This Sukkot, during the first 2 days, we discussed the meaning of the holiday. David Schlesinger led discussion. We disccused how Sukkot, coming after the spiritual cleansing of Yom Kippur, is the holiday with the most simchah. We discussed how it is that we be commanded to be in a good mood, and how can we find real happiness in general.
We discussed how material goods bring about a joy that is only temporary. The example of a brand new BMW was brought up and how that would make someone happy for just a limited time until they begin to desire something more, like maybe an even fancier model of car. On the other hand, a BMW could be used to gives rides to those who can not afford a car, and to drive to Shul and Torah studies so it could be used for spiritual purposes as well.
We discussed that the way to achieve true joy and happiness is to cling to the essence of Hashem. We discussed a few things that we should strive to do to find real joy in our life. These 3 things include striving for achievement, showing gratitude for hashem and what we do have, and giving to others. We discussed how if we are at point A in our life, the accomplishment of moving to point B can bring us a sustainable joy and feeling of well being.
We discussed how on festivals it should be our goal to spend one-half of the time engaged in Torah study, and the other half of our time engaged in the enjoyment of physical pleasures, such as eating and drinking. Given that the festivals are 25 hours (in Israel), allowing 7 hours for sleep leaves 18 hours, thus 9 would be allotted for physical pleasures, and 9 would be allotted for study of Torah (which includes davening).
David brought up the point that we could spend the day doing both. We can eat delicious food such as barbecue and cholent and drink and study the Torah at the same time. When we do this, we are using the physical in order to realize the spiritual as well. This is known as “evelvating the sparks of Kidusha” and is a central theme of the festivals and Judaism in general, and a glimpse into why Hashem created the physical world to begin with.
We discussed how on sukkot we want to wear our best cloths. We also discussed how it is allowed to use pre-existing flames to light things, but that smoking has come to be forbidden at all times due to the health dangers. We also discussed how sukkot marks the end of the year, with respect to the Torah readings. On the Shabbos of Chol Chomed there is a special Torah reading.
This Shabbos we discussed the Daf Yomi, and the section of the Gemara which deals with the obligation to marry one’s sister-in-law and have a child in your brother’s name, in the case that your brother has passed away. This halakuh is interesting in that it involves a positive mitzvah overriding a negative one. Normally, marrying your sister-in-law would be a negative commandment.
We had a discussion of the Daf Yomi which was about the cases in which a positive commandment would override a negative one. One example, is that of a Brit Milah. In general procedures like this would not be allowed on Shabbos, and certainly not on Yom Kippur, however Brit Milah goes forth on these days. The only stipulation being that the celebration that usually includes drinking, would be after sun down (the next day).
We discussed what we would do if our parent asked us to violate Shabbos. For example, what if our mother asked us to turn on a light. I brought up the point that we would actually be dishonoring our parent by following their request. There are also specific rules that forbid us from following our parents directive to break Shabbos, as Hashem’s commandments would super-cede those of our parents. But we should not feel bad for doing so, as the best way to honor our parents is to make them aware – nicely – when they do not seem to be conscious of an entire situation.
We had an interesting discussion of when we would observe Shabbos if we were on a space ship, or even on another planet. We were not really sure about this, but there are rules for those in a location such as in Alaska near the north pole. Although it may never get dark there are ways to follow the path of the sun as it gets close to, and far away from, the horizon. It may also be possible to follow the day and night schedule of the closest town or city where Shabbos is observed. A space ship may have to follow the day and night schedule of the earth location from which it departed.
We discussed some more how in Judaism it is not so much reaching certain goals, but moving in the direction of them. David talked some more about how his father would greatly value time, and how time is a resource that we can never get back. One minute of spiritual growth is worth more than one minute in the next world, because in this world we have our opportunity to grow and move in the direction of our goal to be ready for the next world. We should not waste time that can be used for this and other purposes.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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