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שבת שלום - חג שמח
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by
Rabbi Scott Kahn about ברכת החמה |
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News and Notes
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On Wednesday night,
many Yesodei HaTorah
students, along with
teachers and guests,
attended Rav Kahn's annual
Simchat Beit HaShoeva
in his sukkah in Ramat
Beit Shemesh. For several
hours, everyone enjoyed
divrei Torah, wonderful
singing and guitar playing,
and delicious snacks.
Tonight
the entire yeshiva reconvenes
for Shmini Atzeret and
Simchat Torah on the
yeshiva campus. The
chag is highlighted with
lively dancing and the
yeshiva's own specific
minhagim (alumni will
certainly remember the
yeshiva's unique version
of "Moshe Emet v'Torato
Emet"!), as well as our
annual Simchat Torah
auction, where various
kibbudim are sold for
commitments to learn
either Gemara, Mishnayot,
or Tanach over the next
five months.
We
wish all of our alumni,
parents, friends, and
supporters a
chag sameach!
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Regaining our Majesty
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
According to Rabbi Akiva, the sukkot which we built last week commemorate the physical dwellings in which the Children of Israel lived during the forty years of wandering in the desert. Rabbi Eliezer, however, explains that the sukkot commemorate the ananei hakavod - the Clouds of Glory - which encompassed the People of Israel during their desert sojourn. (Sukkah 11b) Thus, while Rabbi Akiva sees the sukkot as a general reminder of the various events that occurred in the Sinai desert, Rabbi Eliezer understands the mitzvah of sukkah as commemorating a specific miracle. If so, why do we not celebrate Sukkot in Nisan - the month of Pesach - when the miracle of the Clouds began? Shouldn't Sukkot be intertwined with our celebration of Pesach?
The Vilna Gaon gives a fascinating answer to this question. He explains that when Bnei Yisrael fashioned the Golden Calf, the ananei hakavod disappeared until the people began to build the Mishkan. The Mishkan's construction only began following Moshe's descent from Mount Sinai with the second Tablets on Yom Kippur. The day after he returned - the 11th day of Tishrei - Moshe told the people about the mitzvah of building the Mishkan. The Torah then says regarding the following day, "They brought him other gifts [for the Mishkan] morning by morning." (Shmot 36:3) The Vilna Gaon explains that the phrase "morning by morning" means another two days, meaning up to the 13th day of Tishrei. The following day, the 14th of Tishrei, was the day on which an inventory was taken, and all the precious metals that had been donated were weighed. The actual work began on the 15th day of Tishrei - not coincidentally, the first day of Sukkot - and on this day the Clouds of Glory returned.
According to the Vilna Gaon's explanation, we commemorate not the first, temporary Clouds of Glory, but the Clouds of Glory which returned and traveled with Bnei Yisrael for the following four decades. The initial ananei hakavod were not permanent, and are therefore not commemorated with a holiday celebration. It is only the long-term ananei hakavod which are alluded to through our own sukkot. But why should this be so? Were not the original Clouds of Glory also a miracle? Indeed, the second ananei hakavod were also temporary, disappearing forever following the travels in the desert. In fact, had Israel not listened to the evil report of the spies, the second set of ananei hakavod would likely have lasted under a year! Presumably we do not celebrate merely their long-term existence, which was itself only the result of Israel's transgressions; what, then, makes the second set of Clouds more worthy of commemoration than the first?
The later ananei hakavod were not more impressive because they lasted longer, but because they were precipitated by Israel's building of the Mishkan. The first Clouds were simply a gift from Hashem to His people, but the second Clouds were a reward. In a certain sense, Bnei Yisrael provided a man-made "home" for the Divine Presence; consequently, G-d provided a spiritual "home" for the Children of Israel. The ananei hakavod are, accordingly, parallel to the walls of the Mishkan that we built in the desert. And these second Clouds are more worthy of commemoration because they were earned.
Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment, from which we hope to emerge with a favorable decree for the year ahead. But if we fail to be written in the Book of Life based on our own merits, we are able to receive Divine pardon on Yom Kippur through G-d's endless mercy. Nonetheless, a positive decree engendered through mercy is inferior to that earned through justice, for it strips man of his dignity and prevents him from creating his own fate. Obviously, this still is much more favorable than "earning" an evil verdict, but it is not as dignified as earning the good decree on one's own. We thus emerge from Yom Kippur with pardon and the promise of G-d's love, but without the full nobility we would have experienced had we obtained a favorable verdict on our own.
Sukkot presents man with the opportunity to regain his majesty by allowing him to become a partner with G-d. By building our sukkot, we remember that G-d gave us the ananei hakavod in response to our creation of a home for the Divine Presence. (The building of the sukkot is itself a mitzvah; the shehechianu blessing we recite on the first evening of Sukkot applies both to the action of dwelling in the Sukkah, and to the act of building it.) When we move into our temporary huts, we remove ourselves from our typically secure dwellings, and put ourselves in G-d's hands alone. But we also remember that the Divine protection we received in the desert was a direct result of our own positive actions. Through building the sukkah and dwelling within its walls for a full week, we commemorate both the building - that is, the building of the Mishkan - and the attendant protection we earned as a result. Through such a dual experience, man again asserts his dignity as an actor who does not merely receive from G-d, but who acts as a partner with G-d.
Perhaps this same idea is reflected in the joy of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, which immediately follow the seven days of Sukkot. With the conclusion of Sukkot, we move back into our regular dwellings, and leave the Sukkah - a symbol of both our dignity and our reliance upon Hashem - aside. But this is followed by an even greater symbol of man's greatness: the celebration of completing and again beginning the annual cycle of Torah readings. The Torah is the ultimate sign of man's dignity, for it is the treasured possession of G-d Himself, entrusted permanently to man's care and, amazingly, his understanding alone. As Rabbi Yehoshua famously remarked upon hearing a heavenly voice which contradicted the will of the Sanhedrin, "Lo bashamayim hi" - the Torah is not in heaven, it is the Jewish People's possession, and it is their interpretation alone which determines its normative understanding. G-d Himself acquiesces to this reality: when Rabbi Natan asked the prophet Eliyahu how Hashem responded to Rabbi Yehoshua's exclamation, Eliyahu said, "G-d 'smiled' and said, 'My children have defeated me, My children have defeated me.'" (Baba Metzia 59b) Understanding the Torah and deciphering its meaning is man's greatest achievement and the ultimate sign of his dignity; man thus concludes the High Holiday season with a celebration of the Torah, and thereby begins a new year of dignity and achievement.
May we all experience the great simcha of Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah by recognizing that we have the unparalleled opportunity to use the pardon of Yom Kippur to forge an ever greater relationship with Hashem - a relationship predicated not only on receiving from Him, but through becoming a partner with Him, as well. Chag sameach!
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