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Sukkot | 15th Tishrei 5781 | October 3rd, 2020 | Issue 863
This edition is dedicated
in loving memory of
Mordechai Yosef ben Yitzchak David Friedland z"l
Menashe z"l ben Mordechai Yosef z"l and Miriam Friedland
Reuven Shalom ben Ephraim (HaLevi) Segal z"l
R' Yossef Tzvi ben R' Moshe Haim HaLevi and Tzvia Friedler z"l
Rabbi Avraham Chaim Tanzer z''l, Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva College, Johannesburg
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What is in this week's newsletter
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Dedicated in memory of Yaakov Aharonov z"l
Why do we sit in Sukkot?
Rabbi Moshe Aberman
Former Rosh Kollel (Chicago, 1997-1999)
Currently a Torah advisor to the Shlichim
Click HERE for the PDF version
The Torah commands us "בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת תֵּשְׁב֖וּ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים כָּל־הָֽאֶזְרָח֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֵשְׁב֖וּ בַּסֻּכֹּֽת"
"You shall live in booths (Sukkot) seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths" (Vayikra 23/42).
Go from your homes and dwell in the Sukkot as the Rabbis describe:
MISHNA: All seven days a person renders his sukka his permanent residence and his house his temporary residence.
Gemara: As the Sages taught: “In sukkot shall you reside” (Leviticus 23:42) as you dwell in your permanent home. From here they said: All seven days, a person renders his sukka permanent and his house temporary. How so? If he has beautiful vessels, he takes them up to the sukka; beautiful bedding, he takes it up to the sukka; he eats and drinks and relaxes in the sukka and studies Torah in the sukka.
Why is it that the Torah wants us to reside in a sukka?
לְמַעַן֘ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה' אלקכם
In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD your God. (Vayikra 23/43)
The Torah commands us to reside in the sukkah, so as to establish our awareness and that of future generations that God placed the Jewish people in sukkot, when coming out of Mitzrayim and journeying in the dessert. Two phrases in the pasuk should be noted. The Torah speaks of "when I brought them out of the land of Egypt", rather than when they dwelled or traveled, in the dessert. The focal point is leaving Egypt, as the Midrash Sifra notes, "when I brought them out of the land of Egypt – teaches that the sukkah too commemorates the exodus from Egypt". (Sifra Emor parsha 12 beginning of chapter 17) Additionally, the Torah concludes with the words "I the Lord your God" directing our attention to the fact that the commemoration is to reinforce the awareness of God deeds.
What is the Torah teaching by focusing on the exodus from Egypt rather than the time in the dessert?
When the Jews leave Egypt two things occur. They detach themselves from the Egyptian nation and begin to develop an independent, national - religious identity that reaches a pinnacle at Mount Sinai where they receive the Torah. On the other hand, by leaving Egypt they lose a certain life of financial comfort and economic security. Time after time when facing hardships the people return to claims of "we would rather return to Egypt" or just "It was good for us in Egypt". In spite of the enslavement, Egypt offered safety and financial security.
God's guiding hand, when leaving Egypt, directs the spiritual development, while at the same time offering a replacement for the Egyptian financial security, by supplying the nation with all there needs.
Sukkot links together two sets of Holidays. On the one hand, it represents the completion of the Three Regalim, accompanying the agricultural cycle, "the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field". On the other, it is the last of the Holidays of Tishrei, "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Tishrei)", "In the seventh month you will celebrate it". Sukkot is celebrated at "Tekufat Hashana" that can be understood, as Rashi elucidates, at the turn of the year, at its beginning. However, this phrase can be read as strength and power, when you gather the crops and feel a sense of economic strength and security.
When we reside in sukkot, we remember, it was God who placed the Jewish people in sukkot, and He who supplied their needs when departing from Egypt. On Sukkot, we aspire to maintain the spiritual level achieved during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur. Residing in a sukkah remind us that only under the leadership of god can significant and meaningful spiritually be achieved. While on the other hand, specifically when we feel strong and secure, we are called by leaving our homes and residing in the sukkah, to remember, it is God's good grace that endows us all this prosperity.
It can be suggested that this is the background of the dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva, were the sukkot, referred to in the pasuk, the Ananei Hakavod (clouds of Glory) or literal sukkot[1]. Both would agree that there were Ananei Hakavod as well as literal portable housing units as Bilam notes "מה טובו אהליך יעקב","How fair are your tents, O Jacob".
The question they struggle with is whether the central lesson of the sukkah is the Ananei Hakavod and the spiritual guidance reflected in that concept? Alternatively, does the pasuk refer to literal sukkot, which remind us of our dependence on God for sustenance? Possibly, both are true and both should be what we reinforce in our hearts when sitting in a sukkah.
May we all have a joyful and meaningful Sukkot.
[1]As for who said what we find differing versions in the Gemara (Sukkah 11b) and the SIfra.
comments: moshaber@gmail.com
For more Divrei Torah on the parsha click here
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 Is it preferable to use an Etrog that grew in Israel?
Rabbi Moshe Bloom
Former Rosh Kollel (Warsaw, 2013-2017)
Currently Head of the English department at Machon HaTorah Ve'Haaretz, the Institute for Torah and the Land of Israel
Click HERE for the PDF version
Edited from an article of Rabbi Yehuda Zoldan, Sukkat Katif, a Torah VeHa'aretz Publication, 5766.
Over the past few centuries, most etrogim grew outside the Land of Israel. Upon our return to our land, kosher, ungrafted etrog orchards were planted in Israel. Is it preferable to use an etrog that grew in Israel even though taking the arba minim isn't a land-dependent mitzvah?
Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (Eitz Hadar HaShalem) ascribed major significance to the fact that these ungrafted etrogim grow in the Land of Israel:
"Many illustrious giants, saintly men of the generation and truly righteous individuals would pine to perform the mitzvah of [taking an] etrog grown specifically in the Land of Israel".
Similar sentiments were written by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (Aruch HaShulchan OC §648:29):
"Any Jew whose heart has a touch of fear of G-d should take the etrogim of the Land of Israel. And how are we not ashamed and humiliated that we have the ability to perform the mitzvah from the fruit of our Holy Land, but we rather take from the Lands of the Nations? Woe to us for this shame, woe to us for this humiliation. It is about this that it is stated: "And they have rejected the desirable land" (Tehillim 106:24).
Rabbi Ovadia Hadaya's writes along the same lines (Yaskil Avdi VI §21):
"We do not see that etrogim [are one of the species] that the Land of Israel is praised with [not part of shivat haminim], so from where do we see a reason to prefer them? For other fruits that are not included in those that the Land of Israel is praised with, we have not seen that one should recite a blessing on them before blessing fruit grown outside the Land. However, it is my humble opinion that it is clear that the fruit of the Land of Israel are preferable in light of their sanctity, since they grew in holiness and purity…
As we have found in the Gemara : Rabbi Abba would kiss the rocks of Akko and Rabbi Chiya bar Gamda would roll in the dust of the land… we certainly should prefer it to any other plants outside the Land of Israel… And this matter is simple and clear to all".
Rabbi Binyamin Zilber concurs (Benei Beraq 5752; made Aliya from Europe at the age of 18: Mishnat Binyamin: Shevi'it §59):
"On my part, this is a simple matter. If I were outside the Land of Israel (I hope that in the future I will not be abroad), I would say the blessing on [an etrog] from the Land of Israel—even not mehudar—rather than an etrog that did not grow in the Holy Land, even if especially mehudar. And I do not need any proofs for this, since it is already etched on my very heart".
For the full article, click here.
Chag Sukkut Sameach!
comments:moshebl@gmail.com
For more Divrei Torah on the parsha click here
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Where was this picture taken?
Please send answers to -
arik@worldbneiakiva.org
The answer, further information about this location,as well as the name of the first person to recognize this site will be published in next week's edition.
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