English translation — בהעלותך ב

Sicha in <pg>62</pg>

A.

It is stated in the Sifri on our parshah

(on the verse<sup>1</sup>

"And on your day of rejoicing and on your festivals etc. and you shall blow with the trumpets etc.")

"And on your day of rejoicing — these are the Shabbats",

and we learn from this that Shabbat is a day of joy,

and so it is implied in the Yerushalmi Megillah<sup>2</sup>

that we learn this, that when Purim falls on Shabbat, we do not make the Purim feast on the day of Shabbat

(but after Shabbat)<sup>3</sup>

from what is written "to make<sup>4</sup>

them days of feasting and joy, that whose joy depends on the court — this excludes

[Shabbat]

whose joy depends on Heaven"<sup>5</sup>.

And behold, the Alter Rebbe wrote in his Shulchan

(in the laws of Yom Tov⁶)

"It is customary to increase in various kinds of foods on Yom Tov more than on Shabbat, regarding which joy is not stated,"

and it seems at first glance that there is no obligation of joy on Shabbat

(and unlike in the Sifrei⁷

and the aforementioned Yerushalmi),

and so the poskim agreed that there is no obligation of joy on Shabbat⁸,

and as is explicit in Tosafot Moed Katan⁹

that "regarding a Festival..

it is written about them joy; Shabbat..

not¹⁰

is joy written"¹¹

(and something similar is found in the She'iltot¹²

and elsewhere).

But it can be said that the intention of the Alter Rebbe in what he said "regarding Shabbat

(that)

joy is not stated in it" is

(not to exclude Shabbat from all matters of joy,

but)

only to negate joy like the joy of Yom Tov

(which is what the Shulchan Aruch there discusses),

for the joy of Yom Tov has a special definition,

and this definition of joy does not exist on Shabbat¹³

; and in this is highlighted the innovation of the Alter Rebbe in this paragraph regarding the definition of the joy of Yom Tov,

as below.

2.

And his words, the Alter Rebbe, in Laws of Yom Tov there¹⁴

: All seven days of Pesach and eight days of the festival, and also on Yom Tov of Shavuot, a person is obligated to be joyous and good-hearted, he and his sons and his wife and his household and all who are attached to him, and this joy is a positive commandment from the Torah, as it is said¹⁵

And you shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and your daughter etc. How do they make the little ones rejoice? They give them roasted grain and nuts, and for the women they buy them garments and jewelry according to his means, and for the men, when the Temple was standing, they would eat the meat of peace-offerings for joy, and now that the Temple is not standing, they do not fulfill the obligation of joy except with wine that <pg>63</pg>

It is said¹⁶

And wine gladdens the heart of man, but meat is not an obligation to eat now, since we do not have the meat of peace-offerings, and nevertheless there is a commandment in eating meat on Yom Tov, since joy is mentioned regarding it, and since we cannot rejoice in it with the primary joy, which is eating the meat of peace-offerings, we must rejoice in it with all other kinds of joys; therefore, the custom is to increase in kinds of foods on Yom Tov more than on Shabbat, where joy is not mentioned, and likewise, Yom Tov garments need to be better than Shabbat garments.

And behold, according to its simple meaning, it refers to the Alter Rebbe in the approach of the Rambam,

who wrote¹⁷

: Festivals..

A person is obligated to be joyful and of good heart on them, he and his sons and his wife and his household and all who are attached to him, as it is said: "And you shall rejoice in your festival" etc.

Even though the joy mentioned here is the peace-offering, as we will explain in the Laws of Chagigah, included in that joy is that he and his sons and his household should each rejoice in a manner appropriate to him.

How so? The little ones—he gives them roasted grain, nuts, and sweets; and the women—he buys them garments and fine jewelry according to his means;

and the men eat meat and drink wine, for there is no joy except with meat, and there is no joy except with wine.

And it is explained in the words of the Rambam several details regarding the obligation of joy on Yom Tov,

that also the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan Aruch adopted them in accordance with him:

a)

Also in this time,

even though we have no Temple and sacrifice of peace-offering of joy,

nevertheless there is a commandment of joy from the Torah¹⁸

(And not like the opinions that in this time the joy of the festival is rabbinic,

because "And you shall rejoice means in the peace-offerings of joy"¹⁹).

b)

Also in this time there is a commandment in eating meat on Yom Tov.

3)

This that one makes the little ones happy with nuts and roasted kernels and the women with buying clothes and jewelry according to his money is included in "And you shall rejoice on your festival" which is from the Torah.

3.

However, there is a fundamental difference between the words of the Alter Rebbe and the words of the Rambam:

The Rambam wrote plainly "And the men eat meat and drink wine, for there is no joy except with meat and there is no joy except with wine,"

And that is, both of them,

meat and wine,

are equal

(always)

in fulfilling the mitzvah of joy on Yom Tov,

but the Alter Rebbe wrote and specifies "And now that the Beis HaMikdash is not standing, one does not fulfill the obligation of joy except with wine..

But meat is not obligatory to eat now..

Nevertheless, there is a mitzvah in eating meat on Yom Tov etc.",

For even though there is a mitzvah in eating meat on Yom Tov,

nevertheless in this time, eating meat on Yom Tov is different from drinking wine,

for with wine one fulfills the obligation of joy,

but not so with meat

(that "it is not obligatory to eat now").

And now, simply one can say,

that the Alter Rebbe does not disagree with the Rambam,

rather he comes

(with this addition)

to explain his words

(and to resolve the difficulty of the Beis Yosef&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;

on the Rambam,

that "In chapter 'Arvei Pesachim'&lt;sup&gt;21&lt;/sup&gt;

: The rabbis taught: A person is obligated to gladden his sons and the members of his household on the Festival; with what does he gladden? With wine. Rabbi Yehuda says: Men with what is appropriate for them, and women with what is appropriate for them..

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael beRabbi Yosei says: When the Beis HaMikdash is standing, there is no joy except with meat, as it is said&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;

And you shall slaughter peace offerings and eat there and rejoice; and now that the Beis HaMikdash is not standing, there is no joy except with wine, as it is said&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;

And wine gladdens the heart of man..

(And the Beis Yosef wondered about the words of the Rambam)

why did he require that they eat meat and drink wine, for in the baraita it teaches that in this time there is no joy except with wine, and it implies that wine suffices without meat")

:&lt;pg&gt;64&lt;/pg&gt;

The Alter Rebbe explains the words of the Rambam,

that now that the Beis HaMikdash does not exist there is a distinction between wine and meat,

that the primary obligation of joy is with wine

(as it is stated in the Gemara),

but not so meat,

that there is no obligation to eat meat but only a mitzvah.

And superficially, this explanation in the words of the Rambam that there is also joy with meat,

its foundation

(as the Bach wrote&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;)

from Chullin&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;

and from Shabbos&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;

"And that of Eiruvei Pesachim its explanation is: at the time when the Beis HaMikdash exists the primary joy is with the meat of peace-offerings, as the verse says 'and you shall slaughter peace-offerings' etc., for there are two joys: one joy of bringing peace-offerings to Hashem, the other joy of eating meat, which is not the case with wine, for there is only one joy. But now that the Beis HaMikdash does not exist the primary joy is only with wine, as the verse says etc., but meat is not the primary joy, for we do not find a verse that states joy with meat that is not of peace-offerings. And this is the opinion of the Tosafos who wrote&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;..

With what does one rejoice? With wine, that is in this time, but at the time of the Beis HaMikdash there is no joy except with meat, end of their words. Explanation: in this time the primary joy is with wine, and at the time of the Beis HaMikdash the primary joy is only with meat."&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;.

But it is difficult to explain thus in the Rambam

(And to say that the words of the Alter Rebbe are

(only)

a commentary on the words of the Rambam²⁷),

for from the plain language of the Rambam it implies that there is no advantage in the joy of drinking wine over eating meat in general,

always, even in this time.

And furthermore: from the plain language of the Rambam it implies²⁸

that even in the time of the Temple, the mitzvah of "and you shall rejoice on your festival" obligates eating meat and drinking wine equally,

for he did not mention any distinction between the time of the Temple and this time,

and he distinguishes only between the joy of the peace-offering and the details of the joy that "in that same joy is included to rejoice, he and his sons, etc." which he goes on to detail afterwards,

that regarding men, this is eating meat and drinking wine

(and this is even through eating non-sacred meat²⁹)

— but from the words of the Alter Rebbe "and the men, in the time when the Temple stood, would eat the meat of peace-offerings" it is understood,

that the fulfillment of the mitzvah of joy in the time of the Temple was only with the meat of peace-offerings

(and there is no obligation to eat meat and drink wine)³⁰.

4.

And we must explain the difference between the Alter Rebbe and the Rambam, with a further introduction of a difference between the language of the Alter Rebbe and the language of the Rambam:

a)

In the Rambam, at the beginning of the topic, it writes "And it is obligated&lt;pg&gt;65&lt;/pg&gt;

A person must be joyful and good-hearted, he and his sons and his wife and his household and all who are attached to him, as it is said "And you shall rejoice in your festival" and continues "Even though the joy mentioned here is a peace-offering..

Included in that joy is to rejoice, he and his sons etc.",

And he details in the law after this "How so,

the little ones etc."; whereas the Alter Rebbe concludes immediately in the first section "A person is obligated to be joyful and good-hearted etc. And this joy is a positive commandment from the Torah, as it is said 'And you shall rejoice in your festival etc.'",

And in the section after this "How does one cause joy etc.",

And afterwards "And the men, at the time when the Temple existed, would eat the meat of peace-offerings for joy, and now that the Temple does not exist, one does not fulfill the obligation of joy except with wine",

That he did not mention at the beginning of the matter that the joy mentioned in the verse is a peace-offering,

Rather after he detailed the joy of each type separately³¹.

b)

The Rambam wrote "that the joy mentioned here is a peace-offering",

And the Alter Rebbe wrote "they would eat the meat of peace-offerings for joy".

5.

And it appears in all this that the view of the Alter Rebbe differs from the view of the Rambam regarding the foundation of the positive commandment of "and you shall rejoice on your festival,"

for according to the Rambam, the joy of the peace-offering and the joy of rejoicing—he and his sons and his household, each one according to what is fitting for him

(which includes that the men eat meat and drink wine),

they are two laws and two types of joy,

but the Alter Rebbe holds that they are

(law 6)

one type.

And this is the precise wording of the Rambam: "Although the joy mentioned here is the peace-offering..

included in that joy is that he and his sons etc. rejoice, each one according to what is fitting for him,"

meaning that even though this is included in the positive commandment from the Torah "and you shall rejoice on your festival,"

nevertheless it is only that it is "included in that joy,"

i.e., it is another joy that is included in that joy,

but the joy mentioned in the verse is the peace-offering.

But according to the Alter Rebbe, "this joy

(that which "a person is obligated to be joyful and good-hearted, he and his sons..

and all who are attached to him")

is

(it is the)

a positive commandment from the Torah, as it is said, "And you shall rejoice on your festival, you and your son and your daughter etc."³².

And this is that the joy of each one according to what is fitting for him,

the small ones with nuts and sweets and the women with garments and jewelry and the men etc., it is the joy mentioned in the verse "And you shall rejoice on your festival, you etc.",

except that regarding men, the manner of fulfilling the joy fitting for them is different,

for at the time when the Holy Temple existed, they would eat the meat of peace-offerings for joy, and now that there is no Holy Temple etc., the obligation of joy is with wine³³.

6.

The explanation in this:

According to the Rambam "the joy mentioned here is a peace-offering",

And this is that the obligation of joy<pg>66</pg>

It is not the eating of meat that arouses joy,

but a special joy in this, that one brings a sacrifice to Hashem,

that this itself is the act of joy of “and you shall rejoice on your festival,”

and as the Rambam wrote in the Laws of Chagigah&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

“And the joy mentioned regarding the festivals is that one offers peace-offerings beyond the festival peace-offerings, and these are called peace-offerings of the joy of the festival, as it is said, ‘And you shall slaughter peace-offerings and eat there and rejoice before Hashem your God.’”

And from the plainness of the language it implies,

that the act of joy is not only the eating of the meat of the peace-offerings&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;,

but the entirety of “peace-offering”

(which includes also its bringing before Hashem)

is the act of joy&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

of “and you shall rejoice on your festival”&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;.

And besides this, “included in that joy is to rejoice, he and his sons and his household, each one according to what is fitting for him,”

and this joy is not a practical commandment of joy,

but doing things that arouse and bring joy to each one according to what is fitting for him,

and this commandment is fulfilled by the men through eating meat and drinking wine,

also during the time of the Temple

(also with non-sacred meat)

for this eating of meat is a different type of joy,

that one eats meat and drinks wine, which bring and arouse to joy&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;.

And it is found that in the time of the Temple, people have two fulfillments of the commandment of joy: 1)

The obligation of the peace-offering — bringing the offering and eating it,

2)

Eating meat

(Chullin³⁹)

And drinking wine.

However, according to the view of the Alter Rebbe, there is one fulfillment of the positive commandment "And you shall rejoice on your festival,"

And it is that which "a person is obligated to be joyful and good-hearted — he and his sons and his wife and his household and all who are attached to him."

But among people, "the main joy" "is eating the meat of peace-offerings",

and therefore "at the time when the Temple stood they would eat the meat of peace-offerings for joy,

and now that the Temple does not stand, one fulfills the obligation of joy only with wine",

but the fulfillment of the joy of eating the meat of peace-offerings at the time of the Temple is not different in its definition from the fulfillment of the commandment of joy in our time for people.

For the foundation of the obligation is eating meat

(peace-offerings)

and drinking wine, which bring and arouse a person to joy,

and only that eating the meat of peace-offerings is "the main joy",

and as above⁴⁰.

<pg>67</pg>

And one could say,

that they differ in the explanation of the verse "and you shall rejoice on your festival" — according to the Rambam "your festival" means "your offering"⁴¹,

namely that one is obligated to rejoice in

(the bringing⁴²)

the offering⁴³,

but according to the Alter Rebbe the explanation of "

(and you shall rejoice)

on your festival" refers to the time of the festival,

that there is an obligation to rejoice on the festivals,

except that the Torah added and established that the main fulfillment of joy comes through eating the meat of peace-offerings.

7.

And based on this, it is simply understood what the Alter Rebbe concludes here: "Therefore, the custom is to increase in types of delicacies on Yom Tov more than on Shabbat, regarding which joy is not mentioned."

According to the above, then, according to the Alter Rebbe's system, the definition of the mitzvah of joy on Yom Tov is not the act of joy that pertains to Heaven,

(according to the opinion of the Rambam that the joy mentioned here is the peace-offering),

but rather joy

(natural)

that comes through eating meat and drinking wine for men,

(and for women and minors, according to what is appropriate for them, as above),

and only that the essence of this joy is the eating of peace-offering meat during the time of the Temple,

but not so the joy mentioned regarding Shabbat is "and on your joyous occasions",

and this is⁴⁴

that the essence of this joy is a joy of Heaven and not a natural joy that comes through eating meat and other things that bring joy⁴⁵.

And so it is also understood from the opinion of Rabbi N. in his Sifri there, who disagrees with the Tanna Kamma and holds that "And on the day of your rejoicing — these are the daily offerings,"

And behold, the daily offerings are burnt offerings in which there is no human consumption,

And their joy is only the joy of offering the sacrifice⁴⁶,

One can say that from this it is also understood according to the Tanna Kamma,

That which it says "And on the day of your rejoicing — these are the Sabbaths,"

This means a joy that is entirely a joy of Heaven.

8.

However,

Even though according to the above explanation of the Alter Rebbe, the definition and foundation of the joy of peace-offerings is not a joy of Heaven, but rather within the category of natural joy through things that bring and arouse to joy,

Each one according to what is fitting for him — nevertheless,

On the other hand,

Behold, specifically according to the Alter Rebbe it emerges,

That the joy of eating meat on the Festival is connected with the eating of holy things.

According to the Rambam, the joy of the men "as is proper" for them has no connection with the joy of the peace-offerings,

but it is an independent obligation that is also fulfilled by eating non-sacred meat and drinking wine

(as above),

and it is only physical joy; but the Alter Rebbe wrote explicitly

(as above)

that the main joy is eating the meat of peace-offerings,

so this is not only physical joy,

but joy&lt;pg&gt;68&lt;/pg&gt;

of a mitzvah,

and that there is holiness in it

(eating of sacred offerings).

And one can say,

that also joy in this time must be

(according to the Alter Rebbe)

in a manner that it is emphasized that it is not mere physical joy,

but it is joy of a mitzvah and Torah.

And it will be sweetened accordingly the language of the Alter Rebbe in the law that now one does not fulfill the obligation of joy except with wine,

that he brings on this the verse "as it is said 'and wine gladdens the heart of man'"

(even though the Rambam did not bring the verse)

— and one can say that his intention in this is to emphasize that the fulfillment of the obligation of joy must be founded solely on Torah,

and therefore it is only through drinking wine

(and not through "other types of joys",

like eating meat)

— because only regarding wine "we find a verse"

(in the language of the Bach)

that its nature is to gladden "the heart of man"

(but not so "meat

(that is not of peace-offerings)..

we do not find a verse that joy is written regarding it").

And it works out well also the continuation of the language of the Alter Rebbe regarding eating meat in this time,

"there is a mitzvah in eating meat on Yom Tov since joy is stated regarding it and since it is impossible for us to rejoice with it in the primary joy which is eating meat of peace-offerings we must rejoice with it through all other types of joys",

for from the length of his language it is implied,

that eating meat in this time is

(not mere joy,

but)

a kind of continuation of eating meat of peace-offerings in the time of the Temple.

And according to the above one can say,

that also the joy from eating meat in this time⁴⁷

must be in a way of holiness etc.

(and not only physical joy),

like the joy in eating holy meat⁴⁸.

And with this we can also explain the difference in the order of the laws between the Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe:

The Rambam,

after he details the types of joy and concludes "and the men eat meat and drink wine, for there is no joy except with meat and there is no joy except with wine",

continues in that same law⁴⁹

"And when he eats and drinks, he is obligated to feed the convert, the orphan, and the widow, etc. But one who locks the doors of his courtyard and eats and drinks, he and his sons and his wife, and does not feed and give drink to the poor and the bitter of soul—this is not the joy of a mitzvah but the joy of his belly, and concerning these it is said, etc."

However, in Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe,

even though he also brings these laws,

he did not write them in that same section,

but after several sections⁵⁰

(some of which⁵¹

have their source also in the Rambam, except that in the Rambam they came after this law⁵²).

And according to the above it is explained,

that according to the view of the Rambam there are here two joys: a)

The joy of the peace-offering sacrifice, which is not a natural joy but an act of joy of Heaven.

b)

The joy of each and every one,

which is a natural joy,

and it is explained in law 18,

and therefore the Rambam needs to add immediately in that law regarding this natural joy: "And when he eats and drinks, he is obligated to feed, etc. But one who locks [his doors] etc., this is not a joy of a mitzvah but the joy of his belly, etc."

But according to the view of the Alter Rebbe,

that even the joy of each person as is fitting for him is not a simple natural joy,

but rather it is a part

(and offshoot)

of "the essence of joy which is the eating of peace-offering meat,"

namely, that also in eating meat and drinking wine it is felt that the essence of joy is a continuation of what they used to fulfill at the time when "the Holy Temple existed

(that)

they would eat peace-offering meat for joy" — therefore,

even though it is necessary to say and inform us the law&lt;pg&gt;69&lt;/pg&gt;

that "when he eats and drinks, he is obligated to feed the convert and the orphan and the widow..."

"But one who locks the doors of his courtyard etc. and does not feed and give drink etc., this is not a joy of a mitzvah etc.,"

nevertheless, it is not to be added in the same category with the actual obligation and mitzvah of joy of the Festival.

9.

Explanation of the dispute between the Rambam and the Alter Rebbe in the inwardness of the matters:

In the discourses of the Alter Rebbe it is explained⁵³

the reason that the joy of Yom Tov is through the offering of the peace-offerings of joy: the essence of joy is to rejoice in Him, blessed be He,

as the statement⁵⁴

"And may all Israel rejoice in You",

that although such joy must be all year,

nevertheless Yom Tov is called "appointed times for joy",

that then the joy of the mitzvah is with greater excellence and greater strength due to the addition of the revelation of light,

except that in order that the revelation of joy in G-d should also be in the animal soul,

which conceals and obscures the G-dly spark in the soul of man and prevents the joy in G-d,

they offered peace-offerings of joy, this being in order to also gladden the animal soul.

But in this itself,

the effect on the animal soul,

can be explained in two ways: a)

The essence of the joy of Yom Tov,

which is the joy in Him, blessed be He,

is only in the G-dly soul,

and the effect of the offering of the peace-offerings is only to remove the concealment and hiding that comes from the animal soul,

which prevents the revelation of the joy of the G-dly soul.

b)

The effect on the animal soul is not only to remove the hindrance in it,

but that it itself will also feel the joy in G-d.

And it can be said,

that this is the difference

(in the inner dimension)

between the view of the Rambam and the view of the Alter Rebbe:

According to the Rambam,

the joy mentioned in the verse "And you shall rejoice in your festival" "is a peace-offering sacrifice",

that this is not natural and physical joy but only joy in G‑d,

and it is the joy of the G‑dly soul in Him; except that "included in that joy is to rejoice..

each one according to what is fitting for him..

they eat meat and drink wine etc.",

because⁵⁵

so that there should not be an impediment from the animal soul to the joy of the G‑dly soul,

they also need a specific action to nullify its opposition to the joy of the festival,

and this is by making it rejoice with natural and physical joy,

"each one according to what is fitting for him".

But the view of the Alter Rebbe is,

that the joy of the festival must be in a manner that also the animal soul feels the primary joy of the joy of the festival,

which is the joy in Him,

and therefore he holds that "And you shall rejoice in your festival" means through eating peace-offering meat,

that in this there are two extremes: the joy is from eating meat,

which causes natural joy in the body and the animal soul,

but together with this it is the eating of holy things,

that in this eating is felt a matter of holiness — and that is,

that also in the animal soul is felt the matter of joy in Him.

And one could say,

that the Rambam and the Alter Rebbe follow in this their respective approaches:

The view of the Rambam⁵⁶

is⁵⁷,

that the World to Come has no eating, etc.,

that the ultimate perfection of the reward is for souls without bodies⁵⁸,

and therefore he holds that the joy mentioned here is the peace-offering,

which is not a joy connected to the body and the animal soul, but rather a divine joy of the soul<pg>70</pg>

(And the joy of the body and the animal soul in eating meat and drinking wine is only so that they will not disturb the joy of the G‑dly soul,

as above).

But the ruling in Chassidus⁵⁹

is according to the opinion⁵⁶

of the Ramban⁶⁰

that the ultimate perfection of the reward is for souls in bodies specifically,

the intention is to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms⁶¹,

and that the ultimate and perfection of the revelation will be specifically at the time of the resurrection of the dead for the soul in the body,

and this is because the service during the six thousand years that the world exists and especially during the time of exile is only to effect revelation of the soul,

but also the refinement and purification of the body and the animal soul; and likewise it is also regarding the joy of Yom Tov,

that the main joy to rejoice in G‑d is not only for the soul, but the intention is to effect this joy also in the animal soul.

And therefore, according to the Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch, the definition of joy is joy that pertains to the body,

drinking wine and eating meat,

and also the foundation of joy and the essence of joy is not the joy of the peace-offering, but rather the eating of the meat of the peace-offering,

for the joy of G-d must be felt and penetrate the physical body literally.

(From the talk of Simchat Torah 5740)