Sukkos - The Sukkah and the Function of the Jewish People

In the Torah’s description of the festival of Sukkos, the Torah describes the obligation for Jews to dwell in sukkos – “booths” – for the entire seven days of the festival (Leviticus 23:42-43):

You shall dwell in sukkos for seven days; every native in Israel shall dwell in sukkos. In order that your generations will know that I had the children of Israel dwell in sukkos when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Hashem your God.

For the seven days of Sukkos, a Jew is required to make the sukkah his main dwelling place. He must eat all his meals there, and, ideally, he is required to sleep there as well.

The Menoras HaMaor (Rabbi Yitzchak Aboav, Late 14^th Century) explains that the underlying message of the obligation to dwell in the sukkah is to teach us place our trust purely in God. He writes (146:3-5):

...באה מצות סכה זאת ללמדנו שלא ישים אדם בטחונו בגבה ביתו וחזוקו ותקונו הטוב – ואף כי יהיה מלא מכל טוב – ואל יבטח בסיוע שום אדם – אע"פ שיהא אדון הארץ ומושל בה – אבל ישים בטחונו במי שאמר והיה העולם...

ולהעיר לאדם על זה, באה מצות סכה בזמן הזה – אחר אסיפת גרן ויקב בארץ ישראל... – לפי שבזמן הזה הוא זמן בעיטה לכל, שהאוצרות מלאים כל טוב והאדם כבר נאסף לעיר..., לפיכך צוה לצאת מביתו החזק וישב בסכה, כדי שיתעורר וישים מבטחו בשם ית' ויתן אל לבו כי כל הטוב שהגיע אליו מן היוצא בשדה, הכל בא לו ברצון ה'.... ויזכור שכל שמירת גופו וכל אשר לו מאת ה' ית' ולא יבטח באשר לו.

וגם באה מצוה זו להעיר ולהזכיר כי בסכות הושיב ה' ית' את בני ישראל במדבר ושמרם מן החרף ומן הקרח והצנה והגשמים והחום בלי בית ותקרה, ובזה יראו כי בכל דור ודור שומרם בוראם בלי בית וחומה דלתים ובריח.

The mitzvah of sukkah comes to teach us that a person should not place his trust in the height and strength of his home, or its good condition – even if it is filled with all good things – and he should not place his trust in any human being – even if he is the lord of the land and has dominion over it – but he should put his trust in He Who Spoke and the world came to be….

To bring forth this point, the mitzvah of sukkah comes at this specific time – after the grain and wine harvest in the land of Israel – for this is a time of rebelliousness for all, when the storehouses are full of all good things and one is gathered into the city…. Therefore, one is commanded to go out of his secure home and dwell in a sukkah, in order to awaken him to place his trust in God, and to take to heart that all the good that has come to him from going out to the field, it all came to him by the will of God…. And he should remember that his security, and the security of all that he has, comes from God, and he should not place his trust in his possessions.

This mitzvah also brings forth and reminds us that God had the children of Israel dwell in sukkos in the wilderness, and He protected them from the winter ice and cold, and from the rains, and from the heat, without a house or a ceiling, and through this they would see that in every generation their Creator would protect them, without a house, wall, doors, or key.

The basic message of the sukkah is our dependence on God; that He alone is the one true source of security and protection. R’ Avigdor Miller writes (A Kingdom of Cohanim – Vayikra 23:43):

In the Wilderness our fathers had no walled cities inn which to find protection from the many potential predators. Our father’s possessed great wealth that they had taken from Egypt, and all the nations would have attempted to attack Israel to seize this wealth. But despite the fact that that our fathers possessed no fortifications or walls to protect them, and even no houses with sturdy walls, yet in their flimsy tabernacles of cloth and straw, they were more secure during these 40 years than at any subsequent time in their history. The only true security is Hashem: that is the lesson of Succos.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch

Ultimately, the message of the sukkah – that God controls everything, and that our welfare is entirely in His hands – is the basic message that the Jewish people exist to convey to the entire world. R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch writes (The Nineteen Letters, Letter Seven):

While mankind was to be taught by experience, and from its fate it was to gain knowledge about God and itself, the attainment of this aim was to be assured and furthered by a special arrangement. …There would be introduced into the ranks of nations one people which would demonstrate by its history and way of life that the sole foundation of life is God alone; that life’s only purpose is the fulfillment of His Will; and that the formal expression of this Will, specifically addressed to this people, serves as the exclusive bond of its unity.

This objective required a nation that was poor in everything upon which the rest of mankind builds its greatness and the entire structure of its life. To all appearances being at the mercy of nations armed with self-reliant might, it was to be directly sustained by God Himself, so that, in manifestly overcoming all opposing forces, God would stand revealed as the sole Creator, Judge and Master of history and nature....

Thus, this people came to constitute the cornerstone on which humanity could be reconstructed. Recognition of God and of man's calling found a refuge in this nation and would be taught to all through it's fate and its way of life, which were to serve as a manifest example, a warning, a model, a education.

For the sake of this mission, however, Yisrael could not join in the doings of the rest of the nations, in order not to sink down with them to the worship of material possessions and pleasure. It has to remain separate until the day on which all mankind will have absorbed the lessons of its experiences and the example of this nation, and will united turn toward God. Joining with Yisrael at that time, mankind will then acknowledge God as the sole basis for its existence and "as God is One, the recognition of His Name will be one." Then, "the teaching of His Law will go forth from Zion and the Word of God from Jerusalem."

The passage of the Jewish people through the desert encompassed by the “Clouds of Glory”, with no material protection but their trust in God, marked the beginning of the role of the Jewish people as the “Light unto the Nations”, which required their elevation and separation from the nations, but which would ultimately bring all mankind to the service of God in unity.

This transition is described in Kabbalistic terms by R’ Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (d.1747) in Derech Hashem (IV:8:2):

הנה ענני הכבוד שהקיף הקב"ה את ישראל, מלבד תועלתם בגשמיות שהיה לסכך עליהם ולהגן בעדם, עוד היתה תולדה גדולה נולדת מהם בדרכי הרוחניות, והוא כמו שעל ידי העננים ההם היו נמצאים ישראל מבדלים לבדם ונשואים מן הארץ, כן היה נמשך להם מציאות הארה המשכנת אותם לבד, נבדלים מכל העמים, ומנשאים ומנטלים מן העולם הזה עצמו, ועליונים ממש על כל גויי הארץ. ודבר זה נעשה בשעתו לישראל, להגיעם אל המעלה העליונה הראויה להם.... ומתחדש דבר זה בישראל בחג הסכות על ידי הסוכה.

The Clouds of Glory with which God encompassed Israel [in the wilderness], asides from their physical benefit, which was to shelter and protect them, also had a major spiritual effect. Just as the clouds caused Israel to be set apart and lifted above the earth [physically], similarly there was drawn a reality of illumination that dwelled only with them, separating them from all the nations and lifting them and removing them from this [physical] world itself, [so that] they were literally elevated above all the nations of the earth. This was done to Israel at that time, in order to bring them to the high level that was proper for them. … This [elevation and separation] is renewed [each year] for Israel on the festival of Sukkos through the sukkah.

Thus, the sukkah thus represents the role of the Jewish people in this world, as a distinct nation devoted purely to God, elevated and separated from the nations of the world, to serve as a model of what humanity’s relationship with God can and should be. The Jewish people, who’s very existence as a nation is a miracle, a people who’s fortunes throughout history have been clearly tied to their obedience to God’s will, testify through their existence and their fortunes to God’s dominion over history.

The prophet Zechariah (14:16, in the haftara of the first day of Sukkos) tells us that, ultimately, when mankind will come to recognize the truth of God’s dominion, then all the nations will come to celebrate Sukkos:

והיה כל הנותר מכל הגוים הבאים על ירושלים ועלו מדי שנה בשנה להשתחות למלך ה' צבאות ולחוג את חג הסוכות.

And it shall come to pass, that all who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year to bow before the King, Hashem, Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the festival of Sukkos.

In his commentary on the Haftaros, R’ Mendel Hirsch (d.1900) comments on this verse:

So we see Judaism as the religion of the future. Its truths acknowledged by all, its laws understood and kept, the general ones of humanness and morality by mankind in general, the special ones for Jews dedicating them to be the priests of mankind, by the Jews. The reign of everlasting peace will have started. All enmity, all hate of one to the other will have disappeared for by the universal recognition of God as their One King henceforth all men form one great family. And all class war will have come to an end by the knowledge and realization of the teachings of the Tabernacles Festival.

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Using the Opportunity of Rosh Hashana

אמר רבי כרוספדאי אמר רבי יוחנן: שלשה ספרים נפתחין בראש השנה, אחד של רשעים גמורין, ואחד של צדיקים גמורין, ואחד של בינוניים. צדיקים גמורין ־ נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר לחיים, רשעים גמורין ־ נכתבין ונחתמין לאלתר למיתה, בינוניים ־ תלויין ועומדין מראש השנה ועד יום הכפורים. זכו ־ נכתבין לחיים, לא זכו ־ נכתבין למיתה. (מסכת ראש השנה טז:)

Rabbi Kruspedai said, Rabbi Yochanan said, “Three books are open on Rosh Hashana, one for the completely wicked, one for the completely righteous, and one of beinonim (intermediates). The completely righteous are written and sealed immediately for life, the completely wicked are written and sealed immediately for death, and the beinonim are suspended and waiting from Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur. If they merit, they are written for life; if they do not merit, they are written for death. (Talmud, Rosh Hashana 16b)

The Talmud tells us that the final judgment for the intermediates - the beinonim - is not made until Yom Kippur. If, at that point, they have “merited” - through repentance for their sins - then they will be written for life. Otherwise, they will be written for death. However, this seems to indicate that if a beinoni does nothing at all, he will be written for death. Why should this be so? If he has done nothing at all, then he is still a beinoni!

The Abudarham (14th century commentary on the Siddur written by R' Dovid Abudarham) answers that the failure of the beinoni to use this opportunity to repent for his sins is itself a sin and puts the beinoni into the category of the guilty.

This brings out an extraordinarily important point. The period of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance), which begins with Rosh Hashana and ends with Yom Kippur, is an extraordinary opportunity for us to rectify our sins through repentance and regain a proper relationship with God. However, like all opportunities, with this opportunity also comes a responsibility to make use of it. To allow this period to pass by without taking advantage of it is a crime in its own right.

However, this is itself a challenge. Most of us know that we are far from being what we should be, yet year after year goes by and many of our most basic problems remain the same. How are we really supposed to engage in meaningful change?

Self-defeating thoughts of this sort can often prevent us from even trying to make proper use of the opportunities of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, so that we end up just going through the motions, and each year we walk away feeling less worthy than the year before. That is precisely the opposite of how we are supposed to experience Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur! We find in the book of Nechemia (8:9) that, at the very beginning of the Second Temple period, when the Jews celebrated Rosh Hashana, they began to cry after hearing the Torah reading, for they felt that they were not properly fulfilling the commandments of God. (רש"י שם) Nechemia, Ezra, and the Levites then arose before the people and declared, "Do not mourn and do not cry!" Rather, the Jewish people were told (8:10), "Go, eat rich foods, and drink sweet drinks, and send portions to anyone who doesn't have; for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be sad, for the joy of God is your strength."

Rosh Hashana is supposed to be a joyous holiday! Yes, we are certainly aware of the significance of this day, in which every creature is brought before God for judgement, nevertheless, we are expected to be happy and confident in our judgement. This would imply that properly utilizing this time, and earning a positive judgement before God, is perfectly feasible for anyone who truly wishes to do so, and that if we use this time correctly, we have no need to be afraid. Clearly, then, the fact that we tend not to feel that way indicates that there is something fundamentally askew in how we view ourselves and in how we view our obligation to repent at this time.

Perhaps the most basic error is in our own self-perception as sinful. The Sages tell us that no matter how sinful you might believe yourself to be, every person is supposed to consider himself a beinoni - a person of intermediate status:

ת"ר: לעולם יראה אדם עצמו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי, עשה מצוה אחת ־ אשריו שהכריע עצמו לכף זכות, עבר עבירה אחת ־ אוי לו שהכריע את עצמו לכף חובה.... ר' אלעזר בר' שמעון אומר: לפי שהעולם נידון אחר רובו והיחיד נידון אחר רובו, עשה מצוה אחת ־ אשריו שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף זכות, עבר עבירה אחת ־ אוי לו שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף חובה (מסכת קידושין מ.-:)

The Rabbis taught, “A person should always view himself as half guilty and half meritorious, thus, if he does one mitzvah - fortunate is he, for he has turned himself to the side of merit; if he does one sin - woe is he, for he has turned himself to the side of guilt.”

R’ Elazar ben R’ Shimon said, “Being that the world is judged after its majority, and the individual is judged after his majority, if he does one mitzvah - fortunate is he, for he turns himself and the entire world to the side of merit; if he does one sin - woe is he for he turns himself and the entire world to the side of guilt.” (Talmud, Kiddushin 40a-b)

How can we have a rule that a person should always consider himself a beinoni? What if a person knows for a fact that that he has done more sins than mitzvos?

Rav Yisrael Salanter (d.1883) answers ('אור ישראל ח) that one can never truly know whether or not he is a beinoni because only God knows how to judge the value of our actions. Maimonides writes (הל' תשובה א:א-ב) :

כל אחד ואחד מבני האדם יש לו זכיות ועונות, מי שזכיותיו יתירות על עונותיו צדיק, ומי שעונותיו יתירות על זכיותיו רשע, מחצה למחצה בינוני, וכן המדינה אם היו זכיות כל יושביה מרובות על עונותיהן הרי זו צדקת, ואם היו עונותיהם מרובין הרי זו רשעה, וכן כל העולם כולו.... ושקול זה אינו לפי מנין הזכיות והעונות אלא לפי גודלם, יש זכות שהיא כנגד כמה עונות..., ויש עון שהוא כנגד כמה זכיות..., ואין שוקלין אלא בדעתו של א-ל דעות והוא היודע היאך עורכין הזכיות כנגד העונות

Every individual has merits and sins. One whose merits exceed his sins is a tzadik (a righteous person) and one whose sins exceed his merits is a rasha (a wicked person). One who is half and half is a beinoni. The same is true for a country, if the merits of all its inhabitants exceed their sins, it is righteous, but if it is their sins that exceed, then it is wicked. And so it is for the entire world.

This assessment is not made [simply] according to the number of merits and sins, but, rather, according to their significance. A [single] merit may be equivalent to many sins… and a [single] sin may be equivalent to many merits. This assessment can only be made in the mind of the God of Knowledge, and He is the One Who Knows how to value the merits against the sins.

From this we learn that no matter what you may think of your own spiritual stature, even if you think that you are a hopelessly wicked sinner, it is perfectly possible that God considers you a beinoni. (Incidentally, if it is impossible for us to know our own spiritual status, then it is certainly impossible to assess another person’s!)

Rav Yisrael Salanter continues by pointing out that one of the main criteria for determining the significance of a merit or sin is the difficulty or sacrifice involved. As the Talmud (Avos 5:26) says, לפום צערא אגרא – “According to the pain is the reward.” The more difficult it is to do a mitzvah, the more valuable the mitzvah becomes. On the other hand, the easier it is for us to refrain from committing a sin, the more significant that sin becomes. If we fail when faced with a very difficult challenge, this is far less severe than when we sin offhandedly, without even thinking about it.

This concept, concludes Rav Yisrael Salanter, is an extraordinarily powerful one for us at the time of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Because the “weightiest” sins are precisely those sins that are not difficult for us to refrain from, a minimal effort of training ourselves to be more aware of these “little” sins can have a tremendous impact on our spiritual status when we are judged. By utilizing this simple principle we can shift ourselves dramatically in a positive direction.

It follows from this principle that our first priority in repentance should not be the big challenges that tend to loom large in our minds as overwhelming obstacles. Our first priority in repentance should be the "little" sins, the minor temptations and weaknesses that we can most easily bring under control and that we tend to simply overlook. In the eyes of Heaven, it is these "little" sins that tend to stand out the most as accusations against us. As bad as it might be, the fact that we succumb to a major temptation is, if not excusable, at least, understandable. But what excuse do we have for committing sins that are not real temptations in the first place?

Each year, if we find one or two of these "minor" temptations to work on and to improve, we will find that, as time goes by, temptations that were once overwhelming are now far less challenging, and we can honestly ask God that He grant us longer lives so that we can continue to grow stronger in Torah and mitzvos.

May we all merit to have a kesiva v'chasima tova!

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The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy - The 13 Middos Shel Rachamim

One of the main features of the prayers of the High Holy Days is the recitation of the י"ג מדות של רחמים – the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. These play a particularly prominent role in the daily Selichos recited at this time and in the Yom Kippur prayers. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy were first revealed to Moses by God in the aftermath of the sin of the golden calf, when God forgave the Jewish people. (Exodus 34:6-7) The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 17b) tells us that God established a covenant that the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy never go unanswered and that God instructed Moses, “Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them perform this ‘order’ and their sins will be forgiven.”

There are, unsurprisingly, a vast number of commentaries on the exact meaning of these Thirteen Attributes and there is even some dispute about exactly how the words in these two verses should be divided into thirteen. For the ordinary person who wishes to recite the Thirteen Attributes with proper kavanah (intent), however, there is a need for a basic, straightforward, interpretation of the attributes that one can actually have in mind during prayer.

Moreover, as should be obvious, the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are not a magical incantation of forgiveness. The Reishis Chochma (R’ Eliyahu di Vidas d.1592) writes (שער הענוה פרק א') that the Gaonim point out that the Talmud does not say that the Jewish people should “recite this order” for their sins to be forgiven, but that they should “perform this order.” This means that we must emulate these middos (attributes) in our own lives, and through this we will gain forgiveness. It is therefore important that when we recite these attributes, we have a clear idea of what they mean, not only as descriptions of God’s mercy, but also as practical guides for our own behavior.

The following is an highly condensed explanation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy that I compiled several years ago for my students (based on a wide variety of sources). After each attribute I am including, in parentheses, some additional commentary and notes on how we can apply this middah in practical terms. 

1. ה' – “Hashem” – God is merciful before we sin. (Even though He knows that we will sin, He is still merciful. So too, we should be kind and considerate to others, even if we don’t think they will appreciate it or reciprocate.)
   
   
2. ה' – “Hashem” – He is merciful after we sin when we repent. (If someone hurt us and sincerely wishes to make amends, we should forgive them wholeheartedly.)
   
   
3. א-ל – “God” – His power saves us from our sins after we repent. (If someone sincerely wishes to make amends for hurting us, then we should share the burden of reparation with them.)
   
   
4. רחום – “Merciful” – His mercy is active even before we repent. (If someone hurt us, we should not respond with anger and rejection, but with love and kindness, showing that way to forgiveness is still open.)
   
   
5. וחנון – “And Gracious” – He is kind to us even when we have not earned it.
   
   
6. ארך אפים – “Slow to Anger” – He waits patiently for us to repent. (Instead of punishing us immediately for our sins, as would be justified, God gives us time to repent on our own and avoid punishment. So too, if someone wrongs us, we should give the person time to make amends.)
   
   
7. ורב חסד – “And Abundant in Kindness” – He is biased to judge us favorably. (Whenever there is room for “doubt”, God’s kindness inclines Him to judge us favorably. Similarly, whenever there is room for doubt, we should judge others favorably.)
   
   
8. ואמת: – “And Truth” – He keeps His promises of good even if we are not deserving. (If we promised to do a good thing for another person, we should keep our word even if the person no longer deserves it.)
   
   
9. נצר חסד לאלפים – “He Keeps Kindness for Thousands [of generations]” – He rewards the righteous for two thousand generations. (If we owe a debt of gratitude to someone, we should continue to express that gratitude even to that person’s descendants.)
   
   
10. נשא עון – “He Lifts Up Sin” – When we repent, God “lifts up” our sins [of temptation]…
    
    
11. ופשע – “And Rebellion” – And our sins of rebellion…
    
    
12. וחטאה – “And Error” – And our unintentional sins, and transforms them into merits. (When a person sincerely wishes to make amends for hurting us, we should use this as an opportunity to develop an even closer friendship with the person.)
    
    
13. ונקה – “And He cleans” – Even when we need to be punished (i.e. cleansed) for our sins, He does so gradually, rather than overwhelmingly at once. (Even with repentance, the spiritual damage caused by the more severe sins may still require suffering to fully rectified. Even so, if the total punishment would be beyond our capacity to handle at once, then God spreads it out over time. So too, even in those cases where we must demand that someone make reparations for the harm that they have caused us, we should still be merciful and not demand that they do so in a way that is too difficult for them to handle.)

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