Pisqa’ 138¹

1

“And you shall rejoice” (Dt.16:11)—

rejoicing is mentioned here,

and rejoicing is mentioned elsewhere (Dt.12:7, 27:7).

Just as the rejoicing mentioned elsewhere

is [aroused by eating] the Communion-offering,

so, too, the rejoicing mentioned here

is [aroused by eating] the Communion-offering.²

”You, your son, your daughter, your slave,

your slave-girl, the Levite who is within your gates,

and the migrant” (Dt.16:11)—

[in this list of dependants]

the most favored take precedence.³

2

R. Yose the Galilean says:

three commandments are mandated

during a Pilgrimage Festival—

And here they are:

the Festival-offering (khagigah),⁴

the Appearance-offering (re’iah), ⁵

and rejoicing (simkhah).

 

The Appearance-offering has a trait

absent from the other two;

the Festival-offering has a trait

absent from the other two;

and rejoicing has a trait

absent from the other two.

 

The Appearance-offering

belongs entirely to the Supernal One,

a trait absent from the other two

[which are eaten by celebrants].

The Festival-offering was mandated

both before the revelation of the Word (e.g., Ex.5:1-3)

and after the Word was revealed at Sinai,

a trait absent from the other two

[which were not revealed until Sinai].

Rejoicing is mandated

for men and women,

a trait absent from the other two.⁶

Now, then—

since this one has a trait lacking from that,

and that one has a trait lacking from this,

Scripture must explain the rules for all of them.⁷

1. H:178-179; JN1:331-332.
2. See Pisqa’ 64.1.
3. Cf. Pisqa’ot 69.1 and 141.1.
4. The Communion-offerings offered as Holocausts during the Pilgrimage-festivals (Dt.16:14-17; M. Hag. 1:2-4).
5. The Communion-offerings brought by all males during the Pilgrimage-festivals and eaten “before HASHEM (Dt. 16:16).
6. =T. Hag. 1:4.
7. Compare the rhetoric at Pisqa’ 118.3.