What is Ya'aleh Veyavo about?

Question

Ya'aleh Veyavo is said on three occasions: in the third blessing of Birchas Hamazon, in the third to last blessing of Shmoneh Esrei on Rosh Chodesh and Chol Hamoed, and in the Kedushas Hayom (middle blessing of Shmoneh Esrei) of Yom Tov. The common denominator is that it's said whenever you need something generic to say about the day.

However, it's hard to figure out what it really is about. A summary might be: "May HaShem remember us for good on this holiday and bless us." There is no mention of why the holiday is important, and in fact the holiday seems almost incidental to the rest of the prayer.

ArtScroll explains that on holidays we think about Jerusalem, so we ask HaShem to remember it. But this only explains a few words in the prayer.

So what exactly is Ya'aleh Veyavo all about?

Answer 1

Rashi to Shabbos 24a s.v. ואמר מעין המאורע בעבודה says that Ya'aleh Veyavo is to request mercy on Israel and Jerusalem to return the Temple service to its place and to be able to do the sacrifices of the day.

(I suppose you could try to push back a bit on if that is Rashi's exact intent, but that is how Encyclopedia Talmudis understands it in the entry of Ya'aleh Veyavo).

It is said on days where there are extra sacrifices that are especially missed - Biblical Holidays, Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed.

Answer 2

FWIW, I can give you an idea that I developed with a friend of mine. I don't have an actual source, though this idea is based (however loosely) on the Ramban.

In short: Ya'aleh Veyavo is a prayer asking for God to judge us favorably, which is appropriate for the holidays and Rosh Chodesh because they are all mini-judgement days.

By referring to Rosh Hashana as a day of זכרון תרועה, The Torah is telling us that, on this day, we need a זכרון before God, which we accomplish by blowing the shofar. According to the Ramban (Vayikra 23:24, and in his Drasha for Rosh Hashana), this is a reference to the judgement which occurs on Rosh Hashana, and the 'זכרון' that we are seeking refers to a favorable judgement on that day. Hence, this prayer of Ya'aleh Veyavo is using the Torah's terminology (זכרון) for asking God for a favorable judgement, for us, the Jewish people, Yerushalayim, Mashiach, etc. - a perfect prayer for Rosh Hashana.

However, Rosh Hashana isn't the only time when this prayer is said, because Rosh Hashana isn't the only time when the world judged in some way, as the Mishna/Gemara Rosh Hashana states (daf 16a), that on Pesach we're judged for produce, etc. when, during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, we would have performed mitzvos to accomplish something similar to the זכרון as the shofar accomplishes on Rosh Hashana (Ramban in Drasha Rosh Hashana). Thus, the holidays are also a time appropriate for such a prayer.

Rosh Chodesh as well is a mini day of judgement. There are several sources which indicate this, but just to quote one: the Levush (O.C. 422:3) writes that the reason why we don't say a full Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is because it is a day of forgiveness, and therefore הוי כמו ראש השנה ויוה"כ שהם ימי דין, "it's like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which are days of judgement".

While it's true that there are other aspects of each holiday besides for the judgement that occurs on those days (such as the mitzvah of simcha), those also get their mention in the holiday prayer. But even if the דין is only tangential to the message of the holiday itself, it makes sense to be something that we'd want to daven about.

Answer 3

I have long understood ya'aleh v'yavo to be an application of the pasuk in Bemidbar 10:10, וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶם וּבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם וּבְרָאשֵׁי חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּתְקַעְתֶּם בַּחֲצֹצְרֹת עַל עֹלֹתֵיכֶם וְעַל זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵיכֶם וְהָיוּ לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן לִפְנֵי אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם אֲנִי ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם. That is, the principal phrase of ya'aleh v'yavo is the first noun that appears after all the verbs, namely, zikhroneinu. All of the paragraph is an expansion on that theme. This is clearly why each "yom simcha" or mo'ed or rosh chodesh is mentioned in ya'leh v'yavo - it is precisely the point! (I don't think this idea is original with me, but I don't remember where I saw it...)

Answer 4

I read from an old book by Rabbi Louis Isaac Rabinowitz that it parallels a person's trip to the temple in Jerusalem.

there's more but from from what I remember:

Yaale - he goes up the steps.

veyavo -he comes towards the kohen

veyagia - he gets there

veyerae - he appears before G-d

veyeratze - his sacrifice is accepted favorably

he goes on there, if i see it again will try to continue this

Answer 5

Any Mo'ed (besides for Chanuka and Purim, which were made later) gets Ya'aleh Veyovo. A Mo'ed is a spiritual time in which we are naturally and invited to become closer to Hashem.

The words of Ya'aleh Veyovo represent a prayer that we (or some aspect of us) be able to go up the 7 levels of Shamayim, each being a level closer to Hashem (taught by Rabbi M Miller zatzal, surely sourced) and the 8th is actually UP in Shamayim - may our image be recorded in a positive way.

Also the images of our parents, Moshiach, Yerushalayim, we beg, may their memory come before Hashem in all 8 dimensions, (eg not just go up, but also reach the end, and arrive, be visible, be desirable, be heard, be granted), on this holy occasion (labelled).

At this point we pray for Hashem to remember us and keep re-creating us in a blessed way, and save us - on this special day - for a good life.