Letters
Now that’s a tircha
I read Rabbi Engelmayer’s opinion piece on why we should get rid of the second day of yom tov outside of Israel (“Five seconds too many,” May 29).
Right now, I’m surrounding myself with boxes and bags, going through papers and making arrangements. I’m making aliyah in a couple of months and I am at that watershed moment, with self-awareness enough to stop and take stock, know the moment while I’m in the moment.
So much will change for me. No car. Limited language use. Cultural shock. Longer walk to Chopstix. Also, I will be marking only a single day of Yom Tov in many cases. So on one hand, my urge is to respond to R. Engelmayer with the tried and true “so stop complaining and make aliyah if you don’t want the second day.” But that’s wrong and I won’t do that. I could cite the talmudic proof for the importance of (on a Torah level) the second day but that’s not the point, so I won’t do that either.
Instead, I’m going to be very honest with you: I’m going to miss it.
I’m going to miss the subtle differences in liturgy and halacha and the analysis of the application to modern life in the context of this yom tov sheini. I’m going to miss the extra down time, when I sit with family and friends, or even a good book, insulated for another 24 hours from the pressures of life. I don’t view more time investigating my spiritual identity to be a burden, and an unwelcome one at that.
Maybe if our attitude about the day shifted from seeing it as an imposition to seeing it as an opportunity, we wouldn’t have to find ways to justify not keeping the second day and instead we could cherish and value it.
As I age, I welcome Shabbat more and more each week. I embrace the holidays not as frivolous rituals and limitations on my behavior. I see each “holy” day as a chance to get to know Hashem and myself on a level deeper than my weekday life lets me. Why would I want fewer opportunities for that? Judaism isn’t a tircha. Yom Tov isn’t a tircha. Kashrus isn’t a tircha. Engaging with Hashem on a different level isn’t a tircha.
Let’s talk first about a later beit din rescinding the ruling of an earlier one and see what we can do about this relatively recent (13th century) kitniyot thing. Now THAT’S a tircha.
Rabbi Daniel Rosen
Teaneck (for now)
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