He will shelter me in his sukkah on an evil day

grant me the protection of his tent (psalm 27:5)

If thou seest the oppression of the poor,

and the violent perverting of justice

and of righteousness in the state,

marvel not at the matter;

for one higher than the high watcheth,

and there are higher than they. (Ecclesiastes 5"7)

 

He will hide me in His pavilion [sukkah], he will grant me the protection of his tent - The Malbim justifies the seeming redundancy between the two parts of the passage. The sukkah offers only temporary protection; the tent hides completely. Thus there is no redundancy, but progression.

If you see oppression of the poor and violent perverting of justice - If you see in the province that they oppress the poor and pervert justice and righteousness, do not wonder - at God's decision when he brings misfortune upon them.

For one higher than the highest watched - And he sees their behavior, and there are those higher than them who perform God's assignments, and they have the power to punish them.

And violent perverting of justice - …If you see that they oppress the poor and subvert justice and yet you see a righteous person coming to [dwell in] the town - for the Holy One showers them with goodness and does not punish them - do not wonder about His choice, for such is His manner, to be patient.

For there is a watchman higher than the highest - who waits until their measure is full. And there are higher - He has some over them to punish them when their time comes, as in (Job 14) "You would not keep watch over my sin"; and (Isaiah 26:2) "A nation that keeps faith"; and (Genesis 37) "And his father kept the matter in mind".

(Rashi, Ecclesiastes, ibid. ibid)

 

 

Sukkah of peace

Pinchas Leiser

                                                                        Dedicated to the blessed memory of my father-in-law

                R' Chayim Simcha Israel Hollander,A"H

                Who returned his soul to his Creator

                In ripe old age, 24 Elul, 5771

On Shabbat evenings, we complete the second blessing following the Shema with the words "Who spreads a sukkah of peace over us and over all his people Israel and over Yerushalayim".

It is interesting to examine the origin of the term sukkah of peace and its significance.

The phrase "sukkah of peace" appears in the Jerusalem Talmud in the discussion of the proper direction for prayer, that is to say, towards the Holy of Holies. By way of association, the Talmud also discusses the mention of Yerushalyim in blessings, in prayer, and in the recitation of the Shema:

Thus all Israel are praying to a single place (if all face toward Jerusalem), as is written "For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations". Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: This is the inner hall, the hall which all face. So be it while the building stands, but from whence do we know that it is so even after the destruction? Said R' Abon: "Built with talpiyot [turrets]" - the tel [elevation] towards which all piyot [mouths] turn -In blessing [grace after meals], in Kriyat Shema, and in prayer. In blessing - Who builds Yerushalayim; in Kriyat Shema - "Spreads a tabernacle of peace over us and over Israel, and over Jerusalem". One text reads "I will go and return to my place". Another reads "May my eyes and heart be there forever". How to reconcile the two? His face faces upwards, his eyes and heart downward. And if not, let him direct his heart towards the House of the Holy of Holies. Towards which House of Holy of Holies? Said Rabbi Hiyyah the Great: Towards the Holy of Holies above us; Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: Towards the House of the Holy of Holies below. Said Rabbi Pinchas: They are not in disagreement - the House of the Holy of Holies below faces the House of the Holy of Holies above us - "A firm place [machon] for Your dwelling" - directed [mechuvan] at your dwelling. Mount Moriah - R' Hiyya the Great and R' Yanai were in disagreement [as to the origin of the name]. One interpreted "From where teaching [horiya] goes forth to the world". The other said "From where awe ([yir'ah] goes forth to the world.".

It is interesting to note that the Talmud brings in support for the final passage on direction of prayer the words of Isaiah, "For my House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples". The context of these words is:

Let not the foreigner say, who has attached himself to the Lord, "The Lord will keep me apart from His people" and let not the eunuch say, "I am a withered tree." For thus said the Lord: "As for the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who have chosen what I desire and hold fast to My covenant - I will give them in My House and within My walls, A monument and a name better than sons or daughters. I will give them an everlasting name which shall not perish.

As for the foreigners who attach themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants - All who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it, and who hold fast to my covenant - I will bring them to my sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; For my House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. (Isaiah 56:3-8)

Rashi elucidates: - For all the nations - not for Israel alone.

Radak explains: In keeping with that which Solomon said in his prayer "and so for the foreigner" - all the more so for those who return to the faith of Israel.

The Chatam Sofer, in his commentary on the Torah, brings an interesting homiletical interpretation [derasha] for the words "Tabernacle of peace":

You shall not gash yourselves nor shall you make a bald place on the front of your head for the dead (Re'eh). This means for things related to death and the vanities of this world which do not revive man with eternal life. You shall not quarrel [in Hebrew, 'gash' and 'quarrel' are linguistically related]. Therefore is it called Tabernacle of peace, for after we rejoiced on the festival and are certain that God has answered our prayers - including "And they shall form a single band to do Your will", I anticipate that this prayer has been received and every heart has been granted awe of God, I will have no further quarrel with anyone, and of itself it becomes a Tabernacle of Peace. (Chatam Sofer on Torah, Devarim 11:1)

In contrast to Rosh Hashana and Yom Hakippurim , the Sukkoth festival relates to the national-historical memory. The Torah draws a clear connection between the main mitzvah of the festival, which gives the entire festival its name, and events which occurred in the wilderness at the time of the exodus from Egypt: "In your huts shall you dwell seven days. All natives in Israel shall dwell in huts, so that your generations will know that I made the Israelites dwell in huts when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God." (Vayikrah 23:42-43).

Beginning with our Sages (Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva - Bavli, Sukkah 11) Torah commentators discussed the essence of these sukkot; are they "real' manmade sukkot (Ibn Ezra and others) or are they "clouds of glory" (Rashi, Ramban, and others). This controversy has practical ramifications; what is the nature of "memory" we wish to establish and fashion on this festival. Clouds of glory emphasize the heavenly aspect of the wilderness experience, a kind of total dependence on God by man. On the one hand, the huts built by man represent a more mature and responsible stage of development; but fashioning of this kind of memory is liable to lead man to a feeling of "my strength and the power of my hand".

The Rambam (Guide for the Perplexed III, 43) explains the timing of the festival of "when you gather your produce from the field" - the time when [the farmers] are inactive, resting from necessary labors… Dwelling in the sukkah during that period is tolerable, with neither extreme heat nor troublesome rain."

Rambam relates also to the festival's educational and psychological aspects, those which shape the religious conciousness, and compares it with Pesach:

The two festivals, Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, imply also the teaching of certain truths and certain moral lessons. Passover teaches us to remember the miracles which God wrought in Egypt, and to perpetuate their memory; the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us of the miracles wrought in the wilderness. The moral lesson derived from these feasts is this: man ought to remember his evil days in his days of prosperity. He will thereby be encouraged to thank God repeatedly, to lead a modest and humble life. We eat, therefore, unleavened bread and bitter herbs on Passover in memory of what happened to us, and leave (on Succoth] our houses in order to dwell in tabernacles, as inhabitants of deserts do that are in want of comfort. We shall thereby remember that this has once been our condition; [comp.]" I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths" (Lev. xxiii. 43): although we dwell now in elegant houses, in the best and most fertile land, by the kindness of God, and because of His promises to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were perfect in their opinions and in their conduct. This idea is likewise an important element in our religion; that whatever good we have received and ever will receive of God, is owing to the merits of the Patriarchs, who" kept the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment" (Gen. xviii. 19). (Guide, Friedlander translation)

Rambam considers the mitzvot of Pesach and Sukkoth to be education instruments, to develop man's religious consciousness through the historical memory, sensitivity, and humility.

The short selections quoted above from the Guide for the Perplexed relate to a number of aspects:

A.     Suitable timing takes into account man's current condition: in an agricultural society, he is free of all essential chores, and the weather, at least in Eretz Yisrael, is moderate in this season. In other words, it is possible to make demands of one emotionally unoccupied, knowing that he will be able to fulfill them.

B.     Man is requested to rise above the present relaxed reality, and to recall that none of his material accomplishments can be taken for granted; no one can claim "it's coming to me", nothing is certain. The memories of troubled days should encourage empathy towards "the unfortunate who dwell in the desert and in desolation", and to make him more sensitive to the suffering of others.

C.     The awareness of zechut avot [lit. "in the father's credit" - in judging us, God takes into account our fathers' good deeds] ties us directly to images of the patriarchs as models of "justice and righteousness". (The Netziv, in his wonderful introduction to his commentary on Genesis, terms the Book of Genesis "Sefer Hayashar" - The Book of the Honest" - in the light of passages in Joshua and Samuel II, because of the Patriarchs who were "honest", because in contrast to later generations in which there were pious and observant, the Patriarchs were honest with all men.)

D.     Through this prism, the mitzvoth of sukkah can be seen as a rare opportunity for developing, through the collective consciousness, a perspective of social sensitivity, solidarity, and empathy. Those moments when we feel "a bit" less at ease, a little less protected, can lead us - if we be wise enough to study the Rambam - to empathy towards the suffering surrounding us, which today is not only the lot of "those who dwell in the desert and in desolation", because misfortune and suffering exist everywhere, in varying degrees.

The Patriarchs, those who practiced "justice and righteousness", who were "honest", those invited as ushpizin [guests] into our sukka and in whose virtue we survive, set before us elevated moral and religious demands. Would that we be able to meet those demands and guarantee our dwelling in "a permanent" dwelling, one which will become a "sukkat shalom", which also will be a house of prayer for all the nations, when the "Holy of Holies below be facing the Holy of Holies above."

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

The sukkah as refuge and shelter - natural or miraculous - past and future

"And the Children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Sukkot" - literal Sukkot, as is written "And Yaakov journeyed from Sukkot and camped in Eitam" just as Eitam is a place, so is Sukkot.

Rabbi Akiva said: Sukkot are the clouds of glory, as is written, "The Lord will create over the whole shrine and meeting place of Mount Zion cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory shall hang a canopy" (Isaiah 4:5)

Thus we have [evidence] for the past, what of the future? Scripture teaches: "Which will serve as a pavilion for shade from heat, etc." and "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return." (Ibid. 10)

I discovered in the Talmud Yerushalmi that when Aharon died, the clouds of glory dispersed and the Canaanites attacked Israel, and they decided to return to Egypt, and retraced their steps eight camping places, from Hor Hahar to Moserah, as is written, "And the Children of Israel journeyed from the wells of the sons of Yaakan to Mosera, there died Aharon."

(Rashi, Bemidbar 26:13)

 

Transience and Lack of Acquisition as Expressions of Faith

The mitzvah of Sukkah requires a temporary dwelling (Sukkah 2a). The author of the Baal Haakeida wrote that the simple reason [behind the command] is to suggest to man that he make do in this world with only that which is necessary, like a temporary dwelling capable of housing only his head, most of his body, and his table. For this world is a temporary dwelling; all the acquisitions of this world - houses, fields, vineyards - do not provide him with a dependable foundation, and all are eventually lost to him. This is the meaning of "And they journeyed from Rameses."

(Igra deChalla 296/1)

 

"An Easy Mitzvah Have I, and Sukkah Is Its Name": 'Socheh' is one who finds shelter in the name of God, and needs nothing, and makes do with a temporary dwelling for the hour, for he who worries about tomorrow is deficient in faith. A temporary dwelling for the moment is sufficient, and this is the opposite of envy.

(Kometz Hamincha, R' Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Part Two, 18)

 

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day - but is it the first day? Is it not the fifteenth day [of the month]? And you say on the first day?

Rather, it is the first [day] for the reckoning of sins...Israel collects sins through all the days of the year. What does the Holy One blessed be he do? He says to them: Do teshuvah (repentance) from Rosh Ha'Shanah. They gather together on Yom Kippur to fast and do teshuvah, and the Holy One blessed be He pardons them. What do they do? On the eve of Rosh Ha'Shanah, the great men of the generation fast and the Holy One blessed be He forgives a third of their sins. From Rosh Ha'Shanah until Yom Kippur some individuals fast, and the Holy One blessed be He forgives [another] third of their sins. On Yom Kippur, all of Israel, men, women, and children, fast and ask for mercy, and the Holy One blessed be He forgives them everything, as it is written, for on that day atonement shall be made for you (Vayikra 16). What does Israel do? They take their lulavs on the first day of the holiday and praise and extol the Holy One blessed be He, and the Holy One blessed be He becomes well-disposed towards them and pardons them, and says to them "See, I have excused all of your earlier sins, but now a new accounting begins." That is why it is written, and you shall take for yourselves on the first day - the first [day] for accounting of sins. The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: In this world, I told you to make a sukkah to return the favor I did you, for it says, you shall dwell in Sukkot for seven days in order that your generations know that I caused you to dwell in Sukkot, etc. and I consider it as if you had returned the favor. However, in the future I shall appear in My Kingship and I will protect you like a sukkah, for it is said, it shall be a sukkah in the day to give shade from the heat (Isaiah 4).

(Tanhuma Emor 22)

 

 

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