237
.
Of all the Jewish festivals, Sukkot, it has always seemed to me, is
least in need of interpretation from the pulpit, not only because it
follows so closely on the High Hoiydays, which provide a sufficiencyif not a surfeit of sermons for most stomachs, but Pecause the symbols
of this festival speak for themselves.
They speak to us about'the
bounty and beauty of nature, and of our dependence on it. and hence
upon its Creator, and they rouse in us feelings of joy and gratitude,
and makepusnwanh to share our blessings with those less fortunate than
At least they should evoke such respsnses from us; and if they
we are.
don't,
use}
I
doubt whether a homiletic commentary on them would be of much
It would be like trying to.exp1ainra joke to people without a
sense of humour or praising a symphony to those devoid of musical
appreciation.
Of those unmoved by the glories'of the Sukkah and of
the decorations of the synagogue there is nothing to be said except
what Wordsworth said about the view from Westminster Bridge:
Dull would ha be of soul who could pass
A sight so touching in its majesty.
q
At Sukkot, then, we say it with flowers rather than with words, afid
therefore let us not have a sermon tonightx
But on the other hand there
is no reason yhy we should not-d9 a little studying.
So let us, in the
next #3; minutes, go through the tractate of the Talmud which deals with
the festival we are celebrating: the tractate célied, not altogether
surprisingly, Sukkah.
But since it runs to 277 pgges in the Soncino
translation, we shall have to content ourselves with a summary.
The Mishnah, and therefore the Talmud, which is essentially a comment-
ary on it (a commentary commonly referred to as Gemara), is chiefly con\r
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cerned with gay.
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Therefore we must flot.be disappéinted if we find in it
little in the way of discussion of the general ideas and values which the
festival stands for and is supposed to inculcate.
It is concerned with
the manner of observance of the festival, rather than its philosophy.
But of course the Talmud often digresses from its main topic, and sometimes its digressions are quite interestinbg and enlightening in a more
general sense, as we shall see.
‘
The first of the five chapters of the tractate is concerned with the
measurements of the Sukkah.
be more
thaaO
For instance, it.is said that it must not
cubits high, although one rabbi disagrees with that
limitation and points out that Queen Helena of Adiabene, who was 5 convert to Judaism, on a visit to Lydda, had a Sukkah considerably higher
than 20(g§§i§$;:§figyggnefio£f¥fié rabbis whd visited her in it raised any
objections. It is also said that the area of a Sukkéh must be no less
than A cubits by
4,
for otherwise it would not be considered a 'dwelling',
and of course the commandment is that the Israelites are to 'dwell' in
booths during the seven days of the festival (Lev. 23:42).
some disctssion as to whether a sukkah
There is also
'shanah, an 'old sukkah', that is,
one madgiéfian 30 days before the festival, is valid:
Here, as often,
the followers of Hillel take a more lenient view than the followers
of
Another question raised is whether it is in order to spread
the roof of
a sheet over/thg Sukkah to keep.out the sun (in our climate it would be
Shammai.
more to the point to keep out the rain) or under it to catch the falling
leaves.
The answer,
I
am afraid, is no.
You might also note, as a matter
of practical law (halachah l'ma'aseh) that while it is quite in order
to decorate the Sukkah withSuch things as nuts, Peaches, pomegranates
and bunches of grapes, they must not be consumed until the festival is
over.
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Of great intérest is a difference of opinion, mentioned in this
chapter,
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the Bible means when it
says, "that your generatiohs may know that I made the children of Israel
to dwell in booths
when
I
Erought them out of the land ofi Egypt" (Lév.
According tq Rabbi Eliezer, the 'booths' are a metaphofical
23:43).
reference to the ananex ggxgg, the ’clouds of glory' which accompanied
the Israelites in the wilderness, since the materials for building EKXKKX
HKXKXX booths would not have been available to them, whereas Rabbi Akiva,
undeterred by the logic of that argument, declared that they were sukkot
-
must flfio warn you that, according to this
chapter; it is not pegmissible to hollow out a haystack and call that
mammash, real booths.
a Sukkah.
I
On the other hand it is sufficient if the Sukkah has three
walls and even if it is cone-shaped like a wigwam.
The second chapter raises the question, among many others, whether
it is pérmissible to sleep under a bed in the Sukkah.
.is no,
The agreed answer
but there is a dissenting voibe, since it was known that Rabbi
Gamaliel's slave Tabi did just that. 'The.objection is overruled, howeQer,
on the ground that thisfiTaBiT‘who was renowéned for his great learning,
knew fer that very reason that, as a slave, he was not subject to the
obligation of dwelling in‘a Sukkah in the first place, and therefore
did not have to conform t5 the rules governing thé manner of its per—
formance.
An amusing discussion concerns the question whether, if you
are on a voyage during the fesfiival, you should build yourself a Sukkah
on the deck of the ship.
Vand
Gamaliel thdught not, but Akiva thought yes,
did just that when they both happened to be travelling on the same
ship.
The.next morning a strong gust of.wind blew it away, whereupon
Gamaliel said: Akiva, hexchan sukkat'cha, "Now where is your Sukkah,
_
Akiva?"
4
_
Gamaliel's View, by the way, was based on the consideration
that since the Sukkah is supposed to be £1353 Eggl, a temporary dwelling,
therefore, though it must be strong enough to withstand an ordinary
land-breeze, it need not
-
indeed shéuld not
-
be so strong as td with—
Even curiouser is the question whether an elephant
stand a sea storm.
may be used as one wall of a Sukkah.
There is also much discussion as
to who exactly is obligated to dwell in a Sukkah and who is not.
Fon
instance, day trav filers must do so at night and night travellers by day;
keepers of gxxaaagxxfia orchards are exempt because, since the Sukkah
must
be built close to one's houSe, it would be inviting thieves to help them-
selves to the fruit.
Sick people are also exempt, even if they are only
Women, slaves and minors.are exempt, but not boys
.slightly unwell.
who are no longer dependent on their mothers.
King Agrippa's major domo
had a slightly unsual problems in that he had two whves, one in Tiberias
and one in Sepphoris, and therefore two Sukkot, one in eéch of those
places, and he demanded to know whether it would count as a valid observance of the festival if he commuted between one and theother.
he must have been most distressed to learn, was no.
The answer,
Perhaps more relevant
for us is the question raised, since one is supposed during the festival
XXXKRX regular abode - KfiflXKKKXKHfifiE
as well as to sleep in it,
and therg§9re to eat one's regular meals in it, what happens if it
rains. The answer, you will be.reassured to learn is that, if the
to make the Sukkah one's ggxg
-
rain is sufficiently heavy to spoil your porridge yfiou may leave the
Sukkah and eat the rest of your meal indoors, and if it happens after
bedtime you may also leave the Sukkah and sleep the rest of the night
inside your house.
There are, as
I
said, plenty of digressions.
One_passing remark,
for instance, and not without topical relevance, is a stern condemnation
of those who have the opportunity to protest against an évil action and
fail to do so.
Chapter
3
deals with the arba'ah Elgig, the 'Four Species', which it
defines as the palm, the myrtle, the willow and the Etrog.
must be in good condition.
Each of these
The Etrog eSpecially must be perfect.
All
of them are invalid if they are withered or if they are stolen, since
that would involve mitzvah ha—ba'ah me-averah, a Mitzvah performed through
a transgression,
which is of course disallowed.
As a matter of fact, they
should actually be your own preperty, but if that creates a porblem for
economic or other reasons, it is not insurmountable.
For you can always
follow a precedent related in this chapter when it tells us: "It once
happened that when
R.
Gamaliel,.R. Joshua, R. Elazar and;R. Akiva were
travelling (during Sukkot) on a ship and
R.
Gamaliel alone had a lulav
which he had bought for 1,000 zuz, R. Gamaliel took it and fulfilled his
obligation with it, then gave it as a gift to R. Jsohua, who took it,
fulfilled his obligation with it and gave it as a gift to Rabbi Eleazar,
who took it, fulfilled his ibligation with it, and gave it as a gift to
R. Akiva, who
took it, fulfilled his obligation with it, and then gave
it back to R. Gamaliel" (41b).
XXXfiXKXXEXXXKEXfiayxxKXXXXKflHfiXXfiKfiXXKXflXfiflu
KKfiXXKHEXXKXKXXHXKX By the way, a proper Lulav comprises
2
willow twigs and one palm branch.
EXEXXKXXKKKXXXKK
3
myrtle twigs,
'That rule was laid down by R. Ishmael.
As for the Etrog, it must not be smaller than a nut or,
according to another opinion, an egg, but on the other must not be so
large that you can't hpld two in one hand, thoiugh there is a contrary
And if you want to know how to hold the
opinion on that subject also.
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-6Fiur Species, the answer, according to Rabbah, is that you should hold
the Lulav in your right hand, because it comprises three of the Four.
and the Etrogyin your left hand.
There is also some discussion about
the way the Hallel Psalms should be recited and theprecise points during
Psalm 118 at which the Lulav and Etrog should be shaken.
three
3 and 4
Chaptersx describeK KKK ceremonies that used to be performed in Temple
timesflifixfi rather primitive from our point of view, in that they were
essebtially rain-making cermonies; yet they were evidently very colourful
and KfiEKXXXKKKKXKKXX§ made an enormous impression on thepeople.
One was
the eremony of the aravah, the willow-branch, which involved the priests
walking round and round the altar carrying willow—branches; another was
nissuch haamaxim, the water libétion after the daily sacrifice; the third,
which evidently aroused the.greatest enthusiasm, was simchat £212
ha—sho'evah, the joyful water-drawing ceremony. "He who has not seen
the rejoicing at the place of the wat?r-drawing has never seen rejoicing
in his life," says the Mishnah and proceeds to describe the ritual in
minute detail.
Among the KEHKXXKKX digressions_in these chapters
—
to explain how they arise; it.is much too complicated
and don't ask me
—
there is this
famous saying by Abbaye, that the world has.never less than 36 righteous
men who are permitted to perceive the Shechinah (the Divine Presence)
every day, the proof-text being a verse in Isaiah (30:18) whicH says
"Happy are all those who wait for Him" (the Hebrew for 'Him', g2, has
the numerical value of 36).
There is also a lovely passage about
tzedakah, charity, which indsts that it must be given scretly, and that
such action is greater than all.the sacrices, but goes on to say that
g'milut chasadim2 personal service, is} for various reasons whcih aré
spelt out, even greater, and that the value of an act of charity, in
the sense of almsgiving, depends on the love with which it is done.
On the subject of Sukkot, these chapters mention the various bene-
dictions to be recited; for isntance on enterihg the Sukkah, exactly as
we do still.
It also mentions the seventy sacrifices that were offered
in the Temple during the festival and, in explanation of the number, says
that they correspond to the seventy nations of the world: a splendidly
universalistic sentiment, you will agree.
Confused?
You won't be if you study the tractate at leisure.
other hand it'might make confusion worse confounded.
On the
There was, however,
no confusfiion in the great synagogue of Alexandria, which is also describe&
in Tractate Sukkah, which was so huge that a flag had to be waved from
the platform when it was time
for the Congregation to say Amen.
In
these humbler surroundings it is perhaps sufficient for me to announce
that
for the Congregation to say the Aleynu.