A Pesach Top Ten
It is fairly well known that, in Israel, many recognize and observe seven days of pesach and a single seder whereas, outside of Israel, many recognize 8 days of pesach and two seders as proper observance.
Where did the extra day come from?
A piece over at my jewish learning does a good job explaining:
The Jewish calendar is lunar. Over 2,000 years ago, a council of rabbis from the Sanhedrin, the ancient legislative and judicial body, held special sessions in Jerusalem at the end of each lunar month to receive witnesses to the first sliver of the new moon. Because a lunar cycle is approximately 29 days long, it was no mystery when the new moon should appear, but the Sanhedrin still declared months and holidays only on the basis of these witnesses. …
Once the sighting was legitimated, the rabbis declared the next day Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of the new month. Originally, beacon fires would be set on mountaintops to spread the word to distant Jewish communities already living in far away places such as Egypt and Babylon. Watchers on faraway hills set their beacon fires as soon as they saw them, continuing the relay “until one could behold the whole of the Diaspora before him like a mass of fire” (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:4)… Celebrating festivals for an extra day would ensure that, regardless of whatever confusion reigned about the exact start of the new month, at least one day of their celebration would be on the correct day.
Okay, that makes sense but we started to switch to a rule-based fixed-arithmetic lunisolar calendar system after the destruction of the second temple. That made the days designed to prevent error obsolete since everyone everywhere in the world used the same system and derived the days similarly. It no longer mattered how close one was to the Sanhedrin so why keep the extra days?
There are two major answers.
Our own BZ‘s:
At the end of Beitzah 4b that issue is addressed. “Now that we know the fixed new month, what’s the reason for doing two days?” The answer there is hizaharu b’minhag avoteichem (be careful about your ancestors’ minhag), because in the future there might be a decree preventing us from keeping the calendar…And we can even agree on the value of minhag avoteinu (see Beitzah 4b), and you can follow the minhag of your ancestors who kept 2 days, while I’ll follow the minhag of my ancestors who have been Reform for at least five generations.
The other common answer is given by a Rabbi from Aish here:
So why was a second day Yom Tov added? In order to make a distinction, to add to the Jewish awareness that one is living in the Diaspora and does not claim permanent residence in the Holy Land.
BZ’s answer to Minhag Avoteinu is compelling as is the issue that there has ceased to be a consistent mihag in the diaspora. The Reform, Renewal, Reconstructionist, and Conservative movements have all offered decisions permitting the use of a 7-day pesach. Here is some CCAR (Reform) analysis. The Cons and Recon movements both provide flexibility for local congregations but the result is that a majority of American Jews, and nearly all Israeli Jews fall under a 7-day authority. Many have been in such a situation for generations.
Now to respond to the idea that we should have an extra seder to remember we aren’t in Israel…
Was anyone really confused? In case you were here are ten ways to conclude you are in the US rather than in Israel that have nothing to do with extra days of passover.
10:The falafel is overpriced and underspiced.
9: Municipal services are transparent and efficient.
8: Sunday is for football not school.
7: Teacher strikes are generally limited to a few days, max.
6: People talk slowly and get uncomfortable with interruptions (supreme court excepted).
5: Holocaust jokes are rare and usually generate discomfort.
4: People have difficulty making political and religious assumptions based on the type of kippah a person is wearing. Many can’t remember the word and use “beanie” or “skull cap” instead.
3: Though people talk about God non-stop in government there aren’t religious parties associated with single religious approached.
2: Nation’s founders where individual rather than collective farmers.
1: Look around. No occupations and settlements for miles in any direction? You probably aren’t in Israel.*
*If you are, time for new bifocals.
Just one clarification. A lunar month is about 29.53 days. So the Sanhedrin knew which of two days the new moon would occur, but it wasn’t sure which day exactly. Similarly, since diaspora communities knew that the new moon was on one of those two days, they celebrated holidays based on both possible options(hence two consecutive days). The issue with Rosh Hashana is that as soon as they determined the new moon it was yom tov. So again, the Sanhedrin determined to observe Rosh Hashana as if Elul was both 29 and 30 days.
Isn’t most of North America under occupation?
And I’m not sure “I have 5 generations of Reform ancestors” would be a compelling response to the Rabbis in the Gemara, who clearly had a sense of communal memory more than 4 generations deep.
Note: The Karaites continue the practice of announcing new months by the moon. They just do it by e-mail these days.
Isn’t most of North America under occupation?
Certainly one could regard the treatment of Native Americans as genocide but it is hard to make the case that it is “occupation” give that there is citizenship no restriction of movements and tribal sovereignty on the reses. Apartheid would be a stretch but a better label than occupation.
The Rabbis in the Gemara, who clearly had a sense of communal memory more than 4 generations deep.
In which case the practice would be one day, as all our ancestors observed. Seems a bit arbitrary to only count generations 200-300 as counting.
Note: The Karaites continue the practice of announcing new months by the moon. They just do it by e-mail these days.
that is super cool! will you post a faq about karaites? I wish i knew more.
My understanding of the Israel/disapora split wasn’t so much a “memory” issue but the sense that we need to work harder at holiness outisde of Israel, and therefore need the extra day of chag.
And I think it’s more correct to say that the Rabbis in the Gemara has a sense of communal “memory” more than 4 generations deep. Sure, there was memory, but there was also a lot of creativity being passed as memory or even as description of the present. My understanding is that historians who compare the writing in the gemara to other contemporary records show the Rabbis describing the world as they’d like it to be, not the world as it was.
Here’s a video clip showing the old way of announcing the new month.
The reason of “minhag avoteichem” is the reason for yom tov sheini (when we have a fixed calendar) given in the Talmud. The reason given by the rabbi from Aish is a modern apologetic (like “women are on a higher spiritual plane”) to provide meaning to an existing practice, but was not a reason for the creation of this practice. I don’t know how old this explanation is, but I doubt it’s much older than the State of Israel.
Shavua tov, and happy chameitz to all! 🙂
And I’m not sure “I have 5 generations of Reform ancestors†would be a compelling response to the Rabbis in the Gemara, who clearly had a sense of communal memory more than 4 generations deep.
5 generations was the length of the entire tannaitic period, more than long enough for Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s radical innovations to become normative practice.
For a more contemporary comparison, my family has been observing 1-day yom tov in the Diaspora substantially longer than anyone in the world has been observing Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Yom Yerushalayim, or Yom Hashoah, which are all well established now.
Even if you keep 1 day of yom tov, there’s no reason not to do a seder any other night (or even every night) of Pesach if you feel like it, but the night of that seder also shouldn’t be treated as yom tov, and there’s no particular reason to do it on the 2nd night (in fact, it’s probably preferable not to, so as not to prepare during yom tov for after yom tov). Here’s a guide for 1-day yom tov observers attending 2nd seders.
I think Aish’s apologetics should be flagged and labeled as such when referring to them, and not be equated with real explanations, such as the one attributed to BZ (and actually from the Bavli, in this case).
It should also be noted that the single exception to the one-day-yom-tov rule in Palestine – Rosh Hashana – is relatively new: after the fixed calendar was established in 429, residents of Palestine observed only one day of rosh hashana, and continued doing so until at least the first crusade.
Interesting Amit about Rosh Hashana – do you have a source for that? I would like to read more.
What about the whole debate about how many days to celebrate when a Jew living in the Diaspora visits Eretz Yisrael for chag, or vice versa…I always thought that logically, if you accept the argument about the lunar calendar annoucement not reaching the Diaspora in time to note the exact day (hence the observance by some of 2 days), wouldn’t it be logical to assume that if someone from Bavel during Temple times was spending chag in Jerusalem, that he would have celebrated one day like everyone else living in Jerusalem?
It should also be noted that the single exception to the one-day-yom-tov rule in Palestine – Rosh Hashana – is relatively new: after the fixed calendar was established in 429, residents of Palestine observed only one day of rosh hashana, and continued doing so until at least the first crusade.
Maybe relatively new within the era of the fixed calendar, but before that, the two-day (or one-long-day) Rosh Hashanah originated in Eretz Yisrael and was observed (at least in some years) in the time of the Mishnah (see, e.g., Shabbat 19:5), whereas there is no mention of other two-day yamim tovim in the Mishnah.
Jason – yes and no. THe logic for currently celebrating two days is that of *custom* – which is determined by origin, not location. (at least ostensibly).
so, back in the day as well, if someone was visiting from abroad, even if he was in j’lem he would possibly have celebrated two days?
Of course not (assuming there ever was “a day”) – but the justification for the second day is not what it was in “the day” either.
Info on Karaite Judaism can be conveniently found at The Karaite Korner, http://www.karaite-korner.org/ , with New Moon Reports here: http://www.karaite-korner.org/kknmr.shtml
Apologies for the late response, but I was observing a double-day Yuntiff. 🙂 I’m still working through what exactly the problem is with the message of the post, but I can let you know when I figure it out. It’s tricky. There’s some kind of contradiction in there somewhere nagging at me but I haven’t teased it out yet. Perhaps with more conversation it will be revealed, but as for now my unease is centered on two issues:
1. The Talmudic Rabbis who said “hizharu beminhag avoteinu” were referring to something specific. They had a particular reason to continue the 2-day Yuntiffs into the era of the fixed calendar – maybe the Aish Apologetics, or like BZ referenced, the possibility of disruption of the calendar, or something else. But the emphasis is on the MINHAG, not on the AVOTEINU. The argument that Jews today should observe 7-day Passovers because Reform grandparents did (and other movements allow the practice) seems to miss the point of the original proclamation. Otherwise “hizharu beminhag avoteinu” would be a general reason that applies to everything in Judaism. But it’s not used that way.
2. Whereas the prooftext quote from BZ is pluralist, “you can follow the minhag of your ancestors who kept 2 days, while I’ll follow the minhag of my [1-day] ancestors”, the thrust of the post from ZT is exclusivist – i.e. that observers of 8-day Passovers lack logical/textual support for their practice.
I should have included this in a more obvious way in the post but as i think about it more it becomes clear what I left out.
The main issue is that the most common explanation I have heard, of which the Aish Rabbi is an example, is silly. The other explanation, from the Bavli is not at all silly but is increasingly weak as their ceases to be a broad consensus on practice. That said, i have lots of 7-day and 8-day friends and respect both a great deal.
The main issue is that the most common explanation I have heard, of which the Aish Rabbi is an example, is silly.
And the idea that you need an extra day of yom tov outside of Israel to achieve the same level of yom tov consciousness just doesn’t fit the facts. Outside Israel, observing any yom tov at all requires taking initiative (by skipping work, and leaving the mainstream weekday culture to enter the yom tov culture), whereas in Israel, observing yom tov just means going along with what the rest of the country is doing. So if anything, it’s Israelis who need to do more to be conscious of yom tov.
whereas in Israel, observing yom tov just means going along with what the rest of the country is doing
I’ve long harbored a suspicion that the rituals and taboos of Judaism were meant to mean something very different from what Diaspora commentaries have claimed over the centuries.
For instance, in the world idealized in the Torah, keeping kosher requires no special effort or intent: everyone in the country does it, there’s no treif to be found! There’s no contrary weather to contend with during holidays, no one is desecrating the Sabbath, no one is making clothing with shatnez, etc. Everything is perfectly unremarkable. Which then makes me wonder what the real meaning is?
Hey ZT,
I think the different assumptions/lenses of readers are interesting here. You wrote “The other explanation, from the Bavli is not at all silly but is increasingly weak as there ceases to be a broad consensus on practice”, implying that it is contemporary practice which is the main factor in determining what minhag is. When I read the original references I read them to say that it was the practices of the generations preceding the Talmud that were the main factor in determining contemporary practice.
Just goes to show, its not always the surface discussion that explains the disagreement. 🙂