This was first published in the print edition in 1995, that is, 28 years ago. This is the first time it is being published online.
From The Droshos Of HaRav Yosef Nechemia zt'l, the last rav of Cracow
"The posuk tells us, "And you shall take on the first day...", about which the medrash Tanchuma, parshas Emor comments, "the first day of reckoning sins."
Usually, if a king is about to visit a city in order to pass judgment on the inhabitants, deciding whether they are to live or die, everybody will run to him, in haste and confusion, each trying to make out a good case for himself and begging for his life. They crowd together, shouting and weeping. In their panic, nobody gives a thought to the state of his own clothing and whether or not he is dressed well enough to appear before royalty. Even the most destitute pauper, wearing coarse, torn garments of sackcloth, pushes along with the rest, ignoring his neglected appearance. He comes before the king crying and pleading and is judged to live. Suddenly, the king smiles at him and invites him to eat at the royal table for seven days.
When the poor man gets near to the palace, he looks at his clothes and surveys his appearance. Only then does he realize that in his present state he is unfit for royal company. Consumed by shame and embarrassment, he cannot bring himself to go dine at the kings table.
So it is with us, says HaRav Yosef Nechemia of Cracow. During the yomim noraim, we are bewildered and panic-stricken from the dread of the impending judgment. We beg for our lives, and boruch Hashem, are answered favorably. Then we are invited to shelter in the shade of the King's succa.
However, we get to the entrance of the succa, take a look at our situation and ask ourselves: how can we approach the King's gate dressed in sackcloth? In this way, the first day of Succos becomes for us the first day of reckoning our sins — a day of contemplation of our aveiros and the shame they bring on us.
Hadas And Aravah
From Sefer HaPardes By Rashi zt'l
From considering Chazal's comments on the arba minim, we should learn not to prefer the hadas to the arovo.
Chazal tell us that each of the arba minim represents a different part of Klal Yisroel. "Pri eitz hodor" has both taste and smell, just as Klal Yisroel contains men who possess both Torah and good deeds. "Capos temorim", has good taste but no smell, signifying those who have Torah, but not good deeds. "Anaf eitz avos" with good smell and no taste, represents men who perform good deeds, but do not have Torah knowledge, and "arvei nachal," having neither smell nor taste, alludes to those who have neither Torah or good deeds.
"HaKodosh Boruch Hu says, "To destroy them (i.e. this last group) is impossible, therefore, let them all combine in one bundle, and let one group atone for another."
Therefore, Moshe warned Yisroel and said to them, "And you shall take to yourselves on the first day..."
Blessed is Hashem, who desires to increase our merits, and gave us a mitzva where those who do not possess merits are bound together with those who do. However, cholila that we should prefer the former over the latter because of this.
To avoid this danger, Chazal made the minim equal. The minimum length of the hadas and arovo is three tefachim, while the arovo must not be taller than the hadas or cover it over. One who makes it higher or covers it, transgresses the words of the chachamim and places himself in danger as we have learnt: "Divrei sofrim are more stringent than divrei Torah, for if someone says, `There is no mitzva of tefillin,' intending to uproot the Torah's command, he is not liable for any punishment. If he maintains, however that there should be five compartments in the tefillin shel rosh, adding on to the four which Chazal fixed, then he is chayav.
It is enough therefore, that the arovo should be the same length as the hadas and no more, for we can only act according to Chazal's directives.
I Am Sholom
From Rabbi Akiva Eiger
"Great has been my soul's sojourn with the hater of sholom. I am sholom , and when I speak, they are for war." (Tehillim 120:7)
The meaning of "I am sholom," according to the Ramban on the posuk "ki tzayid bephiv," is that when a person cleaves fully to a certain attribute, whether good or not, that attribute ceases to be simply an adjective with which to describe him, becoming instead his actual name, an expression of the nature of his very being. The posuk says, "You dwell in the midst of deceit," not referring to the neighbors as "men of deceit" but as deceit itself.
Similarly, Dovid Hamelech says of himself, "And I am tefillah," for his entire being was prayer. In our posuk, he testifies that he is not just a man of sholom but sholom itself, so dedicated is he to peace.
Nevertheless, he adds, "vechi adaber." "Adaber" can also imply, besides speech, destroying and destruction (as in "He will subdue nations under us"). According to this, the posuk is to be understood, "Even if you see me destroying, it is not my true nature, for my being is sholom, and I am only forced to behave otherwise by they (who) are for war." They are truly responsible because of their continual ambition to wage war.
Great Spoils
From R' Akiva Eiger
Dovid Hamelech describes his joy over Torah in the following posuk, "I rejoice over Your sayings like one who finds great spoils." (Tehillim 119)
A man who merits toiling in Torah, learning and discovering new insights, is like a traveller who goes on his way and finds a great and massive store of treasure with countless gems and pearls. Even after he fills his containers, his pockets and his knapsack he will hardly have gathered a fraction of the treasure. Mingled with his great joy at finding the pearls and gems, is sadness that he cannot take even more and has to leave the major part behind.
Such also is the feeling of a Jew who learns Torah. For every new daf he learns, for each new idea he takes in, he rejoices. His joy however is like that of the man who finds more treasure than he is able to carry. The more he learns, the more he sees that Hashem's Torah is far deeper than the ocean and far broader than the greatest expanse of land and how far he himself is from knowing the Torah in its entirety.
"I rejoice over Your sayings", but my joy is incomplete. It is like the joy of "one who finds great spoils" who, together with his joy, is sad for the treasure he must leave behind on account of his limitations.
A Circle For The Tzadikim
From R' Akiva Eiger
"Rabbi Elazar said: In the future, HaKodosh Boruch Hu will make a circle for tzadikim, and He will sit between them in Gan Eden and each one will point with his finger and will say on that day, "Behold, this is our G-d; we hoped for Him and He has saved us, this is Hashem for whom we hoped, we will rejoice and be happy in His salvation." (Taanis daf 31)
In this world we see each tzaddik serving Hashem in a different way. In the future though, it will become clear that all the ways were true and effective, and that they all served one central purpose.
"In the future Hashem will make a circle for the tzadikim," and then it will be revealed that all the different ways went along one path. "A circle" — when seated in a circle, the focal point is in the middle, the common truth which they share between them — "and He will sit between them." Then, every one will say, "Behold this is our G-d, who we hoped for.." They were all directed at the central truth, all their ways are true.
Each one served Hashem in his own way, from his own particular root source, but when they sit in a circle they will all see that "He sits between them."
Trembling Like A Woman In Childbirth
From Rabbi Akiva Eiger
At the marriage of the Chasam Sofer to the daughter of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, many people came to see the two Torah giants. As they watched the father-in-law and son-in-law engage in a fierce Torah argument, which was accompanied by much effervescence, agitation and raised voices, they wondered at the seemingly strained relations between the two.
Rabbi Akiva Eiger assured them: "Do not wonder at what you can see for such is the way of Torah. The gemora in Kiddushin says that while discussing Torah, even a father and son become each other's enemies, but nevertheless, afterwards, their strong love for one another returns."
Using this idea, he explained the posuk, "For behold the kings meet, and have passed together, they saw and wondered, were frightened and hurried, quaking seized them there, trembling like (a woman in) childbirth." (Tehillim 48) The anger which develops between two talmidei chachomim is temporary, lasting only a short time, like the agony of a woman in childbirth, who, Chazal say, while she is giving birth swears never to have another child, but who afterwards regrets her words.
This then is the explanation of the posuk: "For behold the kings meet," referring to talmidei chachamim. "Who are kings?" asked Chazal, and answered, "The talmidei chachamim."
When this happens "ovru yachdav" — they are filled with anger (as in the word "evrah"). "They saw and wondered, were terrified and hurried." "How is it possible," ask the people, "that there be dissent between talmidei chachomim?" They conclude that there must exist hatred between them.
Do not be misled, Dovid Hamelech assures them, it is "trembling like (a woman in) childbirth." The fury and the shouting are like the anger of the woman giving birth, which is only temporary. Afterwards comes "es voheiv be'sufoh and they become firm friends once more.
What Was Chazal's Intention In Saying "Leave Your Permanent Dwellings.."
By the Author of Menoras Hamaor, quoted by the ShLo"H HaKodosh In His Tochachas Mussar
When Chazal said, in the first perek of Succa, "Leave your permanent dwelling and live in a temporary shelter," they meant to teach us that the lesson of this mitzvah is that a person should not place his trust in the expanse, strength or condition of his house, even if it is fortified with all manner of good things. Neither should one place one's trust in another human being, however much power they may possess.
Rather, one should place one's trust in the One by whose word the world came into being, for all power and trust is His alone. What He promises, He does not retract nor reconsider, as the posuk says, "G-d is not a man who lies..." Shelter and hiding are with Him alone, as it says, "And the one who trusts in Hashem will be surrounded by kindness." and, "I will say to Hashem, You are my shelter and my fortress, my G-d in whom I trust."
To make us take note of this, we are given mitzvas succa at the time of year which is just after the gathering of the grain and grape harvests in Eretz Yisroel, as it says, "when you gather in from your granary and your wine press." This time is conducive to rebellion, for the land is full of goodness from the harvests, people have returned to their towns and have repaired the roofs of their houses and done any other necessary repairs in preparation for the approaching winter.
Precisely at this time, Hashem commands us to leave our strong, safe, secure houses and to live in a succa, in order to awaken us and make us place our trust in Hashem. All the good which has come to us from the produce of the fields has come through Hashem's wish. This is hinted at by the mitzvah to make the succa from the residue of the granary and wine press.
We must remember, when we harvest, that the fruits are for eating and the residue for sechach and that when Hashem sends us rain at the correct season, we remember that all that we need for the maintenance and protection of our bodies and all we have, comes form Hashem, and we should not place our trust in our possessions.
