MARK, ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SEVENTH MONTH, WHEN YOU HAVE GATHERED

IN THE YIELD OF YOUR LAND, YOU SHALL OBSERVE THE FESTIVAL OF THE LORD SEVEN

DAYS: A COMPLETE REST ON THE FIRST DAY, AND A COMPLETE REST ON THE EIGHTH DAY.

ON THE FIRST DAY YOU SHALL TAKE THE PRODUCT OF THE HADAR TREES, BRANCHES

OF PALM TREES, BOUGHS OF LEAFY TREES, AND WILLOWS OF THE BROOK, AND YOU

SHALL REJOICE BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD SEVEN DAYS.

 (Vayikra

23:39)

On

Rejoicing – When, How Much, and How?

… All seven days of the festival, we recite the [full] Hallel,

but on Pesach we recite the [full] Hallel only on the first day and its

preceding evening. Why? Because "If your enemy falls, do not exult; If

he trips, let your heart not rejoice." With regard to Shavuot, simcha

– joy – is mentioned only once, as is written, "And you shall

you and your household." Why is joy mentioned? [Because] the wheat has

been harvested. Why is it not mentioned twice? Because the fate of the fruits

of the tree is still being decided. But on Rosh Hashana, joy is not mentioned

even once, because souls are being judged, and man pleads for his soul more

than for his wealth. But on the festival [Sukkot], because all souls were

pardoned on Yom Kippur, as is written, "For on this day, atonement

shall be made for you", and the grains and the fruits of the tree have

been gathered, joy is mentioned three times, "You shall rejoice in your

shall have nothing but joy".

What is "nothing but joy"? Even though man may rejoice

in this world, his joy is incomplete. How is that? Children are born to him –

he worries lest they not survive. But in the future, The Holy One, Blessed Be

He, will abolish death forever. That joy will be complete, as is written "Our

mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with ringing song."

(Yalkut Shimoni, Torah,

Parashat Emor, 247 654)

"Deceit is in the minds of those who plot evil; for those who

plan good there is joy."

 (Proverbs 12:20)

Said Rabbi Hamma bar Hanina: Whoever talks with his friend and eats and

drinks with him, and speaks badly of him, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, calls

him bad, as is written,, "Deceit in the heart of those who plot bad",

but if he speaks well of him, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, calls him Shalom,

as is written,, "for those who plan peace, there is joy."

 (Yalkut Shimoni, Proverbs, 247, 949)

Spread over us your shelter of

peace,

A sukka of mercy, life, and peace

ON EXPULSION, ON EXILE, AND ON YEARNING

Yossi Penini

On Expulsion

There is good reason for Gan Eden being the desired

destination of the living as death approaches. The Gates of Gan Eden have been

locked, at the entrance is positioned the two-edged sword, which prevents all

possibility of renewed entry. The Biblical story establishes the experience in

Gan Eden and the expulsion therefrom as a basic experience assigned all

mortals. We carry in our hearts the memory of the garden and the pain of

parting from it.

The story of man's history is the story of the

expelled.

The story of Creation, which opens the Bible, shows

us the establishment of an ideal world.

Man is the crown of creation, and the purpose of his creation is to supervise

the garden [the world], that it not be ruined. Man fails to fulfill the task

for which he was placed in the garden – and perhaps for which he was created –

and he sins. The depth of the sin can be determined by its punishment; man is

expelled from the Garden.

Just as man seeks to complete in his death, in his

eternal sleep, all that he cannot repair in his lifetime, so with all the

dreams; man dreams about returning to the place from which he began the human

journey. But the expulsion is final; there is no repair.

On

Exile

Exile is different from expulsion. Expulsion is

final, there is "no return". Exile is the act of uprooting a person

from his place, with the option for return remaining open.

The experience of exile is one of the experiences

which forms the depths of Jewish identity.

Paralleling the expulsion from Eden narrative, the

Bible is replete with warnings about exile, the stringent punishment awaiting

the Israelite nation should it not observe the ways of life with which they are

commanded. Thus also do the prophets, at a later stage of Israel's history,

justify the fall of the Jewish kingdom and its exile to Babylon. This is also

the rationale offered by Chazal as they wrestle with the question: Why was the

land laid waste and why did its children go on a journey of exile?

As

We Are Celebrating Sukkot, Let Us Clarify the Place of the Galut Experience, As

Expressed In This Festival

The Midrash reads: "Said Rabbi Elazar bar

Maryom: Why do we erect a sukka after Yom Kippur? To teach us the

following: On Rosh Hashana, The Holy One, Blessed Be He, sits in judgement on

all mankind; on Yom Kippur He seals the verdict. Perhaps the verdict for Israel

will dictate going into exile? Therefore, we make a sukka, and go into

exile from the house to the sukka, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He,

reckons it as if though we had gone into exile in Babylon, as is written, (Micha 4:10) "Writhe and scream, Fair Zion, like a woman

from the hands of your foes." (Pesikta d' Rav Kahanah, Pesikta Aharita d'Sukkot/ ed.

Mandelbaum 8-457)

Two subjects provide background for this midrash.

One is the way we look at the Hebrew calendar, and the Biblical festivals in

particular.

There is significant thematic connection between

adjacent festivals. The connection between Pesach and Shavuot is obvious – seven weeks are counted between one

and the other, and the fiftieth day is a festival. Rosh Hashana and Yom

Kippur, about which the Bible has little to

tell us in terms of essence and content, are shaped by Chazal as days of

repentance and forgiveness, with the Ten Days of Repentance serving as a

thematic framework. In the light of the above, the juxtaposition of Yom

Kippur to Sukkot demands clarification. In

view of the Torah's reason for the Sukkot Festival (Vayikra 23:43) "I made the Israelite people live in

booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt" – it would seemed more fitting to place Sukkot next to

Pesach which marks the exodus from Egypt.

A homiletic exposition provides an interesting

answer: the going out to the sukka has a symbolic element of going into

exile, of man's being uprooted from his permanent abode to dwell in a temporary

place. This connection is not accidental. Yom Kippur is the climax of the

personal and collective effort at repentance. The fact that there is no divine

sign that repentance was complete demands a reaction. The going out to

the sukka is like going into exile.

Exile is bi-faceted. One aspect – it is an act of

punishment for acts and failures; on the other hand, galut has a

rehabilitative function: "There you will be saved… " "There He will deliver you…"

Simulation of the exile experience by means of the sukka

finds expression also in the prayer "Yehi ratzon" – ("May

it be Your will") which is recited when entering the sukka [a

supplication which probably originated among the Kabbalists) which reads: "…

In the merit of my leaving my house and going outside, may it be reckoned as

though I wandered far away…"

The proximity of Sukkot to Yom Kippur

contains a tragic element. There is good reason for the Yom Kippur prayers ending

with "The coming year in Yerushalayim." This statement expresses deep

disappointment, as though saying: Here we stand following a concentrated

spiritual effort which began with Rosh Hodesh Elul, which includes days of

Selichot followed by the days of Rosh Hashana, the Ten Days of Repentance and

their Yom Kippur climax, until their peak in the Ne'ila service. The entire

period is deeply suffused with thought and deeds of teshuva. Chazal

taught that "Whoever [did not experience] the rebuilding of the Temple in

his times – it is as though as if it was destroyed in his times." And

since no sign came down from heaven and no temple of fire descended, it is a

sign for us that our acts of tikkun and labors of teshuva have

not been completed. Therefore we say "The next year . ." Since in

this year we did not succeed, and our mission remains unaccomplished, may it be

successful in the coming year… and this being the case, we must again go out

to exile. On the conclusion of Yom Kippur we immediately begin to erect our sukka….

It seems that, in

contrast to expulsion, which takes place on an individual basis, exile, even

though its hurting may be personal, its circumstances are collective. The

grounds for exile is the averaging of the sum of the collective's actions. This

is also true for termination of exile. Thus the exiles – willingly and

unwillingly, to their benefit and not to their benefit – are responsible for

each other.

Rabbi Tzadok of Lublin, from whose waters we

drink, in his Sukkot sermon (Pri Tzadik, Sukkot

8) expanded upon the rehabilitative element of the exile. He

claimed that it is not accidental that the Vision of the Chariot seen by

Ezekiel took place on the Chebar Canal in Babylon. It is not by chance that the

main Jewish creation, from the Babylonian Talmud on, is a "galut creation".

It is the summation of the Jewish cultural effort to achieve tikkun in

its galut dwelling.

Galut is "the collective

Archimedean experience" which is the distillation of the powers found in

the "external" and which are destined to build the "internal".

Rav Tzadok relates his thought to his own

generation and to the existential experience of his followers:

"This passage ["and you shall

come to Babylon… " quoted in his opening midrash], if it applies solely

to the Babylonian exile which followed the destruction of the first Temple –

then the time of remembering was completed after seventy years, and from then

on the mitzva of going up [to Eretz Yisrael] is in effect… But

certainly the term "Babylon" is a term denoting all the exiles,

because it was the first exile, and subsequently in this current galut,

too, the command "there shall they remain until I take note of them"

is relevant, and similarly, in all types of galut, we are to bring

the geula closer internally, in the souls of all Israel, as is written "There

enemies."

On

The Longing

Elie Wiesel appends the following parable to his book "The Town

Beyond the Wall":

 "The

aggada tells how one day, Man said to God:

"Come, let us change roles. You will be

Man and I will be a god. Just for a second."

            God

gently chuckled and asked:

            "Are

you not afraid?"

            "No.

And you?"

            "I

am afraid," said God.

            Even

so, God granted Man's request, and became Man.

The other ascended the throne of glory, and

immediately exploited his power: He refused to return to his previous

condition.

From then on neither were as they seemed.

Years passed, centuries, perhaps eternities.

Suddenly the drama unfolded. For one, the

present became an unbearably heavy load. For the other – it was the past.

Since the release of one depended upon the

release of the other, they renewed the dialogue, the echoes of which reach our

ear at night. Laden with hate, regret, and mainly with longing without end."

The aggada speaks about "Man"

– every man.

            And

God?? Exiled? Or Expelled?

            "Hafooch

al hafooch" – a double reverse.

Perhaps this is the reality of our life – the

expelled and the exiled become the expellers and the exilers.

Will years… perhaps centuries… perhaps

eternities, have to pass before the dialogue is reestablished? Even though its

beginning will be laden with hatred and regret, perhaps there will be aroused

longing for other days.

Perhaps only then will the exile of the

exilers come to its end.

*These words were written in blessed

memory of my father-in-law, Yitzchak (Sabba Itche) Gruenwald, z"l, who, in

his journey through life, was one who was expelled, exiled, and who yearned.

Yossi Penini is Chairman of "Meitarim"

– Network for Jewish-Democratic Education

From the Editor's Desk

 "For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all

the nations"

Upon

the publication and distribution of the pamphlet "The Temple Mount –

Compromise in the Eye of the Storm", edited by Dr. Menachem Klein,

published by "Ir Shalem-Yerushalyim".

This pamphlet which we received a few days

ago is in the category of "a small vessel which contains a lot" – it

is only 50 pages long, but it presents the reader with a rich variety of

approaches which should arouse constructive dialogue in Jewish Israeli society

regarding the issue of the Temple Mount, which is, in many respects, "a

burning issue".

Our

member, Dr. Klein, who edited the pamphlet, writes in his preface:

"There

is no unanimity among the writers, except on one point: The desired reality of

a peace agreement far from the current situation. >From this point, the

writers open for discussion a list of complex questions, such as: Who is worthy

of conducting the negotiations over the Temple Mount – the neutral/liberal

secularist, or the religious Jew with his sensitivity and ties to the holy

site? Can the religious person compromise on a holy site stamped with the seal

of the absolute and the super-human? Is not compromise the art of earthly,

secular politics? And perhaps the opposite is true?"

In addition to this description all the

writers in the volume – mostly observant Jews – deal with the complexity of the

problem, each according to his world view.

The two opening articles were written by the

Rishon L'Zion, Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, Shlita. The first article – published

at the approach of Ramadan on 26 Kislev, 5760 – is a call to all religious

leaders who believe in peace to make every effort to advance peace. The rabbi

writes:

"We must strive

to guarantee that all political controversies between us be be settled by

honest negotiation, with understanding and mutual respect, justice and

equality, and recognition of the need to protect the rights of every person and

people… efforts should be made that sites holy and dear to Muslims,

Christians and Jews not cause arguments and conflict, and not be exploited as

ammunition in the hands of those who fight peace. We must preserve the existing

situation and respect the holiness of the Temple Mount, which is also known as

the area of the El Aksa Mosque. We must beware any change in the present

status, lest the place be desecrated and lest there result bloodshed, which is

opposed by every faith and every civilized society."

The second article, written in the

name of the Chief Rabbinate at the approach of Tisha B'Av 5761, is directed to

the rabbis of Israel:

"… Of course it is important to

clarify that our belief is: That the Creator of the Universe, Master of all the

world, promised to bring geula to the world, and He will send his

annointed one, the righteous messiah, who will make peace between the nations,

in realization of "Nation will not raise sword against nation, and they

shall no more learn war". Only He will reveal to us how to return to

our original service through the building of the Bet Hamikdash. We believe that

the third Bet Hamikdash will be built by The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Himself,

as is written, "The sanctuary, O Lord, which thou hast established"

– ‘the future Mikdash which we hope for will be revealed fully constructed and

perfected, and will descend from heaven' (Rashi,

Sotah 41a)"

It is important that these words of the Chief

Rabbi be widely disseminated, and that his voice, a balanced Torah voice which

sanctifies the Name of Heaven, reach a large public.

In addition to the above, the pamphlet

contains interesting articles about the archaeological aspects of the Mount

(Magen Broshi), about its symbolic importance (Menachem Klein). Prof. Shalom

Rosenberg suggests a covenant between believers based on division of

sovereignty of the Mount, whereas Rabbi Shmuel Reiner, Prof. Moshe Halbertal,

Gershon Gorenberg, Elchanan Reiner, and Rabbi Menachem Fruhman see a

contradiction between the sanctity of the Mount and the concept of sovereignty.

Additional contributions are by Aviad Kleinberg (The Temple Mount Is In Our

Hands), Aharon Kleinman (Special Rule for Yerushalayim), and Menachem Klein

(The Rationale for Mishkan and Sacrifices).

Most of the articles have already seen print in

other publications, two of them in "Shabbat Shalom" (Dr. Elchanan

Reiner and Dr. Menachem Klein).

Considerations of space do not permit us to

sum up the wealth of material in this pamphlet, but I hope that we have

transmitted the feeling that we have here a courageous and serious attempt to

cope with a complex issue in a spirit of respect and appreciation for servants

of the Almighty.

Rashi (Devarim

11:18), in the steps of Chazal, explains the words "And you

shall place My words" – "Even in exile, be distinguished by the mitzvot

– apply tephillin, make mezuzot (a variant text reads: Give terumot

and set aside maaserot) so that that these will not be new to you

when you return. And thus the prophet says (Jeremiah 31:21) "Erect markers, set up signposts".

To our sorrow, at this time there is no

practical application for the various suggestions offered in the pamphlet; but

every attempt at thought which may some day serve as a basis for solution is to

be applauded. The pamphlet can be ordered from:

Amutat Ir Shalem-Yerushalayim

P.O. Box 8159,

Yerushalayim 91081

Editorial Board: Pinchas

Klein

Translation: Kadish

Goldberg

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