Sukkot: Filling the Vacuum – Literally

by Rav Yehuda Zoldan, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

As we know, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur – a place where no one else was ever allowed to enter – and performed the service under the watchful eyes of absolutely no one other than G-d. We too enter a very holy place just a few days later: to our Sukkot. "The King has brought me to His inner chambers, we will rejoice and be happy with you" (Song of Songs 1,4). On the festival of Sukkot, the entire Sukkah is an inner chamber of the King of Kings, and His holiness is upon it.

There is a very profound connection between Sukkah and Mishkan/Mikdash (Tabernacle and Holy Temple). The first large Sukkah in our history was the Mishkan in the Desert – and its construction began on the 15th day of Tishrei. This is why we sit in our Sukkot for a week beginning on that very date [see the calculations and explanation of the Vilna Gaon in his commentary to the above verse]. 

After several centuries in which our Divine worship took place in the Mishkan, the First Temple was built. King Shlomo dedicated it in regal fashion on the days close to the Sukkot festival (Kings I 8, 65-66). Several laws of the Sukkah were derived from the Mishkan, such as its minimum height and the type of shade it must have. 

Sukkah: A Personal Mikdash

On the other hand: While the measurements, structure, and location of both the Mishkan and Mikdash were Divinely determined, a Sukkah is very different. It has certain minimum Halakhic requirements, but aside from these, every person may make it as large or small as he wants, with whatever walls, s'chach (which serves as a roof), decorations, arrangement, utensils, etc. that he chooses. It is each person's choice. Every Sukkah is different, and everyone builds his private Mikdash in accordance with his character and desires. 

One can also decide, aside from the minimum requirements, how long he wants to remain in the Sukkah, and what he wants to do there. One can, and must, decide how he fills the expanse that is generally a regular yard or porch, but which is now delimited by walls and s'chach for one week and thus receives dimensions of sanctity. 

The Zohar describes the Sukkah as tzila d'mehemnuta, "the shadow of the Divine Presence." The basic obligation to eat meals in the Sukkah is well-known, but beyond that, one can decide how much other time he wishes to spend there, and in what way – i.e., how much sanctity he wishes to absorb. He can choose to make the Sukkah his "permanent home" for the week, in the spirit of the Halakha [Jewish Law] – just as the High Priest does not leave the Holy Temple. Every person is like a High Priest in his own Sukkah. 

After the holiday has ended, when we dismantle the Sukkah and put away its walls and poles for the next year, routine returns to the yard and porch – and then we face the need to check what impression the holiday has made upon us. We must ascertain how we will remember Sukkot during the coming year even without the temporary closing up of this space by the Sukkah. Why is this important? 

Our ability to close off and delimit a place for a particular duration, and to thus grant it dimensions of holiness, teaches us the tremendous abilities we have, each of us, to create for ourselves frameworks with meaningful and even sacred content of our choice. On Sukkot we determine for ourselves, with our family members, what type of spiritual environment we would like to have, and how we would like to act within it. The Sukkah is a "surrounding light," according to Hassidut, a light that encompasses us. This is a light that challenges us to expand and augment it, and one that enables us to influence and be influenced in the right directions. 

The links between the Sukkot and Pesach festivals are both many and fascinating. On Pesach we are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and on Sukkot, though we don't formally tell the story, we have the obligation to know that we are sitting in the Sukkah because of this same Exodus: "So that your generations will know that in the Sukkot [real ones, and/or Clouds of Glory] I had the Children of Israel dwell when I took them out of Egypt" (Lev. 23,43).  

This verse presents us with a strict requirement. Understanding the meaning of sitting in the Sukkah is critical (see Tur and Shulchan Arukh Orach Chaim 625); no other mitzvah requires such a clear understanding for its fulfillment. 

The Gemara (Sukkah 2b) explains that the above verse refers to a "knowledge for generations," which means, according to Rabbeinu Chananel, something very similar to the Seder night: "The future generations see the adults building a Sukkah and leaving their homes to dwell in it and ask for an explanation. Their parents are to then tell them all about the Exodus…"

But the parents need relay not only facts to their children. They must also show them how they invest in the Sukkah, the efforts they put in, the joy with which they do this, and the importance that they ascribe to it. This forms a framework of values for the future generations: "So that your generations will know…"

Sukkot is thus the holiday of filling our frameworks with genuine and meaningful content. 

Sukkot: The Four Species of Sukkot - Victory!

by Rav Yosef Naveh, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The Holy Zohar writes (Vay'chi 221a) that between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, a war is waged between the People of Israel and the Nations of the World, between good and evil. How will we know who was the victor? The Zohar has a surprise answer: The contender that remains holding his battle weapons in hand is the victor. The reference, of course, is to the Four Species of the Sukkot holiday: lulav, etrog, myrtle branches, and willow branches.

Rabbe Nosson of Breslov, the prime student of Rabbe Nachman, asks two questions about this: First, why do we have to declare a winner? Isn't it obvious who's the winner and who's the loser? The one with the trophy, medallion, or whatever – he's the winner, while the loser is lying prone on the floor!

Secondly, why would he have to still be holding the weapons in his hands? He certainly doesn't need them anymore, so why can't he put them down if he wants without losing his title? 

Rabbe Nosson explains a very important principle in the service of G-d, which can be summed up in three words: Never give up!

The questions stem from a mistaken impression that success in a physical war is akin to success in a spiritual war. It's true that in a physical or material battle, the victor can wave his medal and show off his trophy, and he no longer needs his "tools of war." But a spiritual contest is very different. Here, even if your yetzer hara (evil inclination) has toppled you to the ground and you’re lying there with bruises and pains, you have not yet lost! As long as you don't give up, and continue to fight – you are the winner! 

These are Rabbe Nosson's words (Likutei Halachot, Shabbat 7):

     "… the war with Amalek is a very very long one – for Amalek is eternally that which whips Israel when it rebels. The main fight is the war with one's evil inclination, of which Amalek is the outside shell, always seeking to entrap a person totally and topple him down to the ground. Therefore, in order to defeat it, one must be strong in every aspect of what happens to him, and to make sure not to slip up in any trial he faces…"

     "Thus, in this war that everyone wages with his yetzer hara - a facet of the war with Amalek - every victory is when he strengthens himself and makes up his mind, with the strength of the tzaddik, to hold himself and face head-on any challenge that comes his way. As long as the person does not allow himself to despair, but rather strengthens himself to start over anew each time… and [doesn't quit the field but rather] continues the battle, in which the main weapon is prayer – he is considered the winner! For in truth, a person himself can't win the battle without G-d's help…"

As written in the final verse in Parashat B'Shalach (Sh'mot 17,16), "the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." The victory is G-d's issue, and not yours! Your job is just to hold on, not to give up, and never to abandon your desire to do good! The yetzer hara fights against you on one front only: that you should quit wanting to do good, that you should despair! But our task in this world is to want more and more to struggle to do good – and this is our victory. The very fact that I continue to hold my weapons of war - prayer and my will - in my hands means that I have won.

And if a person stumbles and falls and sins – what then? The answer is that if you picked yourself up and didn't give up – you have won! If you catch yourself and realize that what G-d wants from you now is to keep going despite all, this is the victory. But as opposed to a victory on the soccer field or elsewhere, your "small" spiritual win is not accompanied by cheers from the fans or an article in the paper; "G-d was not in the ra'ash [earthquake, but also means 'noise']" (Kings I 19,11), but rather just in a "still, gentle sound" (ibid. verse 12). 

Rabbe Nachman of Breslov famously taught: Sometimes the evil inclination gives you a slap in the face, and sometimes you give him one, and so on and so forth – but the main thing is to make sure that you be the one to give the last slap!

Yom Kippur: The Special Nature of the Ne'ilah Hour

by Rav David Dov Levanon, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The solemnity of the Day of Atonement, which begins this year on Sunday night and ends Monday night, is axiomatic. It reaches its climax as the sun begins to set, which is the hour at which our Heavenly Judgement is sealed – and also the hour when our atonement is activated. As we say in the Ne'ilah prayer following Mincha: "Open the gate for us at the time of the locking of the gate, for the day is passing."

Why did our Sages institute this extra prayer, Ne'ilah, on Yom Kippur? The Jerusalem Talmud offers two proofs for the importance of adding prayers on Yom Kippur: 

R. Levi said: "[When you sin], even if you prolong your prayers I shall not hear" (Yeshayahu 1,15) – this tells us that [otherwise] one who increases his prayers will be answered. R. Ḥiyya said in the name of R. Yochanan, and R. Shimon bar Ḥalaphta said in the name of R Meir: "When she [Chana] prayed very long [and was answered]" (Shmuel I 1,12) – indicating that everyone who extends his prayers will be answered.

This does not necessarily mean that Chana prayed more in quantity, for we can assume that she prayed every year. Therefore we ask: Why was her prayer heard that particular year and not beforehand? The answer is that her prayer this year was stronger than before, because of two things that happened then: Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Why do you cry and why are you not eating and why is your heart so sad? Am I not good to you more than ten sons?" (ibid. verse 8) In addition, the High Priest at the time, Eli, actually thought she was drunk and reproved her for it. Chana then realized that she truly had no one to lean on other than our Father in Heaven, and thus her prayer was more powerful than before – and was accepted.  

Sometimes a short but powerful prayer can be that which achieves the best results. This was the case when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed effectively for his sister Miriam in only five short words: "G-d, please, heal her, please" (Bamidbar 12,13). 

And in our case, we are talking about a particularly receptive time for our prayers – the end of the Day of Atonement!

"For this, let every pious man pray to You at the time that You are found" (Tehillim 32,6). The Ibn Ezra explains that this is similar to that which is written in Yeshayahu 55,6: "Seek G-d when He is found… and you will find" – i.e., when you find Him, or when the worshiper finds his heart empty of distracting thoughts; then is when he should pray. Can there be a better time for that than during the Ne'ilah prayer? It is for this "time of finding" of the Ne'ilah hour that the pious man waits the entire year. 

I saw it written that HaRav HaNazir (Rabbi Dovid Cohen of Jerusalem, d. 1982) said about his teacher and rabbi, HaRav Kook, that he would longingly await Yom Kippur all year round. It is the wish of the pious man to wait for and anticipate the ultimate meeting with G-d that takes place on Yom Kippur and its climax, the Ne'ilah hour.

Throughout the Ne'ilah prayer, we keep the Holy Ark open – another indication of this climactic hour and encounter with G-d. We then conclude the prayer with the stirring repetition, seven times, of the words, "Hashem hu Elokim" – The Lord is G-d!" This symbolizes our connection with the different aspects of G-d and His essence, in an unparalleled time of purity, and precisely matched for acceptance of our prayers.

The importance of taking advantage of the right time for prayer is shown in this passage from the Jerusalem Talmud: "Whoever does not mention [the blessing of] Redemption adjacent to the Sh'moneh Esrei prayer is like one who is beloved to the king and who knocks on the king's door – but when the king comes out to greet him, he finds that the person has already left!"

Similarly, when one does a good deed, he must take advantage of the occasion and fulfill it as completely as possible. Even though Aharon HaCohen was Moshe's younger brother and might have been expected to be jealous of him, the Torah tells us (Sh'mot 4,14)that he was truly and sincerely "glad in his heart" to greet Moshe. On this point, the Medrash teaches that if Aharon had known that the Torah would speak so highly of him, he would have gone even further in greeting his brother with drums and cymbals. The Medrash makes the same point about others in the Torah who were praised for their actions. It's not that Aharon and the others would have sought to increase their honor, but rather that, by being made aware of what they were doing, they would have striven and succeeded in attaining the highest level of the mitzvah act. 

The next step is to preserve this feeling and certainly not to lose it. I saw a commentary by the Rupshitzer Rebbe who explained the meaning of the word ne'ilah, which is from the root meaning "lock." He said the time of the Ne'ilah prayer is when we should lock in the sensations of holiness within our hearts, just as one locks up a chest or closet so that the precious items within will not be lost or stolen.

To this end, we must start doing mitzvot immediately after Yom Kippur ends, by starting to build our Sukkah and preparing in other ways for the Sukkot holiday. In this way we pile up our feelings of holiness in the actual mitzvah items – the chafatzim of mitzvah. The Ramban explains the verse "Do not arouse the love until it is desired" (Shir HaShirim 2,7) as follows: "Desired" is from the same root as chafatzim, thus that the verse can mean: "… until you put the love into the item of mitzvah."

Haazinu: Fighting With Faith: A Message for Politicians on Both Right and Left

by Rav Moshe Tzuriel ZTz"L, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

These are the days of the year on which we repent and do teshuvah, both for our individual sins and our collective iniquities. One of the main things for which Israel as a whole must repent is our attitude towards the Land of Israel. Are we sufficiently aware that the Land is a gift from G-d to His people, and that as such it must not be maligned or neglected?

Ever since the establishment of our State in 1948, we have never ceased to face physical threats from our enemies who wish to annihilate us. Some of them wish to destroy us little by little, and others in one fell swoop, Heaven forfend. They claim that they wish to receive "their" land back, and will happily give us "peace in exchange for land." Though we know they have no plans to make real and lasting peace with us, we must not even entertain the idea of trading land – for G-d gave us His holy word in the Torah, so that we learn it and internalize it: This Land is His, and He gave it to us – and not in order that we give it away. 

Let us learn from Yiftach the Giladite, an Israelite Judge between the times of Samuel and David. The Amonites who lived in what is now Jordan demanded that we give them that area of land. Yiftach had been chosen to lead the Israelites at the time, and this was his response [paraphrased]: 

"Israel did not take your land. When we came up from Egypt, through the wilderness up to the Red Sea, we sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Let me pass through your land.' But he did not listen, and nor did the king of Moav, though Israel sent him messengers as well. And so Israel went through the desert, detouring around Edom and Moav. Israel then sent messengers to Sichon, king of the Emorites, asking, 'Please let us pass through your land up on our way to our home.' But Sichon did not allow us to do so, and instead gathered his army and fought with Israel. However, the God of Israel delivered Sichon and his people into the hand of Israel, and Israel took over the entire land of the Emorites. 

"And now, the God of Israel has driven out the Emorites from before His people Israel, and you want to possess it?! Whatever our God has given us, we shall possess. We have been living here now for 300 years; why did you not try to take since then? I have not sinned against you, while you unjustly fight against me." (Judges 11)

Despite this speech, the Amonites were not appeased. What did Yiftach do? He certainly did not wait to be attacked, but rather, "The spirit of G-d came upon Yiftach, and he passed over the Gilad, etc. (ibid.)" That is, he went to war – and not only a defensive one, but "a great battle in which he captured 20 cities." Ultimately, the Amonites surrendered.   

In short, Yiftach did not respond as our leaders respond nowadays, with statements like, "The sanctity of human life is greater than that of a geographic place," or that "saving lives overrides the mitzvah of settling the Land." He could have told those Jews living in east of the Jordan River that they must leave their houses and return "home" to the western Jordan area, in order to save Jewish lives. But he did not call for a "Disengagement." He rather said to Sichon, "Instead of us giving you land for peace, how about you giving us land for peace? Forget your demand to keep the Gilad, otherwise we will liquidate you!" And so Yiftach went to war, and was victorious, with G-d's help!

Today, if the Syrian despot were again to demand that we give him the Golan Heights or else face his military wrath, our response must be this: "We took nothing from you. It was you who so inhumanely ambushed us during the Six Day War, and we then won the war and captured territory – and we will keep it. We will continue to hold on to the Golan to make sure that you do not again try to rocket Beit She'an or the Jordan Valley. If you continue to threaten us, we will fight you!"

The difference between then and now is very simple: Yiftach HaGiladi believed whole-heartedly, in word and deed, in G-d and His teachings. Yiftach was very clear about this in his speech to the King of Ammon, saying that the Israelite victory was due to G-d's blessing. One who knows so clearly that G-d is with him, is stronger than others. He knows that he is in the right, concentrates on the mission, and goes out to fight and wins.

And in fact, with this in mind, I do not understand the secular public in our midst today. Back when we established the State, we thought that the nations of the region might welcome our presence and our technological, financial, and other contributions to the entire area. But when we saw that this was not true, and that they chose instead to attack and kill us – why should we remain here? If our goal is to establish our own Jewish culture with its historic and lofty ideals, then we have to do so via a state and government – and for this we must fight those who would fight us. But if our entire goal is to live like non-Jews, adopting their lifestyles and mores, why do we have to fight wars and lose lives? We might as well move to Australia or elsewhere and live like goyim peacefully. But to live like goyim and get killed for it, precisely in the Land of Israel from where they want to uproot us – what justification is there to live here and continue to kill and be killed? We can live like goyim elsewhere without any danger!

As such, our call for "general teshuvah" to the millions of Jews living here in the Land of Israel must be: "Learn from Yiftach!" When he was attacked by enemies who refused to be mollified, he relied on his trust in G-d and knew that the proper approach was to be confident and attack in accordance with the Divine plan. This is what we too must always have in mind. 

And this is the blessing that Moshe Rabbeinu gave Israel in his parting speech (Deut. 33,29): "Fortunate are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a nation protected by G-d, and He is your shield Who helps you and your triumphant Sword! Your enemies will come cringing to you, but you will tread upon their heights –", i.e., the high places from where they scout you out and can fire at you. 

We must learn from our past experience. The attempts to make "peace" by our politicians for whom faith in G-d is not a candle lighting their way have not led to great success. Arabs from Gaza and elsewhere continue to fire rockets and attack us every day. Just as Yiftach believed that it was G-d Who oversaw Israel's wars, and at His word battled even for territory east of the Jordan River – how much more so must we fight with faith and confidence for the very heartland of Eretz Yisrael, here in Judea and Samaria. 

Yoav, King David's nephew and Chief of Staff, said in the midst of a war: "Let us be strong and strengthened for our people and for the cities of our G-d" (Shmuel II 10,12). The Radak explained in his commentary that Yoav's concern was that the cities would be conquered and settled by enemies, in which case "they would no longer be G-d's cities, but rather the cities of false gods." 

That is to say, by virtue of the fact that we settle our cities, this gives them sanctity – but if, Heaven forfend, Jewish towns are given over to foreign rule, there is no greater Chilul Hashem (Desecration of G-d's Name) than that, as it is a "sign" of the idols' supposed success. We must repent and do teshuvah for this, and thus show our secular brethren how important it is for them to once again be courageous Jews. 

Rosh Hashana: The Milestones Along the Way to the New Year

by Rav Haggai Londin, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

When the Children of Israel received the Torah from G-d, they agreed to fulfill it even before hearing what was in it. That is, they famously said naaseh, "we will do," before saying nishma, "we will hear." This is an expression of Israel's natural belonging to the kodesh, that which is holy. The teshuvah process, too, wherein a Jew repents of his sins and embarks on the "road back," begins with the recognition of the presence of his intrinsically pure soul.

We know that on Rosh HaShanah night, we eat special foods as positive "signs" for the upcoming year. The Talmud states: "[Given] that a 'sign' is significant, a person should habituate himself to eat the following on Rosh HaShanah: pumpkin, black-eyed peas, leeks, beets, and dates [as these grow and multiply quickly, and some of them are sweet - good omens for the coming year]." (Tr. Keritut 6a)

On the holy holiday night, before dawn of the day on which the entire year's direction is to be marked, we prepare ourselves for repentance by eating these simanim, the "signs." As the renowned Sh'lah writes: "The fruit is the sign that will remind the person and awaken him to do teshuvah¸ and to pray for it… Thus, the main thing is the arousal and the prayer."

Accordingly, there is a logical order to the simanim that we eat [as per Rav Kook's siddur, Olat R'iyah II, p. 319], an order that will raise us up gradually to full teshuvah.

1. We begin with an apple, which we dip in honey and say: "May You renew upon us a good and sweet year." The Talmud elaborates (Shabbat 88b): "Why was Israel likened to an apple [in Song of Songs 2,3]? To tell you that just like an apple's fruit precedes its leaves, so too Israel preceded its 'we will hear' with 'we will do' [as explained above]."

We thus recognize that teshuvah begins with the recognition of our intrinsically pure soul, sweeter than honey. This is its nature before all the stains caused afterwards by our sins. This enables us to be certain of the "good and sweet" success of our teshuvah process. As Rav Kook writes (Igrot, Letter 378): "The foundation of all is that we must be certain of our teshuvah and of the great serenity and the joyous strength that will certainly envelope the soul of every person in whose soul the light of teshuvah shines."

2. We next eat rubiya, black-eyed peas, and ask, "May our merits be increased" – yirbu zchuyoteinu in Hebrew. The divine facet within us does not remain on the abstract soul level alone, but is also revealed in the soul's traits. The people of Israel are characterized by merits, that is, character traits imbued in our souls ever since the days of our Patriarchs. As we learn in Pirkei Avot (5,19): "Whoever has a good [generous, positive] eye, a humble spirit, and an undemanding soul – is of the students of Avraham Avinu." As the new year begins, we ask that these holy traits that are naturally imbued within us be increased, and that those seeds that are buried in the fruits of the ground (vegetables) be brought to full potential in our humanity [of the same root as 'earth'].

3. Next comes karti, leeks: She'yikartu oyveinu, "May our enemies be cut off." After we began by internalizing that our souls are imbued with a Divine facet that cannot be corrupted – we can now relate to the body and to its failings in a new light, amid trust and recognition of our worth. We must first recognize the sin, i.e., see precisely what parts of our soul are of sin and what are actually meritorious. The Mishna (B'rachot 1,2) says that the earliest time to recite the morning Shma prayer is when one can distinguish between blue and karti, a form of green not that different from blue. We must attain the stage where we can make that delicate distinction between the negative aspects of the soul, the inner 'enemies' that must be cut off, and the valuable, positive aspects of the soul that should be nourished. Making this identification brings naturally to the sin's cutting off from the soul – an important process that does, however, cause pain and (temporarily) diminishing strengths. Rav Kook writes (Orot HaTeshuvah 8,1): "The pain that is felt during teshuvah… is the result of the detaching of the bad parts of the soul…and via teshuvah they are cut off and uprooted, and every such uprooting causes pain, just as during a medical amputation."

4. Number four on the menu is silka, beets: She'yistalku oyveinu, "May our enemies leave us." The stage after we recognize the sin and it begins to be cut off is its final riddance. The sin must leave us absolutely, as it is the inner "enemy" of our soul: "What is teshuvah?" asks the Rambam. "It is when the sinner abandons his sin and removes it from his thoughts and makes up his mind not to do it again… and the Master and Knower of Unknowns [G-d] would be able to testify that he would never return to this sin again" (Laws of Teshuvah 2,2)." Not only that, but our absolute leave-taking of the sin begins the process of rehabilitating the soul: Salik in Aramaic means to ascend; we are now climbing up from that which is ugly and bad, and beginning a process of upward rising – just like the leaves of the beets rise straight upward.

5. Next are dates, tamar: Sheyitamu son'einu, May our enemies come to an end. At this point, after the recognition, cutting off, and absolute dismissal of the sin from the soul, the way is clear for complete teshuvah. The soul-hating sins are over, and the person's soul is informed that it is clean: "One who sees dates in his dream, his sins have tamu, ended, as is written, 'tam avonekh Bat Tzion, your sin is over, o daughter of Zion.'" (B'rachot 57a)

Tom also means "completeness" and "innocence." The tom of sin is also the gateway to the innocence and perfection of the soul. In Rav Kook's words: "Corresponding to every part of ugly sin that departs from a man's soul following his inner consent to the light of teshuvah, are worlds complete in their supreme clarity within his soul. Every time a sin is passed away and out, it is like the removal of something on one's eye bothering him from seeing, revealing a complete horizon of vision, the light of expanses of heaven and earth and everything in them." (Orot HaTeshuvah 5,2)

6. Next is kara, pumpkin or gourd, sheyikara gzar dineinu and yikar'u l'fanekha z'chuyoteinu: May our decrees be torn up and may our merits be read before You. Complete teshuvah and soulful innocence have the power to change our reality. Within them is a call to new creation that rips apart and changes the decree. As the Rambam writes: "One of the paths of repentance is for the [penitent] to always cry out before G-d... and to change his name, as if to say, 'I am not the same person who committed those sins" (Laws of Teshuvah 2, 4). Changing one's personality requires a tremendous effort; the Talmud tells us that one is not shown pumpkins in his dream unless he is a "G-d-fearer with all his might." Furthermore, pumpkins (when emptied and dried out) actually serve as a utensil for holding liquids (see Bartenura to Shabbat 17,6) – and we are asked to "draw out" [from the same root as d'laat, pumpkin) from within ourselves inner forces so that we can renew ourselves, tear up the evil decrees, and to grant a new essence to our lives.

7. Nearing the end, we eat pomegranate, rimon, "so that our merits will increase like [the seeds of] a pomegranate." Above we asked that our merits that we received automatically and naturally from our Patriarchs be increased, and now we ask, following a long process of teshuvah, for an abundance of the merits and good qualities on which we work hard to build up. As children of our forefathers, we cannot rely only on their merits; we must seek and work to reveal the patriarchal merits that are within us, by doing acts of Torah and mitzvot of our own. The Talmud states: "One who sees pomegranates in his dream… – if he is a Torah scholar, he should anticipate Torah, as is written… And if he is an ignoramus, he should anticipate mitzvot, as is written… [indicating that] even those who are empty of Torah are replete with good deeds, like [the seeds of] a pomegranate." (B'rachot 57a)

8. And finally, the last siman that we eat (although one may add some of his own) is the head of a fish, as we say: "Like fish, may we be fruitful and multiply and may the evil eye not have influence over us." We have reached the end of the teshuvah process:  Our mortal powers, which have been refined by teshuvah, can now grow and multiply without fear or apprehension that the "evil eye" will detract from them. In Rav Kook's words: "[… the righteous] who are not limited by external [factors] and whom the evil eye does not control because they stand above from the external, as whales swimming in the great sea." The intensification of our pure forces brings us to the "head," to the peak of thought, to the summit of aspirations – and to the primary point of the year coming upon us for blessing.

May this be G-d's will, Amen!