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Emor

Rejoicing on the Festivals

In this Torah portion, there is an additional commandment to rejoice on the festival of Sukkot, a commandment that is repeated elsewhere in the Torah. The Sages address the question: Why is the rejoicing on the festival of Sukkot so great, while it is relatively restrained on the other festivals?

You find three mentions of rejoicing written regarding the festival of Sukkot: “You shall rejoice on your festival” (Deuteronomy 15:14), “And you shall be completely joyous” (Deuteronomy 15:15), “You shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days” (Leviticus 23:40). But on Passover you do not find even one mention of rejoicing written in its regard. Why? You find that on Passover the world is judged concerning grain, and a person does not know whether his land will produce a plentiful grain crop this year or whether it will not produce a plentiful crop. Alternatively: There is no verse that mentions rejoicing on Passover, because the Egyptians died then. Likewise you find that we recite (Yalkut Shimoni, Emor 1:654)