Sukkot and Pesach -Two Facets of Jewish Epistemology

 

    

Pesach represents the love of G-d for his people. Sukkot represents the love of the people                                                                               for G-d." - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ZT"L

  

Many years ago, I was watching an episode of “The People’s Court” with the late Judge Wapner. It was about a lawsuit presented by a person who lived on Malibu beach. His issue was with his Jewish neighbour who decided to erect a “hut,” during this time of year. The “hut,” he claimed, blocked his view of the ocean.

In his ruling, Judge Wapner gave the defendant one week to remove the “hut.” Everyone was satisfied with his decision.

Naturally, being Jewish, Judge Wapner knew the reason for erecting the “hut.” He knew that the suspicious “hut” is called a “Sukkah.” Having been raised in an orthodox home, he was aware of the commandment calling upon us, Jews, “Speak to the people of Israel, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) to the Lord.” (Vayikra-Leviticus 23:34).

Now that we know the commandment, let us take it one step further and provide the reason for celebrating the Holy Day. The answer is provided in Vayikra 23:43,

“So your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary thatched huts when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your G-d.”

Clearly, Sukkot, just like Pesach, commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. As the Torah tells us, throughout the wanderings in the desert, Am Yisrael was living in huts or sukkot.

Some believe that since both Pesach and Sukkot commemorate the same event, the Exodus from Egypt, they should be celebrated at the same time.  After all, it could be much more pleasant to have a Seder outdoors, in the Sukkah, during Springtime when Pesach occurs, than in the Fall when Sukkot takes place.

The question as to why Sukkot is observed separately and why it was set to take place at this time of year, Fall, engaged many Jewish scholars.

Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, also known as “Baal Haturim,” explains that during the spring and summertime, many people tend to sit under an awning or in a shade to protect themselves against the rays of the sun. Had we built Sukkot during Pesach, we would not have been able to discern as to whether we sit there for the sole purpose of performing a Mitzvah or merely for our own pleasure. However, when the rain starts and people generally seek cover in the comforts of their homes, we elect to go out and sit in the Sukkah to demonstrate that we perform G-d’s commandment.

The Vilna Gaon offers another explanation. He believes that that Sukkot is the time when the clouds of reverence returned to wrap Am Yisrael after they were removed subsequent to the sin of the Golden Calf.  The Gaon asserts that soon after his descent from Mount Sinai, Moshe decreed the building of the Mishkan. Upon commencement of its construction, there was reconciliation between G-d and Am Yisrael and the clouds returned. The Holy Day of Sukkot was solemnized to commemorate that moment in our history.

In my opinion, there is an educational component in separating Pesach and Sukkot on the Hebrew calendar. As mentioned above, a golden thread runs through these Holy Days. On both, Torah charges that we should stress the importance of teaching our children and our future generations the significance of freedom from the house of bondage. On Pesach, we are commanded, “And you shall tell your son in that day,” (Shemot, Exodus 13:8-9). A similar decree, as we saw above, is given regarding Sukkot, “So your descendants will know…” A lesson of such immense prominence needs to be reinforced and repeated lest we forget it.  Spacing its review every seven months, which is the span of time between the two Holy Days, is one way to ensure its absorption and retention.  

 The late Rabbi Sacks, quoting Rabbi Akiva, offers yet another explanation as to why Sukkot is celebrated in the Harvest time. According to him, the answer lies in the prophecy of Jeremiah who states,

“Israel is holy to G-d,

The first fruit of His harvest.” (Jeremiah2:2)

Just as during Sukkot,  “the Israelites celebrated their harvest,” states Sacks, “so G-d celebrates His – a people who, whatever else their failings, have stayed loyal to heaven’s call for longer, and through a more arduous set of journeys, than any other people on earth.”

Hoping and praying for better days.

Am Yisrael Chai 💖

A Little Known Part of the Shoah

 

The following is an English translation of a Face Book post of Mr. Haim Taib. It was written a few hours before he, along with his family, partook in the “March of the Living” in Auschwitz' last week.

 

“In a few hours, I will have the privilege to participate in the “March of the Living” in Auschwitz and light, for the first time, a memorial torch in commemoration of the glorious Tunisian Jewish community which was conquered by the Nazis and suffered anti-semitic persecution, forced labour and hunger.

As a third generation to Tunisian Shoah survivors, I will lead he march, while carrying in my heart my grandfather, Haim Taib, after whom I am named, who was sent along with thousands of Jewish men, to forced labour camps and came back skin and bones, beaten and bruised.

Tunisia was conquered by the Nazis in November 1942.

The German launched a policy aimed at destroying Jewish life. Community institutions were closed, many Jews were fired from work, children were kicked out of schools, heavy fines were applied, private properties were confiscated and about 5000 men were forcefully enlisted to construction camps and fortifications.

My father, who was merely five years old at that time, would recall painfully how the German soldiers, dressed in ironed, grey uniforms, burst into the house, crushed personal items with their boots and confiscated his father’s radio and his mother’s sewing machine.

My grandfather, Haim and Zion, my grandmother’s brother, were taken to forced labour camps.

The following months filled the family with fear and concern. The German soldiers frequented Jewish homes in search of healthy and able men.  Sirens were wailing, shells were fired, and explosions heard daily. Roaming the streets ceased, windows were covered with dark fabrics and blackness befell the city, in an effort to defend against bombing of the allies which were directed at the anti-aircraft posts which the Germans deliberately scattered in civil neighbourhoods.

Four months later, Haim and Zion suddenly appeared at home. They were thin and bruised, their clothes torn, their faces unshaven and their hair messy and lice ridden. My grandmother, Koka, burst into tears of joy. She gave them food and boiled water so that they could shower and clean themselves. My grandfather recounted that he was sent to a deserted field, not far away. There the Germans ordered him to construct a forced labour camp. They were able to escape since in the last weeks, the German security loosened and under the blanket of one of the Allies bombings, he and his friends were able to escape from the camp.

On Friday, May 7^th, 1943, my father woke up to the sounds of joy. “The war is over!” shouted my grandfather and everyone ran out of the house still wearing their pajamas. The streets were buzzing with people, music, and dancing. Seven months of siege, bombing and suffering had come to an end.

Only two years later, when the family members were exposed to the horror movies which the Nazis had filmed in Auschwitz, were thy exposed to the horrible truth regarding the unfathomable size and cruelty of the Nazi plan for the Jews of Tunisia, Algiers, Libya, Morocco, and Egypt

Almost eighty years have passed since that dark era in history, and here we are, living in a Jewish and Democratic state that promises all of its citizens and pledges that the horrors of the Shoah will never be repeated.

Today, I shall march in the “March of the Living” and will light a memorial torch to commemorate the Jewish communities of Tunisia and North Africa who had they not been freed when they were, would have suffered the same fate as European Jewry.

I invite all of you to join me, here on my Face Book page to the live stream of the “March of the Living” and the ceremony of torch lighting starting at 14:00 on this link: https://fb.me/e/10M9dcDWd

My parents, Eliyahu and Janet Taib, of blessed memory, who were children at that time, tell of their memories from the Nazi conquest of Tunisia. Please watch the video

Here is the link to the Face Book post:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02m3zwpw8gv9C7o9FLWTGWGiXz4WANXiU2mMdcf8b5XjQQYivpH12LvwYGVNLAiYQQl&id=100062202317825&mibextid=Nif5oz

"B’Shalach,” Denotation vs. Connotation

 

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” –Mark Twain

On several occasions, I have lectured and written about the challenges that translation poses. Through translation, we are exposed not only to different languages, but also to the lifestyle, customs, and world view of those who speak those languages. Such “cultural exchanges,” through their creators prompted people like George Steiner to say: “without translation, we would live in districts that border silence.” The same tone emanates from Anthony Borgess who maintains that “Translation is not a matter of words only; it is a matter of making intelligent a whole culture.”

This brings me to this week’s Parashah, B’Shalach. It gets its name from the verse that opens it “VaYehi B’Shalach Par’o et ha’am” Shemot (Exodus) 13:17. The English translation of the verse states: “When Pharaoh let the People go…”

The Hebrew verse and its English translation, I believe, do not convey the same message. Their incongruity is an example of the difference between “denotation,” the literal definition of the word and “connotation” which is an idea or feeling that the word evokes aside from its literal definition. The translation, in my view, misses a very important aspect of the history of our Jewish culture.

The Hebrew word, “shalach,” literally means “sent.” Yes, it also means “release.” However, the translation into “let go” is, in the words of Twain, not “the right word,” it is, rather, “the almost right word.” Had the Torah wanted to tell us that Pharaoh ‘Let” the people go, it could have used a different Hebrew word such as “"תן which means precisely “let” or “allow” and which expresses the same notion as the English translation purports.

There is a reason, in my view, that the Torah uses the word “shalach”. It is a major component of the story of the Exodus and plays a big role in forming the essence of what has later become Am Yisrael. In fact, the choice of that specific word has engaged many Biblical scholars over the centuries.

Ohr HaChaim (Rabbi Moshe ben Atar 1696-1743) not only wonders about the choice of that word. He also goes one step further and poses the following question, “why did the Torah use “when Pharoah sent” rather than “when G-d took us out of Egypt?”

The root, “shalach,” is used each time Moshe turned to Pharaoh in a plea to release the people. G-d, according to Ohr Ha’Chayim, wanted to teach Pharoah a lesson. He wished to coerce Pharaoh into releasing and sending away the people against his will, if merely to avenge for the latter’s boldness and audacious statement: “who is the Lord that I should obey him and send Yisrael’ I do not know the Lord nor shall I send Yisrael” (5:2). Furthermore, G-d delivered on his promise to Moshe to not only bring Pharoah to release the people but to banish them, drive them out: “Then the Lord said to Moshe, I will bring one more plague on Pharoah and on Egypt. After that, he will send you from here and when he does, he will drive you out completely” (11:1). And that is what indeed happened. Following the plagues that G-d brought upon Egypt, Pharoah eventually caved in and, at the right moment, called Moshe and Aharon in the middle of the night, begged and urged them to hasten their departure, take the people, get out of Egypt and go worship G-d (12:31).

Ohr Ha’Chayim also notes that, according to the Mekhilta*, throughout the negotiations with Pharoah, Moshe keeps asking him to send, liberate his people, “Shalach et Ami,” which is of paramount importance. The Exodus must have Pharoah’s stamp of approval. Hence the first verse of this Parashah, “When Pharoah sent the people,” comes to tell us that the people left Egypt with permission and lawfully. In fact, all of Egypt implored them to leave: “The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. ‘For otherwise,’ they said, ‘we will all die!’” (12:33).

The message of this Parashah is that the people did not leave clandestinely, under the cloak of darkness. They left in broad daylight along with their livestock and other possessions.  Moreover, in 14:5, the Egyptians themselves later admit that they sanctioned the Exodus which is added proof that the people did not run away or leave without prior approval. It is of prime importance to G-d that every human being recognizes that Pharoah and the Egyptians sent the people out of their free will.

Rash”i further elaborates on the choice of the word “shalach.” According to him, the use of the word suggests that Pharoah sent his officials to escort the people to ensure that they return to Egypt after three days (14:5). Rash”i claims that these officials were nothing but “איקטורין” (actors, imposters, even spies). That is what “Erev Rav,” (multitudes) mentioned in 12:38, he explains, means. They were Pharoah’s emissaries disguised as the Children of Yisrael. Their task, suggests Rash”i, was to incite, confuse and cause the latter to sin and eventually return to Egypt.

That, however, is a subject for another article, dear readers.

Shabbat Shalom Am Yisrael and fellow Jews and a wonderful weekend to all

 *A rule of scriptural exegesis in Judaism, attributed to any several authors.

 

The Gift Called Freedom

 

“The Exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year and in every day.”    –                                                 Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

 

The concept of Freedom is the central theme in this week’s Parashah, Bo. It tells us that the tenth plague was the last straw that brought about Pharoah’s change of heart and forced him to agree to free the Yisraelites and let them leave Egypt.

Lest they forget the enormity and importance of the experience of that moment in our history, G-d commands Moshe to set up a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon and commemorate the event we have all come to know as Pesach (Passover), “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you” (Shemot 12:2). Later in the Parashah, G-d commands Moshe to ensure that Pesach always occurs in the Spring, “On this day in the month of Aviv (Spring), you have been set free” (13:4).  Launching and adhering to the calendar is the first mitzvah that Am Yisrael is commanded.

The significance of that Mitzvah is twofold.

The first is related to the concept of time. Time is of essence in our lives. As anyone who has ever been enslaved or deprived of freedom would know, one of the indications of such a state is the inability to control time. The momentous component of time is embedded in this Mitzvah, which comprises of the two verses, above, in which G-d commands Moshe to set up, for Am Yisrael, not just a lunar calendar but to combine it with a solar one (Spring, like the other seasons, are determined by the sun). Since, as we all know, the lunar and solar differ in the number of days, they require synchronization. I refer the reader to an article I wrote on this subject several years ago https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-keep-the-gregorian-calendar-but-bring-back-to-wider-use-the-hebrew-calendar-and-reinstate-some-of-our-jewish-pride/ .

The  second important aspect of this Mitzvah is the obligation to remember and remind ourselves that we were, once, slaves in Mitzrayim (Egypt). Now that we are liberated, we are required to evoke the belief that it should remain the backbone of every society. It is our duty, as members of humanity, to ensure that the celebration of Freedom remains the inherent right of every human being, all the time.

Hasidism explains that Mitzrayim (Egypt) stems from the same root as Meitzar which means “a narrow place, a place of confinement.” Yetziat Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt, when Am Yisrael broke the shackles of slavery, is a colossal event (regardless of whether it is a subject of debate among scholars) in world’s history.

As testimony to the scale of that event, I direct the readers to the opening words of the Ten Commandments, which include the most universal moral code. They state:

“I am the Lord, your G-d, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Shemot 20:2).

Rabbi Yehudah Halevi asked Rabbi Yehudah Ibn Ezra, “Why did G-d say, ‘I am the Lord G-d who took you out of Egypt and not I am the Lord your G-d who created the Heaven and Earth?’ which is a much more consequential act than the Exodus?” Ibn Ezra’s response, we are told, was that the virtue of Freedom from bondage is just as significant as the creation of the world, if not more.

G-d expands on the Mitzvah of commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and directs Moshe to command Am Yisrael to observe it, for seven days, each year by removing all leaven from their homes and eating Matzah.

Most importantly, Am Yisrael is charged with the duty to tell the story of their redemption, their liberation from the house of bondage to their children “And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.” (13:8).

Chaza”l go one step further and state : “In every generation, a person is obligated to regard himself as if he personally left Egypt” (Pesachim 10:5). In line with that directive, some families, symbolically re-enact the Exodus by carrying a small bag and passing it around the table so that each participant can take part in that ritual.

I believe it was Rabbi Sacks ZT”L who best expresses how Jews and Am Yisrael staunchly conform to that Mitzvah when he says: “The Jewish festival of Freedom is the oldest continuously observed religious ritual in the world. Across the centuries, Passover has never lost its power to inspire the imagination of successive generations of Jews with its annually re-enacted drama of slavery and liberation.”

Though the Exodus from Egypt is associated with the Jewish People only, slavery, unfortunately, in different forms still plagues our world. Freedom is, on many occasions, taken for granted. When that happens, it is lost. “The battle for freedom,” tells us Rabbi Sacks, “must continue to be fought and is never finally won.”

Shabbat Shalom Am Yisrael and fellow Jews and a blessed weekend to all.

Dreamers and Dreams

 

This week’s Parashah, “Miketz,” just like “Vayeshev,” last week’s Parashah, opens with dreams. Dreams and their significance, as we encountered in Ya’akov’s monumental dream, a few weeks ago, are dispersed throughout the Biblical story.

What makes the dreams in this Parashah more compelling, however, is their interpretation and the imminence of their fulfillment in the context of the time in which they occur.

In “Miketz,” Yoseph displays his great talent of solving the dreams of others. In the past, his own dreams were a threat to his brothers and the subject of their mockery, “Here comes the dreamer!” (Bresheet, 37:19). His dreams also spawned their hatred of him and evoked in them the desire to kill him “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” (37: 20). Unlike his brothers, who were “jealous of him,” Ya’akov, their father, considers Yoseph’s dreams a matter of substance, a futuristic vision which is destined to transpire in the days to come, “but his father kept the matter in mind.” (37: 11).

So, Yoseph, the man who was thrown into the cistern, sold to the Yishmaelites because of his upsetting dreams, eventually rises to power by virtue of the dreams of others which he interprets. His dreams are the reason for his exile. His talent to decipher them gets him out of jail. Most importantly, his wisdom lends excellent counsel based on his interpretation which ultimately earn him the second highest position in Egypt.

A study of the methods of dreams interpretations, in the ancient world, reveals that it was considered a serious and established science. The way Yoseph illuminates dreams, in this Parashah, reflects a systematic familiarity with such methods. For instance, Oneirocriteria, a Greek treatise about the interpretation of dreams, written by Artemidorus of Ephesius, written in the second century, points at the significance of wine in dreams which implies their positive or negative indication. Drinking wine in a delicate and “wisely” way, according to Artimidorus (Oneirocriteria, book 1, 66) is always considered “a good sign.”

Using the same technique, Yoseph recognizes the difference between the two dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and chief baker with whom he shares a prison cell. In his dream, the cupbearer serves the wine in a noble, royal manner, and thus improves his fate. The baker’s dream, on the other hand, in which he does not serve the bread “wisely” and where “the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head,” faces execution. 

Prior to listening to the dreams of the cupbearer and the chief baker, Yoseph asks them, "Do not interpretations belong to G-d?" (40:8). His question suggests that Yoseph believes that dreams deliver a Divine message which G-d conveys through the interpreter. 

It is this unique ability which earns Yoseph his freedom when he is invited to solve Pharaoh's dreams. 

I doubt that there is anyone here who is not familiar with Pharaoh's famous dream where he sees seven well-fed and fat fleshed cows standing by the river followed by the arrival of seven lean fleshed and hungry cows that stand by the plump cows (41:3) and consume them. Likewise, I trust that most are familiar with Yoseph's prediction that the cows represent good years of economic plentitude which will be followed by bad years of famine and hunger.

It is important to note that when Pharaoh recounts his dream to Yoseph, he omits one detail which appeared in his dream and replaces it with his own perception. In the version that he unfolds, he deletes the part where the lean and fat cows first stand alongside each other. Instead, he adds, "And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favored, as at the beginning" (41:21) - the well-fed cows, in this description, disappear without leaving an impression.

Yoseph, in his wisdom and outstanding talent to solve dreams, erases this detail added by Pharaoh which would mean that the seven good years would leave no positive mark. Instead, he interprets the original dream in which the bad and the good cows are placed side by side. Only by acknowledging the presence of the seven good years can one prepare oneself for the subsequent seven bad years.

Pharaoh’s dreams occur in history itself. The Parashah reveals the materialization of the dream, as Yoseph’s states, “What G-d is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh” (41:29). In other words, the dream is the revelation of G-d’s plan and the key to understanding the course of history.

Pharaoh who is familiar with the original dream, becomes aware of the latent rigor of its interpretation. He recognizes Yoseph’s wisdom and foresight and is convinced. Moreover, Pharaoh himself, grasps the validity of Divine guidance in our earthly matters, “Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.” Later in the Parashah, he goes one step further and refers to Yoseph as a man “in whom the Spirit of G-d” dwells (41:39). He then sets Yoseph “over the land of Egypt” (41:41) to implement G-d’s outlined plan which Yoseph presents to him, a plan which eventually saves Egypt and its surrounding countries.

The term “dreamer,” as we can see, takes on a new meaning in this Parashah. It is no longer a disparaging label, a Walter Mitty, a mild man with fantasy life. Rather, it evokes appreciation and respect. Yoseph, who was the subject of disdain and mockery by his brothers, turns out to be a blend of vision, a moving force, and a strategic planner with great administrative skills.