Portion Emor
What's in a name?
The Torah passage of 'emor' is replete with laws and description of the various Jewish festivals. Only two of them, however, are given specific names; the festival of Matzos and festival of Sukkot.
With regard to the festival of Mazhot, Scripture state: "and on the fifteenth day of this month is the festival of Matzot to the L-rd…" thus implying that the designation festival of Matzot does not apply to the entire seven – day holiday period. However, concerning the festival of Sukkot the Torah speaks of "the festival of Sukkot for seven days to the L-rd".
On the other hand, after the designation of Festival of Matzot the verse immediately concludes, "for seven days you shall eat matzos",while with regard to the Festival of Sukkos the injunction that "you shall dwell in sukkos for seven days is mentioned only at the end of the section and not in close proximity to the festival's name.
How are we to understand these differences?
There is yet another difference between these festivals: the festival of Matzos is most often referred to in Rabbinic literature as well as in common speech as "Passover". However, we do not commonly find the Festival of Sukkos alluded to by any name other than "Sukkos".
All this tends to indicate that the theme of Passover is not strictly limited to its being the Festival of Matzos, while the theme of sukkos is delineated by its name - the Festival of – sukkot.
Therefore, when the Torah states that "on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Matzos ...," it immediately concludes that "for seven days you shall eat matzos." This emphasizes that Passover is called the Festival of Matzos only because of the requirement to eat matzah; this is, however, not the exclusive theme of the festival and the entire seven- day period. This is not so with regard to the holiday of Sukkot. In this instance "the Festival of Sukkos for seven days to the L-rd" is indeed the total theme of the seven-day holiday period.
Were the Torah to state that "you shall dwell in sukkot for seven days" immediately after the phrase "Festival of Sukkot," we might erro'neously conclude that - similar to the "Festival of Matzos" - the holiday of Sukkos is so designated only by virtue of our actually dwelling in the sukkah.
But why is it that the theme of the Festival of Sukkot is exclusively what is implied by its name, while the theme of Passover is not merely that of the Festival of Matzos?
The fifteenth day of the month of Nissan - the first day of Passover - is distinctive because it is the occasion of the Exodus from Egypt. The liberation of the ]ewish people from slavery is of such great import that the day on which it happened became a holiday, as Scripture states:" And this day shall be unto you for a remembrance; you shall celebrate it for all coming generations as a festival to the L-rd." It is precisely because of its being a singular day that we are commanded to do special things during this day, which include the eating matzos.
This is not the case with regard to Sukkos. "The fifteenth day of this seventh month" is not unique in its own right; it is the obligation to dwell in the sukkah for seven days that gives rise to the Festival of Sukkos.
