Isru Chag Questions to think about and discuss:

1. What is Isru Chag and how is this seen in it’s name?
2. Is Isru Chag the same for all three festivals?
3. How is Isru Chag celebrated and why in that way?
4. What is the message and idea of Isru Chag?
5. Why do we not have Isru Chag also after a Shabbos but only after a Yom Tuv?

Ideas for answers:

1. Isru Chag means “tied to the Yom Tov”. This is based on the possuk (Tehilim 118:27) – “Bind the festival offering with cords to the corners of the altar.” The Gemora Sukka (45b) learns an allusion from this possuk that “Whosoever makes an addition to the Festival by eating and drinking is regarded by the Torah as though he had built a mizbayach and offered on it a korban.” The idea here is a transitional period to bridge between the Yom Tov and weekday. It is like a semi-festival stepping down from the Yom Tov that is totally holy to the mundane but man can continue the holiness and imbue it into our every day lives.
2. The Isru Chag of Shavuos is different. This is because when Shavuos would fall on Shabbos, the korban Oilas Reiya could not be brought on Shabbos and was postponed to the next day – Isru Chag. (Mishna Chagiga, 2:4). This day was known as Yom Tivuach. (See Kitzur Shulchan Oruch 103:14)
3. Isru Chag is celebrated with extra eating and drinking (Rema, O.C. 429:2) – acts that are done similarly on Yom Tov itself. This demonstrates that we are still attaching ourself to the acts of Yom Tov and bringing them over to impact the mundane, a normal weekday. In davening no tachanun is said. This demonstrates that this day has an extra element of simcha.
4. The Chasam Sofer in P’ Pinchos explains that Isru Chag is fixed as a day set aside for thanking Hashem for having had a Yom Tuv. Thus, this day is a time for reflection over the past Yom Tuv and all the great things that were involved. Thus, the purpose of this day is to gather together what we have gleaned and gained from the past Yom Tuv and take it with us to build further.
5. The Kedushas Levi (Pesach) answers that Shabbos is given to us as a present from Hashem while the exact date of Yom Tuv depends on Beis Din proclaiming the date of the new month. (See the Gemora Beitza 17a that this idea is reflected in the ending of the brocho – Mikadesh HaShabbos and Mikadesh Yisroel Vihazmanim.) This means that when Shabbos leaves it is because Hashem takes back His present while by Yom Tuv the leaving of it in some way is dependent on us. Since we are the ones who relate to Yom Tuv therefore we have an Isru Chag, an extra day to remain connected to the past Yom Tuv and take a message from it to join in our future living.