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)
Pe-Sach and the shaping of Israeli consciousness
Parsha and its Implementation - Pesach - Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - 5779
The Mekuvalim decided the name of the Passover festival is Pe-Sach "mouth-conversation" since the focus of the holiday is speech and discourse. And it contains a special commandment of the story of the Exodus of Egypt. “And You Should Tell Your Children”.
The story of the Exodus from Egypt in each generation is designed to shape the consciousness of the Jewish people for generations in terms of its origin and essence.
The exodus from Egypt was a formative event in the history of the Jewish people from a spiritual, religious and national perspective. Therefore " In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, etc”.
The "pe-sach" in the "conversation" of the Seder night in every generation requires precise basic terms that shape consciousness. "Rabban Gamliel was accustomed to say: whoever does not explain, at the meal, the following three ceremonies, has not done his duty, and these they are: the Passover sacrifice, the eating of matzah and the bitter herbs”. The Pesach [passover] for the sake [to commemorate] that Hashem, passed over the homes of our ancestors in Egypt. This matzah that we are eating, to commemorate that Hashem revealed [Himself] to our ancestors and redeemed them, etc. The marror [bitter greens] to commemorate that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. (Mishna Pesachim 10:5)
This is an exceptional Halacha! In order to fulfill the mitzvah of the holiday, it is not sufficient to eat from the Passover sacrifice, the Matzah and the Marror. Rather, it is necessary to precede and accurately "say" what their meaning is and thus to make their mark as a factor shaping the consciousness. Their meaning is folded in their name.
Korban Pesach - shapes the nation and the individual’s unique faith in G-d, and the consciousness that the nation's beginning and eternal existence depends on Divine Providence above nature (although we cannot rely on miracles only, and must protect ourselves by state and army). The Passover sacrifice comes as a national thanksgiving korban to G-d for having saved the Jewish people miraculously when He passed over their homes in the plague of the firstborns. So they said while eating the Passover sacrifice, which is a special offering.
On the one hand, it is a "single offering" that is eaten by the people who brought it, and on the other hand it is a public offering which has a fixed obligation and time (Olat Reiyah Part 1 page 178). In its laws, there is a similarity to the "Korban Toda - thanks offering": it too is eaten by its owner. You eat it together with matzah. It is forbidden to leave from it until morning, and the people who are forbidden to eat from it are punished by death from Heaven (Karet).
Matzah- is intended to shape the consciousness of the unique destiny of the people of Israel, of the community and the individual. A mission that depends on free, national and personal consciousness. "Matzah is the bread of affliction and the bread of freedom, at the same time that the King of Kings revealed to us and redeemed us, the essence of freedom was created in our soul, the freedom of will" (Orot Hakodesh Part 3: 36). The freedom that was imprinted on us during the Exodus from Egypt is unique. Is the liberation from subjugation to strangers, which prevents our self-realization from being expressed, and allows the inner self-desire of the individual and the nation to manifest itself when it is free of any external enslavement and fulfillment of self-destiny.
The Marror (bitter herbs) - Designed to shape the unique character and morals of the people of Israel and the individual. The bitterness and suffering in the slavery of Egypt was a formative destiny experience from which the people of Israel grew and became what it is. Slavery shaped the moral consciousness of the Jewish people and its sensitivity to the suffering of others, out of humility. As a people that grew out of slavery: זָכַרְתָּ֞֗ כִּ֣י־עֶ֤בֶד הָיִ֣֙יתָ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔֗יִם "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt" (Devarim 5:15).
Slavery and bitterness also tone down the influence that shapes the self-awareness, to the endurance and strength that are concealed in our character, thus enabling us to deal with difficult challenges. And the ability to survive terrible hardships that come upon us because of this faith and uniqueness. Hence the ability to accept voluntarily the yoke of Malchut Shamayim: "Although slavery must have caused some terrible things, etc. But the attribute of submission and enslavement to those who are worthy to be enslaved, to be truly a servant of G-d, to be able to nullify the self-will and self-inclination, that Israel excels in it”. (Olat Reiyah-Haggadah) to receive Ol Malchut Shamayim.
The Old Hillel used to eat Pesach, Matzah and Marror in one “Sandwich”. This leads to the teaching that there is a fruitful integration between the three components of consciousness (ibid.)