The joy of the Torah in the everyday life
Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald
Parsha in the everyday life - Sucot and Simchat Torah - 5781
On Sucot and Shemini Atzeret, several circles close. The 'Shloshet Haregalim' circle, (the Three Pilgrimage Festivals that are three major festivals in Judaism. Those Holidays consist of Sucot, Pesach and Shavuot) that encircles the year and signs with the Sucot Festival:
שָׁל֣וֹשׁ פְּעָמִ֣ים בַּשָּׁנָ֡ה יֵרָאֶ֨ה כָל־זְכוּרְךָ֜ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י ה' אֱלֹקיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְחָ֔ר בְּחַ֧ג הַמַּצּ֛וֹת וּבְחַ֥ג הַשָּׁבֻע֖וֹת וּבְחַ֣ג הַסֻּכּ֑וֹת...
"Three times a year—on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths—all your males shall appear before Hashem your G-d in the place that He will choose". (Devarim 16:16)
Sucot also closes the cycle of annual agricultural activity:
וְחַג֙ הָֽאָסִ֔יף תְּקוּפַ֖ת הַשָּׁנָֽה
"…and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. (Shmot 34:22)
תקופת" is a term denoting going round." (Rashi ibid)
It also closes the annual cycle of Torah reading. In a special way, Sucot also closes the cycle of the "Yamim Noraim" (High Holidays -Days of Awe) that end with "Hoshana Rabba".
ביום השביעי של החג, (הושענא רבה) הוא יום סיום הדין של העולם ופתקים [עם גזר הדין כתוב וחתום] יוצאים מבית המלך.
On the seventh day of the holiday, (Hoshana Rabba) is the end of the world's judgment and notes [with the veredict written and signed] leave the King's house. (Zohar part II - 31:2).
There is a deep meaning to the fact that the cycle of the High Holidays ends on Sucot.
The Mitzvot on Sucot: the arba'at haminim (four species) and the sitting in the Sucah, both are mitzvot related to the sanctification of life and the material world. When one connects them to natural life in a harmonious way and sanctifies them, he is then fulfilling the commandment of joy:
וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ "You shall rejoice in your festival":
"And we come on the feast of the harvest, with a full moon, in the time of strong rains and strong winds, etc., and we get closer to nature. We sit in the Sucah, we cling to a bunch of fresh planters, rejoicing in the joy of water, in the joy of natural satiety in the blessings of G-d on the universe, which goes in the limited circle of the laws of nature, we also penetrate the naturalness of humanity, its materialism, etc. And above all we imprint the majesty above all nature, its grace and splendor within the depths of nature, within the fleshly heart, within the great materialistic body, within the earthly coarse nature, etc. In the depths of darkness, we shine with our lights, and we are happy and rejoicing in the greatness of Hashem even while the darkness is so thick and clumsy". (Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, Igrot HaReAYaH, 787)
In this we reflect the joy of Torah's observance in the everyday life, the unity between the material world and the Spirit of the Holy One and the profane "And indeed in the sphere of the great and broad faith the spirituality does not contradict the materiality, and the materiality the spirituality, but the two connect together to increase and to inspire the soul of our nation longing for unity" (HaReAYaH Articles, part I pg. 234).
This connection is always needed and especially at this time. And if our spiritual world reflects a disconnection between them, it has a price: "And the people of Israel, a unique nation on earth, who hates from the bottom of its soul the contradiction, feels that the separation between materiality and spirituality causes great and deep sorrow, and asks for a way to return to unity. The people of Israel cannot tolerate the contradiction, which is like idolatry". (ibid)
The concept of Torah has a double meaning in the everyday life. The first is already known: how to apply the Torah into everyday life, without wearing out, without being sucked into the achievements and materialism of the real world. But there is another equally important meaning, and that is how holiness can be seen in the everyday life in a material way. “This edited learning. That only clearly this knowledge depends is the explanation of the solution of all the difficult questions in our private and general lives. We must find out, clarify and investigate. In literature and in life. Incessantly without any negligence at all, the rule is to know the value of the sacred and the profane. Especially when merged in our private and general lives.” (Ibid part II pg 404)
The feeling that our actual doing in the world has a sacred cause, brings the joy of harmony and completion, and empowers life.
This is the key issue for our spiritual world and as long as it has not received a significant response, the generation feels a 'lack of interest in religious life' (which we mentioned last week as a cause of leaving the religious world). We must act with all our might to address it: "Whenever, I come to discuss the movement, the national revival, in general, and the course of its cause and its works, the connection of the nation and the land, etc., I cannot move out of the same vicious circle of the question of holiness and profane - in life and especially in our lives and in our people's lives "(Chazon HaGeula pg 182)