Yom Tov ends in London on Sunday at 19:46
| An attitude of gratitude | Rabbi Sholom Bloom |
| Eat, Drink, and be Merry | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
| The Four Species of Succot | Rabbi Baruch Davis |
| Aleinu - 1 | Rabbi Philip Ginsbury |
| Riddle of the Week | Ariel Burton |
In the Amidah the word that is associated with Succot is Simcha, happiness. Yet, often I am asked the question how do eating, drinking, sleeping and learning in a temporary dwelling bring one to Simcha. Too often it can just remind us of our vulnerabilities as humans and achieve the opposite.
We all want to be happy. The question is how to attain this elusive state of mind. It seems that there are two ways. One, which is the common one in our society, is to look for something external to ourselves, to change the way we feel. To eat a bar of chocolate, have a drink, zone out in front of the telly, etc. This does work, but seems to have a short term effect. How often after that first chocolate bar, do we look for the second? The second way is to look inside ourselves and to make what some people call a gratitude list: that we have clean water, food to eat, shelter, family, Torah and a beautiful world that G-d has given us.
It is true that we can sit in the Succah and complain or feel unhappy about any number of things: the poor weather, people who upset us, lack of money, etc. (These might all be true, however, it does us little good to dwell on them. Taking action to deal with them, yes. Spending vast amounts of time going over them again and again, no.) Or one could dwell on some other facts: that on Succot we find ourselves outdoors, more open to the world, more open to the wonders of creation, that we have a chance to spend quality time with our family, to learn etc. Or we could just think how lucky we are to be able to perform one of the mitzvot of Ha’shem just by sitting in the Succah.
There is a beautiful poem that I often read when I am struggling to feel gratitude:
I asked G-d for strength that I might achieve
I was made weak that I might learn humility
I asked G-d for health that I might do great things
I was given infirmity to strengthen my character
I asked G-d for riches and that I might be happy,
I was given poverty to learn how to appreciate
I asked G-d for honour that others would love me
I received others who were in need to teach me love
I asked G-d for all things that I might enjoy life
I was given life that I might enjoy all things
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything
that I had really needed.
Despite myself, my prayers were answered,
I amongst all am most richly blessed!
It does not matter what the details are, we all have a choice. To wallow in sadness or lift ourselves up in joy. Of course there are very difficult times in everyone’s life.
There are troubles all around us, especially in Israel at the moment. However, let us make a positive choice and, to the best of our ability, embrace the Simcha of this beautiful life and this beautiful Yom Tov.
By Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, which we read on this festival of Succot, King Solomon says:
Then I commended enjoyment, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, drink and be merry; for this shall accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which G-d has given him under the sun (8:15).
The popular saying, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die", is a combination of this verse and Isaiah 22:13: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.
The common perception that these words encourage a carefree approach to life is the very antithesis of our traditional understanding
Rashi explains "enjoyment" (Heb.simchah) as that which is attained when one is sameach bechelko, satisfied with his lot through the deep-rooted sense of fulfilment that accompanies the performance of mitzvot.
According to the Midrash, all references to eating and drinking in Ecclesiastes refer to studying Torah and performing good deeds, for just as food and drink nourish the body, Torah and mitzvot sustain the soul.
In applying this rule to our verse, the Midrash explains: eat, drink and be merry - live a life of Torah and mitzvot whereby one will achieve satisfaction and fulfilment; for this shall accompany him in his toil (ba’amalo) - read instead be’olamo - in his world i.e. in the world to come. While material possessions are left behind, the good deeds we perform have eternal value and will accompany us through to life beyond the grave.
Succot is described in the Torah as the festival of the ingathering of the crops, the very end of the agricultural cycle. This is partly why the Torah describes it as the festival of rejoicing par excellence - gather in your harvest and enjoy!
The Rambam, in Guide to the Perplexed, explains that the taking of the four species serves as a constant reminder of the contrast between the harshness of the desert and the Land of Israel, with its fruit-bearing trees and rivers. Thus, to the Rambam, this mitzva is a spiritual way of channelling our rejoicing.
But if one cycle is drawing to a close, another is about to start. In Israel, the weeks after Succot are an anxious time. Will the country be blessed with good, soaking rains so that the new crops may germinate? The Talmud states that we are judged for rain on Succot and, were it not for our wish not to suffer rain in the Succah, we would say the prayer for rain on the first day of Succot, rather than wait for Shemini Atzeret.
The two special mitzvot of Succot which are not mentioned in the Written Torah - the water libations and the waving of the willow branches - occupy an important position in the Succot ritual, and both are strongly connected to the theme of rain.
A number of our sages going back to Mishnaic times, viewed the taking of the four species as a means of earning the merit of G-d’s blessing of rain in its proper season. On Hoshanah Rabbah, during the last few circuits with the four species and when we take the willows, the prayers reflect our heartfelt wish for the blessing of rain. This dual theme of the four kinds - of a celebration of the year past, and prayers for the year ahead, is even reflected in the wavings during Hallel. We wave at hodu la-Hashem, giving thanks for what we have, and at ana Hashem hoshi’ana - asking G-d to help us in the future.
Our sages have detected other symbolisms in the four kinds. Each one represents a different part of the body. Each one represents different types of people in our community, from the most learned and pious at the one extreme, to the non-observant at the other. We are bidden to hold all four kinds together. We serve G-d with our very being and we draw together all the sections of our community.
The taking of the four species is a most precious mitzvah. And yet . . . not today. Sometimes, even where great holiness is indicated by the performance of a positive mitzvah, we might hold back, for an even higher purpose. That higher purpose is the possibility that Shabbat might be violated.
ORIGIN AND AUTHORSHIP
The Aleinu prayer is familiar to us because it concludes our three daily services. Its main themes are our duty to praise G-d, to worship Him alone, to be constantly aware of His unity and to await faithfully the establishment of His kingdom on earth, when the entire world will accept His sovereignty.
But it is only in recent centuries that Aleinu has become part of our daily services. Its original place, where it is still found, is in the Musaph Amidah for Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. There it forms part of the section called Malchiyot, Divine Kingship, where we affirm our allegiance to G-d as our supreme King.
The compiler of this Amidah was the great Babylonian scholar Rav (third century C.E.) and he incorporated this prayer into it. But the original form of the prayer is much older, some attributing it to Joshua, the successor of Moses. They suggest that he composed it on bringing the people of Israel into the Promised Land, after the capture of Jericho.
Our Last question: set by John Marchant of Stanmore..
When does a Yisrael receive the first aliyah before a Cohen who is in Shul?(The Cohen is fully eligible and ready to be called up, i.e. he is over 13, he is not saying any prayers at the time, he has not lost his priestly status and he has not just lost a relative).
Answer: When there is just one Yisrael in Shul and all the other men are Cohanim, the Yisrael is called up first (see Shulchan Aruch O.C. 135:12).
This week's question: set by Ariel Burton of Finchley
We read rishon (the first aliyah) of each sidra at Mincha on the previous Shabbat
(i) The rishon of which Sidra is never read in the diaspora on a Shabbat before?
(ii) What are the two occasions when we read at Shabbat Mincha from the same
Sidra as that Shabbat morning’s reading?
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