Talmudic Discourse 11

 
 
 The Mishnah is usually a serene, philosophical document, describing the
perfect Jewish world the sages envisioned.  But sometimes the Mishnah gives
us a glimpse of real life, and this anecdote rings true:
 
'How did people use the lulav?  If the first day of the holiday fell on
Shabbat, they took their lulavs to the Temple Mount and the superintendents
took them and put them in an orderly fashion on the roof of the balcony but
the elders put theirs in an office and taught about them, saying,Anyone
who comes upon my lulav should consider it a gift The next day, they came
early and the superintendents threw the lulavs before the congregation and
it turned into a fight. When the cour found that these lulavs caused a
danger the ruled that every person should take their lulav home with them.
(M. Sukkah 4:4)'

Gevult!  This is certainly not a description of an ideal world.

There is an all-to-believable essence of truth here.  And that leads to some important
questions.
Discussion Questions
1. Why would the editors of the Mishnah include this story in their
normally-sedate document?  What was so important in this story that the
sages felt we needed to remember it?

R. Abrams

 

Shalom and Happy Succoth:

 

The Gomorrah of Tractate Succoth spends much time in edifying we Jews on proper behavior and decorum. There are a number of stories in this Tractate of examples of behaviors our sages would prefer us not to do, and why. The Tractate equates this holiday no longer with the biblical harvest feast, with human indulgences, but with a more esoteric Messianic  message. As we will learn, leaving a luluv over night is not a good deed.

 

It relates a story about Rav Nachman who had a disagreement with Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna regarding the decorations of a succah. According to Rav Nachman decorative sheets that were hung below the succah covering, the scach, (the roof of the succah which is made from branches of trees), does not cause the succah to be invalid, even if the distance was more that four tefachim, (a measure which is about 16 inches). Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna disagreed; they were of the opinion that decorative sheets which were suspended from the succah scach were acceptable only if they were within four tefachim of the scach, but greater than this distance it was considered to be a separate covering over the succah and caused the succah to be invalid and unfit for fulfilling one's obligation to dwell in a succah.

As it happened on one day of the Succoth holiday Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna came to pay their respects to the Exalarch, the leader of the Jewish communities in Babylonia. Rav Nachman was the official Rabbi in the Exalarch's court and everything was done according to his rulings. When Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna came to visit they were given a succah in which to rest; a succah that was built according to the opinion of Rav Nachman and against their own opinion. There were decorative sheets hanging more than four tefachim below the scach. According to Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna this was not a fit Succoth to use during the Succoth holidays.

When Rav Nachman saw that these two rabbis who disagreed with him on this point resting in that succah, he asked them if they had changed their minds in regard to the halachic ruling. They replied no, they had not retracted from their opinion, but rather since they were performing a mitzvah of visiting the Exalarch and therefore the principle of being occupied with one mitzvah exempts them from another performing another mitzvah, they were exempt from performing the mitzvah of Succoth, therefore there was no reason that they could not rest in a succah such as the one that was provided for them.

Now the question arises that since Rav Nachman was aware that Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna said that a succah with such decorative sheets was not a proper succah and that they were of the belief that one did not fulfill there obligation in such a succah, why did he bring them into this type of succah? Would it not been more considerate of him to have hosted them in a succah that met their halachic perspective?

What would you have done in a similar case when you do not eat some food, and your host knowingly brought you food of this type? Would you not consider your host grossly inconsiderate? If so, how could Rav Nachman, who was one of the greatest rabbis of his time, have been so inconsiderate of his guests?

The answer is that as long as your guests can see clearly that the product does not meet their personal criterion, there is no inconsideration on the part of the host. It is only when the host knowingly gives them food which he knows they do not eat and that they can not easily determine the status of this food, only then has the host's behavior exceeded proper bounds.

In our case, both Rav Chisdah and Rabba bar Rav Huna could easily determine that the succah did not meet their specifications and could have gone elsewhere. Therefore there was no impropriety on the part of Rav Nachman.

Succah is the time for inviting guests and visiting old friends. Our sages are teaching us what are the limits of being a good host, and just as important, to know how to be a good guest.  Showing us how leaving a luluv, which tend to all look alike, in the Temple, for people, to grab for their own, allowing human nature to set in and cause fights, our sages are teaching us, that we must go out of our way, to pursue peace, rodef shalom, and not leave things for the chance occurrence that we could cause someone to fight.

This is based on the mitzvah of "do not put  a stumbling block before the blind....'lifnei iveir lo titein michshol,' By leaving your luluv, you may cause someone to assume it is his, and get into a ownership fight, hence causing one to sin. One's luluv therefore can be a stumbling block.

One needs to understand what Succoth was like at the Temple. It was not a simple sit down dinner in a 'booth.' It was a pretty big party, with lots of wine, and lots of water, making some clothes, diaphanous.  It was called the 'Festival of the Water Libation.'

Please note what part of the Temple it took place, the Women's Court.

	One of the main aspects of the holiday of Succoth is the Biblical commandment, "And you shall be glad on your holiday, and you shall be only joyful" (Deut. 16:14). Indeed, the pilgrims who arrived in Jerusalem at the Temple's courtyard came to rejoice. The focus of this rejoicing was the ceremony surrounding the commandment to pour water on the altar - the water libation. During this event, which mainly took place in the Women's Court, the Levites and played on many musical instruments. The sages of Israel testify to the celebrations of the water libation from the days of the Second Temple, describing the great joy of the ceremony:
	"Whoever has not seen the celebration of the water libation has never experienced the feeling of true joy - great lamps of gold were hoisted, with four golden bowls at the top of each lamp. Four young priests-in-training would climb to the top, carrying immense oil jugs with which they would fill the bowls. Once lighted, there was not a courtyard in all of Jerusalem that did not glow with the light that emanated from the celebration in the Temple courtyard. As the people sang, the righteous and pious men would dance before them while juggling flaming torches. The Levites, standing on the fifteen steps that descend from the Court of Israel to the Women's Court, played on lyres, harps, trumpets and many other instruments. Two priests who blew silver trumpets stood at the top of the stairs on either side of the entrance to the great gate of the Court. All this was done to honor the commandment of the water libation." (Talmud, Tractate Succah, Chapter 5)
	There were so many precious commandments to be fulfilled in the Holy Temple during the holiday of Succoth, and they were so time-consuming, the Talmud notes that there was practically no time left for sleeping! "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chanina said: During the days of the water libation ceremony, we barely got to sleep at all. The first hour of the day saw us attending to the daily offering; following this we were engaged in prayer - afterwards, the additional offering. Then we ate, and it already became time to attend to the afternoon service. And this was followed by the celebration of the festival of the water libation, which lasted the entire night, and we would begin again" (Jerusalem Talmud, Succah 5). Men, women and children participated in the immense joy of the water libation - some directly, while others stood and watched. Special elevated balconies were constructed to enable the righteous women of Israel to watch the wise men of the Sanhedrin as they danced. At dawn, the assembly proceeded with melody and song to the spring of Shiloach, at the foot of the walls of Jerusalem. One priest carried with him a special golden decanter and filled it with the sparkling spring water. Then the congregation ascended again to the Temple, led by the priest who bore the golden vessel. Arriving at the Temple, he brought the decanter up to the altar, and poured the water into the silver cup at its corner. This ceremony is connected to the rainfall of the coming year, and it was accompanied by yearning and prayers for blessing on the earth and its produce. On a deeper level, it was also directly connected to the reception of prophetic inspiration. The sages actually ask us to pray as we leave the Succah: Y'hi ratzon mil'fanekha Adonai Eloheinu vei'lohei avoteinu May it be Your will, Lord, our G!d and G!d of our ancestors k'sheim shekiyam'ti v'yashav'ti basukah zu that just as I have stood up and dwelled in this succah kein ez'keh l'shanah haba'ah leisheiv b'sukat oro shel Liv'yatan. so may I merit next year to dwell in the succah of the hide of the Leviathan. l'shanah haba'ah birushalayim Next year in Jerusalem! The Talmud teaches that when the messiah comes, the righteous will come to Jerusalem and the Leviathan (a giant sea creature created on the fifth day) will be slain. Its skin will be used to make the walls of a giant succah, and the righteous will dine on the flesh of the Leviathan in that pukka. Thus, the essence of this farewell prayer is the hope that the messiah will come within the next year.

2. This mishnah is a snapshot of sorts a picture of the Temple and its
functioning on a very real level.  Does this help you identify more with
the Temple and its sacrifices, knowing that synagogue politics are often much
the same?

 

Our sages instituted a prayer in which we ask G!d to protect us each day from bad deeds from those in the Covenant and those not in it. Hence our sages knew 2500 years ago, and more, that some of us have horrific egos, and of those, some will want to be on Shul boards, and now federation boards, JCC board etc. (There are many who do serve out of service, but our sages are not concerned about them. They were concerned about those with massive ego.)

 

 The Mishna tells us 'not to wear the Torah as a crown', but many rabbis and lay people do. Their self esteem is so low, they feel unworthy before G!D, if indeed they actually believe, trust, and have faith in G!D. They need strokes from many humans. They do not give tsaddakah the way we are taught, anonymously, but must do everything, to get their names in a Shul or JCC newsletter. Our Talmud tells us of Rabbis who were like this, and our Tanach tells us of people, e.g. Korach, who were like this.

 

Our history records Kings, priests, and others who let their ego reign and were doing their will and not G!d's. There is 'nothing new under the sun', and why many a rabbi taught that it is 'better to pray at home where G!D can see and hear you, then go to the synagogue where the hypocrites are.'

 

The rabbis of the Talmud taught that 'G!d's holy presence, the Shekanah , never resided in the Second temple'. By this time, the Talmudic Rabbis had not much love or respect for the Hasmonean priests.

 

When two people each doing their own will, and not G!d's will, come together, they will find something to bicker over, be it a luluv or  a rabbi's contract. If Jews followed what our sages taught, and if we asked each day for G!D to negate our will do to His, we would not toe step on each other.  Of course the Talmud also tells us that 'when all Jews observe Shabbat two weeks in a row the messiah will come.'

 

Jews are not saints. 'Jews are like everyone else, only more so.'(Rabbi Lionel Blue, obm). As long as we have a minyon of ten in a Shul, we will have 11 opinions.

 

3. Why do people take gifts and make something ugly out of them?  What
drives people to react poorly to things offered for free?

 

When one discounts something because it 'appears' free to them, one is discounting G!D. Nothing is free. Everything is a blessing. Spiritual people share and know that G!D is always giving us what we need, hence we can share what we have as we will never be without. Those who do not understand this basic principle, discount something that doesn't have a price tag, as valueless. Our cups are overflowing each day with G!D's goodness towards us, and most folks go thru life seeing that cup as half empty.

 

 The lesson of Succoth, is that rich or poor, we can all live in a booth, made of prescribed materials, so no ones booth is better than someone's else, and truly know for that week,(and hopefully learn this for our lives)  that we are 100% dependent on G!d. Any other thoughts, are delusions. We are all equal before G!D and the things that we discount as free, our first breath in the morning, the smile of  a loved one, our legs walking, our teeth chomping, the sun shining on our faces, the rain that helps bring us crops,  are all gifts from G!d that have a price tag of infinity.

 

  Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal

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