Page 39 - HaMizrachi #33 Sukkot 2021 USA

Our
Ushpizi

ya akov

Two-Part Harmony

Rabbi Noam Sendor

And Yaakov journeyed to At his time of triumph, it was reason- We must become grounded like a rock,
Sukkot and built himself able for him to finally feel settled and faithful, stable, dependable and deeply
a house, and for his live- stable in his own home, confident in committed.
“Astock he made sukkot; himself and in his mission. And so it But on the other hand, Yaakov teaches
he, therefore, called the name of the was precisely at this moment that he
place Sukkot” (Bereishit 33:17). us not to become too set in our ways,
built a sukkah, to remember his com- too stuck, too static.
The home is a powerful image for the plete dependence on G-d and the con-
personality of Yaakov. As the Gemara tinuing fragility of life. We must step outside of our comfort
in Pesachim 88a points out, whereas zones and our homes from time to
Avraham and Yitzchak related to the time, and realize that we know abso-
Temple Mount as a “mountain” and lutely nothing and that our lives and
“field,” respectively, for Yaakov, it was our very existence are still as myste-
a home. “A home built from stones,” rious as ever.
Dr. Yael Ziegler states sharply, point- Though he was a man of two From time to time, we must embrace
ing out how Yaakov seems to live a life names and many modes of the knowledge that life is “hevel
“strewn with stones,” a life strewn with havalim,” a mere fleeting breath.
difficulty and hardship. But Yaakov’s being, he could ultimately find
gift is that he takes those moments of harmony between them all. But herein lies the true gift of Yaakov.
hardship and transforms them into a Though he was a man of two names
“home” – a stable, inner world of moral- A similar dynamic occurs within and many modes of being, he could ulti-
ity and ethics whose building blocks us every year, continues the Mei mately find harmony between them all.
were hewn from the lessons he learned. Hashiloach. Emerging from Rosh His Divine expression is that of tiferet,
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, one might harmony, balance. His life testifies to
Yaakov, however, also understands the the ability of a human being to live with
danger of permanence, the illusion of feel victorious and confident. Rather, contrast and conflicting modalities and
stability. one should feel victorious and secure, maintain a sense of self throughout it
holding the four species aloft like a tri-
His was a life of uncertainty and was umphant warrior! But to temper any all.
subject to the brutality of sudden shifts possibility of arrogance or pride and to It is easy to live in one way or another
in fortune. “And Yaakov answered – to live with stability and consistency,
Pharaoh, ‘The years of my sojourn [on ensure we understand how dependent or to reject physicality altogether and
earth] are 130’” (Bereishit 47:9). Yaakov we are upon Hashem’s kindness, we embrace a life of transience. But to live
knew he was simply a sojourner in immediately step out of our homes and simultaneously in both worlds, well,
this ever-changing world, never set- into the sukkah, embracing instability, there’s the rub. The life of Yaakov and
tled, never set. So he built a sukkah for with the knowledge that everything is the festival of Sukkot teach us that it
his livestock, showing us the impor- in the Hands of G-d. is not only possible, but it is the very
tance of embracing vulnerability and purpose of our lives.
impermanence. This movement between the home and
the sukkah represents an essential ele-
Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Ishbitz ment of real spiritual growth. Rabbi Noam Sendor is a rabbi at Blake Street
in the Mei Hashiloach points out that Hebrew Congregation and Leibler Yavneh
Yaakov purposely built the sukkah after We must build inner lives of stability College in Melbourne, Australia, as well as a
his encounter with and victory over founded upon truth and morality and father to four, husband to Sara, jazz musician
Esav. lived experience. and aspiring novelist.

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