Chol HaMoed Sukkoth 5786 from 5778
Sukkoth is the Time of Rejoicing
Sukkoth has been given so many names, but I call Sukkoth “The Festival of the Ending and a New Beginning”. It can be viewed in two ways: The first is that it’s the last of the Shalosh Regalim, the three Pilgrim Festivals appointed by the Creator when we were called to go up to Jerusalem. The second is that it is the last of the three Fall Festivals, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkoth. They are interrelated and demonstrate the Creator’s participation with Israel through Redemption, the Giving of the Torah, and the Entrance into the Promised Land. It is a new beginning and reminds us that God always takes care of us – He is our Provider.
These festivals, which take place on the 1st, 10th, and 15th of Tishrei, are viewed by our rabbis from a mystical perspective. Yom Teruah represents the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur represents the Verdict, and Sukkoth represents the Final Sentencing. Sukkoth begins with Israel offering 13 bulls. One less bull was offered each day for the next seven days, ending with the additional eighth day on Shemini Atzeret, until a total of 70 bulls had been offered. In gematria, 70 is a mystical number that points to the 70 nations of the world and reveals the universality of the message. Israel was called to be a light to the nations —an Ohr l’Goyim. Our prophet Isaiah tells us that God’s House was to be a house of prayer for all nations. That means it was always His desire that the Torah be accessible to everyone. One of the greatest mistakes our sages made was keeping the Torah strictly for themselves. They formulated Seven Noahide laws for the rest of the world, and they would keep the 613 laws called the Teriyag, which led to an unspoken attitude of superiority. Those, however, who have been blessed with a deeper understanding are responsible for giving out more. Israel was given the Torah to share it with the world. We have failed miserably in this task, leading to the proliferation of religions around the world, along with their accompanying apparatus. At the same time, very few have maintained a true relationship with the Creator. We must ask ourselves…are we worshipping ourselves or the Creator?
Rabbi Maimonides, in his thirteenth principle of faith, said, “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the messiah and even if he tarries, I will wait for him, for he may come on any day.” Every Jew should be a messianic Jew awaiting our redemption, but we have lost the understanding of who the messiah is. The Gentiles, however, adopted their own perspective of the Messiah and formed their own religion, thus creating an antagonism between the two, each defining itself in reaction to the other. Each was afraid to look for similarities and refused to compromise. This led to two thousand years of religious battles, resulting in three religions with their own norms and values, all claiming to have the right god and considering the others wrong. Who can own the Creator? We belong to Him. He doesn’t belong to us. We are His property; He is not ours. The Creator teaches us through beautiful pictures. Here, Sukkoth is depicted by a small, transitory hut rather than a large, solid building. Why? We are just transients in this world. We must each face our mortality, acknowledge our temporary status here on earth, and realize that the only way we can be protected is not by a strong building or a grandiose, magnificent structure, because in a fragile sukkah, we are literally living outside. The only way we can be protected is through His presence and His covering.
This is why it is so important to understand this festival. We have a tradition in the Sukkoth ceremony, containing four species, each with its own special meaning: the Etrog, a lemon-like fruit, which has taste and aroma, the Lulav, the Date Palm branch, which has taste but no aroma, the Hadassah, the Myrtle, which has aroma but no taste and the Arov, the willow with neither. These represent the people of Israel. The Etrog with both represents those who have Torah and do good deeds; the Date Palm represents those who do good deeds but are without Torah; the Myrtle represents those who have Torah but do no good deeds; and the Willow describes those who have neither. The one who knows the Torah well but performs no good deeds is a spiritual glutton. He keeps learning, but does not live or share what he has learned. Others perform many good deeds, but are without Torah; they attempt to fill a deep void within by doing something wherever they can, but their lives are still terrible. The great majority of the world has neither; they see the world as existing for their benefit – they are selfish. This is contrary to what the creator teaches us about being part of Israel, of being the selected, the Chosen People, those who are called by God. He has called us to apply the Torah and do good deeds. We are all called to be like the Etrog. Where are you among these four types?
My desire is that we apply the principles outlined in the basic Ten Commandments that the Creator has given us. I cannot emphasize this enough. You may say, Yes, I know this, but tell me, ‘How are you applying these Ten Commandments in your life?” Instead of judging others for what they are doing or not doing, the Creator wants us to examine ourselves. The reason Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah) is so meaningful is that we have undergone a process of self-evaluation. Hopefully, we have taken the time for introspection and become more aware of our current life situation. Perhaps we have not been faithful to our calling, but have been spending too much time on other things.
Today, the talk of the town is that we are in a crisis, and the monetary system is on the verge of collapse, meaning we’ll lose all our money. What will happen to us? What is the message of Sukkoth? It is that I am not to rely upon what I have built in this life, but on the Creator’s provision for me. Of course, I am responsible for doing my best, but my trust is not in me but in Him. It is easy to talk the talk, but difficult to walk the walk. We are talkers and not doers. What can be more important than this! People come to me saying, “Rabbi, you keep repeating the same message”. Or “Rabbi, what new thing can you teach us? I need a magical concept, a hidden idea, something extraordinary that is going to blow my mind”. Why do you need to blow your mind when you need to be active and to be doing what is right? You know the Torah says to do what is right in the eyes of the Creator. What does that mean in a practical way? Rabbi Shaul was asked if they could eat meat offered to other gods, or only meat blessed by their own rabbis. His answer was to do what you think is right in your own heart and not to judge others for what they have decided is right. I have seen people judging others for what they eat. Legalism is destroying us because it’s erasing our capacity to learn to trust in the Creator and to continue growing and doing things.
Sukkoth emphasizes our mortality and transience on this earth. We don’t live eternally on this earth in this body. Our body is our sukkah. What are the characteristics of the sukkah? It has to have at least three walls; the roof has branches so that we can look up to the heavens and He can look down on us. When it rains, we get wet. That’s what happened to us recently. We were lighting the candles when suddenly a torrential downpour struck, and we had to run inside. What is that telling us? Who is in charge? Of course, if we don’t want to get wet, we can put plastic on the top to protect ourselves, but that defeats the true meaning of Sukkoth. In biblical times, the farming communities of Israel depended on the latter rains. They would worry if it didn’t rain on Sukkoth, yet most of us today pray that it doesn’t rain. Let me ask you a simple question: Who are we following? When we put plastic on top to protect ourselves, it shows that we care more about form than truth. Our Creator is the one who protects us, not our religious practices. He sends the latter rains as a sign of His provision. The Sukkah shows us how much we depend upon Him. When you start thinking that you don’t need to depend on Him, but you depend only on yourself, that’s when your problems come. The world today depends more upon the almighty dollar, the almighty euro, than on the Creator. Many here in Canada trust the government more than they trust their Creator.
Again, I ask, are you like the etrog, the hadassah, the Lulav, or the arov, what are you? Are you applying the principles of Torah in your life every day at work, at home? That is more important than thinking that we are better than others. It is essential to have integrity and be ourselves. This is not a time to be sad. Our sages have called these High Holidays, Yamim Noraim – נוראים ימים- the “Terrible Days”; however, they are quite the opposite. They are Z’man Simchateinu – זמן שמחתנו, the Time of Rejoicing. We rejoice because we know that we can trust in and depend upon Him, we rejoice because He has given us His Word, and we can rejoice because he gave us a model by which we can live. We rejoice because we can confess to him; we can give Him the things that we have held deep in our hearts, and trust that he will deal with them. Practically speaking, when we live in a community, we can help each other; we care enough to do things for others without being asked. In a community, we serve the Creator when we serve each other. We love our neighbour as ourselves. This is the message of Sukkoth—Z’man Simchateinu and Z’man Torateinu, the Times of Rejoicing and for the Giving of the Torah.
As we conclude this week, we will complete the reading of the Torah on Shemini Atzeret and prepare to begin the cycle again with Bereshit. Please don’t say, “Oh no, rabbi, we have to start this all over again!” Don’t we need to do something different? That is our problem. We don’t understand that each one of us has been created in a marvellous way and we each have a purpose. In this transient life, we have responsibilities. Find your purpose and use it in the right way. I call this festival of transience and formation, the ending and a new beginning. It’s very exciting to attend our graduation when we have finally finished the program, but as soon as this stage is over, a new cycle of growth and learning will begin. In the past period, you have learned some good and some not-so-good things. You now need to choose the next phase. It’s not up to me, as your rabbi, to be your cheerleader; you need to find your own path.
In the same way, as your rabbi, I need your help to keep this community going. Even though the Sukkah is not very strong, we know that the One who takes care of it is God, not us. Is your sukkah strong or weak? Who is taking care of your sukkah? This is how we learn to depend on Him and on each other. We are living in scary times, but let me give you this advice: take one day at a time. The past is gone, and the future is not in our hands. Today is all we have and is the only time we have some control over.
In ancient days, 70 bulls were offered for all the nations, showing us that we were called to be ‘ohr l’goyim’, light to the nations. Every one of you here is important in the scheme of things. Wherever you go, at work, at school, or with your friends and family, you are a little spark of light to others. Your mere presence indicates that our Creator is with His people. It is a time of rejoicing.
Shabbat shalom and Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan, Z”l, Ranebi