Sunsetting the Second Day of Holidays

A Hasidic tzaddik, the Ishbitzer Rebbe (1802-1854), warned us against turning mitzvot (commandments) into idols.  Mitzvot are designed to be vehicles to serve God. Some mitzvot, over time, lose that function, but we preserve them for the sake of tradition. But, what about when those miztvot become obstacles to serving God, and yet we preserve them because they were once effective vehicles to serving God? For the Ishbitzer, that’s an example of making an idol from a mitzvah.

My primary teacher for Rabbinic Judaism (the Judaism of the Talmud and the Midrash) was Rabbi David Hartman (1931-2013), zikhrono livrachah. One of his earliest books was entitled A Living Covenant: The Innovative Spirit in Traditional Judaism (1985). He had little patience for his colleagues in the rabbinic world who would respond to his innovative spirit by citing “what is written” as if that alone precluded any change. His argument was that such an attitude turns the living covenant into a dead letter and our tree of life into petrified wood. Preventing rigor mortis, Hartman taught, was one of the primary functions of the rabbi.

Rabbi Hartman’s final book, The God Who Hates Lies, was published posthumously. It’s a tragic book that reveals, with first-hand knowledge and intellectual rigor, where Modern Orthodoxy went wrong. One of the absurdities Rabbi Hartman exposes is the observance of the second day of holidays in the diaspora. Such observance began because of potential confusion as to the start of the lunar month. Yet, already in the Talmudic period, the calendar was mathematically determined to eliminate any possible confusion. Nevertheless, the tradition of a two-day observance in the diaspora was continued because, in the language of the Talmud, it was a custom of our ancestors. Rabbi Hartman laments, “Reality lacks the ability to alter long-standing tradition…. We have no doubt, yet live as those who did.”

It’s past time to sunset the second day, but not only because of the reason my beloved rabbi laid out. The vast majority of us live in a world where taking off five extra days a year constitutes a burden. (Every legal system legislates for the majority.) Our legal tradition forbids us from unnecessarily burdening the community. One example the Talmud gives us of “burdening the community” is adding several extra verses in the morning prayer! This prohibition on burdening the community was then codified in our standard halakhic texts.

In 1969, the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards issued the following statement:

“Our proposed declaration on the Second Day of Festivals will also help restore some semblance of confidence in the machinery of halakhah, in the operation of our Law Committee, and in the realism of our approach to Judaism. Yom Tov Sheni [the Second Day of Festivals], more than anything we can pinpoint, is a severe case of an enactment which the community cannot live with, which the Rabbis of old had the good grace to remove…. A declaration on the Second Day of Festivals should be offered because the second day is halakhically indefensible. It is not crucial if the declaration utterly fails to increase piety or Jewish observance among those of little devotion. We should act for the sake of those who enjoy and observe one day, but regard the second day as repetitious and burdensome, although they observe it because of their loyalty to halakhah.”

There is a small but growing number of Conservative congregations that have sunset the second day. My sermon this past Simchat Torah proposed doing the same. After study and discussion, the Religious Practices Committee is ready to move forward with a congregational discussion to lay out the implications for AJ. Details explaining the rationale and consequences of the proposed shift are in this Powerpoint presentation. If you would like to comment on the proposal, you can do so below.

Like Rabbi Hartman, I believe Judaism is a living covenant. Like Avraham, we sometimes need to shatter our ancestors’ idols that conflict with that covenant. Other times, just as our ancestors initially instituted a second day of holidays because of communal need, we too will need to take on additional burdens and responsibilities to maintain the relevance and vibrancy of our covenant. May God grace us with the wisdom to keep our covenant alive and thriving.

14,295 comments

  1. Wendy Fein Cooper

    I am on board with this change. Len and I are among the people who are not usually able to attend the second day of services, other than Rosh Hashanah. In fact, I know that you will find a way to continue the baby event that has historically occurred for the Akeda aliyah. You might want to get ahead of potentially negative comments because this is one of the most popular events at AJ. We zoomed this in a very creative way this past RH, but in person needs to return in a fully accessible way. You might want to incorporate some of what would have been done on the second day in the daily services that occur on the second day, so that the tradition is honored in a limited way for those who prefer. Are any of the other local Conservative synagogues doing the same?

    Reply
    1. shai cherry

      If I’m understanding you correctly, there’s no issue because Rosh Hashana will still be 2 days–as it is in Israel.

      Reply
  2. David pashman

    Are any other phila area synagogues doing this? If not and we do this we may place ourselves at a competitive disadvantage.

    Reply
      1. shai cherry

        As far as I can determine, there are no other Philadelphia, Conservative synagogues who have sunset the second day.

        Reply
  3. Nancy Zucker

    Rav Shai, I for one am on board with the sunsetting. I think that as a congregation we must be fluid in our practices while at the same time be true to our traditions and mitzvot, and also be a part of the 21rst century. I feel that these are compatible and will only make our congregation even stronger. Through compromise most problems or disagreements can be worked out. I’m am grateful you are here at A.J.

    Reply
  4. Карина

    Очень интересная информация. Пробки Новосибирск Онлайн. пробки новосибирск . Полноценный капитальный ремонт моста, как сообщали в мэрии города, решено отложить на неопределенный срок из-за финансовых проблем. Ориентировочная стоимость капремонта — более 1,5 млрд рублей. В Яндекс Пробки Новосибирск доступна функция прогнозирования заторов на дороге. Например, можно заранее узнать, какие именно улицы будут загружены в “час пик”. Для получения прогноза, необходимо нажать на кнопку с изображением часов.

    Reply
  14. Visit %url_domain%

    I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this site. Im hoping to see the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own, personal blog now 😉 I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this site. Im hoping to see the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own, personal blog now 😉 visit here

    Reply
  18. נערות ליווי באילת

    May I just say what a comfort to uncover somebody who truly knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You actually know how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people should look at this and understand this side of the story. Its surprising you arent more popular because you certainly have the gift.

    Reply
  20. israelxclub.co.il

    Im excited to discover this web site. I need to to thank you for ones time for this wonderful read!! I definitely savored every bit of it and I have you bookmarked to look at new information in your web site.

    Reply
  23. Writing Articles with Artificial Intelligence

    I don’t need to tell you how important it is to optimize every step in your SEO pipeline. But unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to cut out time or money when it comes to getting good content. At least that’s what I thought until I came across Article Forge… Built by a team of AI researchers from MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Article Forge is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered content writer that uses deep learning models to write entire articles about any topic in less than 60 seconds. Their team trained AI models on millions of articles to teach Article Forge how to draw connections between topics so that each article it writes is relevant, interesting and useful. All their hard work means you just enter a few keywords and Article Forge will write a complete article from scratch making sure every thought flows naturally into the next, resulting in readable, high quality, and unique content. Put simply, this is a secret weapon for anyone who needs content. I get how impossible that sounds so you need to see how Article Forge writes a complete article in less than 60 seconds! order here.

    Reply
  24. Register here and get a bonus

    Being a digital marketer today is definitely not easy! Not only do you need high-quality content, you need a lot of it. But creating good content is incredibly time consuming. At least that is what I thought until I came across WordAi… In case you have never heard of WordAi, it is a lightning fast content rewriter that uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically create unique variations of any piece of content. The best part is, WordAi creates rewrites that both humans and Google love.  I know, that’s a bold claim and I was pretty skeptical myself. So I decided to test their claims with their free trial and can tell you honestly, I opted directly for the yearly subscription after that. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that WordAi is better than any other tool, service, or method on the market. I have been using WordAi to fill out my blogs and have already covered the cost of my yearly subscription. Its crazy but Im just scratching the surface of how far I can scale my SEO with WordAi! While I am using WordAi to scale my SEO efforts, you can also use WordAi to diversify your copy or even brainstorm to beat writers block! I could tell you about WordAi all day, but you really just need to try it for yourself. They are so confident in their technology that they offer a completely free 3-day trial AND a 30-day money back guarantee. So what are you waiting for? Click here to get started with WordAi for Free! Register here and get a bonus.

    Reply
  25. נערות ליווי במרכז

    I was pretty pleased to discover this great site. I need to to thank you for your time for this particularly fantastic read!! I definitely appreciated every part of it and I have you book marked to see new stuff on your blog

    Reply
  26. נערות ליווי

    I was extremely pleased to discover this page. I want to to thank you for ones time due to this wonderful read!! I definitely appreciated every part of it and I have you bookmarked to look at new information on your web site.

    Reply