Parshas Pinchas, the Torah speaks of Rosh Hashanah as יום תרועה יהיה לכם. It's a description that doesn't have an analog by the other other Yamim Tovim. It's a machlokes tanna'im how many kolos one has to hear on Rosh Hashanah, whether it's three kolos, six kolos, nine kolos. So we pasken nine kolos, which, if the Satan is not on his game, takes approximately one minute. And the Torah refers to Rosh Hashanah as יום תרועה יהיה לכם. It's a funny thing. Instead of ba'erev tochlu matzos, or ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, instead of describing the prescribed action, so the Torah speaks of יום תרועה יהיה לכם. So kemidumeh that when we look in the rishonim, we don't necessarily find the question explicitly asked, but we do find it addressed and answered. So for tonight, אם ירצה השם בלי נדר, we just want to take a few minutes to try to reconstruct what the Rambam's explanation of that very singular phrase of יום תרועה יהיה לכם is. In פרק ו' הלכות יום טוב, the Rambam writes שבעת ימי הפסח ושמונת ימי החג עם שאר ימים טובים כולן אסורין בהספד ותענית וחייב אדם להיות בהן שמח וטוב לב.
So there is a mitzvas simcha on shevas yemei hapessach, again the Rambam is describing in d'oraisa terms obviously, on shmonas yemei hachag, Sukkos culminating in Shmini Atzeres, עם שאר ימים טובים. So what are the other Yamim Tovim that the Rambam hasn't mentioned by name specifically? So there's no guesswork involved here. In the very beginning of Hilchos Yom Tov, the Rambam writes as follows: ששת הימים האלו שאסר הכתוב בעשיית מלאכה שהן ראשון ושביעי של פסח וראשון ושמיני של חג,
excuse me, וראשון ושמיני של חג הסוכות וביום חג השבועות ובאחד לחדש השביעי הן הנקראין ימים טובים.
So the term Yom Tov refers to six days m'doraisa: first and seventh days of Pesach, first and eighth days of Sukkos, Shavuos, and and Rosh Hashanah. So clearly when the Rambam says back again in perek, well, in perek vav, that שבעת ימי הפסח ושמונת ימי החג עם שאר ימים טובים
lashon rabbim, so the Rambam is explicitly telling us that there is a mitzvas simcha on Rosh Hashanah. The acharonim comment that this that shittas haRambam one hears echoes of that in Hilchos Chanukah as well, when the Rambam paraphrases, interprets the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah about why there's no Hallel on Rosh Hashanah. So the Rambam says they're not yemei simcha yeseira. So the Rambam doesn't say they're not yemei simcha, not yemei simcha yeseira. So there is a mitzvas simcha on Rosh Hashanah. In light of this, another line in the Rambam stands out. Again in perek vav, the Rambam writes כשאדם אוכל ושותה ושמח ברגל. Again, so for men mitzvas simcha is is outwardly expressed and and objectified through achila ushtiya. כשאדם אוכל ושותה ושמח ברגל, לא ימשך ביין ובשחוק ובקלות ראש.
A person shouldn't get carried away. There's a mitzva of drinking yayin, but there's obviously no mitzva to get intoxicated. There's a mitzva to be someiach, but there's no mitzva to be frivolous and and lightheaded. לא ימשך ביין ובשחוק ובקלות ראש ויאמר שכל שיוסיף בזה ירבה במצוה.
He shouldn't think that going to those extremes means that he's being mehader and and that he's adding to the mitzva. שהשכרות והשחוק הרבה וקלות הראש אינה שמחה אלא הוללות וסכלות.
Intoxication, lightheadedness, that's not that's not genuine simcha. On the contrary, that's just frivolity and foolishness. ולא נצטוינו על ההוללות והסכלות אלא על השמחה שיש בה עבודת יוצר הכל.
Again, just re-reading the the first few words: כשאדם אוכל ושותה ושמח ברגל לא ימשך etc. But hayos that we just saw the three halachos earlier, the Rambam tells us that there's a mitzvas simcha on Rosh Hashana as well. The term regal refers to Shalosh Regalim. It doesn't the term Yom Tov encompasses not only the Shalosh Regalim but Rosh Hashana as well, but the term regal does not. Shalosh Regalim תוך לבר ראש השנה. So the Rambam's note of caution he only sounds that l'gabai the Shalosh Regalim, not l'gabai Rosh Hashana. Okay, so one's immediate reaction is that's not really a kashya. What Jew is going to get carried away on Rosh Hashana? And that's true, but lichora the the observation implies more than that. Lichora what emerges here, and it's reinforced by lichora a diyuk in halacha yud-tes that we didn't read together, is that even though on the one hand the Rambam says the mitzvas simcha includes Rosh Hashana as well, but how the mitzvas simcha translates, how the mitzvas simcha is to be fulfilled is fundamentally different on Rosh Hashana from the Shalosh Regalim. Whereas on the Shalosh Regalim the Rambam in halacha yud-tes describes that with the exception of davening Mincha Gedola the entire afternoon is devoted to a marathon Seudas Yom Tov. אחר חצי היום יתפללו תפלת המנחה ויחזרו לבתיהם לאכול ולשתות שאר היום עם הלילה.
Clearly that isn't the hanhaga, that isn't the way to be m'kayem mitzvas simcha on Rosh Hashana. On Shalosh Regalim there's taka a מצוה להרבות בשמחה. On Rosh Hashana there's a mitzvas simcha, very self-contained, very delimited. Let's try to maybe sharpen what that distinction is. The famous Gemara in Rosh Hashana that אמרו מלאכי השרת לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא מפני מה אין ישראל אומרים שירה לפניך בראש השנה וביום הכיפורים?
Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers that ספרי חיים וספרי מתים פתוחים וישראל אומרים שירה בתמיה. Why? What what was the question of the malachei hashareis? Why was it so clear to them that shira in this context Hallel should is is appropriate on Rosh Hashana and and Yom Kippur? So at least l'gabai Rosh Hashana, maybe l'gabai Yom Kippur. Lichora the pshat is as follows. The Ramban in Sefer Hamitzvos in shoresh aleph is responding to the Rambam's hassaga about how the... the Gaonim counted mitzvos derabbanan. One of the mitzvos derabbanan in the Rambam's opinion that the BaHaG counted is the mitzva of saying Hallel. The Rambam writes that Hallel on all the yamim hakvuim, on the י"ח יום שגומרין בהן את ההלל, the Rambam writes is a mitzva derabbanan. And he says, so what did the BaHaG do counting that תרי"ג מצוות נאמרו למשה מסיני? So what's the BaHaG doing including that in his minyan hamitzvos? So the Ramban first of all says that explains why it's legitimate and why it was correct for the Gaonim to have included derabbanan’s in the minyan taryag. So the Ramban says, be-emes I don't really need to comment on mitzvas Hallel in particular because that general defense holds true for mitzvas Hallel as well. But the Ramban says אליבא דאמת ניתנה להיאמר. He says you don't find anywhere in Shas a proof that Hallel is only derabbanan. There is no, there is no maka for what the Rambam says. Ein lanu he says, there is no maka to in the Ramban's opinion to substantiate that Hallel's only derabbanan. And he says no, aderaba. He thinks Hallel is de-oraisa. If Hallel is de-oraisa, so then the question begs, what's the makor? So the Ramban has two possibilities. He says either it's a הלכה למשה מסיני to say Hallel on yom tov or he says בכלל השמחה שנצטוינו בה is to say Hallel. So the Ramban reveals to us a connection between Hallel and simcha. When the simcha, so one of the ways the simcha expresses itself is by singing shira to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, by saying Hallel. The Kuntres Chanukah u'Megilla suggests that even though obviously the Rambam doesn't agree with this on a de-oraisa level, the Rambam does agree that the derabbanan of Hallel is linked to simcha, is coordinated with simcha. And he sees this reflected in Hilchos Chanukah. The Rambam writes in describing the takana of Chanukah: ומפני זה התקינו חכמים שבאותו הדור שיהיו שמונת הימים האלו שתחילתם מליל חמישה ועשרים בכסלו ימי שמחה והלל ומדליקים בהן הנרות בערב על פתחי הבתים בכל לילה ולילה משמונת הלילות וימים אלו הן הנקראין חנוכה.
So the Rambam famously describes Chanukah as not just a time of Hallel, but he describes it as yemei simcha. Says what's the Rambam's maka? The beraisa in Megillas Taanis, which the Gemara in Shabbos quotes, says לשנה אחרת קבעום בהלל והודיה עשאום ימים טובים וקבעום בהלל והודיה.
The Rambam clearly isn't equating, so the Kuntres Chanukah u'Megilla suggests very compellingly that the Rambam on a derabbanan level agrees with what the Ramban said on a de-oraisa level, that Chazal only introduced Hallel on yemei simcha. So if the beraisa tells us that Chanukah is be-hallel ve-hoda'ah, that there's a chiyuv of Hallel on Chanukah, so we know that what underlies that is that it's a zman simcha. So come the Malachei Hashares and they point out very well to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, says Hallel is associated with simcha. There is simcha in Rosh Hashana, so מפני מה אין ישראל אומרים לפניך שירה? Why aren't Bnei Yisrael saying shira? So what did Hakadosh Baruch Hu answer? ספרי חיים ספרי מתים פתוחים ישראל אומרים שירה. So the way the Rambam interprets and elaborates that here in Hilchos Chanukah: אבל ראש השנה ויום הכיפורים אין בהם הלל לפי שהם ימי תשובה ויראה ופחד לא ימי שמחה יתירה.
Once more, and this time maybe with the emphasis that one imagines. that the Rambam intended us to to recognize here that אבל ראש השנה ויום הכפורים אין בהם הלל לפי שהם ימי תשובה ויראה ופחד לא ימי שמחה יתירה.
It's true that Hallel is linked to Simcha. Hallel is linked to Simcha when when mitzvas Simcha, when there's not only a mitzva Simcha on this day, but when the mitzvas Simcha defines the day. The Simcha is a Simcha yeseira in that it overflows and and it encompasses the day and it therefore defines the day. When the day is a Yom Simcha, so then Yisroel say shira. When the day is not a Yom Simcha, it's a yom on which there is Simcha, but it's not a Yom Simcha, so then you don't say Hallel. לפי שהם ימי תשובה ויראה ופחד לא ימי שמחה יתירה.
Or, on Rosh Hashana there's a mitzvas Simcha. On Rosh Hashana there's a mitzva shofar. So which is it that that defines the character of the day? Do they equally define the the character of the day? They equally contribute to the character of the day? Oh, comes the Torah and says יום תרועה יהיה לכם. Not just not just that teruah. No, teruah would sort of be would give it equal standing with with mitzvas Simcha. Comes the Torah and says, yes, there's a mitzvas Simcha. Yes, there's a mitzva shofar, but the one that defines the day, the one that defines the zman is mitzva is is the truah. Again, the truah for everything it represents and embodies: the tefillah, the call to teshuva, the recognition of middas hadin. Truah and everything that it represents and reflects, it's the mitzva of truah, it's the mitzva of shofar that defines the day. A mitzvas Simcha there is, but the Simcha on Rosh Hashana, but the yom is a yom of teshuva, vira, vafachad.