July 31, 2026 Categories: Parsha / Torah / Not On Bread Alone
Festivals and Fasts
Pinchas
The final part of parshat Pinchas details all the korbanot Musaf brought in the Beit HaMikdash on "special occasions" – Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret.
The issue of the festivals was a point of contention for the angels when HaKadosh Baruch Hu decided to give Am Yisrael the Torah on Har Sinai. The Gemara (Shabbat 88b) describes how the angels implored HaKadosh Baruch Hu, "Leave the Torah up here with us angels and don't give it to man!" The Gemara goes on to describe how HaKadosh Baruch Hu instructed Moshe to respond to the angels, which he did by providing numerous proofs that the Torah was written for mortal man and not the Heavenly angels. Surely the angels already knew this – there is no respecting parents for angels, no serving idols, no four cornered garments requiring tzitzit, etc.? What bothered the angels so much that they did not want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to give the Torah to man?
The Mefarshim say that what bothered the angels was the first mitzvah in the Torah (Shemot 12:2) which gives us the jurisdiction to determine when Rosh Chodesh is.
The Torah intended for us to determine Rosh Chodesh according to eyewitness reports of seeing the moon. Witnesses who had seen the new moon, would go to the Sanhedrin/Bet-Din, who would interrogate them to verify that what the witnesses had seen was authentic. If the eyewitness testimony was verified, the Sanhedrin/Bet-Din then decreed that day as Rosh Chodesh. They would communicate this decree throughout the country by lighting bonfires on hilltops. They would also dispatch messengers out of Israel to inform our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora countries, neighboring Eretz Yisrael. Delivery by messenger (on foot, horseback, camel, donkey etc.) could potentially be delayed and for this reason the custom to observe two days for the festivals in the Diaspora was adopted, to eliminate doubt.
Determination of Rosh Chodesh according to eyewitness reports was not absolute. Sometimes the witnesses arrived at the Sanhedrin/Bet-Din late, sometimes the witnesses were not considered reliable and other, more reliable witnesses were sought. This meant that Rosh Chodesh and all the other festivals, including Rosh Hashanah, were determined arbitrarily by the Sanhedrin based on eyewitness reports and circumstances. There was often a discrepancy between the astrophysical date of Rosh Chodesh and the actual day decreed by the Bet-Din. Rosh Chodesh was decreed according to eyewitness reports even if it conflicted with the astrophysical reality in the sky. The Torah, in the first mitzva, gave us humans – full power over the calendar.
As a result, HaKadosh Baruch Hu up in Heaven might tell the angels to get ready for Rosh Hashanah which astro-physically was scheduled for the following day. However, it could happen that, due to circumstances down here, Rosh Hashanah might be delayed to another day because of eyewitness issues. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu and all the angels are "ready to go" up in Heaven on the allotted day (according to the astrophysical reality) and suddenly HaKadosh Baruch Hu announces "OK, everyone go back "home" and come back tomorrow – the Sanhedrin has decreed Rosh Hashanah for tomorrow, not today!" HaKadosh Baruch Hu and the angels have to return the following day.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to the angels "The festivals are not for Me, they are for Am Yisrael and as such, they have full control over them. Am Yisrael have full control over the determination of the festivals, which may also be influenced by their behavior! the good and the … bad.
The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Pinchas hint 782) says that originally HaKadosh Baruch Hu planned a different schedule for the festivals. It was His plan that in all five months of Spring/Summer we would have a festival. In Nisan we would celebrate Pesach. In Iyar we would celebrate Pesach Katan. In Sivan we would celebrate Shavuot. In Tammuz (on the 17th of Tammuz to be exact – when Moshe descended with the first luchot), we were to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. In Av (on the 9th of Av to be exact), we would celebrate Yom Kippur. This in addition to celebrating Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret in the winter month of Tishrei.
However, Am Yisrael sinned with the golden calf and as a result, HaKadosh Baruch Hu reshuffled the summer schedule. All the festivals that were supposed to be in Tamuz and Av, were "bumped" to Tishrei, together with Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. Rosh Hashanah now became the 1st of Tishrei, and Yom Kippur, the day of forgiveness, became the 10th of Tishrei, when Moshe returned with the second luchot.
Tamuz and Av remained in limbo, until the sin of the spies. HaKadosh Baruch Hu intended the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av to be festivals, days of celebration. When the spies returned with a slanderous report of Eretz Yisrael, they turned these days into days of mourning. In addition, because of the sin of the spies, the resulting destruction of the Batei Mikdash and exiles gave rise to two new festivals that were not in HaKadosh Baruch Hu original plan – Purim and Chanukah. Had it not been for the destruction of the 1st Beit HaMikdash and the Babylonian and Greek exiles, the circumstances that gave rise to these two festivals would not have occurred.
When HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us full control over the festivals, this included determining the exact date of the festival, cancelling (temporarily/permanently) a festival, altering the nature of a festival (celebration/fast-day) and also instituting new festivals that do not appear in the Torah (like Purim, Channukah, Yom Ha'atzmaut, Yom Yerushalayim, etc.).
According to HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s original plan, there would have been only one national fast day in the year – Yom Kippur, not a fast to symbolize mourning, but rather ascension to the level of angels. As a direct result of the sin of the spies, we now have five additional national fast days – 10th Tevet, Ta’anit Esther, 17th Tammuz, 9th of Av and Tzom Gedaliya.
Since the destruction of the two Batei Mikdash and during the 1956-year Diaspora, mourning or partial mourning have become an integral part of our national psyche. The Jewish calendar has become an incongruous mix of celebration and mourning.
Our sages teach us that only by mourning our sins and the loss of our two Batei Mikdash will we merit to see its future rebuilding. This is what will occupy our thoughts in the next three weeks. We should read and learn as much about the Beit HaMikdash in this time, so we can truly understand what we have lost and more importantly … to understand what we have to look forward to, speedily in our days.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: How often was the Korban Tamid offered in the Beit HaMikdash?
Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: In which place in the Midbar did Miriam die? Kadesh.
