Issru Chag

The Rama (429:2) mentions the idea of issru chag. What is issru chag? Issru chag is the day after yom tov. What does issru mean? Tied up. Issru chag means the day that is bound to yom tov, the day after yom tov. You have more food on issru chag, you don’t fast. It is a special day. What is striking (almost strange) about this Rama is the placement. Why does the Rama mention issru chag at the beginning of Hilchos Pesach? Issru chag is the day after yom tov. It should be at the end of Hilchos Yom Tov. I once saw[i] a beautiful answer in the name of Rav Sorotzkin zt”l (former Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe). I will present his approach in the context of Rav Hirsch’s explanation of atzeres.

Rav Hirsch (Vayikra, 23:36) explains the concept of atzeres as follows. The last day of both Succos and Pesach is called atzeres. Atzeres means to hold on, stop, maintain your position. Rav Hirsch writes that when yom tov is ending, you should stop and hold on to what you gained during the yom tov. Rav Hirsch says as follows:

Atzeres designates a day which is not fixed to bring new lessons and new truths . . . , but which has the mission to keep us still before the Presence of Hashem . . . , and to strengthen and solidify the impressions and knowledge we have already gained so they remain with us permanently, and do not become lost in the hurly-burly of life.

The atzeres day is not set aside to learn new lessons, but rather it is a time to stop, think, and absorb all that you have learned and gained during yom tov.

Rav Sorotzkin explains issru chag in a similar way. He says as follows. For many people, after yom tov ends, life returns to “normal.” You have a certain level of avodas Hashem, and then on yom tov you have more mitzvos and ruchniyus, and then afterwards you are back to normal. No! That is not the way religious life should be. The whole purpose of yom tov is for it to impact on you as a person, and to be a different, better person when yom tov is over. Your religious life should be at a higher level than it used to be. The purpose of the yom tov is that your entire chol life is affected by the yom tov. What halachah reflects this? Issru chag. Yom tov is over; however, the first post-yom tov day is still a special day. You are trying to bring yom tov with you into your regular life. The way you show this is that the first day after yom tov is special. Issru chag captures the theme of what yom tov is supposed to be. You want to show yourself symbolically that you are taking yom tov with you. The first day after yom tov you have a seudah and don’t fast. Your life is not back to “normal.” You are acting special on the first day after yom tov. It is a bridge between yom tov and chol. It is supposed to help bump up your level of your daily avodas Hashem.

Many businesses and organizations often develop a plan that describes the goals of the organization. If you know what your goal is, you have a better chance of achieving it because you plan better. Issru chag is like having a mission plan before yom tov. Learning hilchos issru chag puts us in the proper frame of mind of how to approach the yom tov. You should approach yom tov in a way that when it is over, you will take it with you. That is why issru chag is mentioned at the beginning of Hilchos Pesach because issru chag is supposed to act as our mission plan of what yom tov is all about. Since issru chag captures exactly the theme of your entire goal for yom tov, therefore it makes sense that we use hilchos issru chag as a mission plan- here is your goal! So, as you are entering the rest of Hilchos Pesach remember what your goal is: when yom tov is over, take it with you.

Let us all be inspired on Pesach and bring the inspiration with us back into our everyday lives.

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

B. Ginsburg

[i] See Riv’vos Ephraim (3:442).