The Mishna says that one who relates disrespectfully toward the holidays, forfeits his share in the World to Come. The famous Torah commentator Bartenura explains that this refers to one who works on Chol HaMoed or drinks and eats his meals as if these were ordinary weekdays.
At the level of pshat (this simple meaning), the two words Chol HaMoed mean “the mundane days of the festival.” At a different level, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek explains that the service of Chol HaMoed is to transform the mundane and weekday (chol) into a Yom-Tov (moed).
Clothing During Chol HaMoed
The Alter Rebbe rules in the Shulchan Aruch that on Chol HaMoed there is a mitzva of simcha just as on Yom-Tov itself. Due to this obligation, one’s clothing on Yom-Tov and also on Chol HaMoed should be finer than one’s Shabbat clothing.
The Rebbe records in his diary how the Previous Rebbe would wear a silk kapote throughout the entire Chol HaMoed, as was his custom on Shabbat and Yom-Tov. The Rebbe himself did the same. On the third day of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, 1979, when the Rebbe came into shul, he turned to the photographer Reb Levi Itche Freiden and said, “today is Yom-Tov; today one should wear Yom-Tov clothes.”
Learning Torah
The Talmud Yerushalmi teaches: work is forbidden on Chol HaMoed in order to enable us to devote our time to rejoice and study Torah, not to celebrate and party.
The author of Sefer HaChinuch writes: the days of Chol Hamoed were not instituted for work, but for rejoicing before Hashem. This means gathering in shuls and listening to the sweet words of Torah, learning the halachot of Pesach during Pesach and the halachot of Sukkot during Sukkot.
Yemei Ratzon
R. Moshe Ben Machir, a kabbalist in the generation after the Arizal, writes in his work Seder HaYom: one should not think that since he is not working, his time should be occupied with eating and touring. In truth, these days are days of Divine goodwill (yemei ratzon) and were given to Jews so that they can be free to learn Torah. There is heightened holiness during these days, as can be understood from the extra mussaf offering and the extra aliya in shul. One should enjoy himself physically but should not forget to attend to his soul, which should be his primary focus.
The Rebbe explains that since during Chol HaMoed one is forbidden to do any work, one should study Torah day and night, like someone who has all his work done by others, as explained in Hilchot Talmud Torah of the Alter Rebbe.
The above and Dancing in the Streets reprinted from The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash, on-line at TheWeeklyFarbrengen.com
