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Why do some mitzvos involve celebratory meals while others don't? The shiur develops the concept of menucha as achievement rather than rest, showing that we celebrate mitzvos that represent completion or fulfillment. Yissachar's tribe understood Torah (תורה) study as menucha - true accomplishment - which drove them to extraordinary scholarship and expertise in calendar calculation.
This shiur begins by analyzing why certain mitzvos are accompanied by celebratory meals while others are not, and why sometimes the celebration precedes the mitzvah (מצוה) while other times it follows. Rabbi Zweig explores the blessing of Yissachar - described as a strong-boned donkey who "saw that rest (menucha) was good" - to understand the deeper meaning of menucha as achievement rather than mere cessation of work. The core insight emerges from a Gemara (גמרא) in Megillah about the seventy-two translators of the Torah (תורה) for King Ptolemy. When translating "God completed His work on the seventh day," they changed it to "the sixth day" to avoid implying God worked on Shabbos (שבת). Rabbi Zweig explains that while Jews understand menucha as the completion of creation through rest itself, Ptolemy (representing the secular worldview) could only understand achievement through completed work.
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Sotah 68b, Megillah (seventy-two translators)
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