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 Sukkot - Essential Aspects
(As usual, many of the concepts and ideas I present here come from Sefer Ha-Toda’ah, or in English, The Book of Our Heritage) Five days after Yom Kippur, on the 15th of Tishrei, we are commanded to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, which are “days of happiness and praise” to God. That after the days of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur we are judged innocent by God, we immediately immerse ourselves in mitzvot, and our holding of the lulav and etrog are an indicator that we hold the “golden scepter” of winning judgment.
Sukkot is the holiday with the most mitzvot associated with it. Seven mitzvot essentially are associated with Sukkot: Sukkah, the Arba’ah Minim (Four Species), the water libations (which we do not observe), and the beating of the willow on Hoshanah Rabbah. In addition, it is a big mitzvah to rejoice on Sukkot, and in fact, the essential of all of the mitzvot related to Sukkot is happiness. Our source of happiness is that after exiting judgment of Yom Kippur, our entire body is engaged in fulfilling mitzvot – our mouths in saying Hallel, our hands in the Four Species, and the rest of our limbs in dwelling in the sukkah.
We dwell in a sukkah in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. The debate throughout rabbinic literature is whether “sukkot” refer to actual sukkot in which the Israelities dwelled, or whether it refers to the figurative “clouds of glory” that protected the Israelites in their journey through the desert. The mitzvah of sukkah is to dwell in it for seven days, as one would reside in their home throughout the year. Unless external conditions prevent one from doing so (weather, odor), one may not eat a fixed meal (a meal including bread) outside of the sukkah, and one must eat in the sukkah on the first two nights of Yom Tov. Sleeping in the sukkah is considered a greater obligation, though this is not as common in our communities, especially where temperatures have dropped at night. The idea of the sukkah is that we recognize that whether we are rich or poor, our protection comes from God and that all we have is thanks to God. So essential to the mitzvah of sukkah is bridging the gap between the rich and the poor that it is customary to invite guests into the sukkah – both spiritual ushpizin and live ushpizin. The spiritual ushpizin we invite are our patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, Ya’akov, Yosef, Moshe, Aharon, and David; the live ushpizin are the poor who do not have a sukkah in which to eat. One should bless “Barukh… v’tzivanu leishev ba'sukkah” when in the sukkah, and one should bear in mind the clouds of glory that protected and surrounded the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt.
This year, we will not hold the Arba’ah Minim on the first day of Sukkot, since it falls on Shabbat. The four species that comprise of “lulav and etrog” are: Lulav (palm branches), etrog (often known as a citron), hadas (three myrtle branches), and aravah (two willow branches). Many midrashim have attributed symbolism to the four together. Two prominent ones: the four represent the four kinds of Jews and all of them comprise of Am Yisrael, and the four represent the heart, lips, spine, and eyes, all of which comprise the body that praises God. We take them all together and shake them in all six directions of the world, which belongs to God. Just like with sukkah, it is good to get a beautiful lulav set, according to one’s ability. Before shaking, one takes the four species together (pitam/tip of the etrog facing downwards) and blesses “barukh… v’tzivanu al n’tilat lulav,” reverses the etrog, and shakes.
Moadim L'simcha! |
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