Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

To not do work on the first day of Pesach: That we not do work on the first day of the holiday of Pesach — which is the fifteenth of Nissan — as it is stated (Leviticus 23:7), “On the first day, a holy occasion shall it be for you; all work of labor shall you not do.” And Scripture already warned about this in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh in the command of the holiday of Pesach; as it is stated there (Exodus 12:16), “all work shall not be done upon them.” And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, brought that verse (in Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 223) in his tally. But I have written this other one, so that the holidays be organized in one order. But it all comes to the same thing.

And the verse stated here, “work of labor,” and it did not state, “all work” — since the needs of food for the soul were permitted to be done on the holiday; as Scripture comes in another place (Exodus 12:16), “but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you.” And this is the understanding of work of labor — meaning to say, work that is not for the needs of food for the soul, like the matter that is stated (Exodus 1:14), “labor in the field”; and so [too,] “Kain was a laborer of the field” (Genesis 4:2); “a king over a field that is labored” (Ecclesiastes 5:8); “labors his land” (Proverbs 12:11). But work that is for food for the soul like cooking and similar to it is work of enjoyment, not work of labor. So did Ramban, may his memory be blessed, explain. And he wrote further (Ramban on Leviticus 23:7) that this understanding is elucidated in the Torah [itself], since with the Festival of Matsot, [about which] it first stated, “all work shall not be done upon them” in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh, it was required to explain, “but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you.” But with all of the other holidays, it was brief and it stated, “all work of labor you shall not do,” to forbid all work that is not [for] food for the soul, and to inform that food for the soul is permitted on them. And Scripture did not ever state in one of the other holidays, “all work,” nor explain the permissibility of food for the soul — since “all work of labor” teaches about this. But in the section, Kol HaBekhor on the Festival of Matsot, it states (Deuteronomy 16:8), “and on the seventh day, it is a convocation to the Lord, your God; you shall not do work.” And the reason is because it already explicitly permitted food for the soul on this holiday in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh. And afterwards in this Order, it mentions “work of labor,” which also implies the permissibility of food for the soul. And therefore, when it repeated and mentioned it another time in the section of Kol HaBekhor, it was not needed for it to state a further explanation about it; and [so] it mentioned just, “work,” and relied on that which is known [from the earlier entries]. And nonetheless, it did not state, “all work,” as [it does] with Shabbat and Yom Kippur, but [rather just] stated, “work” — meaning to say, the work which I have warned you about.

It is from the roots of the commandment that it is so that the great miracles that God, may He be blessed, did for them and for their forefathers be remembered, and that they speak about them and inform their children and the children of their children about them. As with the rest from the business of the world, they will be free to be involved with this. As if they were permitted work — and even light work — each and every one would turn to his business. And the honor of the festival would be forgotten from “the mouths of babes”; also from the mouths of adults. And there are also many [other] benefits to its rest: As all the people gather in the synagogues and study halls to listen to the words of the book, and the heads of the people guide them and teach them knowledge. And [it is] similar to that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Megillah 32a), “Moshe ordained for Israel that they should expound the laws of Pesach on Pesach and the Laws of [Shavuot] on [Shavuot and the laws of the Holiday (Sukkot) on the Holiday].

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Beitzah 28b) that even though Scripture permitted work for the sake of food for the soul, it is specifically things that are impossible to do from the eve of the holiday, such as kneading, slaughtering, baking [and] cooking — as all of these types of work become a little defective from delay [after them]. And likewise for this reason, they permitted to pound spices on the holiday, on account that their taste becomes fainter with delay after they are pounded. But it is forbidden to do types of work on the holiday that are possible to do from the eve of the holiday and do not deteriorate at all — such as harvesting, threshing, separating, grinding, sifting and what is similar to them; and they are not included in the needs of food for the soul at all. And we administer lashes for them like [for] plowing in the field — which is actually a work of labor. And the later commentators elucidated this matter further and said that truly that which is called the need of food for the soul is only that which is made for its day — meaning to say, for a short time, like cooking and baking and what is similar to it, as we have said — and also [only] that which a person’s mind relies upon to make for that time. [This is] to exclude hunting, as the mind of a man is not upon it, since perhaps game will not appear to him today. And they said further that that which we permit food for the soul with that which is made for that time — as we said — is only if he uses the body of the work. But if he uses the removal of the work, it is forbidden. And this is [the understanding of] that which they, may their memory be blessed, forbade (Beitzah 22a) to extinguish the log, even though his mind in extinguishing it is so that [the stew in] the pot not get smoky. And regarding the roasting of meat over coals — which is the bisra agumrei mentioned in the Gemara (Beitzah 23a) — even though the fire is extinguished from the [liquids] of the meat, this is not called using the removal of the work, since it is for the needs of the roasting to do this. And [so] he is using the body of the work and it is permissible.

And so [too,] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Beitzah 12a) that included in the dispensation of the needs of food for the soul is not specifically food and drink only. Rather, even every thing that a person needs on the day: [Something] which is a matter of a commandment, such as to circumcise an infant, and a lulav to fulfill [the commandment] with it, and a Torah scroll to read from it — as each and every day is the time for Torah; or whether it is not a matter of a commandment but a need of the body on that day, such as the washing of the feet with hot water that was heated on the holiday or to make a fire to warm oneself with it. All of these things are permitted and included in the dispensation of food for the soul. So did our Sages, may their memory be blessed, explain (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Rest on a Holiday 1:16).

And nonetheless it is specifically [regarding] things that are the same for all people’s bodies that we permit and we say that it is included in this dispensation of food for the soul — such as washing the feet, as everyone washes like this sometimes. But that which is not the same for every person, such as mugmar (a type of incense) — since not all people burn mugmar, as we say in Ketuvot 7a — is certainly forbidden [along with] all that is similar to it. And it is only in these things that we need that it be the same for every person. However regarding eating, every person is permitted to make even a food that is not its way to be made except by kings and great ministers — since the basic concept of eating is something that is the same for every soul. And so [too,] that which they said (Beitzah 2b) about the prohibition of preparation, that a holiday cannot prepare for Shabbat, nor a Shabbat prepare for a holiday. And you will only find a prohibition of preparation from Torah writ in my opinion — if you have studied the words of the Gemara well — with an egg alone. And its main prohibition is when it was born on a holiday after Shabbat or on a Shabbat after a holiday. In this way is the preparation of Rabbah established with an egg, and with this is there a Torah prohibition — and in no other way. As behold, that which we prohibit when it is born on Shabbat on the holiday that is after it, and so [too,] when it is born on the holiday on the Shabbat that is after it, and so [too,] when it is born on the holiday itself is [only] a rabbinic prohibition — and it is all on account of a decree [to make a fence for] the one that is born on a holiday after Shabbat, as we said. And the matter would be [too] lengthy if I came to write it with a broad elucidation. And in its place at the beginning of Beitzah, I have written at length about it, as my teachers — may God protect them — have taught me.

And the law that it is forbidden to make tools that prepare food for the soul, on account of its being written (Exodus 12:16), “that alone” — and not what prepares it. And the law of inviting gentiles on a holiday (Beitzah 21b), which is forbidden, as it is written, “for you” — and not for gentiles. And so [too,] that we do not bake anything for dogs, as it is written, “for you” — and not for dogs. And that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Beitzah 4b) about the two days of the exiles — that an egg born on this one is permitted on that one; and that which is detached from the ground on this one is permitted on that one, as the [two days] are two [separate units of] holiness. And it is not like this on the two days of Rosh Hashanah. And the rest of its many details are all elucidated in the tractate that is built on this, and that is Tractate [Beitzah]. (See Tur, Orach Chaim 495.)

And it is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and does work from the forbidden types of work on a holiday volitionally is liable for lashes.