equal and it is proper that the general thing that includes all of them should precede the particular thing..

the laws of Chametz and Matzah,

now our master came to explain in detail what is obligatory on each Yom Tov besides the rest,

and he began with the explanation of the matters of the festival of Pesach because it is mentioned in the Torah first,

and because the month of Nisan in which Pesach occurs is first to the months of the year,

and because in the matter of chametz there is the punishment of karet and the more stringent comes first..

the laws of Shofar and Sukkah and Lulav,

and their subject is in the seventh month..

and they are positive commandments etc."

[And afterwards he continues to explain the reason for the order of the rest of the laws of Sefer Zemanim: Shekalim,

Sanctification of the Month,

Fast Days,

(Torah commandments,

and afterwards Rabbinic commandments —)

Megillah and Chanukah].

&lt;pg&gt;128&lt;/pg&gt;

And superficially it requires explanation: That he did not bring in Sefer Zemanim the laws of the bringing of the Omer and the Two Loaves and the bringing of the sacrifices of all the festivals that are in "the section of the festivals",

is understood,

because the Rambam arranged them according to their subject in Sefer Avodah and Korbanot; but regarding the laws of the essence of the festivals and the pilgrimage festivals,

since the content of this book is as its name "Sefer Zemanim" — "commandments that are at fixed times" — in what way are the above reasons in the Magid Mishnah so powerful as to arrange the laws of the festivals in a manner different from how the festivals are arranged in the Written Torah

(and in the Mishnah)?

Also needs explanation in that which he delayed the laws of Sanctification of the New Moon after all the laws of the Festivals — close to the end of the Book of Seasons.

And in particular that the determination of all the festivals depends on the Sanctification of the New Moon,

And as the Rambam wrote&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;

"It is a positive commandment from the Torah upon the court that they calculate and know etc. and send and inform the rest of the people on which day is the New Moon so that they know on which day are the festivals, as it is said&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;

which you shall call them holy convocations"&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;,

And if so, it would have been proper for the Rambam to preface the laws of Sanctification of the New Moon before all the laws of the festivals in the Book of Seasons

(That is, also before the laws of Rest of the Tenth)&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;,

And as it is in the Written Torah,

That before the portion of the festivals the verses preface "which you shall call them holy convocations"

(The above in the Rambam),

"These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall call them in their appointed time"&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;.

And beyond this: In the counting of the commandments at the beginning of the Book of the Hand

(And likewise in the Book of Commandments)

Indeed the Rambam counts the commandments according to their order in the year,

And as their order in the Written Torah in the portion of the festivals&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;,

Begins from Shabbat&lt;sup&gt;21&lt;/sup&gt;,

And afterwards the commandments of Passover together with the commandments of rest in it&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;,

Counting of the Omer,

Rest of Shavuot,

Rosh Hashanah&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;

And Yom Kippur

(And the fast in it),

Rest on the first and eighth of Sukkot,

&lt;pg&gt;129&lt;/pg&gt;

The commandment of sukkah and lulav²⁴.

And the commandment of sanctification of the month comes before the commandments of all the festivals²⁵,

also of Shabbat,

and as in the Written Torah that the verse¹⁶

"The appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim them as holy convocations" also comes before the commandment of Shabbat in our section²⁶.

2.

And this will be understood by prefacing an explanation of the words of the verse that the Rambam prefaced before Order of Zemanim — "I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart"²⁷.

And we need to understand: it is simple,

that the verses that the Rambam prefaces before each book of the books of the Yad,

they are like an introduction and opening to the

(content)

of the laws in the book²⁸.

And superficially,

the content of this verse

(not only is it not related to the laws in the Book of Seasons,

but)

it is a matter opposite to the content of the book: The Book of Seasons contains "all the commandments that are at fixed times",

namely commandments and laws whose obligation is not constant but at specific times — Shabbat Yom Kippur Festivals Shofar Sukkah Lulav etc.; whereas the verse "Your testimonies are my heritage forever" indicates and emphasizes the matter of constancy in the commandments,

that they are an eternal heritage and inheritance,

the opposite of the emphasis in these commandments that they are at fixed times.

And furthermore: the Rambam himself emphasizes²⁹

that this is the distinction between the commandments of the Book of Love and the commandments in the Book of Seasons,

that in the Book of Love "I will include in it all the commandments that are constant that we were commanded in them to love the Omnipresent and remember Him always, such as the reading of Shema and prayer and tefillin and the priestly blessing and circumcision included, because it is a sign in our flesh to remember always at a time when there are neither tefillin nor tzitzit etc.",

but not so in the Book of Seasons that "I will include in it all the commandments that are at fixed times",

as above³⁰.

And since the Rambam himself defines the distinction between the Book of Times and the book before it in that the commandments in it are not constant — it will be most puzzling why he prefaced this book with the verse that emphasizes the constancy of the commandments — "Your testimonies are my heritage forever."

[And it is forced to say that it is because of the end of the verse "for they are the joy of my heart,"

that festivals³¹

are times of joy³²,

for this is not the content of the commandments in this book,

according to what the Rambam himself said as above,

and it is obvious that this does not apply to the commandments of the entire book like Yom Kippur,

Shekalim and others].

And it can be said that in this verse the Rambam comes to define the essence of the Book of Seasons,

and this also explains the order of the halachos in this book,

as follows.

3.

Explanation of the matter:

Mitzvos whose obligation is at a specific time have two aspects: the application of the mitzvah upon the time,

that this time has this mitzvah,

and the application of the obligation upon the person.

And it can be said that corresponding to these two aspects are the two orders mentioned above: from the perspective of the application upon the time it fits to arrange the obligations according to the order of the times of the year,

and from the perspective of the application of the obligation upon the person, the obligation upon the person is a constant obligation,

therefore the order of the halachos is according to their content

(as per the interpretation of the Hameiri and the like).

And this is the difference between the order that is in the Written Torah

(and in the Mishnah)

to the order of the Rambam:

In the section of the Festivals in the Torah, the matter of the times is emphasized — that there are known times that are distinct and special from the rest of the days of the year,

and as a result of their superiority, a person must call them holy convocations,

and to fulfill in them the obligations and commandments that pertain to them.

Thus the introduction to the portion of the festivals is "The appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim them holy convocations, these are My appointed times,"

"These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim them in their appointed time"

(And it emphasizes the fixed time of each festival — "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to the Lord, and on the fifteenth day of this month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord, etc."&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;,

etc.),

That is, there are special days that are distinguished from the rest of the days,

"The appointed times of the Lord,"

And consequently, a person must fulfill the commandments in them,

Prohibition of work and fulfillment of the commandment of eating matzah, etc.

However, the laws of the festivals as they are in the book of the Rambam,

In a book of laws and obligations of a person — their essence is in the manner of obligations of the person: resting on Shabbos,

Resting on Yom Kippur,

Resting on Yom Tov,

Fulfillment of the commandments — the laws of chametz and matzah,

Shofar, sukkah, and lulav,

Without emphasizing the uniqueness of the time

(Yom Kippur,

The festival of Passover and the like)

That causes the obligations and warnings of the person.

And furthermore one could say,

that the definition of the obligation upon the person

(in the book of laws)

is — that there are certain obligations of the person³⁵

: refraining from melacha,

refraining from eating and drinking,

fulfillment of specific commandments³⁶

— and the Torah established specific times in which a person must fulfill these commandments and prohibitions

(in practice)³⁷.

<pg>131</pg>

And therefore the laws of the festivals came not according to the order of times but according to their order in content,

in the fulfillment of the person,

as the interpretation of the Hamechaneh:

Their beginning is in the warnings and prohibitions,

the laws of Shabbat and the laws of the fast of the Tenth [Yom Kippur] "Any labor for which one is liable for its intentional violation on Shabbat with stoning, one is liable for its intentional violation on the Tenth with karet, etc."³⁸,

and the laws of the rest of Yom Tov "The rest of³⁹

All of them

(of "Six days"³⁹

: the first and seventh of Pesach, the first and eighth of Sukkot,

the day of the holiday of Shavuot, the day of Rosh Hashanah)

are equal that they are forbidden in any work of labor except for work that is for the purpose of food, etc."

And afterwards he explains the obligations and fulfillments of the commandments that are in the festivals.

4.

And this is what the Rambam prefaced at the beginning of Sefer Zemanim with the verse "I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart",

for in this verse is defined and emphasized this foundation of temporal obligations:

When it is discussed about commandments whose obligation is constant and regular,

there is no need for proofs from verses that have in them the matter of constancy;

But when the discussion is in the Book of Times — commandments that are at fixed and known times such as Shabbat and festivals,

and not commandments whose obligation is constant — emphasizes the Rambam,

that you should not say that all of these obligations are nothing but a result of the times,

but rather they are also constant obligations,

"I have inherited Your testimonies forever",

and as above,

that according to the Rambam the definition of the commandments of these times,

is a constant obligation upon the person,

that the prohibition of resting on Shabbat and Yom Tov for example "enslaves" the person "forever"⁴⁰,

in a manner that with the person there is the enslavement of the matter of rest in a constant manner.

And this is also the precision "I have inherited Your testimonies forever",

that "like an inheritance they are to me..

that I am in possession of them like a person who is in possession of his inheritance forever, that I will not depart from them for one hour that I will not hold them"⁴¹.

And this is also what continues "for they are the joy of my heart": if the obligations of the festivals were only a result of the time,

then this is a matter that is not constant,

but because they are "the joy of my heart" of the person,

that a person feels joy in his heart about this that he was commanded in them,

then this matter is not only at the time of their actual fulfillment but "I have inherited Your testimonies forever",

as above.

5.

And one should add in the content the matter of the intention of the laws of the commandments of the Book of Seasons,

according to the precision of the expression "Your testimonies",

as it is known that Shabbos and Yom Tov are commandments that are in the category of "testimony",

and in the language of the Rambam

(at the end of the Laws of Shabbos)

"and the Shabbos is the sign between the Holy One, blessed be He, and us forever"⁴²

(and likewise regarding the festivals "that all of them are Shabbosos of Hashem"⁴³).

And one must explain the precision of the language of the Rambam "and the Shabbos is the sign between the Holy One, blessed be He, and us forever" — that this, that the sign of Shabbos is forever, is not a secondary matter,

but rather this is necessitated from the essence of the matter that Shabbos is a "sign" and "testimony",

for true "testimony" — behold, the determination of the reality through it is forever

(for through the testimony it is determined forever that such was the reality),

and so it is regarding the "testimony" of "Shabbos",

that the sign<pg>132</pg>

Between Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, that through the Shabbat exists not only on the day of Shabbat,

but it is a sign "forever",

which exists in a constant manner.

And it follows,

that the definition of "world" — constancy — in these commandments of the book of Times,

is not only because of the obligation of the person,

that the obligation upon him is constant,

but also because the content of these commandments exists "forever",

and simply — that the effect of the commandments in these times also affects all the time in between,

Shabbat — on all six weekdays⁴⁴,

Yom Tov — on the time between Yom Tov and Yom Tov⁴⁵,

Shvitat Asor — on the entire year until the next Shvitat Asor.

And so it is with the action of fulfilling the commandments that are in specific times: the commandment of telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the other commandments and actions in the laws of chametz and matzah,

their matter and content is that they should remember the Exodus from Egypt throughout the entire year,

and as it is in its simple sense,

that the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt every day,

comes and is drawn from the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt in speech and deed on the night of Passover⁴⁶.

And likewise with the commandments of shofar, sukkah, and lulav,

that these actions influence and affect the entire year.

And it is most emphasized in the words of the Rambam at the end of the Laws of Lulav,

that he concludes regarding joy "that a person should rejoice in the performance of the commandment and in the love of God who commanded them" which is "great service..

And whoever prevents himself from this joy etc.'".

For at first glance: behold "more than what our teacher

(the Rambam)

was wise in the laws of the Torah etc. he also composed, investigated, and established in the excellence of his arrangement in his books"⁴⁷,

and every law that he wrote in his book he wrote in its proper place⁴⁸.

And behold the obligation of joy in the performance of the commandments and in the love of God is not relevant to the laws of sukkah and lulav, and why did the Rambam insert it here?

Rather, the power for the joy of a commandment and the love of God that must be in a person always

[for he must love God always⁴⁹,

and to fulfill His commandments — for "I was created to serve my Maker"⁵⁰],

is drawn from the joy that the Rambam explains there previously⁵¹

— "the great joy" of the festival of Sukkot.

And the Rambam informs us,

that this is not only a law in the joy of a mitzvah,

which comes and is drawn from the "extra joy" that is in the festival of Sukkot,

but

(also)

on the other hand,

that the joy with which a person rejoices in the performance of a mitzvah is a law in the laws of Sukkah and Lulav,

namely a detail within the content of these laws,

that is: the completeness of the definition of the joy of Yom Tov,

and especially the extra joy of the festival of Sukkot,

it is when the festival acts and influences in a person an extra joy of mitzvah always all the days.

6.

And more deeply it can be said,

that the definition of "forever" in these mitzvot is not only regarding the fulfillment of the person,

that their fulfillment at this time influences the person's deed throughout the entire year,

but also regarding the essence of the object of "time."

With this is resolved why the Rambam called this book "Sefer Zmanim" and not "Sefer Moed

(im)

",

for at first glance what reason did he change from the name as it is in the Mishnah,

Seder Moed,

and especially that "Moed" indicates a special time — unlike "zman"

(zmanim)

is something that is constant and exists inherently in creation.

And one can say the explanation in this:&lt;pg&gt;133&lt;/pg&gt;

In mitzvos whose fulfillment depends on time — there are two aspects

(in the manner of the above)

: a)

that the time exists and is distinguished in itself as a particular day,

Shabbos and Yom Tov

(through sanctification by the court and the like)

and this time causes the person who is in this time to fulfill the mitzvos that are in it,

b)

that the main thing is the obligation of the mitzvos of the person,

only that their actual fulfillment is conditioned on this time,

and according to this aspect, seemingly there is no direct connection between the person and the time.

And this is what the Rambam informs us in that he arranged the halachos not according to the order of their fixed times in the order of the year

(as in the Written Torah),

and wrote mainly the aspect of the obligation of the person in this,

and on the other hand he calls the book by the name "Sefer Zemanim"

(also not "Sefer Mo'adim")

— to emphasize,

that although in their essence they are obligations upon the person,

nevertheless the greatness of the virtue of the fulfillment of the mitzvos of the person is great,

that it affects the time,

and even more — that it affects the very essence of the time,

and that is to say, not only that he fulfills mitzvos in a time that is already distinguished from other times — days of Mo'ed,

but that he affects the very essence of the time&lt;sup&gt;52&lt;/sup&gt;,

even in time that is not holy with the holiness of Shabbos and Yom Tov.

And it is most emphasized in this that the Rambam did not precede the laws of Sanctification of the New Month before all the commandments that are dependent on fixed times,

And together with this he calls it the Book of Times,

To inform us that the main innovation in the Book of Times is not

(only)

this that the court sanctifies months and intercalates years,

That the day of the New Moon and the days of the Festivals are sanctified⁵³,

That these days are distinguished from the rest of the days of the year in their sanctity,

Rather the action performed on the object itself of time

(which is not a festival),

And it is through the fulfillment of the commandments of the person⁵⁴.

And it can be said that this is the explanation

(the inner meaning)

of the verse that the Rambam brings "I have inherited Your testimonies forever",

That through the fulfillment of the commandments of "Your testimonies" in the manner of "I have inherited" he thereby effects "forever",

Meaning that he renews and adds to the very essence of time,

For time itself, its essence is changes and division⁵⁵,

And man, through the fulfillment of the commandments that are dependent on these times,

Makes time considered as something⁵⁶,

That he effects in it permanence and perpetuity⁵⁷.

(From talks of Erev Chag HaShavuos 5744,

5745)