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

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