Page 47 - HaMizrachi Australia Sukkot 5781

Teshuvah and the

Significance of the Sukkah

Rabbi Shalom Hammer

he Talmud records Rabbi concerted efforts, Hashem assists him which is insusceptible to impurity and
Yehuda’s description of true in overcoming his inclinations which is permeated by the Divine Presence.
teshuvah: “[If someone sinned serves to defuse the effects of the sin.
Tin an illicit relationship] the This helps explain the opinion of Rabbi This is why the Sages described one’s
person would have to situate himself Abbahu in Tractate Berachot that “the required mode of dwelling as teishvu
k’ein taduru – “dwell in the sukkah as
with the same woman, at the same place occupied by repentant sinners
time and in the same place [as he was cannot be attained even by the com- you would in your own houses,” espe-
cially with regards to sleeping, a time
during the original sin] and abstain pletely righteous.”
from sinning again” (Yoma 86b). when our defenses are down and we
The tzaddik is not necessarily immersed are more susceptible to the tempta-
Rabbi Yehuda’s suggestion is strange. in the process of teshuvah. Therefore, tions of sin. When we sleep in the
Why is it necessary for the penitent to he does not receive the assistance sukkah, we demonstrate our interest
be tested by a situation he has already Hashem usually provides for peni- in cleansing ourselves and elevating
failed? tents, and as such, he can be subjected our surroundings, proving that we are
Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz explains to the residual effects of sin. The baal worthy of Divine assistance.
that sin affects the transgressor and teshuvah, however, is immersed in the Once we have transformed our souls
also contaminates the place where the teshuvah process, thereby receiving during the Yamim Noraim and puri-
transgression occurred. The residual assistance from Hashem and protec- fied our houses over the seven days of
effects of the sin linger there and tion from the effects of sin. For this Sukkot, we can return to our homes
entice others to transgress the same reason, Rabbi Abbahu concludes that refreshed and recharged and ready
prohibition as well. For example, the a baal teshuvah is on a higher spiritual to begin a new year in the service of
Rabbis explain that tzara’at, leprosy, plane than the tzaddik. Repentance Hashem.
is the usual punishment for speaking effectively cleanses and purifies the
lashon hara, and just as it afflicts the sinner as well as the area which was
speaker’s body, it also affects his house. infected with sin.

With regards to nig’ei batim, the forms The Ten Days of Repentance are a
of tzara’at that afflict the speaker’s time that accentuates teshuvah. Sukkot
house, the prophet declares, “For a follows the High Holy Days, demon-
stone will cry out from the wall and a strating that teshuvah is a process that
sliver will answer it from the beams” begins with an individual person but
(Chabakuk 2:11). The “stone will cry out which ultimately impacts his sur-
from the wall” because of the impurity roundings. We may have succeeded in
of the sin which has infected the wall atoning for the sins that have affected Rabbi Shalom Hammer is an IDF educa-
itself, causing the wall to desperately our connection with Hashem during tor and Founder and Director of Makom A member of
the Mizrachi
find a way to rid itself of its state of the High Holy Days, but we are still Meshutaf educational programming, under Speakers Bureau
impurity. responsible for cleansing our sur- the auspices of World Mizrachi. He has mizrachi.org/
The baal teshuvah must return to the roundings from the effects of our authored five books. www.rabbihammer.com speakers
exact place under the same circum- sins. Therefore, after we complete our
stances where he first sinned, thereby atonement on Yom Kippur, we leave
cleansing both himself as well as his our “tzara’at-afflicted” homes and their
surroundings. In recognition of his impurity and move into the sukkah,

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