25 Mar HOW MUCH HOLIDAY PREPARATION?

I. Thirty Days
Before A Holiday
Holidays are much
like other things in
life in the sense that
the more you put
into it, the more you
get out of it. We are instructed to study the
laws of a holiday thirty days in advance.
The Gemara (Pesachim 6a-b) learns this
from Moshe, who taught the laws of Pesach
Sheini on Pesach Rishon. If we examine
the precise reason for this rule, we can see
important practical ramifications for today.
Rabbeinu Nissim (Ran, 14th cen., Spain;
Commentary to Rif, Megillah 2b s.v.
Moshe) points out that the Gemara
(Megillah 4a) seems to disagree with the
thirty day rule. It says that Moshe issued
an enactment that we should learn the laws
of a holiday on the day of the holiday. Ran
explains that on the holiday itself we must
speak about and learn the laws. Thirty days
in advance, the rabbis must be prepared to
answer any questions people might have.
According to Ran, a regular Jew does
not have to start reviewing the laws of a
holiday thirty days in advance.

However, Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan (20th
cen., Poland; Mishnah Berurah, Bi’ur
Halachah s.v. sho’alin) argues that the vast
majority of Medieval authorities disagree
with Ran and believe that there are two
obligations — to study the laws beginning
thirty days in advance on the holiday and
to study them on the holiday itself (for
example, see Tosafos, Megillah 4a s.v.
mai).
Ran’s argument seems to be that it would
be redundant to have two obligations to
study the laws of a holiday. If you review
the laws thirty days in advance, you
should know them very well by the time
the holiday arrives. What would Tosafos
and the other authorities answer to this
question?
II. Why Study In Advance?
We can ask what the nature is of this
obligation to study the laws thirty days in
advance. Is the base obligation to prepare
for the holiday? You need to be able to
enter the holiday fully ready to observe
all its practices. Study in advance enables
this. In this view, studying the laws is a
hechsher mitzvah, preparation to fulfill
a mitzvah. Or is it a universal obligation

to study the laws before
the holiday? By enforcing
a standard period of study,
we will all be prepared for
the holiday and we enter the
holiday spiritually prepared
for it because we have been
thinking about it for a full
thirty days. In this view,
studying the laws is a mitzvah
in itself, a taste of the holiday
before it arrives. Tosafos
(Bechoros 57b s.v. bi-fros)
say that we need thirty days to learn the
laws of the holiday sacrifices. However,
even today when we have no sacrifices,
we still must learn the laws of the holiday.
One of the practical differences that
emerges from these two views is if you
already know the laws intimately. If the
obligation is to prepare then if you already
know the laws, you do not need to study
them. But if the obligation is to study the
laws before the holiday, then whether you
already know them or not you must study
them.
It seems that Ran believes that the obligation
is to know the laws, not necessarily to
study them. Therefore, the rabbis need to
answer holiday-related questions thirty
days in advance if anyone is uncertain
about the details. Otherwise, there is no
independent obligation to study what you
already know. The majority view seems
to accept that the obligation is to study
the laws every year beginning thirty days
before the holiday.
III. How Much Advance Study?
According to Ran, for thirty days scholars
are available to help you but on the
holiday itself, you have to study. Some
people might need more time and help.
They have thirty days. But everyone
needs one day of review and that is on
the holiday itself. According to others,
what is the point of studying the laws on
the holiday when you just spent thirty
days reviewing those laws? We must say
that the study of the laws on the holiday
itself is not a preparation but a fulfillment
of the holiday itself. Part of a holiday’s
practices is study of the holiday. This
study facilitates a deeper understanding
of the day you are celebrating. Holidays
should not be days merely of celebration
but also of contemplation, of intellectual
discussion about the holiday.
If the obligation is to study in advance of
a holiday, then this might apply only to
Pesach (which is the view of Rav Yosef
Karo (16th cen., Israel) Beis Yosef,
Orach Chaim 429). There seems to be a

run-up to the holiday of Pesach. We see a
suggestion in the Haggadah that we might
have thought that we could recite the story
of the Exodus in advance of the holiday,
perhaps even on Rosh Chodesh. We cannot
do so but even the suggestion makes the
point that the weeks before Pesach have a
connection to the holiday. Maybe learning
the laws is also part of this unique aspect
of Pesach. But if, on the other hand, this
study is just preparation for practicing
the rituals of the holiday, it should apply
to any holiday that has complicated laws,
including Sukkos and Purim and really all
of them (Rav Avraham Gombiner (17th
cen., Poland), Magen Avraham, 429:1
approvingly quotes authorities who say
that the obligation applies to all holidays).
If the obligation is specifically to study
the laws beginning thirty days before the
holiday, then the time period falls exactly
on thirty days before the holiday (as cited
in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 429:1).
However, if the obligation is to prepare
for the holiday, then the time period is
less important than the result — people
must be fully prepared when the holiday
begins. Magen Avraham (ibid.) says that
the custom in his day (and today) is to give
a practical sermon on Shabbos Ha-Gadol
and Shabbos Shuvah, the Shabbos before
Pesach and before Yom Kippur, to fulfill
this obligation of studying before the
holiday. Magen Avraham explains, “the
main point is to instruct the people of G-d
in the ways of G-d, to teach the practice
that they should do.” Mishnah Berurah
(429:1) says that for Pesach we need thirty
days because the laws are so complex but
other holidays require fewer days of study.
He also seems to hold that the main point
is preparation for the holiday. Similarly,
Rambam (12th cen., Egypt; Mishneh
Torah, Hilchos Ishus 8:5) says that the
custom in his time was to teach publicly
the basics of the holiday laws close to the
holiday so everyone would be proficient
in them. It seems that even those who
disagree with Ran agree with him that the
thirty day period is for preparing for the
holiday.