Dvar Torah for Sukot

Based on Likutey Halakhot 7:54-55

Who won the war? The one who's holding the weapons in his hands.
(Zohar)

Reb Noson asks: What sort of question is the Zohar posing here? We see who wins – the conqueror, who weakened and killed his enemy! And the answer doesn't seem much better, either. In fact, it seems worse! The one who wins a war is the one who can lay down his arms. One who is still holding them hasn't yet finished the job.

We can add a question of our own: why is this point particularly relevant now, between Yom Kippur and Sukot?

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called hayamim hanoraim, the Awesome Days. They are days in which we are almost totally immersed in clearly recognizable spirituality: tefilah (prayer) and more tefilah, intense introspection, additional Torah study and chesed (good works). On Yom Kippur we make ourselves as angelic as humanly possible, denying our bodies food and drink, chastising our body for its desires, and spending almost every waking moment in tefilah.

And how did we do? When we were finally in a situation which most resembles a heavenly existence just how spiritual were we? Did we manage to extract ourselves even one iota from our embarrassing lusts or our despicable traits? Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever measure of success we did achieve often leaves us despairing about our state. But we comfort ourselves: it won't be so bad. There is some progress, there is an honest desire to grow even more.

Then, suddenly, we are turned out of the house of prayer and out of our familiar homes. We must build a sukkah (booth) in some unchartered, uninhabited, uncivilized territory. We must eat, drink and sleep there! If we have any guests, we must entertain them there. If we want to relax  or to snooze, we have to do it there. Where did my spirituality go?! What happened to all my hard earned, hard prayed-for progress?!

Who won the war? The one who's holding the weapons in his hands. Soldiers go to boot camp and then off to war. The yamim hanoraim are our boot camp. It is there that we hone our skills and forge our tools. But the purpose of being in the army is not to excel in boot camp. It is to fight the enemy.

No, eating, drinking and sleeping are not the enemy. They are the battleground. Amalek is the enemy. He is a sly, crafty and wily advesary. He fights a guerilla war to get you to sin. We have to eat. It's one of the first things we do after leaving the womb. We have to use our beds – its the first mitzvah in the Torah. But how are we going to do these things? With what level of sanctity, with what measure of submission to the Creator Who affords us these pleasures and orders us to fight these battles, do we engage in these activities?

What's more, it's a very long war, a lifelong war. Amalek never put his weapons down. You can't afford to put down yours. One who does is doomed. The victory against Amalek is hitchazkut (self-encouragement). Hashem knew that almost all of us would fail almost all of the time. And that's why it doesn't anywhere in the Torah, "Be perfect." But fight, struggle, we must.

This is one of the lessons of the mitzvah of waving the arba minim (four species; palm branch, myrtle branches, willow branches and citron). (We move the arba minim in each of the four compass points and up and down. As we do this, we also move them away from and then towards the body, bringing our hands to the heart.)  Life is always changing. We are moving and being moved in different directions, often at the same time. Yet our hands/actions must always be aimed at our hearts, our truest intentions, that we learned and planted within ourselves during "boot camp."

So, no matter what, keep trying! As long as you don't give up, you're winning! How can this be? Because the war is unwinnable! If we were left solely to our own devices, if God would not assist us, we would lose, all the time (Sukkot 52b). Our responsibility is [a] not to withdraw/give up any of our acomplishments; [b] not to despair of future success/progress (after all, you got this far, didn't you? So, God will help you to further!)

This war against Amalek, that we began to wage on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is a war whose results we don't see with our physical/this-world attuned eyes, especially since the Temple, source of Divine teaching, is still destroyed and each of us goes through what often seems like a hell-on-earth.

As a people we are certainly victorious. We continue to take the arba minim, pray with them and say Hallel (God's praises) with them. As an individual, if you're still holding by praying to God for help to succeed, you're winning the war!

agutn yom tov!
chag sameach!