Succot By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Succot
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Rejoicing with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 
"בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים... ושמחתם לפני ה' א-היכם שבעת ימים"

"Our Father, our King! Reveal the honor of Your Majesty upon us speedily... and gather in our dispersed from among the nations... and bring us HaShem our God to Zion Your city in joy, and to Jerusalem Your holy city with eternal happiness."[1] 
"Whoever has not seen the happiness (in the Bait HaMikdash) at the "water drawing"[2] (celebration) has not experienced happiness in his lifetime."[3] 
The greatest joy of all is to experience HaShem's Holy Presence among us, to know that every moment of our lives is under HaShem's kind Providence, ultimately to exult in the Exalted One. Therefore, this happiness reaches its height particularly in the Bais HaMikdash - "before HaShem your God" as in our title quote, pinnacle point of the Holy Presence, and generally in the whole Land of Israel, threshold of the Holy Presence. 
By thanking God, in all places of the earth, for the abundant gifts He has bestowed us, we increase our ability to appreciate God's Providence upon us, which in turn increases the level of Providence on us.[4] 
Our generation has been granted many gifts that not so long ago were merely the dreams of our ancestors. The ability to dwell and settle in our Holy Land, the ability to be part of Hebron's building and settlement, the merit of learning and praying in our holiest cities, Hebron, Jerusalem, and more, are just a few of the many gifts HaShem has bestowed upon us. 
Indeed, it is on this "holiday of happiness", Succot, that we are taught that the size of the Sukka must be 10 hand-breaths high in order to allow the spirit of the Holy Presence to enter our Sukka.[5]It is well known the teaching of the Vilna Gaon that in two mitzvoth one enters one's entire being into the mitzvah - dwelling in the Land of Israel and dwelling in the Sukka. 
Thus, for seven days, we enter an atmosphere of realizing that we all are really guests in the abode of the Holy Presence. In this atmosphere we become capable of receiving the countenance of such lofty guests as our holy Patriarchs, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef and David as the Ushpizin. 
It is in Hebron too that year-round we live the spirit of our holy Patriarchs and rejoice with their countenance. This is also the time to express our gratitude to our devoted readers and supporters of Hebron. Hag Sameach!
Real Stories from the Holy Land #36: "There was a friend of mine who I felt I had offended this last Purim. This Rosh HaShana I resolved to go ask forgiveness from her. Just as I was thinking these thoughts, this friend 'happened' to meet me on the street, and I apologized, and we made amends." 
[1]Musaf of three festivals
[2]There are also sources for 'drawing' the holy spirit - ruah hakodesh - at such occasions - see Midrash on Gen. 29, 2 and more
[3]Suka 51b
[4]See "Shaarav Betoda", R. Arush which deals with this concept in length with many sources
[5]Suka 5a

Yom Kippur By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Yom Kippur
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron  
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
To Return to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו"

"Remember Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yisrael, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your very Self, and to whom You said: 'I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and all this land which I said that I would give to your seed, they shall keep it as their possession forever... HaShem, HaShem! Benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth,preserving loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin, and cleansing..."[1] 

The very sources of Yom Kippur are in these words of forgiveness and compassion, as Rashi teaches us that after the Sin of the Calf, Moshe arose to Mount Sinai for another 40 days, which culminated with HaShem's forgiveness on this very day, the 10thof Tishrei, "
therefore it (the 10th of Tishrei) was established (as a day) of pardon and forgiveness". [2] 

It is therefore no wonder why the Mishna and Talmud Yoma[3] put so much emphasis on the necessity to proclaim that the dawn of Yom Kippur has reached "till Hebron", in order to mention the merit of our Patriarchs, for it is this very merit which brought about the forgiveness on this very day after the Sin of the Calf, that became the predecessor of Yom Kippur for all time. 

In this sense, we are indebted to our Patriarchs not only for the distant past as generators of our People, or for the nearer past as conduits of mercy at the Sin of the Calf, but also throughout the present and future for being beacons of mercy and compassion, allowing us this great day of compassion and forgiveness for all time. 

Thus, our Patriarchs are very much still alive in addition to the fact that we, with our very lives, continue their legacy into the future. This "legacy" also acts as a reciprocal chemistry, for in halachic sources we find that there is a concept called "the son gives merit to his father"[4], for the son is the product of his father. This means that just as our lives are indebted to our Patriarchs, so too the Patriarchs are so-to-speak "indebted" to those who continue their legacy by 'raising' the power of the Holy Presence,[5]following their righteous ways, and of course, supporting Hebron, the city they cherished both in life and death. 

As the "books of life and death" are open before our Holy King, may we, supporters of Hebron, City of our Living and Enlivening Patriarchs, be inscribed and sealed for a good and prosperous life.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #35: "One year I had taken on learning Rambam's Mishneh Torah as my main learning project. That Rosh HaShana I was given the honor of taking out the second Torah scroll (meant for Pinhas reading). Later, I changed location to a different synagogue and again was given the same honor of taking the second scroll. After contemplating what is the significance in my life of taking specifically the 'second scroll', I realized: "Mishneh Torah" means the "second Torah" scroll that a king is meant to learn..."

[1]Exodus 32
[2]Rashi on Deut. 9, 18
[3]Ch. 3, 1
[4]This concept is very well known in context of Kadish, said by the living descendants for their deceased. See Yoreh Deah 376, 4 in length.
[5]See Pesikta Rav Kahana, 1
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)