Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:01 — 10.2MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Podchaser | Email | RSS
The Torah states
“In succot (booth)s you shall dwell for seven days all citizens of Israel shall dwell in booths. In order that your generations all know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I took them out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23, 42-43).
But surely it was only natural that the Children of Israel would construct some type of temporary shelters as they journeyed in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. But history is only part of the story, why does the Torah state that God made the Children of Israel dwell in them?
Indeed the significance of the succah is debated in the Talmud: Rabbi Eliezer stating that the purpose of the succah is to remember the Clouds of Glory that protected the Children of Israel in the wilderness; Rabbi Akiva said it refers to the actual physical structures themselves.
Rabbi Ashlag teaches that both Sages are relating to the attribute of faith, but from different perspectives. The succah is our refuge of faith. We build our succah through our desire for faith in God, both in times when His light is revealed to us as it was in the Exodus from Egypt and at times when His light is hidden from us, in times of trouble.
In this podcast we look at how the construction of the Succah reflects its true, inner meaning, and how it can provide a refuge for us throughout the coming year.
From a letter by Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag written to his students one Succot festival
{ 0 comments… add one now }