Page 55 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA

RAV KOOK’S TEACHINGS THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Rabbi Chanan Morrison

Our Protective Fortress

he sukkah we live in during The Ultimate Fortress desire for idolatry. Similarly, our right
Sukkot is by definition a tempo- Clearly, the protective aspect of the to the Land of Israel is based not on
Trary dwelling. The Sages ruled sukkah is of a spiritual nature. The our military prowess but on the moral
that a very tall structure, over 10 meters eternal truth is that the sukkah — strength of our eternal covenant with
high, is invalid as a sukkah because it purposely defined as a structure G-d and the merit of the Torah’s
is a permanent structure. On the other so flimsy it cannot even be called a mitzvot.
hand, an exposed hut consisting of only proper dwelling — is a fortress that
two walls and a handbreadth for the protects us from all adversaries and Beautifying the Law
third is perfectly acceptable. foes. What is it that transforms the However, we should not be satis-

This rickety booth is our protective exposed sukkah into a shelter and fied with keeping only the minimum
fortress. As King David said, “You pro- stronghold? Certainly not any of its requirements of Torah law. The Sages
tect them in a sukkah from the strife of physical properties. Rather, its source taught that Jerusalem was destroyed
tongues” (Tehillim 31:21). Why should of inner strength is none other than because the judges ruled according
such a flimsy structure be a paradigm G-d’s word. The sukkah protects us by to the strict letter of the law. They
of protection and safety? virtue of the Torah law that declares failed to take into account the spirit
this structure to be our shelter during of the law and seek a ruling both just
The Sukkot of the Great Assembly the holiday of Sukkot. and compassionate — lifnim mishurat
ha-din (Baba Metzia 30b).
To better understand the metaphor This is an important message for all
of the sukkah, we should examine times, especially in our generation. The mitzvah of sukkah is based on
a remarkable Talmudic passage. In We need great courage to return to Divine law, but there is an ancient
Nechemiah 8:17, it states that the the Land of our fathers and rebuild custom to adorn the sukkah with
Jewish people had not dwelt in sukkot our national home. Where can we decorated fabrics, fruits, and grains
from the time of Yehoshua until the find the moral and spiritual resolve (Sukkah 10a). We should similarly seek
mitzvah was reinstated after their to withstand the challenges of those to “adorn” the Torah law. We should
return from the Babylonian exile. who oppose our return and deny our go beyond minimum requirements
How could this mitzvah have been right to a homeland in Eretz Yisrael? and aspire to the highest level of
neglected for so many centuries? Like the sukkah dwelling, our national G-d’s word, in its purest ethical form.
home is based on the spiritual strength Then we will merit that “David’s fallen
The Talmud (Arachin 32b) explains of G-d’s eternal word. The most sukkah” (Amos 9:11), the prophet’s
that the Jewish people always per- advanced weapons may be able to metaphor for Jewish sovereignty, will
formed the mitzvah of dwelling in a penetrate the thickest walls, but they rise again, speedily in our days.
sukkah. However, the sukkot erected
by the Great Assembly in the time of cannot prevail over the stronghold of From Silver from the Land of Israel and
G-d’s word.
Nechemiah were special sukkot, pos- adapted from Ma’amarei HaReaya vol. I, pp.
sessing a protective quality that had This is our fortress, our ultimate shel- 149-150.
not existed since the days of Yehoshua ter of security. G-d’s eternal promise
bin Nun. According to the Talmud, that the Jewish people will return to
these were not even physical sukkot, their Land and the House of Israel will
but rather a unique spiritual act of be built once again.
Ezra and the Great Assembly: “They
prayed and abolished the passion for The protective sukkah of the Great
idolatry, and this merit protected them Assembly was the merit provided by Rabbi Chanan Morrison is the author of sev-
like a sukkah.” their spiritual efforts to abolish the eral books on Rav Kook’s writings.

Background illustration of Rav Kook courtesy of www.gedolimcanvas.com | 55