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By Rabbi Naftoly Bier
One of the most abrupt changes in the spirit of the Jewish calendar is the change of mood from solemnity upon ending Yom Kippur to joy when entering the Succos Festival. Succos, according to the Torah, is the time of one’s greatest rejoicing. Every day is spent in a festive mood with lavish meals, and is concluded often with a special joyous celebration called “Simchas Beis Hashoava”.
This difficulty of contrast is compounded by the teaching of our Rabbis that the final judgment is not delivered until the last day of Succos, Hoshana Rabbah.This juxtaposition of the rejoicing of Succos with the opportunity for Tshuva .. repentance .. which encourages a mood of somber seriousness is truly startling.
But Chazal teach us that the joy of Succos flows directly from the experience of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. We are only able to attain and reach the climactic level of joy and happiness associated with Succos due to the feelings we have inculcated during the Yamin Noraim.
Rosh Hashana is a time of enhanced recognition of the reign of Hashem, a time when we declare, G-d, You are the Boss; we are subservient to You and our intentions are pure. After abnegating our self interests in the context of what He demands from us and placing Him as the center of the Universe, we proceed to Yom Kippur declaring our remorse and ridding ourselves of our “dirty laundry”. This commitment to a new way of life, a life which has clarity of purpose, one of spiritual goals and aspirations, needs reinforcement – lots of it! Sure, we are a self-declared new person, one who has asked G-d to please forget the past and help us in the future, but how do we solidify and secure within ourselves this newly found inspiration.
To transform this abstract meaningful commitment to reality one needs the Holiday of Succos. We leave the security, luxury, and comfort of the home and dwell in a temporal abode – a “hut” – for seven days, one which represents the sojourns of our ancestors in the wilderness. For forty years we lived under the unstable conditions of the desert; heat, cold and wildlife, completely protected by the loving care of G-d. The stark desert wilderness was transformed by G-d into a place where the greatest experience of the human race was achieved; we relive this experience inspiring ourselves to actualize in our minds that G-d is in control, He is interested in us, loves us and henceforth takes care of us.
In the Succah while gazing at the Heavens we discern that the real roof over our heads is not our ceiling but the Heavens above. In turn we are inspired to a deepened trust and faith in our Maker. We are in essence entering a world which is the real world, a world where a human’s
relationship with G-d is the true and dynamic equation, leaving behind the temporal world of our home in which we placed all of our “trust” and hope . This centrality of G-d in our life is the link and essence to the Teshuva process.
The lulav and esrog which represent the taking together of the important parts of the body – esrog resembles the head, lulav, the spine and brain, hadassim, the eyes, and the arovos the mouth – are joined to declare that G-d is the Creator and we in all aspects of life are your
subjects. It also represents the four different levels of worship of G-d from the “tzaddik” who is perfect in his spirituality, to the one who doesn’t have much spirituality, all combined as one entity – G-d’s chosen people who one has an obligation to every member. We raise the lulav high declaring that we are His people, we are overjoyed and fortunate to be given a mission to be His representatives to mankind; the teachers of spirituality, morality and ethics and human greatness to the world!
Succah and lulav represent the total clarity of thought and focus that all blessings and security come from Him. We in turn are exhilarated to selflessly dedicate ourselves to His Torah and to our people. On Hoshana Rabba, when the focus is the aravah, willow, we are granted an opportunity to “cement” our relationship with Hashem. The willow which represents one’s lips, is a manifestation of our unique opportunity to praise, exalt, and thank Hashem with deep rooted and honest conviction despite our dearth of positive deeds. We express that despite our
deficiencies, we are the recipients of the ultimate gift; Hashem’s infinite kindness and love. For this, we are blessed with a wonderful year.
The somber realization of His awesomeness and beneficence, is the kindling point for our spirited dedication to a new way of life, one which frees us from the shackles of a society antithetical to the Torah’s blueprint of human greatness. This rebirth is the source of the
ecstasy and euphoria which dominates the Succos holiday, a holiday when we not only think about our relationship to G-d but actually live in a manner befitting our new focus in life. This in turn facilitates the Teshuva process, the final judgement being the last day of Yom Tov.
May this year be a year blessed with the coming of Moshiach.
