Sukkot and Shabbat Chol HaMoed Moadim L'simcha 15-20 Tishrei 5779 / October 24-29, 2018 Daf Yomi: Menachos 45-50; Nach Yomi: Yechezkel 36-41 Weekly Dvar Torah A project of the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL SPONSORED BY THE HENRY, BERTHA AND EDWARD ROTHMAN FOUNDATION ROCHESTER, NY,CLEVELAND, OHIO, CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO Wishing Klal Yisrael a Chag Kasher V'samayach The Four Species Rabbi Mendel Kaufman Mara D'atra, Young Israel of Briarwood Most of us are familiar with the Sukkot mitzvah of taking the arba minim – the four species. They consist of: 1. Etrog (citron), symbolizing the heart because it is shaped like a heart; 2. Lulav (palm branch) symbolizing the backbone; 3. Aravah (willow) symbolizing a mouth for the willow tree leaves being shaped like two lips; 4. Hadas (myrtle) which symbolizes the eyes because its leaves are shaped like an eye. This analysis presents a quandary if we consider the number we take for each kind. 1. Etrog – When we take one etrog, we (symbolically) have one heart; 2. Lulav – We have one backbone and we take one lulav; 3. Aravah – The two aravot represent our two lips 4. Hadas brings a question: We take three hadassim, but we have two eyes. Why the extra hadas? Before addressing this dilemma, let us consider the meaning of the question. First, look into what Akavya ben Mehalel says in Perkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) [3:1]. “Akavya ben Mehalel says, ‘Histakael,’ look deeply into three things and you will not come to commit a sin. Know from whence you came and to where you are going and before whom you will be obliged to render a final accounting; From whence you came – from a putrid drop (the sperm that fertilizes the egg); Where you are going – to a place of dust and worms; Before whom will you be obliged to render a final accounting – before the King of Kings, blessed is His name.” In Hebrew, the same root can have opposite meanings. For instance, the root sokol (stoning) can be expressed liskol, to throw stones, or lisakol, to remove stones (Rashi, Shemot 27:3 gives other examples of this). To understand the word, histakael we have to know what kind of looking it is talking about. My view is that histakael is related to the word kesil, as it is used in Tehillim [Psalms 92:7]; “An ignorant person does not know and a kesil (a fool) does not understand.” The verse contrasts the ignorant person who has no knowledge and the kesil who may have knowledge but does not understand what it all means — such as someone who defines a “highbrow” as one who has been educated far beyond his intelligence. On the surface, what we can see, feel and touch seems to be reality. For example, your hand, a dollar bill – high position, fame. On the surface, something spiritual such as fulfilling a mitzvah, a kind word, a word of Torah, all seem to be abstract or amorphous. With histakael, by looking more deeply, we will see what is real and what is fake. Look first at your physical being: from whence do you come, a putrid drop; and where are you going, to dust and worms. Now you can see how weak physical reality is that comes from nothing and goes to nothing. Consider those spiritual things that seem so unreal in the physical world, but are in fact what you will bring as your eternal assets in that great accounting when you appear before the King of Kings. The teachings of Akavya ben Mehalel, provide an understanding of the purpose of the extra hadas. Yes, we have only two eyes; but they just show us the physical world, and if we judge only by what these two eyes show us, we might fool ourselves into thinking that what our two eyes show us is a reality. The third hadas is that extra eye that enables us to see beyond the surface to what is actual reality. Wealth, fame, position are all important, but only as a means to an end. And that end is also symbolized by the arba minim. The word etrog in Hebrew has the numerical value of 610. With the other three species, it adds up to 613, the number of mitzvot. So the third hadas is to remind us to keep our eye on the final purpose of everything, which is to hold fast to the 613 mitzvot, our permanent and eternal truth. The extra eye that directs our attention to the 613 mitzvot also teaches another important lesson. No one person can fulfill all the 613 mitzvot. Some mitzvot are specifically for Kohanim; others are for non-Kohanim; some are for men, others for women. No one can embody all these contradictory characteristics. The question is: how does one fulfill all 613 mitzvot? The answer is: through the bond of the entire Nation of Israel. When just one Jew fulfills a mitzvah, that act rebounds to the credit of all of Am Yisrael. When Jews look to each other and sustain each other, they all benefit from the entire number of mitzvot. Our two eyes enable us see what we need and what those in our immediate vicinity need. The third eye tells us to look far beyond our area. In fact, it tells us to look throughout the world to wherever our fellow Jews might be. If every Jew would see on a worldwide scale, all of us would have the 613 mitzvot in our hand. Chag Samayach. Sukkot 5779 "The Return of the Clouds of Glory" Rabbi Moshe Greebel Z"L Concerning the Yom Tov of Sukkos, which falls on the fifteenth of Tishrei, the Tur (Rabbeinu Ya’akov Ben Asher (1270- c. 1340) of blessed memory, in Siman 625 explains why it is celebrated in the Fall: “And, even though we left Egypt in the month of Nisan (Spring), we were not commanded (in the Torah) to construct a Sukka in that season. For, those (Spring) days are days of warm weather, when it is the manner of all men to (enjoy the outdoors by) making a Sukka for purposes of shade, and it would not be recognizable that our constructing (of the Sukka) would be part of the Mitzvos of the Blessed Creator. Hence, He commanded us to make it (the Sukka) in the seventh month (Tishrei), which is a time of rain, when it is the manner of all men to leave their Sukka and live in the house again.” Now then, while the Tur provides us with this well known answer to celebrating Sukkos in the Fall, other notable Rabbanim have given us additional solutions to this query, such as the Vilna Gaon (his Excellency, Rabbeinu Eliyahu Kramer 1720- 1797) of blessed memory, also known as the Gra. To begin, the concept of An’nei HaKavod (clouds of glory) must be understood. Describing some of the miracles that took place when the B’nai Yisroel left Egypt, the Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 34-8 has this to say: “….. The Manna fell for them, the well came up for them, the quails were provided for them, the An’nei HaKavod encircled them (to protect and even carry them), and the pillar of cloud journeyed before them….” In fact, according to one opinion of Tannayim (Mishna Rabbanim), the entire reason we were given the Yom Tov of Sukkos, as seen in the Gemarah of Sukkos 11b, was to commemorate these An’nei HaKavod: “It has been taught, ‘”For I made the B’nai Yisroel to dwell in Sukkos.” (Vayikra 24:43) These were clouds of glory.’ These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Akiba says, ‘They made for themselves real Sukkos.’” Now then, according to the Gra, when the B’nai Yisroel sinned with the Egel HaZahav (golden calf) on the seventeenth of Tammuz, the An’nei HaKavod temporarily disappeared until the B’nai Yisroel were forgiven by HaKadosh Baruch Hu on the tenth day of Tishrei, Yom Kippur, and commanded to work on the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Only then did the An’nei HaKavod return. Subsequently, continued the Gra, on the day after Yom Kippur, which was the eleventh of Tishrei, for the first time Moshe commanded the nation to donate to the construction of the Mishkan. And, within a span of two days all brought their donations, as the Torah relates: “And they received of Moshe all the offering, which the B’nai Yisroel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary, and they still brought to him free offerings in the morning, in the morning.” (Sh’mos 36:3) That is, instructed the Gra, these two days were the twelfth and thirteenth of Tishrei. Now, on the fourteenth of Tishrei all the skilled workers took the donations from the hands of Moshe. And, on the fifteenth, they began the work of the Mishkan, the exact day on which the An’nei HaKavod returned. Hence, concluded the Gra, the fifteenth of Tishrei in the Fall season then, is the precise and accurate time of the miracle of the An’nei HaKavod returning to the B’nai Yisroel. This is why the Torah states, ”For I made the B’nai Yisroel to dwell in Sukkos (An’nei HaKavod),” after they lost them due to the Egel HaZahav. And, the An’nei HaKavod would remain with the B’nai Yisroel until the death of Aharon HaKohain. So conclude the words of the Gra on this subject. One way or the other, the Yom Tov of Sukkos has a very unique perspective to it.