by Rav Eliezer Melamed, Rosh Yeshivat Har Bracha, yeshiva.org.il
[Translated and edited by Hillel Fendel]
The Joy
of Sukkot
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| Sukkah in the Land of Israel (Credit: Israel National News) |
Following our atonement and
purification before G-d on Yom Kippur, we are able to rejoice fully before Hashem
on Sukkot just a few days later. Without the Yom Kippur repentance, the sense
of "something lacking" that stems from from our sins would not allow
us to truly rejoice. And if we would try to simply ignore our sins and rejoice
as if "I'm OK, you’re OK," this would not be genuine joy, but simply
wild partying with no meaning. Only after our repentance of the Days of Awe can
we truly rejoice on Sukkot.
Year-End
Celebrations
Sukkot is the "Festival of Gathering," celebrating the farmers' joy
at having finished gathering in all the produce that grew in the previous months. This applies to non-farmers as well; every
Jew sums up at this time all his accomplishments of the past year – and is happy
with them. But since this joy is diluted with the frustrations of our failures
and sins over the same period, we must first cleanse ourselves during the Days
of Awe, the days of repentance. After we have done so and learned some lessons
from the mistakes of the past year, we can then view what we have accomplished
in a positive light, and be happy with all the good things that, with G-d's
help, we merited to do during the year.
Vanity
of Vanities
The Ashkenazi custom is to read
Kohelet, the Book of Ecclesiastes, on the Shabbat [Sabbath] of Sukkot. According to the
Vilna Gaon, it should be read from a kosher scroll of parchment, with the
proper blessing recited beforehand.
It begins quite starkly: "Vanity
of vanities, says Kohelet, all is vanity." Why did Kohelet – King
Solomon – wave off and nullify everything? Is there nothing of value in the
world? What about wisdom, honor, wealth, beauty, and all of man's
accomplishments?!
The explanation is that without fear
of G-d, all these things are truly worthless; they are transient and leave no
impression at all after they are gone. Only when these values are accompanied
by a sense of G-dliness do they have true worth.
I once heard a nice thought about
this from my late uncle, Rabbi Avraham Remer. He said that each of these
virtues in itself is zero: wisdom itself is zero, wealth is zero, beauty is zero,
etc. – but Fear of Heaven is "one." When fear of G-d is placed first,
then with wisdom it becomes ten, and when riches are added it becomes 100, beauty
increases it to 1,000, and so on.
Torah
Study on Hol HaMoed
We sometimes forget: The primary
purpose of the Torah's holidays is to give us more time to study Torah. In
general we are quite busy with work and other matters, and it is hard to
concentrate on Torah study. Israel was thus given days of sanctity, so that we
may engage in G-d's Torah.
And so teaches the Jerusalem Talmud:
"R. Abba bar Mamel said, 'If someone would join me, I would permit doing
work on Hol HaMo'ed [the intermediate days of the holiday] – because the entire
reason work is forbidden on these days is so Israel will eat, drink, rejoice,
and study Torah, but the situation is that they eat, drink, and revel
pointlessly." The Sefer HaKolbo wrote that this means that to waste time that
could be spent on Torah study and to revel pointlessly is worse than doing work
on Hol HaMo'ed.
And on the Torah verse, "These
are My festivals," the Holy Sh'lah (R. Isaiah Horowitz, 16th century
Prague) cites a Midrash that states: "When you fulfill the commandments
and sanctify the festival by gathering together to engage Torah, then G-d says,
'These are My festivals' – but otherwise, G-d says, 'These are not My
festivals, but yours.'"
Similarly, Rabbi Akiva was asked by a
heretic, "Why do you Jews observe the Festivals, if it is written in the
Prophets, 'I hated your new months and festivals'"? Rabbi Akiva
answered, "When we celebrate them only for our physical selves, then G-d
hates them, but if they are dedicated to G-dly service and Torah study, they
are beloved by Him."
Sukkot
and the Land of Israel
Psalms 76:3 compares the mitzvot [commandments] of Sukkah
and of living in the Land of Israel: "His sukkah [booth] is in Shalem
[Jerusalem], and his dwelling is in Zion." The Vilna Gaon has famously
pointed out the unique similarity between them: All the other mitzvot are
fulfilled with one organ of the body, whether it be the mouth, hands, legs,
etc. But these two mitzvot are fulfilled with the entire body; we totally enter
both the Land of Israel and the Sukkah, and are encompassed by them on all
sides. We come with our shoes, and our physicality in general, and enter the
holy ambience and atmosphere of the Holy Land and the Sukkah. The sanctity that
surrounds us there enables us to increasingly ascend to higher levels of faith
and Divine service.
The
Greatness of Living in Eretz Yisrael
We are sometimes asked why we so
emphasize the commandment of living in the Holy Land, seemingly at the expense
of other mitzvot. The answer is that our Sages have said (Sifrei, Re'eh),
"Dwelling in the Land of Israel is equal to all other commandments of the
Torah." Not only that, but the
primary fulfillment of all the other mitzvot is specifically in Eretz Yisrael, as cited by Rashi to D'varim 11:18, based on Sifrei,
Ekev: "Even after you go into Exile, be marked in fulfilling the mitzvot –
wear tefillin and make mezuzot – in order that they not be new to you when you
return [to the Land]."
Halakhic
Proof
How else do we know that living in
Eretz Yisrael is more important than other mitzvot? Because the Sages overrode
their decrees for its sake, whereas they decreed that other commandments be
overridden for the sake of Rabbinic rules. For instance, the mitzvah of taking
the Lulav, Etrog, Hadas, and Aravah is a Biblical commandment outside Jerusalem
only on the first day – yet the Sages ruled that even on that day, we must not
fulfill this mitzvah if it falls on the Sabbath, lest a person carry them in a
public domain. Similarly, ritual circumcision must not take place on the 8th
day if it falls on the Sabbath, even though the Torah mandates it, lest he violate
a Rabbinic prohibition.
On the other hand, regarding the
commandment of living in and building up the Land of Israel, we see that the
Sages waived Rabbinic rules for its sake: One is permitted to arrange the
purchase of a home in the Land on the Sabbath, even though it means engaging in
commerce, asking a Gentile to write up the contract, etc. This shows the
importance of settling even one little parcel of the Land of Israel. Thus, the
mitzvah of settling the Land is more important than Lulav, Brit Milah, and the
others (see Shulchan Arukh O.C. 306,11; 307,5, according to Tr. Bava Kama 80b
and Gittin 8a).
In addition, we know that the
mitzvot of Shabbat are overridden when there is a danger to life – but,
according to the Minchat Chinukh 425, this is clearly not the case with regard
to the mitzvah of warring with the Seven Nations dwelling in the Land of
Israel.
The straightforward message, then,
is: We must rejoice on Sukkot, and we must live in the Land of Israel!
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