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Divrei Torah on the weekly portions
The A-T BA-SH Code "And God spoke to Moshe, telling him to speak to the Israelites and say to them: There are special times that you must declare as sacred holidays to God. The following are My special times" (VaYikra 23:1-2). The Torah advances through all the Jewish festivals until the conclusion in verse 37: "The above are God’s special times which you must declare as sacred holidays; bringing a fire offering to God … each depending on the particular day". Curiously, the Torah then revisits the festival of Succot in verse 39: "But on the 15th day of the 7th month, when you harvest the land’s grain, you shall celebrate a festival to God for 7 days … and on the first day you must take for yourself a fruit of the Etrog tree, an unopened palm branch, myrtle branches and willows (that grow near) a brook" (VaYikra 23:39-40)! If the Torah wanted to inform us about the Lulav and Etrog, why did it not include them earlier, before verse 37? Gemara Rosh HaShanah 29b teaches that whenever Rosh HaShanah coincided with Shabbat they would only blow the Shofar in the Temple, but not in the rest of the country. If, however, Rosh HaShanah fell on a weekday, they would blow the Shofar in the whole country. Rabbi Levi bar Lachma said in the name of Rabbi Chama bar Chanina that this discrepancy is explained by the nuance in the following verses. "Shabbaton Zichron Teruah" = "a sacred holiday of commemorating the Shofar blowing" (VaYikra 23:24) refers to the situation when Rosh HaShanah fell on Shabbat. "Yom Teruah Yihyeh Lachem" = "it shall be a day of Shofar blowing for you" (BeMidbar 29:1) refers to when Rosh HaShanah fell on a weekday. Rava clarified that the Torah actually permitted blowing the Shofar when Rosh HaShanah fell on a Shabbat, but the Rabbis forbade it, due to concerns that people might mistakenly carry a Shofar to an expert, transgressing the prohibition of carrying in a public domain. The same rationale applies to Lulav and Etrog (Gemara Succah 42b & 44a). Kohelet Yitzchak elucidates that the Asmachta (support text) for this Rabbinic decree concerning the Shofar is as Rabbi Levi bar Lachma stated above. The Asmachta for the Rabbinic decree concerning the Lulav and Etrog is our aforementioned post-scripted verse in VaYikra 23:39-40, excluded from the main section about Succot! Shofar so good, but close analysis of the text in VaYikra 23 and BeMidbar 29 reveals other fascinating anomalies:
Gemara Shabbat 87b teaches that the Israelites left Egypt on Thursday, 15th Nisan (like this year). Therefore, their first Rosh HaShanah in the desert occurred on a Shabbat, the same day of the week as the 3rd day of Pesach and utilising the A-T BA-SH* code. That is why the Torah describes Rosh HaShanah here in VaYikra 23:24 as just "Shabbaton Zichron Teruah"! In contrast, the verse later in BeMidbar 29:1 sets forth the general case for subsequent years when Rosh HaShanah usually falls on a weekday, namely "Yom Teruah Yihyeh Lachem". Kohelet Yitzchak explains further: Since Succot commences exactly two weeks after Rosh HaShanah, the first day of the Israelites’ first Succot in the desert also occurred on a Shabbat. That’s why VaYikra 23:34 refers to "this 7th month", meaning specifically this year. In this year, where the first day of Succot fell on Shabbat, even the few categories of Melachah which are normally permitted on a weekday Yom Tov (festival) would this year be forbidden, hence "…you may not do any Melachah". The Mitzvah of Lulav and Etrog is omitted from here to allude to the decree that they would not be taken on Shabbat. Later on, in a separate passage (VaYikra 23:39-40), the Torah would explain the Mitzvah of Lulav and Etrog that would pertain to subsequent years when Succot usually falls on a weekday. There, the Torah would specify the more lenient rule of "the first day shall be a day of rest" rather than "the first day shall be a sacred holiday when you may not do any Melachah". * Alef (the 1st letter of the AlefBet) refers to the 1st day of Pesach and corresponds to Tav (the last letter of the AlefBet). Tav alludes to Tisha B’Av. So, Tisha B’Av always occurs on the same day of the week as the 1st day of Pesach.
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