A husband is supposed to ensure his wife's Simchas Yom Tov by buying her something (new jewelry, clothes, etc.) for the holiday. If she has already received such an item from a different source, and will thus already have this kind of simcha, does the husband still have an obligation to buy her something?

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    I don't have a proof, but it sounds like the obligation is due to the recipients dependency on him. Despite the language of the tanaim that a person is chayav to be mesameach his family, most of the sifrei halacha say something like 'everyone needs to have simcha on yom tov, therefore you need to buy them stuff'. – YDK Sep 6 '10 at 3:56
  • So you're saying that the answer to my question is "no"? – Dave Sep 6 '10 at 14:00
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    Correct, that is my impression. Although Rashi in Kiddushin 34b holds women are patur and it is the husbands' chiyuv. There is a machlokes how to learn the gemara there, so I'll reserve final comment until I take a good look. – YDK Sep 6 '10 at 14:53

Continuing from my comment above referring to kidushin 34b, it seems:

Rashi holds there is no obligation for a woman to have simcha, the husband is required to buy her stuff (nowadays, bring her to Yerushalayim bizman hamikdash) because her happiness enhances his happiness.

Others (Tos., Ritva, et al.) reject Rashi and hold that women have an obligation, but only through their husbands as per the pasuk. A widow then has no obligation and is only mentioned in the pasuk as an aniya who the man must support as tzedaka when going up to Yerushalayim.

According to the above opinions, the answer to your question would be "yes".

Our sifrei halacha seem to go with the Rambam who,at the beginning of hilchos chagiga states categorically, that women are obligated in the simcha. The Lechem Mishna's approach is that Abaye, who stated in the gemara that women do not have an obligation, is later rejected for R' Zeira. Accordingly, a widow must find a way to have simcha.

Although one can find room in the Rambam to say that a husband is merely charged with making sure his wife has simcha (and the answer to your question would be "no", I still have no conclusive proof.

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    You do not have to dig deep in to chazal to know that your happiness will not be complete without your wifes happiness , and if it costs afew extra gifts then so be it. – Koachyah Sep 7 '10 at 3:00
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    That's a nice point, Koachyah, but it doesn't address the question which is about the husband's obligation, not best practices. – YDK Sep 7 '10 at 3:25

We poskin it is husbands chiyuv hence women forgets yaleh vyovo does not need to repeat since she has no chiyuv seudah its her husbands job to make her happy not the food

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    Women do not have a mitzva of "oneg", but they may of "simcha". This is similar to a man who does not repeat yaale veyavo during chol hamoed because there is no chiyuv seudah. Nevertheless, he has a chiyuv simcha even during chol hamoed. – YDK Sep 7 '10 at 4:32
  • Do you have a source or sevara as to why women are not included in Oneg? – RCW Sep 8 '10 at 1:15

A husband is always obligated to bring simcha towards his wife especially on holidays and shabbat, if she has whatever she want you can just stick with basic flowers and chocolate.

  • My question is whether the mitzvah refers to a special simcha that comes as a result of a gift from a husband, or perhaps as long as the wife will have simcha from any source it is sufficient. I guess I could phrase it as follows: Is there an absolute obligation for the husband to provide an item that will bring simcha, or is it just the husband's responsibility to ensure that she will have such an item during Yom – Dave Sep 5 '10 at 19:42
  • in my opinion i think it will definetly bring the the bond between husband, wife the yom tov to a higher level of simcha either way it would definitely be a mitsva, mitsva to bring simcha to the wife and making simcha in the merit of the yom tov. – Koachyah Sep 6 '10 at 0:48
  • I wonder if chocolate or flowers would suffice. It would seem that it would need to be clothing or Jewelry for example. (See Rambam Hilchot Yom Tov) – RCW Sep 8 '10 at 1:08

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