Isru Chag
| Isru Chag | |
|---|---|
| Official name |
Hebrew: אסרו חג English translation: "Bind the Festival" |
| Observed by | Jews in Judaism |
| Type | Jewish |
| Significance | Follows each of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Serves to bridge the respective holidays to the rest of the year. |
| Observances | Minor: Most omit Tachanun from Shacharit and Mincha, and some partake of extra food and drink. |
| Begins | The night immediately following the Three Pilgrimage Festivals |
| Ends | At nightfall of the day following the Three Pilgrimage Festivals |
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 phrase originates from the verse in Psalms 118:27, which 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.”
In a responsum to a community that had inquired as to the rationale behind the observance of Isru Chag, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim (1832 - 1909), known as the Ben Ish Chai, cited the famous Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534 - 1572), known as the ARI, to the effect that we [Jews] 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.
Adding a degree of festivity to the day as a practice has further been codified in Ashkenazic communities, as Rabbi Moses Isserles (1520 - 1572), known as the Rema, has stated in his glosses (i.e. "additional notations") in the Shulchan Aruch ("Code of Jewish Law) in the section of Orach Chayim:
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838 - 1933), known as the Chofetz Chaim ruled that the minhag ("custom") [among religiously observant Jews] is to generally forbid fasting on Isru Chag, except in instances when as a result of great distress the community synagogue decrees it.
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