BS”D
EXALTED
ENTOURAGE: SUCCOT
Shira
Smiles shiur –
October 5, 2014/Tishrei 11, 5775
Summary
y Channie Koplowitz Stein
There is a well known custom of inviting seven special guests, seven
shepherd
of our nation, into our succot, one on each night of Succot. What is
this
custom based on? The Torah commands, “You
shall dwell in booths for a seven day period; every native in Israel
shall
dwell in booths.”
Our Sages pick up on the seeming redundancy with several explanations.
The Otzar
Hatorah quotes the idea that first the great tzadikim are commanded
to sit
in the succot, and then they are to be joined by all of Israel. The Zohar
adds a different, somewhat cryptic, interpretation. The Zohar
claims
that the subject of the first “sit’
is seven days –
The seven days
shall sit and then be joined by all of Bnei Yisroel. According to the Zohar,
each of these special shepherds of our people, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph,
Moshe, Aaron and David, is considered a day to which the holiday is
dedicated,
and all of Israel then joins them.
We are met with two great questions. First, do these shepherds actually
come to
grace our succot as guests, and how do we incorporate that concept
to
impact our celebration? Second, why do we invite these special guests
on Succot
rather than on Pesach, the other seven day holiday?
The Chida suggests we light an extra candle, or perhaps seven
candles,
in honor of our special guest on each night of Succot, as well as
some
put up a poster welcoming our guests, while Rabbi Yaakov Hillel quoting
the
Chida presents a more practical approach. If we have invited our
guest,
we should have a special chair designated for our guest in the succah,
similar
to the chair designated for Eliyahu Hanavi whom we invite to every
bris. The minhag is to decorate this chair to designate its
specialness; some have the custom to put sifrei kodesh on
this
chair. In fact, notes Nitei Gavriel, there is an allusion to
Eliyahu
from Tishbi in the command for the holiday, Besuccot teshvu
shivat
yamim, whose initials are an acronym for Tishbi.
Some have a special chair for him as well.
Naturally, with such exalted guests, writes the writes the Otzrot
Hatorah
citing the Shlah Hakodosh, we must practice decorum in the
succah, and
keep our speech Torah based so our guests will feel comfortable. And
the Belzer
Rebbe adds that the great wives of these leaders accompany them as our
guests.
After all, writes the Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe, they have
come from Gan
Eden, a place of total spirituality to visit us on this physical
earth.
That is one of the reasons why they can only come to a temporary abode
like the
succah. While the walls of our permanent homes absorb all the improper
speech
and untoward behavior of the entire year, writes the Minchas Michoel,
the walls of the succah are inherently holy, and the schach is
the shade
of the protection of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. That we are under the direct
shade and
protection of Hakodosh Boruch Hu is the reason for the custom of
sleeping in
the succah, writes Rabbi Wolfson in Emunat Etecha.
By contemplating the symbolism of the succah, we can gather further
insight
into the propriety of the succah as the place to invite these special
guests.
Rabbi Leff reminds us that that the walls of the succah represent the
clouds of
glory that surrounded us at Sinai and then descended on the Mishkan. As
such,
they represented the bond between the physical and the spiritual. The
clouds,
like the succah, are a temporary manifestation of God’s
presence, and we can achieve that
state through our service to Him. The ultimate bond, however, is
achieved in
the World to Come from where our guests have come to visit us on this
holiday.
When we sit in the succah, we are basking in the joy of being in God’s
presence.
Therefore, if one experiences discomfort while in the succah, one is
exempt
from sitting there, while one should attempt to “live”
in the succah,
catching up on one’s
reading and Torah study, in this holy environment.
The Netivot Shalom brings a compelling argument for inviting
these
shepherds/guests at this time of year. While the covenant between
Hashem and
Bnei Yisroel was originally forged at Sinai and the Clouds of Glory
surrounded
us at that time, that covenant is renewed every year when the world is
recreated on Rosh Hashanah. Then we can again draw His presence down to
us as
we try to repair the world anew. Each of these leaders renewed
something in the
world. Avraham brought back monotheism and Yitzchak repurified the
world, for
example. Each year as the world is being recreated, we draw upon these
characteristics to help us repair the world, and we ask that these
seven come
down and impart their energies to us as individuals so that we can work
on our
mission as God’s
nation. We do not need their help on Pesach, but on Succot, when we’ve
just started
rebuilding the world, we can use their help with chessed and gevurah
and all
the other traits they embody.
These shepherds represent role models for us, for each of them faced
many
challenges and rose above them. Avraham faced ten nisyonot,
while
Yitzchak faced family challenges, Yosef was in exile, in prison, and a
great
statesman, yet each overcame the accompanying challenges. Rabbi Gamliel
in Tiv
Hamoadim points out that nisayon can be a test or
challenge, a
banner of victory, or flight. These ancient leaders of our nation point
the way
to the proper response to the challenges we face in our lives, and we
can draw
on their strength. As Rabbi Pincus says, on Succot we enter a different
dimension, and these ushpizin help us jump start this new realm.
There is an air of kedushah in the succah, a bubble of
kedushah we
want to envelop us all the time. We invite the ushpizin because
we want
friends and neighbors such as they are who can help us and
inspire us.
Succot is called Zman Simchateinu, the season of our joy, for
it is the
only holiday the Torah commands us multiple times to be joyous. Otzrot
Hatorah cites the Zohar who picks up on this nomenclature.
Every
time we celebrate a simcha, we are joined by our parents, and Hashem
brings the
departed souls of the previous generations to celebrate with us. On
Succot, the
season of our joy, we invite these seven spiritual ancestors to join us
in our
simcha. But these guests don’t
eat. How can we then acknowledge their presence as our guests? By
inviting the
poor to our succah or giving them financial, spiritual, or emotional
support we
are taking what we would otherwise offer these guests and give it to
others. If
you keep your celebration focused only on yourselves, the ushpizin
want
no part of it and leave. After all, notes the Tallelei Chaim,
the whole
concept of ushpizin is inviting guests. Your spiritual high
must be
grounded in reality and must include those less fortunate. And the
Torah
specifically enumerates all the people who may or may not be alone, but
who
should rejoice with you. It is, after all, Chag Heosif, the
holiday of
gathering the wheat, but the gathering should not be limited to
produce, but
should include gathering people together in joy.
The seven days of Succot are not only days, but also concepts and
spheres of
qualities inherent in all of Bnei Yisroel. Each of the ushpizin
represents one of these qualities –
chessed, bashfulness, compassion, Torah, Priesthood, righteousness, and
teshuvah. Every day of Succot, one of these characteristics becomes
more
accessible for us to focus on, writes Mipi Seforim Vesofrim.
Rabbi
Leibel Eiger notes that particularly if someone bears the same name as
the ushpizin
of that day, he has a special opportunity to focus and train himself in
that
trait.
So let us make our special guests feel welcome. Make each one the
center of the
conversation of the night dedicated to him, suggests Halekach
Vehalebuv.
The point of Succot is to give hope to people, for just as the anenei
hakovod,
the Clouds of Glory, surrounded us in the desert, so does Hashem’s
presence surround
us throughout our lives, and He sends down some great mentors and role
models
to help us on our journey.