Pardes Companion

The Sukkot Companion is dedicated in honor of Sherwin Pomerantz Chairperson, Pardes Israel Board of Directors, as we celebrate his 80th birthday Pardes Sukkot Companion The Shadow of Faith Mike Feuer Rabbi Mike Feuer teaches Striving for the Divine, Rav Kook, and Jewish History at Pardes. There are two critical elements that define the roof We find the first mention of the word emunah in of our sukkah: It must provide more shade than light, reference to Moshe’s hands as he holds them up in and we must see the stars through its branches. battle against Amalek, the biblical embodiment of doubt: “Whenever Moshe held up his hand, Israel This interplay between light and darkness, and prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, the lesson that it offers, is why the Zohar calls the Amalek prevailed.” Despite Moshe’s weariness, sukkah, tzilah d’mheimnuta, “the shade of emunah.” the Torah tells us that “his hands were emunah Emunah is a difficult word to translate, and its until the sun set” (Exodus 17:12). The Hizkuni meaning is an essential message of the holiday. explains that emunah here refers to that which The origin of the term is found with Avraham when stands fast and does not weaken, and translates he looks up at the heavens and sees a barren the verse as “Moshe’s hands remained steadfast.” future. In his pain he cries out to God, who replies, Only days after the exodus, the people had brought “Look toward heaven and count the stars…so shall the punishment of war with Amalek by asking, “Is your offspring be.” It is an impossible promise God among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Now Moshe’s – ninety-year-old parents do not have children – hands taught them a critical lesson: Emunah means even according to Avraham’s reading of the stars. that no matter what, we are with God. Nonetheless, the Torah tells us that Avraham So what can the emunah of Moshe and Avraham “believed in the Lord” (Genesis 15:5–6), and thus teach us about our divine service on Sukkot? The became rosh hama’aminim, first of the believers shade of the sukkah calls us to respond faithfully to (Shir haShirim Rabbah 4). the mystery of life. On Sukkot we leave the safety of This was no simple recognition of divine power, our built environment and enter the uncertainty that nor was Avraham abdicating his intellect. Rather, lies beyond the walls we construct. Emunah tells us as Rebbe Nachman teaches, “Emunah starts only that rather than fearing the unknown, or shrinking when the intellect is not able to understand, and then the world to our understanding, we can take shelter one needs emunah.” By accepting God’s promise, in the divine promise of what might be. It also Avraham stepped beyond the sadness of a world teaches us that this is no passive acceptance. We are bounded by what he knew and into the hopefulness not called to a blind faith, but rather to a steadfast of what might be. This act of emunah became the commitment to manifesting the Godly potential source of the laughter that gave Yitzhak his name, of life which lies beyond our understanding. If we and is the birthright of his descendants to this day. look upward with a faithful hope, the stars shining through the branches recall the promise hidden in Avraham may have been the first of the believers, the incomprehensible, and evoke a belief that our but Moshe was the foundation of the faithful. steadfast labor can bring it to light. 2 Rabbi Eliezer’s Sukkot Thoughts on Alternative Halakhic Models and Their Implications Leah Rosenthal Leah Rosenthal has been a master Talmud teacher at Pardes for over twenty years and a pioneer of women’s Talmud study in Jerusalem high schools. One of the intriguing characteristics of the talmudic their obligation with their fellow’s sukkah, as it is text is its insistence on exploring minority opinions, written, “All that are homeborn in Israel shall dwell including those rejected as normative practice. This in sukkot” (written sukkat, in the singular), which talmudic ethos has great impact on the intellectual teaches that all Israel are able to sit in one sukkah and cultural world of the beit midrash. We are, (Sukkah 27b). through this model, offered momentary glimpses into alternative worlds of halakhic practice. Through This passage shows Rabbi Eliezer arguing for them, we are able to see with greater clarity the similarity between the two central mitzvot of Sukkot. choices made in the past by the mainstream halakhic Based on a unanimously accepted idea that full world. We can perceive with greater insight not ownership is a requirement for the fulfillment of the only that which has been gained by past halakhic mitzvah of lulav, Rabbi Eliezer argues that Scripture decisions, but also what has been lost. implies that the same holds for the fulfillment of the commandment of sukkah. One can perform the A striking example of this is the talmudic discussion mitzvah of sukkah only while sitting in his or her of Rabbi Eliezer’s halakhic positions regarding the own sukkah. mitzvah of sukkah. The second chapter of tractate Sukkah presents a concentration of legal disputes Please take a moment to imagine what the holiday of between Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages on various Sukkot would be like if this indeed were the halakhic aspects of performing the commandment of dwelling imperative. Each individual (or individual family) in the sukkah during the festival of Sukkot. sits in their own sukkah. No hosting, no visiting, no sukkah-hopping! How significantly different from I would like to focus on one of these disputes here. our experience of this holiday! Combined with an additional requirement of Rabbi Eliezer, presented in another passage in the Talmud, requiring that Rabbi Eliezer said: Just as one may not fulfill one remain in the same sukkah for the entire seven their obligation on the first day of the festival days of the festival, this imperative would appear to with their fellow’s lulav, as it is written, “And you result in a retreat-like experience of focusing inward, shall take to you on the first day the fruit of a toward the self. This could result in a potentially beautiful tree, a date-palm frond,“ i.e., from your powerful spiritual experience, one that seems to own, one may likewise not fulfill their obligation follow almost naturally the experiences of Yom with their fellow’s sukkah, as it is written, “The Kippur undergone just a few days before. festival of Sukkot you shall keep to you for seven days” (Deuteronomy 16:13), i.e., in a sukkah of Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion serves to highlight your own. the way the Sages have chosen to frame the commandment of sukkah as a community experience: “All Israel The Sages, however, say: Although one may not are able to sit in one sukkah.” fulfill their obligation on the first day of the festival Different, individual sukkot are with their fellow’s lulav, one may nevertheless fulfill all manifestations of the one 3 sukkah that is our shared dwelling during this time. This dispute over the nature of “the booths” – the These two contrasting opinions suggest different sukkot of the wilderness – that we commemorate by interpretations of the mitzvah and of the nature of dwelling in our sukkah yearly, suggests connections this festival. One focuses on the individual, the other to the dispute about the nature of the mitzvah and the on the communal. holiday. The different emphasis placed on the actual or the spiritual, the communal or the individual, the It seems to me that this dispute is echoed in a shared or the separate, is reflected in both sources. famous dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi I invite you to consider and to discuss the various Akiva mentioned elsewhere in tractate Sukkah: connections between the two disputes while sitting in your sukkot this year. “For I made the children of Israel to dwell in Hag Sameah! booths.” (Lev 23:43) These were clouds of glory, says Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Akiva says: They made for themselves real booths (11b). Jan 5–9, 2020, Jerusalem, Israel for Students & Young Professionals Your full self belongs in the continuing Jewish conversation 4 Zman Simhateinu The Time of Our Rejoicing Meir Schweiger Rabbi Meir Schweiger is the most veteran member of the Pardes faculty and the Director of the Pardes Executive Learning Seminar. He also holds the position of Mashgiach Ruchani, Director of Religious Life, reflecting his impact on the personal and spiritual growth of students. Of all the Jewish festivals, Sukkot is the only one is obligated to feed the stranger, the orphan, and which is referred to, in our prayer services, as zman the widow together with all the other unfortunate simhateinu, the time of our rejoicing. Ostensibly, this poor. However, one who shuts the doors of his is based on verses from the Torah. courtyard and, together with the members of his household, eats and drinks but does not feed the In the book of Leviticus (23:40), the Torah says: “And poor – this is not called a mitzvah act of rejoicing you shall take on the first day: the fruit of a beautiful but rather the rejoicing of his stomach…. tree, a date-palm frond, a branch of a thick tree, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God, for seven days.” Later, in the book of Deuteronomy (16: 13–15), the Torah says: “The Maimonides, based on the Talmud (Pesahim 109a), festival of Sukkot you shall observe for seven days connects rejoicing on the festivals with eating as you gather from your threshing floor and vat.

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