1 Rambam’s Sefer Zemanim : Between Sorrow and Joy , Exile and Redemption Yehuda Rapoport Introduction It goes without saying that Rambam’s Mishneh Torah was a revolution in the study of Torah s h e Ba’al Peh . It is unique in its comprehensiveness and logical organization and a masterpiece of analysis and synthesis. Out of the vast array of halakhic literature Rambam extracted the final rulings and combined th em into a beautiful structure — every piece in its lo gical place. Great care was exercised in the development of each sefer ( book ) in regard to which Halakhot (the subsections of each book) would be included . As Rambam states in the introduction to the Sefer HaMitzvot ( Book of Commandments ): When I directed my mind to this end [the writing of the Mishneh Torah], I considered in what fashion the C ode should be divided and organized. Should I divide it in the same manner as the Mishnah following its method? Or, should I divide it according to a different scheme and arrange [the sections of halakha h ] based on the dictate s of reason , 1 study? for helpful fitting and more which is Clearly, he chose the latter option. 2 Many have noted the literary beauty of the Mishneh Torah. It is clearly a lite rary masterpiece; one that conforms to the highest standards of literary art. 3 However, Rambam did not employ his literary craft just for show. It is my contention that the literary features of the Mishneh Torah offer a unique path into Rambam’s thought. In this essay I would like to focus on the thematic structure of Sefer Zemanim I believe that through this analysis a new perspective will emerge on Rambam’s understanding of the festivals I believe that Rambam captures the dissonance one feels w hen stud ying (and, of course, doing) the halakhot related to the festivals. On one hand , we are commanded to rejoice in our festivals; on the other hand, it is hard to pu t out of our minds the lament of Jeremiah: “The joy of our heart has been put to rest; our dance is turned to mourning.” 4 In Sefer Zemanim , Rambam masterfully weaves the warp of sorrow and exile and the woof of joy and redemption into one beautiful tapestry. 1 Translated from Rav Yoseph Kafach’s Hebrew translation of the Arabic original. All English translations of Hebrew texts are my own unless otherwise noted. Words in brackets are added for clarification. 2 Not to deny its relationship to the Mishnah. Howe ver, as I argue in a different essay focused on the inclusion of Hilkhot Shekalim in Sefer Zemanim , seeking too deep a parallel to the Mishnah only obscures the actual design of the Mishneh Torah 3 See Hayyim Soloveitchik , "Thoughts on Maimonides' Categorization [of the Commandments] in t he Mishneh To rah: Real and Imagined Problems, " Maimonidean Studies 4 (2000), 107 - 15 (Hebrew pagination) ; Menachem Kellner, “The Literary Character of the Mishneh Torah : On the Art of Writin g in Maimonides' Halakhic Works, ” in Me'ah She'arim: Studies in Medieval Jewish Spiritual Life in Memory of Isadore Twersky , ed. G. Blidstein E. Fleischer, C. Horowitz, B. Septimus, ( Jerusalem: Magnes, 2001 ), 29 - 45; Asher Benzion Buchman, “Mis hneh Torah — Sc ience and Art,” Hakirah, Volume 9 , (2010), 199 - 220 4 Lamentations 5:15 2 The Theme and Structure of Sefer Zemanim The Rambam descri bes the general theme of the sefer in the introduction to the Mishneh Torah "The Third Book includes all of the commandments that occur at known times ( zemanim ) – e.g. Shabbat, Holidays ( Mo ’ adot , lit Appointed Times). I have named this book Sefer Zemanim ." It is noteworthy that he does not call it Sefer Moadim . As he lays out in his description of the theme, this book includes more than just the mo’adim of the Torah. 5 The epigraph, or crowning v erse, of the sefer is also revelatory 6 The crowning verse serves as the unique motto of each book , poetically conveying its theme 7 The following verse from Psalms serves as the motto of Sefer Zemanim : Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever : for they are the rejoicing ( sason ) of my heart. 8 Twersky's Problem Concerning the motto of Sefer Zemanim Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky writes: Its [ Sefer Zemanim ’s ] motto is Thy testimonie s have I taken as a heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart (Ps. 119:111), taking testimonies ( 'edot ), which is sometimes synonymous with commandments generally, as referring particularly to the holidays and other special days of the year which are a sign and a memorial to the events of history and to God's providential designs. If the emphasis is taken to be on the rejoicing, reflecting the central commandment to "honor the Sabbath and make it a delight," which "applies equally to the festival," as well as the "duty to rejoice and be of cheerful heart" on the holidays, the verse would then relate to the major parts of this book but not its totality. 9 Twersky posits that the motto applies to "the major parts of this book," but clearly not every element. I assume that h e is referring to the fact that " r ejoicing" does not apply to Hilkhot Taaniyot ( Laws of Fasts ). Twersky's assertion makes sense . However, a more nuanced analysis of the motto and a number of other sources in the Mishneh Torah reveals that Rambam’s choice of motto does, 5 The name, Zemanim , brings to mind Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah , chapter 7, halakhah 1 and Hilkhot Teshuva , chapter 3, halakhah 4. 6 Each of the fourteen books of the Mishneh Torah is crowned with two verses. The first is always the same (Genesis 21:33): “In the Name of the Lord, the God of the world.” Ostensibly, this verse points to a theme that all of the books share in common — spec ifically, the proclamation of God’s name. 7 See Yehuda Shaviv, “ Pesukei haPeticha laSefarim shebaMishneh Torah ,” Kovetz HaRambam , ed. Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Movshovitz, (Jerusalem: Mosad HaRav Kook, 2004), 60 - 68, in which he explores the connection between each sefer and its epigraph. 8 Psalms 119:111. In this case I used the translation of the King James Bible. It is also the translation Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky uses in his Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah) (New York: Yale University Press, 1980) henceforth referred to as Introduction 9 Twersky, Introduction , 263. Brackets added for clarification. Additionally, I have not retained Twersky's highly scientific transliteration scheme. 3 in fact, embrace all of the elements of the book to great effect and reveals a new conception of the holidays In this regard I am following in the footsteps of Rabbi Twersky who said that Rambam , at times, embeds the explanation for his classificatory scheme in the motto. 10 I believe an easily unnoticed connection 11 between the beginning of Sefer Zemanim and the end of Sefer Ahava provides the key to solving these problems. Bridges of Joy At the end of the second book of the Mishneh Torah , Sefer Ahava h ( Book of Adoration ), Rambam appends the Seder HaTefilla ( Order of the Prayers ). At the very end of this appendix he lists the seven haftarot read on the seven Shabbatot between Tishah B'av (Ninth of Av) and Rosh Hashanah: It is the cu stom of the majority of the nation to recite as haftarot from Tisha B'av to Rosh HaShanah, 'consolations' from Isaiah: On the Sabbath after Tishah B'av , " Console , console My people..." (Isaiah 40:1) On the second, "Zion said, "The Lord has abandoned me..." (49:14) On the third, " P oor tempestuous one..." (54:11) On the fourth, "I, I am He Who consoles you..." (51:12) On the fifth, "Sing barren one who has not had child ..." (54:1) On the sixth, "Arise, shine, for your light has come..." (60:1) On the seventh, " I will rejoice ( sos asis ) with the Lord..." (61:10) This list is noticeably out of place in the code. Rambam already listed the haftarot recited during this interim season in Hilkhot Tefil la ( Laws of Prayer ): ...on the Shabbat after Tishah B'Av we read as the haftarah : "Console, console My people... (Isaiah 40:1). And it is the prevalent custom in our cities to read as the haftarot from the consolations of Isaiah from after Tishah B'Av unt il Rosh Hashanah. 12 Noticeably, Rambam only lists the first of the seven haftarot of consolation . Why does he move this list from its more logical place in the code to the end of the appendix? Rabbi Dr. Nachum E Rabinovich 13 notices this problem and sugg ests that Rambam placed the list at the end of the Seder HaTefilla in order to establish a "bridge" to Sefer Zemanim , the next book in the Mishneh Torah Sefer Ahava h ends with the words, “ I will rejoice ( sos asis ) with the Lord” 14 and Sefer Zemanim immediately opens with the words, “Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing ( sason ) of my heart.” I would like to suggest that this is no mere literary flourish Rambam place d the list of the seven haftarot of consol ation at the end of Sefer Ahava h to prepare the reader for Sefer Zemanim I would propose that the sensitive reader and practitioner of halakha h needs consolation t o even approach Sefer Zemanim . Though, for the most part, all of the mitzvot of Sefer Zemani m can be fulfilled in 10 Introduction , 282. 11 Shaviv , 67 - 68, find a number of other connections between the beginning of Sefer Zemanim and the end of Sefer Ahavah . Shaviv finds many other connections between beginnings and endings throughout the Mishneh Torah 12 Mishneh Torah , Sefer Ahavah , Hilkhot Tefilla , chapter 13. 13 Rabinovich, Nachum, E. Yad Peshutah [Hebrew], (Jerusalem: Ma’aliyot Press, 1994). 14 Isaiah 61:10. 4 any time and place, the Temple is their ultimate venue. 15 Just as the nation must be consoled after Tisha B'av before the most joyful month of the year, Tishrei — the month of Rosh Hashanah , Yom Hakippurim and Sukko t — so too, Rambam console s his reader before the page is turned to Sefer Zemanim This bridge also colors our reading of Sefer Zemanim ’s motto. S ason , the connecting term , is given new nuance Its context is no longer the 119 th chapter of Psalms — it is the consolations of Isaiah. A brief account of its Isaian connotations is in order 16 The sason of Isaiah 17 is not just happiness it is exultation . It signifies not just the opposite of grief and mourning , but a complete reversal of for tune — the kind of happiness which is felt after being saved from the depths of ruin and despair. 18 It is often associated with outward expression and , even , song and revelry ; 19 it can denote the sound of wailing transformed t o a sound of merriment and jubilation. 20 A s a term of consolation sason carries with it th is sense of reversa l. 21 I would suggest that the very mention of sason from an Isaian perspective has the paradoxical effect of bringi ng to mind its opposite — mourning 22 As the motto of Sefer Zemanim , i t captures the joyous spirit of the holidays and alludes to the sorrow of the sason not yet attained 23 15 For a striking example, see Rambam’s description of the " simcha yeteirah " in the Temple during Chag HaSukkot ( Hilkhot Shofar v'Sukkah v'Lulav , end of chap.8). Also see the numerous examples from the festival liturgy. For example, the special supplication for the return of the sacrificial service in the central berakhah of every mussaf prayer; the b’nei beitakh k’vatechila said on Pesach, Shav uot and Sukkot, et al. 16 I have purposely limited my analysis to the Book of Isaiah so as not to get too far afield and because this is the context Rambam suggests through his juxtaposition of verses. However, I do believe my observations hold true, fo r the most part, for the rest of the Hebrew Bible, especially Jeremiah. 17 Sason appears in the books of Isaiah in both the sections of puranut (punishment) and nehamah (consolation). 25 instances of this verb can be found in Isaiah. 17 of those instances are employed directly as words of nehamah : 12:3; 35:1; 35:10; 51:3; 51:11; 60:15; 61:3; 61:10a; 61:10b; 62:5a; 62:5b; 65:18a; 65:18b; 65:19; 66:10a; 66:10b; 66:14. 7 instances are employed in the sections of puranut : 8:6; 22:13; 24:8a; 24:8b; 24:11; 32:1 3; 32:14. One example, 64:4, is employed to describe one who “rejoiced” to do righteousness. (Abraham Even - Shoshan, " משוש ", “ שיש ”, “ ששון ”, A New Concordance of the Bible (Israel: Kiryat - Sefer, 1993). 18 Take, for example Isaiah 61:1 - 3 (emphasis added) : The spirit of the Lord God was upon me, for the Lord anointed me to bring news to the humble. He sent me to heal the broken - hearted, to call freedom to the captives, and release to the prisoners. To call a year of acceptance and a day of vengeance f o r our God, to console all mourners . To grant to the mourners of Zion, to give them glory instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning , a mantle of praise instead of a dimmed spirit. And call to them, elms of righteousness, the plan ting of the Lord whereby He shall be glorified. 19 See Isaiah 22:13. 20 See Isaiah 12:3; 24:7; 35:10; 51:11; 65:18, 19, where it is opposed to the sound of weeping and crying. Also see Rabbi Meir Leibush Malbim, Sefer HaKarmel , “ ששון ,” collected by Yosef Greenbaum, (1900), who explains the difference between sason and simha is that the former has an obvious outward manifestation ( גלויה ע"י סימנים ) and the latter is internal. He also makes the point that sason is often characterized as a reversal of fortun e. 21 This sense of reversal is most starkly expressed in Deuteronomy 28:63: “ And it will be, just as the Lord rejoiced ( sas ) over you to do good for you and to increase you, so will the Lord cause to rejoice ( yasis ) over you to annihilate you and to destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land which you enter therein, to possess it.” 22 Not only because of its sense of reversal, but also simply because it is from the book of Isaiah. The nehamot of Isaiah cannot he lp but bring to mind the puranuyot 23 Another motivation for choosing Psalms 119:111 might be the presence of the word heritage ( nahalti ). This might signify that though, in one sense, we have lost our heritage — as in Lamentation 5:2 : “ Our heritage ( nah alateinu ) has been turned over to s trangers, our houses to aliens.” — we still possess the heritage of our testimonials. Nahalah is definitely a significant term for Rambam — see Sefer Zeraim , Hilkhot Shemitta v - Yoveil , chapter 13, halakhot 12 - 13. See Menache m Kellner, “ Maimonides’ Disputed Legacy ,” Traditions of Maimonideanism , ed. Carlos Fraenkel, (The Netherlands: Brill, 2009), 265. 5 Fasts Let us see how this "bridge" provides us with the key to understanding the inclusion of Hilkhot Taaniyot ( Laws of Fasts ) in Sefer Zemanim . The first four chapters of Taaniyot discuss the s criptural imperative to cry out to God in response to any national t hreat. The majority of these chapters discuss the rabbinic fasts that are decreed in response to such threats and the special prayers said on those days. Though these fasts, when called for, must be decreed for specific days, they do not, in the strictest sense, occur in “known times.” These chapters would seem to fit more naturally in Hilkhot Teshuvah ( Laws of Repentance ) or in Hilkhot Tefilla 24 It seems that Rambam deliberately placed this section of laws here because of its fifth and final chapter. In t his chapter he discusses the commemorative fasts that are kept in mourn ing for the tragedies that have occurred to the Jewish people from the time of the destruction of the First Temple to the days of Mordekhai and Esther (Purim). The purpose of the commem orative fast days is not just to mourn , but to bring about repentance, as Rambam writes at the beginning of the fifth chapter: There exist days on which all of Israel fast due to the troubles that occurred on them in order to awaken hearts, and to open th e paths of repentance. And this functions as a remembrance of our evil deed and the deeds of our forefathers which were as our deeds are now, such that they caus ed them and us those troubles — for, through the remembrance of these matters we shall change fo r the better, as it is said (Leviticus 26:40), " They shall confess their sin and the sin of their fathers concerning the trespass that they committed against Me — and that they even walked with me without care. " The ultimate goal is that the repentance facilitated by these fasts brings redemption and thus , ultimately, their nullification. At the very end of this chapter, he writes: All of these fasts shall ultimately be nullified in the days of the Messiah. Not only that, they will all ultimately be holidays and days of rejoicing ( sason ) and happiness ( sim ha ), as it is said (Zechariah 8:19) , "So said the Lord of Hosts: The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fi fth [month], the fast of the seventh [month], and the fast of the tenth [month] shall be for the house of Judah for joy ( sason ) and happiness ( sim ha ) and for happy holidays — but love truth and peace." The reason for Rambam’s inclusion of the laws of fasts is now resoundingly clear. Similar to the seven haftarot , these fasts have a temporary function. Though the fasts will ultimately be nullified , those days will always be an integ ral part of the Jewish calendar — just as days of sason 25 instead of mourning. A nd so, we see the sason of Sefer Zemanim perfectly embraces Hilkhot Taaniyot — in fact, it is integral to the very substance of the book. Conclusion 24 It is tempting to note the parallel to the categorization of the Mishnah, though I think such parallels are limited in their explanatory power. Not to deny its obvious influence. See Joseph Tabory, “The Structure of the Mishneh Torah,” Traditions of Maim onideanism , ed. Carlos Fraenkel, (The Netherlands: Brill, 2009), 51 - 71 and Boaz Cohen, “Classification of Law in the Mishneh Torah, ” JQR , XXV (1935), 519 - 40. 25 See Babylonian Talmud, Rosh HaShana 18a. 6 Each book of the Mishneh Torah was written with great literary artistry. Focusing our attention on the literary dimensions of the Mishneh Torah reveal ed otherwise easily overlooked aspects of Rambam’s thought. From our analysis of the literary structure of Sefer Zemanim , particularly the inclusion of Hilkhot Taaniyot , Rambam’s vision of the Jewish year came into sharper focus. Rambam used the crowning verse of Sefer Zemanim to highlight the paradoxical character of our times : we are commanded to re joice on our festivals, but joy withou t the fulfillment of the vision of the prophets is fleeting This insight reveal s Rambam’s deep sensitivity to the predicament of the Jew in exile Rambam never forgets t he tension between reality and vision: the reality of the sorrow of our exile in which we are not able to fulfill all of the commandments and the joyful vision of future redemption when the Torah will be able to be fulfilled in its entirety. 26 26 After completing this essay I found on the last pag e of Kol Nevuah this explanation of sason (Rabbi David Cohen, Kol Nevuah [Hebrew], Third Edition, (Jerusalem: Nezer David , 2002)) [my translation]: “ There is sason and there is simhah — sason is diluted with sorrow, with grief; s imhah is [implies] complete s imhah . The Prophet Jeremiah says , “ I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoic e from their sorrow.” (Jeremiah 31:12) The “mourning” will turn to sason — [i.e.] to sim ha that is diluted with sorrow but which, when consolation comes, becomes complete sim hah . So too in our days, at the beginning of the redemption, the simhah is not complete — it is diluted with sorrow, with mourning, with wars, with the triumph of war, with c asualties. There is sason , but not complete simhah. Let it be His will, that we should merit to the coming of the Messiah, the son of David, that H e should bring the complete redemption — that then there will be complete simhah — and the building of the Templ e speedily in our days, Amen. ”