Today we begin massekhet Haggigah. It can be divided into two unequal halves. The first half deals with the special sacrifices offered on a pilgrimage holiday. The second half deals with rules and regulations of ritual readiness, tumah and taharah, because one had to be ritually ready to offer up a sacrifice in the Temple. To organize and to introduce the first topic let me quote Rambam.
“Israel was commanded three positive
commandments to be observed on each holiday of the three pilgrimage holidays.
They are the mitzvah of Appearing in the Temple (רְאִיָּה-re-eyah) as it is
written (Exodus 23:17) (Exodus 34:23) (Deuteronomy 16:16) “Three times a year
all your males shall appear before the Sovereign, YHVH.”
The haggigah (חֲגִיגָה) as it is written (Deuteronomy 17:14) “"תָּחֹג לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ" You
shall hold a festival for your God…” Rejoicing (simkha -הַשִּׂמְחָה) as is
written (Deuteronomy 16: 14) “You shall rejoice in your holiday.” The mitzvah
of re-eyah mentioned in the Torah is
that one must appear in the Temple courtyard on the first day of the holiday
and bring with him a whole burnt offering (קָרְבַּן עוֹלָה) either a bird or an animal (בְּהֵמָה). If one should come to the Temple courtyard on the first day
and not bring a whole burnt offering he has not only not fulfilled a positive
commandment he has transgressed a negative commandment as is written (Exodus 23:
15) (Deuteronomy 34:20) “You shall not appear before me empty-handed.” He is
not lashed for violating a negative commandment because he has not done an
action. The haggigah mentioned in the
Torah is a person sacrifices a peace offering (שְׁלָמִים) on the first day of the holiday when he comes to appear. The
matter is known that the peace offerings can only come from animals (בְּהֵמָה). Women are exempt from these two
commandments that are the re-eyah and
the haggigah. The simkha mentioned on the holidays is that
a person will sacrifice additional peace offerings on top of the haggigah peace offering. These are
called the haggigah simkha peace offerings (שַׁלְמֵי שִׂמְחַת חֲגִיגָה) as it is written (Deuteronomy 27:7) “and
you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing
before your God”
“The two mitzvot of re-eyah and the simkha
have no fixed amount required….
“The Shamay
simkha (שַׁלְמֵי
שִּׂמְחָה) has no fixed amount required….”
(My translation, Mishneh Torah, Festival offerings, 1:1-3)
In the course of the discussion whether man blind only
in one eye is obligated to appear in the Temple courtyard on the first day of
the three pilgrimage holidays, the Gemara quotes Yoḥanan ben Dehavai. “Yoḥanan ben Dehavai says in the name of Rabbi Yehuda:
One who is blind in one of his eyes is exempt from the mitzva of appearance,
as it is stated: “Three occasions in the year all your males will appear
[yera’e] before the Lord God” (Exodus 23:17). Since there are no vowels in the
text, this can be read as: All your males will see [yireh] the
Lord God. This teaches that in the same manner that one comes to see,
so he comes to be seen: Just as the usual way to see is with both
one’s eyes, so too the obligation to be seen applies only to one who
comes with the sight of both his eyes. Therefore, one who is
blind in one eye is not obligated in the mitzva of appearance in the Temple.”
(Sefaria.org translation)
Rashi ד"ה יִרְאֶה" "יֵרָאֶה" and Tosefot ד"ה יִרְאֶה" "יֵרָאֶה" disagree who sees and who is being seen. Rashi holds that it is the person who comes to see the Shekhinah and God appears before the person. Rabbeinu Tam in Tosefot explains that just as a human being with two eyes appears in the Temple courtyard, God with His two eyes sees the person!
Who do you think sees whom?
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