(1) The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, with which his mother admonished him: (2) No, my son! No, O son of my womb! No, O son of my vows! (3) Do not give your strength to women, Your vigor, to those who destroy kings. (4) Wine is not for kings, O Lemuel; Not for kings to drink, Nor any strong drink for princes, (5) Lest they drink and forget what has been ordained, And infringe on the rights of the poor. (6) Give strong drink to the hapless And wine to the embittered. (7) Let them drink and forget their poverty, And put their troubles out of mind.

...

Rav Kahana raised a contradiction: It is Rava raised a contradiction: It is written: “And wine that makes glad [yishamaḥ] the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15) with a shin, but we read it yisamaḥ with a sin. This teaches: If one merits, wine makes him happy [same’aḥ]; if one does not merit, it makes him confounded [shamem]. This is the same as what Rava said: Wine and good scents make me wise, meaning that wine benefits one who deserves it.

It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says: When the Temple is standing, rejoicing is only through the eating of sacrificial meat, as it is stated: “And you shall sacrifice peace-offerings and you shall eat there and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:7). And now that the Temple is not standing and one cannot eat sacrificial meat, he can fulfill the mitzva of rejoicing on a Festival only by drinking wine, as it is stated: “And wine that gladdens the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15).

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Women are obligated in these four cups of wine at the Passover seder. As they too were included in that miracle of the Exodus, they are therefore obligated to participate in the celebration.

(36) seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a solemn gathering: you shall not work at your occupations.

(1) עצרת היא. The concept of עצירה is something apart from the concept of שביתות. The latter pertains to abstaining from ordinary secular activities, whereas the former entails spending a certain amount of time performing holy tasks, studying Torah, engaging in communal prayer, etc. ...

On the seventh day after the Exodus from Egypt the Israelites took time out to sing a song of thanksgiving to G’d for their final delivery from the pursuing Egyptians. Subsequently, in commemoration of that occasion, the Torah decreed that this day become an עצרת, a day devoted to contemplation of the great miracle on that first occasion. (Compare Exodus 15,1 and Deuteronomy 16,8)...

(3) A kabbalistic approach: The word עצרת is a term describing the כנסת ישראל, the spiritual concept known as “Israel.” In other words, were it not for the concept represented by the Jewish people the whole universe would lack meaning and purpose...We may see reflected in this day the practice that among the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Sukkot it is the etrog which represents the Jewish people and which is held separately, not being bound up with the other species. ...the word עצרת when used in connection with the festivals conveys the idea that the Jewish people, spiritually speaking, are the purpose of all these festivals. In kabbalistic terms, they are the יסוד “foundation,” without which the entire legislation of the festivals would lack meaning...

It pays to consider the way G’d phrased the introduction to this special festival by saying עצרת תהיה לכם, similar to להיות לכם לאלו-הים, “in order to be your G’d.” The other festivals in this chapter were introduced as being לה', “for Hashem;” this one is being introduced as being “for you,” i.e. for the Jewish people...