וביום השבת, “and on the Sabbath day, etc.;” there is a comment by Midrash Shocher tov on Psalms 92,1 that amongst all the mussaph offerings there is none that is as inexpensive as that of the Sabbath, i.e. consisting of only two not more than one year old sheep. According to the author of that Midrash the Sabbath complained to G–d about this. G–d told the Sabbath that this day is distinguished by a number of things that occur on it or relating to it in duplicates. It has two hymns dedicated to it; its special offering consists of two sheep; it is known as עונג, “pleasure, delight,” not once but twice; when it is deliberately desecrated it brings a dual penalty, i.e. מות יומת, the show breads are paired on the table in the Temple. This is also why we speak of this mussaph offering being כראוי, “tailored to its essence.” This is an expression that has not been applied to the mussaph offerings on any other occasion. The Midrash elaborates by means of a parable: a King told his servants to prepare his meal for “my sons”. The servants prepared two separate meals. After both his sons had consumed these meals, the king asked for a meal to be prepared for him. The servants asked him which kind of meal he desired. The king asked what kind of meal they had served to his sons? The servants spelled out the details for him. The king then responded that they should not prepare a more elaborate meal for him than they had prepared for his sons. [My version of this Midrash does not quote the Sabbath as having complained to G–d. Ed.] G–d acted in a similar manner when He provided the Jewish people with a double portion of manna for the Sabbath even before the Sabbath had commenced. Seeing He gave His people the equivalent of two loaves of bread before the Sabbath, He wished this to be remembered by “feeding” Him the equivalent of two loaves of bread as the special offering on the Sabbath. This is what the two sheep of the mussaph offering on that day represent. Seeing that we are on the subject of preparations for the Sabbath, let us explain also the central part of the Sabbath Mussaph prayer which commences with the words: תכנת שבת, “You (G–d) have instituted the Sabbath, etc.” The sequence of the letters תכן in the word תכנת, are a reminder of Exodus 5,18, where in response to Moses requesting a three day vacation for the Israelites to serve the G–d of his people, Pharaoh not only refused, but doubled the work load of the people by denying them the straw that had been given to them for making bricks, and insisting that the daily number of bricks required תכן לבנים, remain the same. The “institution” the author of the prayer speaks of refers to G–d having named each day of the creation sequentially so that the Sabbath would be the seventh day, a number which G–d is especially fond of. (Compare Vayikra Rabbah 29,11) [The author of the Midrash there makes a long list of proving the statement he has just made. Ed.] He claims that this is why G–d took a special liking to Chanoch, the outstanding human specimen of the seventh generation.]

רצית קרבנותיה, ”You took pleasure in its offerings.” Any offerings of animals which had been alive for at least one Sabbath are especially welcome to G–d. [In fact animals which have not been alive on at least one Sabbath are not considered as fit as such. [Compare Leviticus 22,27 Ed.]

צוית פירושיה עם סדורי נסכיה, “You did commanded its special obligations with the order of its drink offerings.” The word “You did command,” implies that violation of the command carries a serious penalty. Rashi explains this in connection with the words זכור, “remember,” and שמור, “make sure you do not violate,” appearing on the two versions of the Sabbath Commandment in the two sets of Tablets. (Exodus 20,8) He explains that these two versions of the same commandment were uttered by the Lawgiver at the Revelation as if they were a single utterance. We find something similar in connection with one of the commandments concerning incestuous relationships, where the Torah wrote לא יקח איש את אשת אחיו, “a man is not to take as a wife a woman who had been the wife of his brother, but where the reverse i.e. “the nakedness of the wife of the wife of your brother you must not reveal.” (Leviticus 19,15) In Deuteronomy 25,5, we find a similar construction concerning the levirate marriage. One utterance, but two written recordings. The Torah writes: יבמה יבא עליה ולקחח לו לאשה ויבמה,”her brother-in-law shall sleep with her, and take her as a levirate wife.” Although some of these statements appear on the face of it as if they contradict one on another in some way, the one concerning the Sabbath does not contain a contradiction but appears to complement one the other. Some scholars see in even this commandment some contradiction to the extent that the word זכור, which our sages interpret as making kiddush over wine when it commences, i.e. a positive commandment, which would relieve women from observing it as positive commandment linked to a specific time frame are not binding on women, and it is clear to the whole world that Sabbath observance applies to women no less than to men. [The double portion of manna was provided for men and women equally, i.e. both were included in that legislation. Ed.] The expression שמר only appears in the Torah in connection with negative commandments, i.e. violation involves an act. (Compare Talmud, tractate Zevachim, folio 106. At first glance it looks as if שמר is the opposite of זכור. Actually, this is not so, as women are no less obliged to sanctify the Sabbath seeing that the Talmud stated specifically in tractate B’rachot, folio 20 that whosoever is obligated not to violate the negative commandments of the Sabbath is also obligated to fulfill the positive commandments pertaining to that day. One might raise the question of why we do not publicly read both of these paragraphs every Sabbath? We do this every New Moon, and on every festival, whenever we pray a mussaph prayer in remembrance of the sacrifices offered in honour of such days. The fact that these two paragraphs consist of only two verses each is no excuse for not reading them in public on every Sabbath, and the Talmud, tractate Megillah folio 22, prohibits the public reading of paragraphs of the Torah that are not at least three verses long. The fact remains that we add this paragraph to the public reading of the Torah on every New Moon day that occurs on a Sabbath. The reason that we do so on those days is that New Moon is a day associated with the need to obtain atonement of sins as pointed out in the Talmud, tractate Taanit, folio 27; This is supposed to date back to the time of Avraham in Genesis chapter 15, when upon being told by G–d that he would have biological offspring who would develop into a great nation, he had asked for some sign as confirmation that he had not imagined G–d speaking to him. He wanted to know by what merit he had deserved such a promise and such a future. G–d spelled this out to him in verse 8 and 9 of that chapter when He asked him to prepare some sacrifices to Him. In other words, these sacrifices would earn him the merit that this promise of G–d would be fulfilled. When Avraham heard this, he responded that this was all well and good as long as there would be a Temple in which to offer these sacrifices daily. What would ensure that even during years of exile, which G–d had indicated that his descendants would have to endure, there would not be a chance to offer these sacrifices? G–d replied that these exiles would recite the relevant portions of the Torah in which the legislation about the sacrificial offerings is written, and then He would consider this as a substitute for their not having been presented on an appropriate altar. On New Moon we recite a verse in the mussaph prayer relating to a male goat that had to be presented on that day as a sin offering. An alternate approach: When the Torah dealt with the subject of the festivals at length in Leviticus chapter 23, it wrote: “these are the festivals for the Lord which you are to proclaim (ahead of time)”, and it is forbidden to interpret a text contrary to the plain meaning, p’shat, and the Sabbath is obviously not included in this commandment as it occurs at the end of every week, and the people are all aware of this, neither is that day ever referred to as a moed, days which are related strictly to certain days of the calendar, whereas New Moon is included in the days called: moed. (Lamentations 1,15, based on the Talmud in tractate Taanit, folio 29). The sages felt the need to explain why, for instance, the sin offering in the mussaph offering is described as לה', “for the Lord,” i.e. on behalf of the Lord, a formulation we do not find elsewhere. The sages of the Talmud tractate Sh’vuot folio, 9 suggest that this offering is offered on behalf of the Lord for having diminished the size of the moon, which had originally been the same size as the sun. This is a very puzzling explanation. We may have to understand it as follows: G–d, in speaking of a sin offering on His behalf, refers to our offering an atonement offering on His behalf throughout the generations on New Moon and this will comfort the moon for having been demoted. The “comfort” will help babies not to be infected with certain diseases called diphtheria to small children, seeing that the first renewal of the moon occurred on the fourth day of the week, the day on which G–d had “hung” the luminaries during the six days of the creation. (Compare Talmud tractate Taanit folio 29.) This is also how Rashi explains this when commenting of Genesis 1,14. He draws our attention to the defective spelling of the word meorot, luminaries, which ought to have been spelled מאורות, seeing it is derived from the word אור, “light,” but the first letter ו has been omitted. By omitting this letter, what remains is the plural of the word מארה, “curse.” On the first day of the month when the light of the moon is at its weakest, the children are more at risk than during any other day of the month. Hence G–d, in a manner of speaking, apologises for this, so that this day makes that sacrifice atonement for anything that could have harmed these children in the normal course of events. [G–d does not “apologise” to the moon, -He had diminished the size of the moon for a valid reason- but to our children who would have been at greater risk had we not offered this extra sin offering on each New Year’s day. Ed.]

וביום השביעי, “and on the seventh day;” I have found that an identical verse is recited also on the seventh day of Passover in our mussaph prayers, i.e. 'ביום השביעי וגו.

In connection with the festival of Sh’vuot, although the line: שעיר עזים אחד לכפר עליכם, “one male goat to atone for you,” appears, the customary word: לחטאת, “as a sin offering “ is absent. Presumably this is in honour of the Torah which had been given to the people on that date. This is also why the author of the liturgical poem recited in many congregations on that day, writes that: “sin is not mentioned on that day so that the Lord can enjoy a day of rest.” An alternate explanation. Seeing that on that day, at least, the entire congregation was free from sin, [when the Ten Commandments were given at Mount Sinai. Ed.] According to the Midrash, their status was like as if they had never sinned, as on that day they had unanimously accepted the yoke of the Torah. We find also the line: מלבד עולת התמיד, “apart from the daily burnt offering,” immediately following this verse and it is strange that these words do not appear in connection with the two wave-breads that were offered up only on that day of the year. This was the pattern of the Torah in chapter 29,6,as well as in chapter 29,11, in connection with the mussaph offerings on New Year’s Day as well as on the Day of Atonement. Perhaps we can answer this question by suggesting that this statement had already been included in the description of the mussaph offerings on that day commencing in verse 26 of our chapter. We also find that in connection with the details of the mussaph offerings on New Year’s Day, (29,2) it is written specifically: ועשיתם עולה, “you are to prepare a burnt offering, etc;” Why was this expression different in any way from the usual formula of והקרבתם עולה, “you are to sacrifice (bring to the altar) that the Torah employs everywhere else when discussing the burnt offering? We may understand that the reason is that that day is the day when all of mankind is being judged, and from the moment we enter the New Year, we are all considered as if we had only been created on that day. The author of the liturgical poems for that day probably had this in mind when he wrote: הבוראם בריאה חדשה, “Who had created them as a new creature.” According to the Midrash, these words in the liturgy for the Days of awe should be read only on the Day of Atonement. (based on the Midrash on Psalms 102,19 where the psalmist speaks of a new people having been created.) [There are several disagreements quoted by the Midrash as to who precisely the psalmist referred to, at any rate all are agreed that he referred to people not yet created at the time when the psalmist composed this hymn. I am therefore not continuing with this part of the author’s commentary. The reader interested can read the Midrash Tehillim Ed.] The reason why on Sukkot we recite the entire Hallel as opposed to the festival of Passover is that on each of the days of Sukkot, the composition of the offering is different from every other day, thereby giving each day a special significance. On Passover, the mussaph offering is exactly the same on all of the seven days. The reason why on the eighth day, sh’mini ha-atzeret, only a single bullock is part of the mussaph offering, is to show that it is not the Lord Who is in need of these offerings, but they are presented as a sign of honour by G–d to the Jewish people to the gentile nations. It would have been appropriate that this day occur on the 50th day after the end of the Sukkot festival, just as the festival of Sh’vuot occurs on the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover. It has been shifted as the climate at that time makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem a hardship during the rainy season. (Tanchuma section 15 on this portion) Our author quotes another liturgical poem for these days referring to this point. [We, especially in the land of Israel, where these festivals are part of the everyday atmosphere on these days, do not recite most of these poems anymore, as we do not need them as a reminder of the significance of the days. Ed.]