Page 56 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA

GENERAL INTEREST SOCIAL COMMENTARY

Rabbi Chaim Navon

Celebrity for a Moment – The Echo of the Sukkah

rev Sukkot 1997. 3 pm. Moise Sukkot is ףי ִ ס ָ א ָ ה ג ַ ח, the time when the him and whisper in his ear: “Remember
Amsalem of Montreal hears a farmers gather in their produce. Such a death… Thus passes worldly glory.”
Eknock on the door. It’s a court time is naturally accompanied by a sense
clerk with a summons for urgent legal of joy and satisfaction. After a whole This is what Kohelet teaches us too. The
proceedings. The Building Committee year of hard work, the farmer finally King of Jerusalem repeatedly tells us, ל ּ ֹכ ַ ה
had issued a complaint against Moise, sees blessing in his efforts. He can spend ל ֶ ב ָ ה – everything is vanity. ל ֶ ב ָ ה is also the
demanding he immediately dismantles time at home now and literally enjoy the breath that comes out of our mouths,
the sukkah he just built on his balcony. fruits of his labors. It is precisely at this which of course dissipates very quickly…
time the Torah teaches us to leave our as does our entire life.
The residents, many of whom were beautiful homes for a week and live in “Yesterday I was but a drop of sperm,”
Muslims, argued that the building’s con- a shaky shack. said Marcus Aurelius, “And tomorrow I
stitution forbade such a structure and will be a pile of dust.”
that it damages the building’s esthetic Because stability, abundance and secu-
appearance and lowers the value of the rity are only an illusion. Some people would learn from this that
apartments. We are all mortal. Anything we build, life has no value, but Kohelet’s conclu-
anything we obtain or achieve, is all sion is different: “The sum of the matter,
So a few hours before chag, Moise finds when all is said and done, is to fear G-d
himself in court. The judge on duty transient and temporary. and keep His commandments, for that
seemingly understood what was hap- A father asked his son what he wanted is Man’s sole duty.” One can live a life
pening and postponed the case for a few to be when he grew up. “A mega-star,” of value, if one foregoes the pretension
days, which of course made the whole said the boy. Among all the dreams a of living forever, and endows his or her
thing redundant. Moise took down his person can have, this is perhaps the life with meaning here and now, as our
sukkah at the end of the chag and case most pathetic. However, one could say, G-d taught us.
closed. perhaps, that this dream is a weird vari- Even if our sukkah only stands for a
ation of the ancient human dream of
Or so he thought. The next year, Moise’s immortality. week, we will build it with care and
neighbors issued a lawsuit well before beauty. We will hang colored chains even
Sukkot, and the case went through a Even if we all die someday; even if our if we fear – or perhaps hope – the rain
number of courts before ending up in stay here is temporary, surely our name will destroy them. And if necessary, like
the Canadian Supreme Court. There, and fame will remain for eternity? Moise Amsalem, we will fight for our
in 2004, the judges ruled that Amsa- Well no. I was once asked in an inter- right to build our temporary structure.
lem’s religious freedom overrode his view how I want to be remembered in A person’s life, deeds and name do not
neighbor’s objections, and allowed him 100 years’ time. I said no-one would last forever, but they can reverberate
to build a sukkah on his own balcony. remember me in 100 years’ time, apart through eternity if we instill them with
Inter alia, the judges noted that the from my great-grandchildren perhaps, meaning and value.
temporary structure is only up for one if I manage to be a particularly good
week a year, it is not really a nuisance human being. Then this flash of lightning that is our
and neither does it lower the value of life will fully illuminate for one short
the apartments. Even if we become celebrities or mega- moment, and what more can we ask for?
stars for a moment, our names and fame No-one will remember us down here
Indeed, the sukkah is transient in will disappear like a dream in the night. in another 100 years, but some-One in
essence, a יא ַ ר ֲ ע ת ַ רי ִ ּ ד, a temporary dwell- In ancient Rome, when a victorious Heaven will remember us forever.
ing. And this is also the spiritual mes- general marched proudly through the Rabbi Chaim Navon is a renowned author
sage of the chag itself. city streets, a slave would march beside and educator.

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