Page 41 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA

HOLIDAY READING

Rabbi Dov Lipman Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel

From a Place of Purity

to a Place of Peace

nyone who has ever been to else begins the next day. That is The Vilna Gaon writes that Sukkot
Jerusalem in the days between why the custom is mentioned twice. commemorates the return of the
AYom Kippur and Sukkot will Once for those who begin at night, Clouds of Glory and with them, the
testify to a unique energy in the air. and once for those who begin the Divine Presence. This is why Sukkot
The city is abuzz. The excitement is next day. However, that answer is is celebrated at this time of year,
palpable, as people fill the streets and difficult to accept because the Maharil immediately following Yom Kippur.
flood the markets, buying the Arba (Minhagim, Hil. Sukkot) writes
Minim, supplies for their sukkot, and that immediately following Yom Once Sukkot begins, we are
food for the holiday. Kippur “every individual” should be surrounded by mitzvot – an expression
involved in building the sukkah. Every of our closeness to G-d. We carry the
Many have the custom to begin lulav through the streets, raised like a
building their sukkah immediately individual – not just those scrupulous banner, expressing confidence that we
after Yom Kippur. After fasting and in their observance! were victorious in judgment just a few
praying all day, they eat something Perhaps there is a deeper answer. days ago.
and get right to work – going from one
mitzvah to the next – not delaying or By building the sukkah immediately And while we are required to rejoice
missing the opportunity. It’s a labor after Yom Kippur, we recognize the during every festival, Sukkot is
of love, which expresses the desire intimate connection between Sukkot especially joyous. In fact, Sukkot is
to translate the inspiration of the and the days that immediately precede called the “time of our rejoicing.” It is
past 25 hours into action. There is it. By mentioning the custom in both the very paradigm of joyful celebration
something magical that takes place on the Laws of Yom Kippur and again in – the “Chag.” That joy is a result of
these moonlit Jerusalem rooftops and the Laws of Sukkot, the Rema stresses the closeness we feel to G-d, achieved
balconies. It’s an intense ending to an this connection. during Rosh Hashanah and Yom
intense day. Kippur.
According to Rabbi Shlomo Kluger
Curiously, the custom to begin (Chochmat Shlomo, Orach Chayim As we sit in the sukkah, the Divine
building one’s sukkah immediately 625:1), we begin building the sukkah Presence surrounds us. In Chassidic
following Yom Kippur is cited by the right after Yom Kippur, as G-d, so to thought, it is a symbol of G-d’s love.
Rema twice: once in the last section speak, covers our sins on Yom Kippur The Sefat Emet compares the sukkah
of the Laws of Yom Kippur, and then and on Sukkot He covers us with His to a chuppa, a wedding canopy. It is
again in the first section of the Laws of sukkah. the canopy under which the Jewish
Sukkot. nation is wed to G-d. The sukkah
The intimate connection between the is also an embrace. According to
Why does the Rema – always Days of Awe and Sukkot is also deeply halacha, the sukkah must have at least
meticulous in his comments – cite this rooted in our historical experience. two walls and a handbreadth of a third.
custom twice? And what is the reason According to one opinion, the sukkah The two walls and a handbreadth are
for this practice? Can’t the sukkah wait represents the Clouds of Glory, which imagined as an arm providing a great
till tomorrow? big Divine hug.
protected the Jewish people in the
The first time the Rema records wilderness. But after the Sin of the And after having gone through the
the minhag, he mentions “those Golden Calf, the Clouds of Glory were Days of Awe – isn’t that all we need?
scrupulous in observance removed. On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel lives and
(hamedakdikim) begin building people were forgiven for the Sin of the teaches in Jerusalem, where he serves as
immediately…” The Mishnah Berurah Golden Calf, and the Clouds of Glory Mara D’atra of Har Nof’s Kehilat Zichron
interprets this to imply that everyone returned. Yosef.

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