Sukkot (Future Sanhedrin)

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

   Would it be possible in the future with a Sanhedrin to move Sukkot to a different time, say perhaps during Pessah where we can have both a Sukkah and eat Massa in the sukkah and celebrate the going out of Egypt both with a Sukkah, Lulav and etrog (4 species) AND Massa.

[muman613]

   Would it be possible in the future with a Sanhedrin to move Sukkot to a different time, say perhaps during Pessah where we can have both a Sukkah and eat Massa in the sukkah and celebrate the going out of Egypt both with a Sukkah, Lulav and etrog (4 species) AND Massa.

I don't believe so.... The Torah tells us when Sukkot falls out, it always is in the fall season...



In telling us about the festival of Sukkot, the Torah says in Parshat Emor, "But on the 15th day of the seventh month (Tishrei), when you gather the crop of the land, you shall celebrate Hashem's festival for seven days" (Leviticus 23:39). Rashi, the fundamental commentator on the Torah, points out that the holiday of Sukkot must always fall out in the fall season, when the time of harvest comes. This requirement creates significant ramifications on the Jewish calendar. The Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 13a) lists several reasons for which the Great Sanhedrin (high court) of 71 judges would periodically add an extra month to the calendar and thereby transform any given twelve-month year into a thirteen-month leap year. One of these reasons was to ensure that the holiday of Sukkot would fall out during the harvest season! This necessity clearly demonstrates how crucial it is for Sukkot to be celebrated in the harvest season, since making the year into a leap year will consequently effect the rest of the calendar as well.

It is logical to assume that Hashem expects us to be harvesting during this time of year. However, a few verses earlier, the Torah commands, "On the first day [of the festival of Sukkot] is a holy convocation, you shall not do any m'lechet avodah (work of labor). . .on the eighth day there shall be a holy convocation for you. . .you shall not do any m'lechet avodah" (ibid. 23:36). Rashi explains that the Torah uses the repetitive language of "m'lechet avodah - work of labor" to tell us that even when it is difficult for us not to work - when we will suffer financial loss by not working - we are still commanded to refrain from working on those days of the festival.

This is extremely puzzling. How does Hashem expect us not to work on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot - at the climax of the harvest season, the most financially opportune time of the year? How can we properly focus on the High Holidays and the joy of Sukkot when our minds are on profit?

The answer to this is a crucial message that we must absorb during this time of year. The Torah tells us that the reason we dwell in the sukkah is to remember how Hashem made sukkot for the Children of Israel to live in during their forty years of travel in the desert. Hashem also provided for all of our material needs, including providing us miraculous food in the form of the manna. Moses was instructed to place a vial of the manna in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) so that in the future we would always remember how well Hashem took care of us in the desert (Exodus 16:32). In fact, before the destruction of the first Temple, Jeremiah reprimanded the people for not devoting themselves to the study of the Torah according to their abilities. They responded that they needed to earn a living. Jeremiah then pulled out the vial of manna and told them that in the desert, the Jews learned Torah day and night. All their desires and needs were met by Hashem; they had no need to work. If the Jews would again learn, said Jeremiah, Hashem would provide them with whatever they might want.

This message is just as true today as it was in Jeremiah's time. We know that on Rosh Hashanah, Hashem judges all aspects of our lives for the coming year. This includes our parnasah, our income. We will make a certain fixed amount of money this year no matter how long we spend at work. Hashem has many agents in His world to give or take money away from us. If so, why must we work at all? Why can't we learn Torah all day and manna will fall from heaven for us?

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, the great 18th century Torah scholar and philosopher, provides us with an answer in his classic work Mesillat Yesharim. The reason dates back all the way to the Garden of Eden. When Hashem cursed Adam that he must work the ground to sustain himself, the curse was not only applicable for one generation. This curse extends to Man for all time, requiring him to always do some work in order to make a living. Man cannot sit back and learn all day without doing any work. Some form of exertion must be made to earn a living. Once that effort is made, however, Hashem will provide us with all the money we are destined to have.

Going into Rosh Hashanah with such an awareness that all of our sustenance comes from Hashem and remains constant no matter how much work we invest, makes it quite easy to refrain from working on the High Holidays. These are days that Hashem doesn't want us to work, and He will sustain us on these days without our work. If, however, we have not realized this during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Hashem gives us another chance to internalize this message on Sukkot. By refraining from work and dwelling in our sukkah, we ingrain within ourselves the concept that this entire world is like our fragile sukkah. We only live by the kindness of Hashem, even while we dwell in our "sturdy" homes. To earn the livelihood Hashem gives to us, we must only put forth a bit of effort when Hashem wants us to. Then we will realize that our income really is "20th century manna from Heaven", and spend our time learning the precious Torah Hashem gave to us.

[muman613]

Also, the Holiday of Sukkot is celebrated, according to tradition, to remember the clouds of glory which protected the Jewish people in the wilderness (during the 40 years). The Anani HaKavod (sp?) provided protection from heat and cold and enemies...

http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/parsha/rosenzweig/archives/brayshit59.htm

Why are we obligated to "dwell" in Sukkot (booths)? The answer is simple, in Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:43 it says: "for in Sukkot-booths did I settle the Children of Israel."

In other words, during the forty years that the B'nai Yisrael (Children of Israel) lived in various deserts, Hashem protected them from the elements by providing them with shelter.

And what kind of shelter did He provide? On this matter there is a difference of opinion. One school of thought believes it to be actual Sukkot (booths or huts) and another opinion believes it to be the 7 Ananei HaKavod (7 Clouds of Honor) that enclosed and protected them from the elements and from dangerous animals (4 clouds surrounded them on all 4 sides, one was above them, and one was below them, and either a pillar cloud by day or a pillar fire by night).

We also know that during the years in the desert, 3 major miracles occurred that sustained the B'nai Yisrael even during their harshest travels:
1. Manna fell from the heavens providing them with nourishment.
2. A well traveled with them providing them with water.
3. The Clouds of Honor guided and protected them.

Given the above information, the festival of Sukkot should encompass all three miracles, why do we only commemorate the Clouds of Honor? Also, there is a Halachik principle that anyone who experiences a miracle is also obligated in the observance of rituals and commandments that relate to that miracle. If so - why are women who received protection from the Clouds of Honor exempt from dwelling in a Sukkah? And finally, why is the festival of Sukkot celebrated in the fall, it should be celebrated in the spring, with Passover, which also commemorates the exodus from Egypt?

To understand the answer we must go back to the beginnings of our nation when Abraham provided for strangers and nomads. After entering into a covenant with King Avimelech, the Torah states:

"He (Avraham) planted an ‘Eshel' in Be'ersheva, and there he proclaimed the name of Hashem, G-d of the Universe."

Rashi (acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Yitchaki, 1040-1105, France - a most foremost commentator on Torah - both Written and Oral) quotes a Gemara from Sota (10a) that explains that the "Eshel" (spelled Aleph, Shin, Lamed) that Avraham planted was not only an orchard but that it is an abbreviation for the three things that Avraham provided to wayfarers.
A. Achel - food
B. Shetiyah - drink
C. Leviyah - escorting

These 3 components of hospitality are what Avraham used to spread the knowledge of Hashem in the world. He not only took care of peoples basic comforts of eating and drinking, but he also bestowed each guest with dignity and honor by personally escorting them a ways as they departed his company. The Torah teaches us that by escorting them Avraham and Sara bestowed honor upon them and that was equal if not greater than the food and beverage that they gave.

So too, when we are obligated to remember and appreciate the miracles of Hashem that made our travels in harsh deserts comfortable, it was not the food/Manna or the water/well that we use to simulate that experience. Rather, it is the Sukkah that symbolizes the escort through harsh deserts that Hashem gave to us that encompasses both protection, refreshment AND honor.

The Ga'on (genius) of Vilna (Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, 1720-1797) gives us an amazing insight into the Clouds of Honor. He reminds us that when Moshe did not return from his 40 day and 40 night encounter upon Mt. Sinai, Aharon tried to delay the men's eminent rebellion by requesting the gold of their wives and daughters, knowing that the women would refuse. Not wishing to be deterred, the men seized their wives and daughters gold and created the Golden Calf. Thus men for all generations must atone for this flaw by performing certain Mitzvot (commandments) that remind us of Hashem's presence. Women who did not participate in the sin of the Golden Calf were exempt from those Mitzvot and rituals.

He also reminds us that the Clouds of Honor encircled the B'nai Yisrael from the time that they left Egypt until they committed the terrible sin of the Golden Calf. Then, in their dishonor, the Clouds of Honor could no longer offer their protection to the B'nai Yisrael. However, when Moshe returned from Mt. Sinai with the second set of tablets on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) he informed the B'nai Yisrael that part of their atonement was to donate their gold and other fine objects to the building and the maintenance of the Mishkan (tabernacle). The Vilna Go'an teaches us that four days later on the 15th of Tishrei the Clouds of Honor reappeared and again provided protection and honor to our nation.

This explains our original three questions:

1. Why do we only commemorate the festival the Clouds of Honor? Because the act of escorting one's guests is the greatest kindness that a host can show his guests. In the case of the B'nai Yisrael, more than just providing us with refreshment, Hashem made His presence known to us during our sojourn in the deserts. In the wilderness God enveloped and escorted Israel in His Clouds of Honor. The clouds were a sign that Israel had risen to the spiritual level that made them worthy of God's Honor.

2. Why are women who received protection from the Clouds of Honor exempt from dwelling in a Sukkah? Because they did not cause their original disappearance.

3. Why is the festival of Sukkot celebrated in the fall? Because that is when the Clouds of Honor returned to us.

In the spirit of this holiday when we are commanded to be joyous, I hope and pray that you share in the same joy that I experienced when I learned this "Vort."

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

Thanks. Very nice explanation. ( I read the first one for now) Hag Samayah.