On Sukkot we read the Torah portion that discusses the different holidays.
"On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, is the Festival of Sukkot, a seven day period to Hashem." (Vayikra 23:34) Here the Torah continues discussing the prohibition of work on Yom Tov and the various sacrifices that need to be offered. "For a seven-day period you shall live in booths (sukkot)...." (Vayikra 23:42)
The Midrash asks why the first verse already makes mention of the word Sukkot since the instruction to dwell in one only comes nine verses later. It would have sufficed for the Torah to say that a seven-day festival starts on the 15th day, as it does in the case of the other festivals.
The explanation given is that in that case we wouldn't know that the commandment to sit in a sukkah for seven days comes in connection with the seven-day holiday. We might think that after the seven-day festival (on which we have to bring sacrifices and take a lulav, etc., as enumerated in verses 34-41) we have another mitzvah to sit in a sukkah for yet another seven days (starting on the 23rd). This seems to imply that, according to the Midrash, the mitzvah of sitting in a sukkah has no relation to the festival of Sukkot; something the Midrash does not seem to imply about the mitzvah to take the lulav.
However, since the Torah calls it the ?festival of Sukkot?, it is hard to believe that it does so only to indicate that the mitzvah of sukkah applies during the seven-day holiday and not after. In that case, though, we may ask why the Torah includes the commandment to sit in a sukkah in such a confusing manner, which leaves room to think it is a separate issue. If, instead of saying ?For a seven day period you shall live in sukkot", it would have said something like ?these seven days [the ones we are in the middle of discussing for the past nine verses] you shall sit, etc.", then there wouldn't be room to err.
Another question we can ask is why the Torah didn't say right away that during this seven-day festival we have to sit in a sukkah. This we can certainly ask when we look at the festival Pesach, where the Torah sets up the verses in that order. First it says: ?And on the fifteenth day of that month is the Festival of Matzot to Hashem [the holiday]; you shall eat matzah for a seven day period [the mitzvah].? Then follows the instruction to keep those days holy. Why, in our case of Sukkot, did the Torah move the mitzvah of sukkah all the way to the end?
In order to get to the bottom of this, we first have to look at the connection between the lulav and the sukkah.
The Halacha states that the best way to perform the mitzvah of lulav is by shaking it inside the sukkah.
There are two ways to understand this:
We can say that just like one is obligated to do everything he would do in his own house inside the sukkah, certainly something as important as a mitzvah needs to be performed there. That would mean that it is not part of the mitzvah of lulav, but just another detail in the mitzvah of sukkah.
On the other hand, we can say that it is a part of the mitzvah of lulav to shake it inside the sukkah.
The difference would be in case of heavy rain, when one is not obligated to sit in the sukkah: If we say that shaking the lulav inside the sukkah is just another detail in the mitzvah of sukkah, then one wouldn't be obligated to go into the sukkah. If, however, we say that it is part of the mitzvah of lulav, then, in order to perform the mitzvah the best way, one would have to wait for the rain to stop and go into a sukkah.
In the Torah, there are only two festivals mentioned by name. They are the ?festival of Sukkot? and the ?festival of Matzot?.
?And on the 15th day of that month is the Festival of Matzot to Hashem; you shall eat matzah for a seven day period.?
?On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, is the Festival of Sukkot, a seven day period to Hashem.?
We see here two obvious differences: The ?festival of Matzot to Hashem? is only on the 15th; whereas, Sukkot is called a ?seven-day festival to Hashem.? On the other hand, in the case of Pesach, the Torah continues right away saying that matzah needs to be eaten for seven days; whereas, in the case of Sukkot, the commandment to sit in a sukkah is pushed off until the end, as we discussed above.
There is a third difference that we cannot find in the verses, but rather from the way the holidays are known. The ?festival of Matzot commonly goes by the name Pesach. This is not only what people call it, but also the way it is referred to in Jewish law. Sukkot, on the other hand, only goes by that name.
Obviously, there is much more to Pesach than it being a festival of matzot. It is the time we celebrate freedom from slavery, etc. The Torah indicates that by explaining that when it is called ?a festival of Matzot? it is only because ?you shall eat matzah for a seven day period.? That is why only the first day of Pesach is called a holiday, because that is the only day that one must eat matzah. Sukkot, on the other hand, is a seven-day festival that is only about sukkot. Therefore, if the Torah would write the commandment to sit in the sukkah right after the term ?festival of Sukkot?, then we would think that, just as in Pesach, this is only one of many aspects of the holiday. To prevent this, the Torah moves the mitzvah of sukkah all the way to the end so that we should know that the festival Sukkot is only about sukkot.
To explain: The 15th day of Nissan commemorates the day of the Exodus. Although we have to remember that event every day, we only commemorate it on its anniversary. Since it is such a special day, we were given certain mitzvot, such as eating matzah. Sukkot commemorates the clouds that surrounded the Jewish people when they left Egypt. The days on which we commemorate this are nowhere near the time of year that the Exodus actually took place. The only thing that makes the seven-day period in the fall that we call Sukkot special is the fact that during those days, we perform the mitzvah of sukkah.
That explains why the Torah couldn't say the less confusing ?these seven days you shall sit in a sukkah?. The ?seven days? only have importance because of the mitzvah of sukkah (which is mentioned only at the end for a side reason, as we explained above).
Now, we can finally understand the connection between the lulav and the sukkah. The mitzvah of lulav is ?on the first [of the seven] day[s]?. Without the mitzvah of sukkah, we just explained, there wouldn't be any importance to those days. Therefore, we can say that without a sukkah, there is also no lulav.
That means, in other words, that when one shakes his lulav inside a sukkah, he is not only doing one more action in a sukkah, but he adds to the mitzvah of lulav, whose importance is derived from the holiness of the sukkah.
We explained that the difference between Pesach and Sukkot is that the days of Pesach are ?special? days, as opposed to Sukkot, which are days that become holy through our actions. This difference can be found back in the mitzvot connected with these two holidays. On Pesach, we have a mitzvah to eat matzah. If the Torah wouldn't tell us to do so, chances are small that anyone would be stuffing down dry crackers on the night of the 15th of Nissan. It is clearly something we eat solely because it is a mitzvah. This is similar to the days of Pesach, which are holy by themselves. On Sukkot, the mitzvah is to perform all mundane activities we usually do in our house inside the sukkah. This can be compared to the days of Sukkot, which need to be transformed into holy days by our actions.
But not only mundane activities take place in a sukkah. In order to perform the mitzvah of lulav the nicest way, it must be done in the sukkah, too. Everyone understands the importance of being surrounded by four walls of holiness when it comes to eating and drinking, etc., but that is not enough.
The lulav is a symbol of people who have studied a lot of Torah. When we are told that a lulav needs to be taken inside a sukkah in order to fulfill the mitzvah of lulav better, the Torah is giving us a message that even when we are ?holy? people, who are constantly involved with Torah study, we should remember that, really, it is all above and beyond us. Although we must understand the Torah with our own intellect, we always have to remember that, in essence, it is Hashem?s wisdom, which transcends our understanding.
May we soon merit to be surrounded by the sukkah of peace (as we say in the evening prayers) with the coming of Moshiach, now!
"On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, is the Festival of Sukkot, a seven day period to Hashem." (Vayikra 23:34) Here the Torah continues discussing the prohibition of work on Yom Tov and the various sacrifices that need to be offered. "For a seven-day period you shall live in booths (sukkot)...." (Vayikra 23:42)
The Midrash asks why the first verse already makes mention of the word Sukkot since the instruction to dwell in one only comes nine verses later. It would have sufficed for the Torah to say that a seven-day festival starts on the 15th day, as it does in the case of the other festivals.
The explanation given is that in that case we wouldn't know that the commandment to sit in a sukkah for seven days comes in connection with the seven-day holiday. We might think that after the seven-day festival (on which we have to bring sacrifices and take a lulav, etc., as enumerated in verses 34-41) we have another mitzvah to sit in a sukkah for yet another seven days (starting on the 23rd). This seems to imply that, according to the Midrash, the mitzvah of sitting in a sukkah has no relation to the festival of Sukkot; something the Midrash does not seem to imply about the mitzvah to take the lulav.
However, since the Torah calls it the ?festival of Sukkot?, it is hard to believe that it does so only to indicate that the mitzvah of sukkah applies during the seven-day holiday and not after. In that case, though, we may ask why the Torah includes the commandment to sit in a sukkah in such a confusing manner, which leaves room to think it is a separate issue. If, instead of saying ?For a seven day period you shall live in sukkot", it would have said something like ?these seven days [the ones we are in the middle of discussing for the past nine verses] you shall sit, etc.", then there wouldn't be room to err.
Another question we can ask is why the Torah didn't say right away that during this seven-day festival we have to sit in a sukkah. This we can certainly ask when we look at the festival Pesach, where the Torah sets up the verses in that order. First it says: ?And on the fifteenth day of that month is the Festival of Matzot to Hashem [the holiday]; you shall eat matzah for a seven day period [the mitzvah].? Then follows the instruction to keep those days holy. Why, in our case of Sukkot, did the Torah move the mitzvah of sukkah all the way to the end?
In order to get to the bottom of this, we first have to look at the connection between the lulav and the sukkah.
The Halacha states that the best way to perform the mitzvah of lulav is by shaking it inside the sukkah.
There are two ways to understand this:
We can say that just like one is obligated to do everything he would do in his own house inside the sukkah, certainly something as important as a mitzvah needs to be performed there. That would mean that it is not part of the mitzvah of lulav, but just another detail in the mitzvah of sukkah.
On the other hand, we can say that it is a part of the mitzvah of lulav to shake it inside the sukkah.
The difference would be in case of heavy rain, when one is not obligated to sit in the sukkah: If we say that shaking the lulav inside the sukkah is just another detail in the mitzvah of sukkah, then one wouldn't be obligated to go into the sukkah. If, however, we say that it is part of the mitzvah of lulav, then, in order to perform the mitzvah the best way, one would have to wait for the rain to stop and go into a sukkah.
In the Torah, there are only two festivals mentioned by name. They are the ?festival of Sukkot? and the ?festival of Matzot?.
?And on the 15th day of that month is the Festival of Matzot to Hashem; you shall eat matzah for a seven day period.?
?On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, is the Festival of Sukkot, a seven day period to Hashem.?
We see here two obvious differences: The ?festival of Matzot to Hashem? is only on the 15th; whereas, Sukkot is called a ?seven-day festival to Hashem.? On the other hand, in the case of Pesach, the Torah continues right away saying that matzah needs to be eaten for seven days; whereas, in the case of Sukkot, the commandment to sit in a sukkah is pushed off until the end, as we discussed above.
There is a third difference that we cannot find in the verses, but rather from the way the holidays are known. The ?festival of Matzot commonly goes by the name Pesach. This is not only what people call it, but also the way it is referred to in Jewish law. Sukkot, on the other hand, only goes by that name.
Obviously, there is much more to Pesach than it being a festival of matzot. It is the time we celebrate freedom from slavery, etc. The Torah indicates that by explaining that when it is called ?a festival of Matzot? it is only because ?you shall eat matzah for a seven day period.? That is why only the first day of Pesach is called a holiday, because that is the only day that one must eat matzah. Sukkot, on the other hand, is a seven-day festival that is only about sukkot. Therefore, if the Torah would write the commandment to sit in the sukkah right after the term ?festival of Sukkot?, then we would think that, just as in Pesach, this is only one of many aspects of the holiday. To prevent this, the Torah moves the mitzvah of sukkah all the way to the end so that we should know that the festival Sukkot is only about sukkot.
To explain: The 15th day of Nissan commemorates the day of the Exodus. Although we have to remember that event every day, we only commemorate it on its anniversary. Since it is such a special day, we were given certain mitzvot, such as eating matzah. Sukkot commemorates the clouds that surrounded the Jewish people when they left Egypt. The days on which we commemorate this are nowhere near the time of year that the Exodus actually took place. The only thing that makes the seven-day period in the fall that we call Sukkot special is the fact that during those days, we perform the mitzvah of sukkah.
That explains why the Torah couldn't say the less confusing ?these seven days you shall sit in a sukkah?. The ?seven days? only have importance because of the mitzvah of sukkah (which is mentioned only at the end for a side reason, as we explained above).
Now, we can finally understand the connection between the lulav and the sukkah. The mitzvah of lulav is ?on the first [of the seven] day[s]?. Without the mitzvah of sukkah, we just explained, there wouldn't be any importance to those days. Therefore, we can say that without a sukkah, there is also no lulav.
That means, in other words, that when one shakes his lulav inside a sukkah, he is not only doing one more action in a sukkah, but he adds to the mitzvah of lulav, whose importance is derived from the holiness of the sukkah.
We explained that the difference between Pesach and Sukkot is that the days of Pesach are ?special? days, as opposed to Sukkot, which are days that become holy through our actions. This difference can be found back in the mitzvot connected with these two holidays. On Pesach, we have a mitzvah to eat matzah. If the Torah wouldn't tell us to do so, chances are small that anyone would be stuffing down dry crackers on the night of the 15th of Nissan. It is clearly something we eat solely because it is a mitzvah. This is similar to the days of Pesach, which are holy by themselves. On Sukkot, the mitzvah is to perform all mundane activities we usually do in our house inside the sukkah. This can be compared to the days of Sukkot, which need to be transformed into holy days by our actions.
But not only mundane activities take place in a sukkah. In order to perform the mitzvah of lulav the nicest way, it must be done in the sukkah, too. Everyone understands the importance of being surrounded by four walls of holiness when it comes to eating and drinking, etc., but that is not enough.
The lulav is a symbol of people who have studied a lot of Torah. When we are told that a lulav needs to be taken inside a sukkah in order to fulfill the mitzvah of lulav better, the Torah is giving us a message that even when we are ?holy? people, who are constantly involved with Torah study, we should remember that, really, it is all above and beyond us. Although we must understand the Torah with our own intellect, we always have to remember that, in essence, it is Hashem?s wisdom, which transcends our understanding.
May we soon merit to be surrounded by the sukkah of peace (as we say in the evening prayers) with the coming of Moshiach, now!