Saturday, September 29, 2012
The Protection of the Sukkah
12:02 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
As we get ready for the holiday of Sukkos, we go from the High Holidays of judgment (Rosh Hashanah) and atonement (Yom Kippur) all squeaky clean from doing Teshuvah into our temporary dwelling (the sukkah)
The Sukkah is representative of the Annanei Ha'Kavod (the clouds of glory) that followed the Jewish people into the desert and took care of all their needs. .There was no need for new clothes, shoes...everything was done for them. So when we sit in the sukkah we should be thinking of all of G-d's protection and Divine mercy.
At the same time, on Shabbos Chol Hamoed, we read the book of Koheles (Ecclesiastes) and read King Solomon's words of how he has seen the world. After being king of the Jewish people and checking out all the wisdom of the world, he tells us that there is no other greater wisdom than the Torah and that everything else is considered vanity.
The problem is that we sometimes look at this world as the ultimate without realizing that it is temporary, a antechamber for the world-to-come. As king David tells us in Psalms, most of us will be in this world for 70 years, if we have more strength or are given it 80 years. .The question is what we do with those years!
Are we living in this world for the sake of this world only or are we trying to elevate ourselves in this world and preparing for the true world in the afterlife! King Solomon warns us in Koheles that this world is all vanity and we must take stock in that because nothing here lasts forever.
As we concluded the Yom Kippur service, after a day of fasting and prayer, we declare that G-d is one and unique in the world (Shema Yisrael) and we say that Hashem is Elokim (that G-d is the True Judge over the world). That is where we want to be and what we want to strive for, to make G-d our king and try and live up to the ideals of the Torah.
Sukkos is about understanding that this world is temporary and that our goal is to make G-d king in our lives everyday through the performance of mitzvos and doing acts of loving kindness!
The Sukkah is representative of the Annanei Ha'Kavod (the clouds of glory) that followed the Jewish people into the desert and took care of all their needs. .There was no need for new clothes, shoes...everything was done for them. So when we sit in the sukkah we should be thinking of all of G-d's protection and Divine mercy.
At the same time, on Shabbos Chol Hamoed, we read the book of Koheles (Ecclesiastes) and read King Solomon's words of how he has seen the world. After being king of the Jewish people and checking out all the wisdom of the world, he tells us that there is no other greater wisdom than the Torah and that everything else is considered vanity.
The problem is that we sometimes look at this world as the ultimate without realizing that it is temporary, a antechamber for the world-to-come. As king David tells us in Psalms, most of us will be in this world for 70 years, if we have more strength or are given it 80 years. .The question is what we do with those years!
Are we living in this world for the sake of this world only or are we trying to elevate ourselves in this world and preparing for the true world in the afterlife! King Solomon warns us in Koheles that this world is all vanity and we must take stock in that because nothing here lasts forever.
As we concluded the Yom Kippur service, after a day of fasting and prayer, we declare that G-d is one and unique in the world (Shema Yisrael) and we say that Hashem is Elokim (that G-d is the True Judge over the world). That is where we want to be and what we want to strive for, to make G-d our king and try and live up to the ideals of the Torah.
Sukkos is about understanding that this world is temporary and that our goal is to make G-d king in our lives everyday through the performance of mitzvos and doing acts of loving kindness!
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