This Shabbos we discussed the holiday of Sukkot. We also discussed the holidays of Shemini Atzeres and Simchat Torah. I would like to thank Yaki and Shirley for hosting our Kiddush in their Sukkah, and Rob and Yaki for leading our learning. I would like to wish mazel tov to Avishai and Esther, on their engagement over the last week.
Yaki spoke about the pilgrimage festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. Historically, on these 3 festivals, we would travel to the temple in Jerusalem and make special sacrifices. Yaki spoke about how these festivals correspond to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is believed that Abraham was visited by angels on Pesach. On our very first Shavuot at Mt. Sinai, we blew the horn made out of the Ram that was sacrificed in place of Issac. And Jacob built huts for his cattle on Sukkot.
In our learning, we focused in on the relationship between Jacob and Sukkot. Shirley shared her thoughts that Jacob’s actions introduced us to the important mitzvah of kindness towards animals. Jacob was also very concerned about “kindness” towards his material possessions – he returned to retrieve missing jugs, for example. What is noteworthy, is that he did this out of a very strong belief that his material possessions come from Hashem, and that they have spiritual purpose. Succos is all about “elevating the sparks of kiddusha”, bringing spirituality to the physical world, which is something we have discussed quite a bit on Shabbos.
Yaki shared how Jacob built huts for his cattle, in a place called Sukkot, and this is how the holiday received its name. Jacob’s action illustrates to us that the same way our creator has been kind to us, we should be kind to all of Hashem’s creations. Yaki shared about how Sukkot is a very happy time to be with friends, family, and Hashem.
Howard shared his thoughts that holidays and mitzvot, in particular Sukkot, were offered to everyone, not just Jews. The non-Jews were not able to handle the physical discomfort of Sukkot. In general, Hashem and the Jewish people have a special relationship, because the Jews choose to sign on and have been willing to perform the mitzvah, whereas the non-Jews, in particular with Sukkot, have not.
We discussed the holidays of Shemini Atzeres, and Sukkot. Rob spoke about how Shemini Atzeres is connected to Sukkot, and how it is not. Shemini Atzeres means the assembly of the 8th day, and is known as the 8th day of Sukkot. However, on Shemini Atzeres we do not perform the mitzvah of waving the lulav and etrog, and do not say the blessings. It is believed that Hashem enjoyed our company so much, he invites us to spend another day in the Sukkah. It may also be, Sukkot is offered to everyone – Jews and non-Jews – but the 8th day is just for Jews.
Harold Katz, a regular reader of these notes, talked to me about Simchat Torah. On Simchat Torah we celebrate the entire Torah, and how the whole Torah is much greater than the sum of its parts – the individual parsha. On Simchat Torah, we read the last parsha, as well as the beginning of the first parsha Bereishit, and it is customary that we all get an Aliyah. This symbolizes that the Torah never ends, but is a never ending circle that always builds on the previous year.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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