Isru chag

Infobox Holiday


caption =
holiday_name = Isru Chag
official_name = Hebrew: אסרו חג English translation: "Bind the Festival"
observedby = Jews in Judaism
begins = The night immediately following the Three Pilgrimage Festivals
ends = At nightfall of the day following the Three Pilgrimage Festivals
observances = Minor: Some omit Tachanun from Shacharit and Mincha, and some partake of extra food and drink.
type = Jewish
significance = Follows each of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Serves to bridge the respective holidays to the rest of the year.
relatedto =

Isru Chag (Hebrew: אסרו חג, lit. "Bind the Festival") refers to the day after each of the three pilgrimage festivals in Judaism: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. The origins of the phrase ‘Isru Chag’ is from the verse in Psalms 118:27 that states “"Bind the festival offering" with cords to the corners of the altar.” This verse, according to the Sages of the Talmud should homiletically be understood to mean “Whosoever makes an addition to the Festival by eating and drinking is regarded by Scripture as though he had built an altar and offered thereon a sacrifice.” [Babylonian Talmud [http://boxstr.com/files/2060991_kyjpt/Sukkah.pdf Sukkah 45b] ]

Ben Ish Chai in a responsa to a community that had inquired as to the rationale behind the observance of Isru Chag cited Rabbi Isaac Luria to the effect that we connect the day after the holiday to the holiday itself due to the remaining “light” of the holiday – in other words, so that the sanctity of the holiday will be extended. [ Shu”t Torah Lishmah: [http://www.hebrewbooks.org/15114 Orach Chaim, Question 140] ]

Observances

Adding a degree of festivity to the day as a practice has further been codified in Ashkenazic communities, as the Rema has stated in his notes on the Orach Chaim “And we have the custom to eat and drink a little more on the day after the holiday - and that is the day known as "bind the festival."” [Shulchan Aruch; [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Shulchan_Aruch/Orach_Chaim/429 Orach Chaim 429:2] ]

Almost all communities omit Tachanun on Isru Chag. However, those communities that follow Maimonides' rulings such as the Dor Daim maintain that the only days on which Tachanun is to be omitted are Shabbat, Yom Tov, Rosh HaShana, Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, Purim, and the Mincha before Shabbat and Yom Tov. [Mishne Torah [http://mechon-mamre.org/i/2205.htm Hilchot Tefillah 5:15] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=559&o=2053173 What is Isru Chag?] at [http://www.askmoses.com askmoses.com]
*" [http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/250/Q5/ Holiday Wrapping] " from [http://ohr.edu Ohr Sameach]
* [http://www.balashon.com/2006/10/isru-chag.html Isru Chag] on [http://www.balashon.com/ Balashon - Hebrew Language Detective]
* [http://www.tfdixie.com/holidays/sukkot/012.htm The Morning After] from [http://www.tfdixie.com/ Torah from Dixie]
* [http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5762/nasso/oshvustrvs.htm Understanding Isru Chag and Yemei Tashlumin]