SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot "You shall live in booths seven days; All the citizens of Israel shall live in booths" (Leviticus 23:42)   The citizens – that is citizens. Of Israel – including sojourners, (Rashi, ibid). This excludes women from time-bound mitzvot but does include sojourners and freed slaves. The literal translation, according to the Kabala, alludes to "One law shall you have for sojourners and citizens of the land." (Numbers 9:14) "All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast," (Numbers 13:5). So that it...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot He will shelter me in his sukkah on an evil day grant me the protection of his tent (psalm 27:5) If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of justice and of righteousness in the state, marvel not at the matter; for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they. (Ecclesiastes 5"7)   He will hide me in His pavilion , he will grant me the protection of his...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree, date palm fronds, a branch of a braided tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for a seven day period. (Vayikra 23:40)   My son, I already wrote to you several times about the preceding matter, that a person is affected by his habitual behavior, and his ideas and all his thoughts are...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot And you shall rejoice in your Festival – you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your gates. (Devarim 16:14)   Rabbi Yehudah bar Simon says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said – "If you have four householders, you have And you shall rejoice in your Festival – you, and your son, and your daughter, manservant,...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Ha'azinu – Sukkot All seven days, one makes one's sukkah into regular and one's home into an occasional . If rains fall, at what point may one leave the sukkah? When the porridge becomes spoiled . spun a parable: To what may this be compared – to a servant who came to pour a cup for his master, and he poured a jug on his face. (Mishnah Sukkah 2:9)...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot FOR A SEVEN DAY PERIOD YOU SHALL LIVE IN SUKKOT. EVERY RESIDENT AMONG THE ISRAELITES SHALL LIVE IN SUKKOT (Vayikra 23:42)   All seven days, one makes his sukkah into regular and his home in to an occasional . If rains fall, at what point may he leave the sukkah? When the porridge becomes spoiled . spun a parable: To what may this be compared – to...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot Spread Your sukkah of peace over us, The sukkah of compassion, life, and peace.   The Sukkah of Peace – Dream and Reality They offer healing offhand for the wounds of My people, saying "Peace, peace," but there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). Saying "Peace, peace," but there is no peace – They say "peace" but behold; there is no peace, for the enemy comes daily. (ReDaK ad loc)   R. Mani of Sha'ab and...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot WHAT IS OCCURRING OCCURRED LONG SINCE, AND WHAT IS TO OCCUR OCCURRED LONG SINCE: AND GOD SEEKS THE PURSUED. (Kohelet 3:15)   In connection with that which is written, and God seeks the pursued – Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosef: In the future, God will exact the blood of the pursued from their pursuers: A righteous man pursues a righteous man – and God seeks the pursued, A wicked man pursues...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot IN HUTS YOU ARE TO STAY FOR SEVEN DAYS, EVERY NATIVE IN ISRAEL IS TO STAY IN HUTS- IN ORDER THAT YOUR GENERATIONS MAY KNOW THAT IN HUTS I HAD THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL STAY WHEN I BROUGHT THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD! (Vayikra 23:42-43)   Transience and Lack of Acquisitiveness as Expressions of Faith The mitzvah of Sukkah requires a temporary dwelling (Sukkah 2a). The author...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Sukkot 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...