Category: Succoth
Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith on Succoth
Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith on the four species
Hoshanah Rabbah October 9, 2009
The renowned Abarbanel(1437-1508) teaches us that the three major holidays: Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot each represent a stage in building the Jewish Nation. Pesach is the leaving of Egypt and the formation of the Jewish nation, Shavuot is the receiving of the Torah. The holiday of Succot represents the coming into the land of Israel. The first two are very clear but why does Succot represent coming to Israel? Succot is the time where we are judged on how much rain we are going to get in the coming winter. Almost everything about succot is centered on this idea. The holiday of Succot is called Chag Haasif the holiday of harvest because on Succot time we just completed an agricultural year and reaped the fruits of our hard work and another cycle begins. The judgment on rain will determine how much bounty we will merit in in the coming year. Most countries have a bountiful supply of water throughout the year as G-D lets nature provide them water whether they are deserving of it or not. The land of Israel, on the other hand, does not have this luxury. Because of the tremendous holiness of the land there is a different system of rules that apply to it. As the verse says in Deuteronomy 11:12 “a land for which Hashem has high expectations; the eyes of God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year”The amount of water we will get is directly related to our Divine service. Only if we prove deserving of the gift of water we will receive it. The land Of Israel is in another realm altogether. The tremendous spirituality of the Land and Nation of Israel require a very high standard of purity and righteousness. Let us pray that the Jewish nation will live up to its important goal and be a true light to the Nations. Let it be a very rainy and bountiful year!
Please join us in prayer:
A Prayer for Time of Drought
Answer us, G-D of the Universe, with the power of mercy the One who chose His people Israel to proclaim His greatness and honor. The One who hears prayer, give rain and dew on the earth, satisfy the entire world from Your bounty and fill our hands from Your blessings and from treasures, the gift of Your hand. Protect and save this year from everything bad and from all types of destructive agents and from all types of suffering and provide it with hope and peace. Have mercy and compassion on us and on all our produce and fruits and bless us with abundant rains that we may merit life, satisfaction, and peace as in the good years. Remove from us plague, the sword, and famine, evil beast, captivity, and destruction, the evil urge, bad and harsh illness and bad and harsh events. Decree for us good decrees from before You, let Your mercy be revealed over Your other attributes, Treat Your children with the attribute of mercy and accept with compassion and desire our prayer. Amen!
Chag Sameyach, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
At the beginning of fall, at the height of harvest time, we celebrate Sukkot: Z’man Matan Simchateynu, the season of our rejoicing. The storehouses are full; we have a full new year to anticipate. We are told to go out of the solid walls of our homes and spend the coming days in a makeshift booth(sukkah) with no ceiling, only some branches with a few leaves (s’chach) here and there. It seems a little out of the ordinary, but this commandment has been practiced every year since the clouds of glory covered over us in days of yore.
Here in Israel, it is a perfect time of year. Mornings, through the canopy of s’chach, you can see tens of white clouds floating by on the powder blue sky. In the evenings, when you lie down on your bed, hundreds of stars glimmer in the dark ink over your head. The timelessness of looking up at the sky of Israel, the feeling that this moment in which you are in the sukkah could be now, or centuries ago- you can’t tell which.
There is a particular blessing we say only on Sukkot: “May the compassionate One erect David’s fallen booth”. Looking back on the nights of Sukkot in despairing times like the Holocaust, the pogroms in Europe and Arab countries, the evenings of the Inquisition, and more recent times like the Sukkot of Gush Katif and the North Shomron that were uprooted here in the Land ( in these times! )- these are the fallen booths of David. It seems like sometimes there are no walls and there is no safe side. As a people, and also personally we come in contact with many many obstacles that make our lives difficult…But, there is always a morning- we know that “A new light will shine out of Zion”. In the morning we perform the mitzvah of lulav and etrog. We strengthen ourselves in perfect faith and know that “come what may” with the help of Hashem, we will continue to stand till the end of days when the crown (Keter) will be placed on the head of King David (Malchut)- and so, the connection of thinking and doing will be brought to a perfect state. This is what we pray for on Sukkot when we place the s’chach ( Crown- Keter) on the vessel of Kingship ( Sukkat David ).
There is a concept in Kabbalah that overcoming obstacles creates a new vessel to receive G-d’s light. G-d will never “push you” though, over your limit. If there are obstacles in your path right now, it is because you are actually being given a chance to perfect yourself and ascend to a higher level. For this you need humility. This is a hard task when we live today in a world that stresses boosting up your ego, strengthening your assertiveness, it’s a “dog eat dog” world. It wasn’t “kochi veotzem yadi asah li et hachayil hazeh” (by my hard work, I reaped the earnings) but, Hashem blessed me with this! Hashem did it for me. The Sukkah, in it’s flimsiness (it can be beautiful beyond words- and should be), in it’s totally temporary dwelling-place as it is tells us- Hashem is my wall- who am I anyway?… Hashem is hugging us; we are entering Him as we realize we are no more than a cloud that wafts by, or a tiny star in a myriad of galaxies.
Chag Sameyach- Moadim Le’simcha, Leah Goldsmith