Should Jews abandon the second day added to festivals in the Diaspora?
The Torah describes Rosh Hashana and Shemini Atzeret as one-day holidays, while Passover and Sukkot are to be observed for seven days. But 2,000 years ago, an extra "second day for the Diaspora" was added to most Jewish festivals outside Jerusalem, to ensure that even if distant Jewish communities missed the day the new moon was declared - the traditional start of Jewish holidays except Rosh Hashanah, which falls in mid-month - by observing each festival for two days they would ensure they wouldn’t miss the "real" day. Even when the Jewish calendar was fixed by the fourth century CE, the custom of adding one extra day to holidays persisted. Yom Kippur was the only exception, because adding an extra fast day was considered too much of a hardship.
The Torah describes Rosh Hashana and Shemini Atzeret as one-day holidays, while Passover and Sukkot are to be observed for seven days. But 2,000 years ago, an extra "second day for the Diaspora" was added to most Jewish festivals outside Jerusalem, to ensure that even if distant Jewish communities missed the day the new moon was declared - the traditional start of Jewish holidays except Rosh Hashanah, which falls in mid-month - by observing each festival for two days they would ensure they wouldn’t miss the "real" day. Even when the Jewish calendar was fixed by the fourth century CE, the custom of adding one extra day to holidays persisted. Yom Kippur was the only exception, because adding an extra fast day was considered too much of a hardship.
When the State of Israel arose, the extra "Diaspora day" of festivals was no longer observed in the new Jewish State. Reform Jews outside Israel also abandoned the extra day, both in solidarity with Israel, and because they no longer believed they were living "in exile." Most Renewal and Reconstructionist Jews followed the Reform lead, while Conservative and Orthodox Jews outside Israel continue to observe the extra days. But now that so many Jews travel back and forth to Israel, there are no hard and fast rules. The Talmud suggests following the practice of the place where you are located when the holiday falls, and many Jews visiting or living temporarily in Israel indeed follow the shorter Israeli custom, but Orthodox and Hassidic Jews visiting or living in Israel usually preserve the Diaspora practice of adding a second day, out of respect for their tradition. In contrast, some American Jews who used to live in Israel are carrying the shorter holiday observances back to America with them, as a statement of Zionist solidarity.
Now that Israel exists, should Jews worldwide abandon the extra "Diaspora" day attached to Passover, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Rosh Hashanah?


10 Comments:
At 9:43 AM,
curious said…
You need to seperate Rosh Hashana from the rest. The reasoning for a 2nd day of Rosh Hashana is different than all the other holidays and even in Israel two days are traditionally observed.
Also, I think you're history might be a little off. I don't have sources to check, but I thought that people in Israel kept one day even before the creation of the state, not just in Jerusalem.
Where in the talmud does it say you should follow the practice of where you are? I'm pretty sure in other cased(including the case of working erev pessach) the talmud says to follow your own custom.
At 12:49 PM,
Ben Harris said…
Curious is right to remind us that Rosh Hashana received an extra day for a different reason, and is thus always celebrated for two days, both inside and outside of Israel. The blog question should refer only to the additional day added to other festivals.
And yes, Jews in pre-state Israel returned to the one-day and seven-day observance schedule as their community grew in the early 20th century. But this practice was very much tied to imminent statehood.
As far as where the Talmud states that one should adopt the practice of the place in such matters, I will look into it and get back to you.
Sue Fishkoff
At 4:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
Sue -
You are not correct on the 2nd day in pre-state Isarel.
Within Israel, not simply Jerusalam, Hoildyas have been celebrated without the additional '2nd' day for centuries. It is not a recent update.
At 5:58 PM,
Out of Africa said…
The Pilpulist may be missing a more profound point as a result of being very wrapped up in the pilpul at the expense of the more spiritual side of Judaism.
The Festivals are not simply commemorations of ancient events, but rather a reliving of those events in our personal spiritual lives and development. The gateways that were first opened on those dates millenia ago are again opened when we celebrate each year. In fact, each year we are empowered to extend our reach and to grow in that Festival's particular dimesion, e.g. on Passover to experience freedom and to more deeply ingrain it on our soul and pysche.
Israel is inherently a more spiritually sensitive land and as a result one is able to absorb the message and impact of a Festival in one day. However, the environment outside of Israel lacks that sensitivity and we require two days to absorb the same message as our Israeli family.
At 1:19 PM,
BZ said…
My short answer: Yes.
A few more corrections and clarifications:
The Reform movement has observed 1 day of yom tov since the early 19th century, long before the State of Israel existed. The Conservative movement also passed a teshuva in the 1960s saying that individual Conservative congregations could choose whether to observe 1 or 2 days, but I don't know of any that took them up on the 1-day option.
to ensure that even if distant Jewish communities missed the day the new moon was declared - the traditional start of Jewish holidays except Rosh Hashanah, which falls in mid-month
Also, this is reversed: Rosh Hashanah is on the new moon, while Sukkot and Pesach are on the full moon. (And the 2nd day of Shavuot makes no sense at all.)
At 1:21 PM,
BZ said…
Israel is inherently a more spiritually sensitive land and as a result one is able to absorb the message and impact of a Festival in one day. However, the environment outside of Israel lacks that sensitivity and we require two days to absorb the same message as our Israeli family.
I would reverse this. Taking a day off when you would otherwise be going to work (in the Diaspora) has a greater impact than having the day off (in Israel) when everything is closed anyway.
At 2:54 PM,
curious said…
BZ, you're right Rosh Hashana is the only holiday that start at the beginning of the month. Thats also why 2 days were added even in Israel. They couldn't wait for witnesses to see the new moon because then it would suddenly be Rosh Hashana. They had to count from the beginning of Elul so even in Israel they needed the extra fudge factor.
I completely agree with you about shavuot. Except I've always argued that if you have 2 days of Pesach you should count 2 days each night of the Omer. I've never gotten a satisfactory answer why we don't do that. Maybe I'll look into it more myself before Pesach.
At 9:13 AM,
Anonymous said…
Should Jews worldwide abandon the second day of Yom Tov observed in the Galus?
A ridiculous question since Jews worlwide have in large part abandoned EVERY day of Yom Tov. For the handful left carrying the torch we should look forward to two days of Yom Tov or even "three" when it adjoins Shabbos. In a world without enough Yom Tov you want to take more away? Shame!
At 7:57 PM,
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At 3:00 AM,
Nancy said…
I am trying to understand what you mean. This post is interesting.
Keep blogging!!
This is Nancy from Israeli Uncensored News
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