A Lesson for the Feast of Succoth 1985
Joseph Shulam
The Succah is a frail, small temporary dwelling through whose roof one can still see the stars. It is no palace and has no permanence in its structure. It conveys that man should not be haughty and that God created all men equal. We are all vagrant pilgrims passing through this world, much more like the Succah than the permanent dwellings we live in year-round.
Maimonides in Mesne Torah said, "Women, enslaved people, and small boys are exempt from the use of a succah." The sages bid a boy of five or six years who is no longer in need of his mother's constant care to use a succah as part of his training in the observance of religious duties.
In Nehemiah 8:16,17: "So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his floor, and in their courts, and the courts of the house of God, and the square at the Water Gate, and in the square of the Gate of Ephraim. And the entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them."
The commandment and the practice of building the booth were for all the men of Israel - (Leviticus 23:34-44.)
A Temporary Dwelling
Equality in the Succah - there are no active members and observers; all are active. The whole teaching of the Bible holds up to this truth.
Rabbi Nachman's song: "The whole world is one narrow bridge, and the main thing is to cross it without fear."
What is our fear? Why are we fighting for this world's things more than we are for the eternal?
There is no time to waste—there is work that needs doing, and you will have to do it. Work is a mitzvah.
Exodus 20:9: "Six days do all your work, rest on the seventh."
Those who are not working are a burden on the community and discouragement to those who do want to work.
If you were living in a Succah, it would require constant care!!
It is up to you to build the Succah of David.
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