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Holy Days |
| Holy Days Archives | SUKKOT 5762 THE CONTRADICTORY STRUCTURE There are two contradictory elements in a sukkah. On one hand, a sukkah is by definition a temporary dwelling, as our Sages say, "For seven days go out of your permanent dwelling and dwell in a temporary one." On the other hand, "For seven days a person makes his sukkah his permanent dwelling and his house his temporary one." This world is a sukkah, a temporary dwelling, only a "vestibule" to the next world. A person must recognize that earthly matters in and of themselves are only temporary. However, when worldly matters are not granted importance and a person uses them only for the sake of Heaven, he makes his sukkah an abode for Divinity. The world and everything in it is converted to a "permanent dwelling" for G-d. (Likutei Sichot) SECRET OF THE ETROG "And ye shall take you on the first day, 'pri etz hadar' (the fruit of the goodly tree)" [Leviticus 23:40] By the way of the Truth [the mystic teachings of the Kabbalah], 'pri etz hadar' (the fruit of the goodly tree) is the fruit in which there is a great deal of desire, and the first man sinned with it, as it is said, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat. Thus the sin consisted of taking the etrog alone, and we obtain His favor by taking the etrog together with the other species…. From here you can understand that the etrog is not bound up with the other three species, and yet it invalidates [the performance of the commandment] if it is not taken together with them. It is comparable to Atzereth (the eighth day of Sukkot), which is a festival of its own, and yet is supplementary to the first days. They are one in potentiality but not in actuality. (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (known as 'RAMBAN' or 'Nachmanides')) FROM THE KABBALISTS OF ZEFAT By taking the 4 species, (which according to the Zohar represent the four letters in the holy name of G-d) we express our joy in His joy, His celebration. According to tradition, the 15th of Tishrei is the first day on which our sins are recorded again after the Day of Atonement, we arm ourselves with symbols of the holy name of G-d, to appeal to His mercy and kindness, to help us resist our evil urge. (Rabbi Moshe Alshech) "A SUKKAH MEDITATION" (from Ascent Quarterly) Sukkah is an extraordinary mitzvah! First: the mitzvah of sukkah is done with the entire body - all of you sits in the sukkah - while most mitzvot are performed with specific parts of the body (e.g. tefillin with the hand and head). Second: a person can dwell in his sukkah virtually the entire holiday - the longer you stay, the more the mitzvah! - while most mitzvot are done for a limited period of time only (Shabbat candles-Friday afternoon). Third: since the sukkah is your "house" during Sukkot, you are centered there and "home-in" to it, and therefore are connected to the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah even when you leave it. It is as if it follows you around wherever you go! Fourth: through sukkah, nearly all of our mundane activities can be transformed into holy acts. In general, the routine activities of eating, sleeping, socializing, etc. are not necessarily mitzvot. During Sukkot, however, by doing all these activities in a sukkah, they acquire the level of mitzvot, and thus become infused with holiness for the entire year to come. Try to maintain consciousness of all of these aspects of the mitzvah. One of the most potent lessons of the sukkah is that, as Jews, all our activities can become mitzvot, and we can connect to G-d in whatever we do, no matter how "mundane" it may seem. 7 HEAVENLY GUESTS - The Zohar tells us that these seven "Shepherds" of the Jewish people visit every Jew in his sukkah, each night a different one at the head. And each of them is a paradigm for a different one of the seven divine attributes. 1st day - Avraham - Chessed - - kindness 2nd day - Yitzchak - Gevurah- - severity 3rd day - Yaakov - Tiferet- - beauty 4th day - Moshe - Netzach- - victory 5th day - Aharon - Hod- - acknowledgment 6th day - Yosef - Yesod- - foundation 7th day- David - Malchut- - sovereignty Good Yom Tov! - The ASCENT staff! |
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Ascent of Safed
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