Dvar Torah for Sukkot

Based on a dinner conversation

A story:

Symcha, Moish, Tzvi and Ozer were celebrating the second night of Rosh Hashanah in Uman. They were discussing the following teaching: The spiritual work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is p'nimi (internal), whereas the work of Sukkot is chitzoni (external).Now, the general understanding of this is that the work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is prayer, Torah study and preparing the ground for changes in one's character. The work of Sukkot, on the other hand, entails sanctifying the physical - eating, drinking, sleeping, friendship. This is symbolized by the sukkah being outside. We are conquering territory outside the current limits of holiness and claiming it for the holiness.

The Opera-Theatre of St. Louis (Missouri, USA) recently produced "The Burgher and the Pauper", one of Rebbe Nachman's stories. Might we not say, asked one of the Umaners, that the lesson of sukkah teaches that we can bring Torah all the way "out there"? Is truth, God, found only in a book and the synagogue? Can't truth be found on a stage or in the marketplace? The answer is that it certainly can be. However, for spiritual edification does one go to the cineplex or to the beit hamidrash?

Didn't Rebbe Nachman himself tell stories, instead of formal lessons, in order to reach our hearts? Yes, he did, but he didn't hold readings in the cafes of Paris. Don't we say in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:7) that we are to speak Torah not only "when you are sitting at home," but "when you travel" as well? Aren't we told - commanded - to leave our homes and build the sukkah outside because that's where the battles must take place? Absolutely. Our patriarch Yaakov, the man of truth (Micah 7:20), traveled to Sukkot (Genesis 33:17), shared the truth with others and built a house - a house of study (Targum Yonatan).

Life is such that sometimes we have to be at home and sometimes we have to be on the job, sometimes we have "Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur," sometimes we have "Sukkot." How well we do our "home"-work determines how far we can travel from home. When we make the sukkah, it has to have certain measurements. The floor space has to be a certain minimum. This means that one has to have a certain basic, inviolable holiness. The walls have to be sturdy enough to remain standing in the face of an ordinary wind. One cannot let the walls that are meant to protect him be toppled by a change in the zeitgeist. The skhakh, the sukkah roof, has a minimum and a maximum height allowed. Our perceptions of our own humanity and of spirituality must never descend to a level unfit for human beings. Yet, while we ought to always yearn for greater spiritual heights, we must take care not to exceed our grasp and take steps for which we are not ready.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!

agutn yomtov!
chag sameach!

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