In the final chapter of the prophecies of Zechariah, the great prophet proclaims (14:19) “This shall be the sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations— that they did not go up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.’’
I recall a vexing question once asked of me: “Is this the most heinous crime that can be laid at the feet of the nations of the world? Did the divinely inspired prophet find no more grave violation of morals and ethics, no more mortal crime in the military annals of world history, than that the nations would not observe the Jewish festival of Sukkos?’’
The question is an obvious yet puzzling one. To understand the teaching of Zechariah, let us review a detail of the fascinating history of our people in the seventeenth century. In the first decade of the seventeenth century. Jews in many European communities found it impossible to build synagogues for themselves. Since permission usually had to be granted by the Catholic Bishop, and all sorts of chicanery had to be resorted to, in order to obtain such a grant. In those days Poland was often invaded by Turkish and Tartar hordes from the east. Later on, Polish cities were often the victims of Cossack incursions from Moscow. The Jews, therefore, offered to become the advance guard to protect their cities from attack. They offered to build their synagogues as fortresses with observation posts on their roofs and arms at readiness within their walls. On these grounds they obtained permission to build their houses of worship. Until the Second World War, when the leveling torch of the Nazis destroyed Jewish communities everywhere in Europe, many such synagogue fortresses were to be found in Poland.
Written in a building permit given to the Jewish community of Luzk by Sigmund III in 1626, we read the following: “Provision shall be made for the placing of arms on top of the synagogue so that in case of an attack on the city, the Jews shall post reliable men there, to be selected from among themselves, who, together with the Christian citizens shall defend the city in such manner as circumstances may require.” Under similar military pretexts synagogue fortresses were constructed in Ostrow, Brody, Husyatin, Sharograd, Tamopol, and other Jewish communities. Some of these synagogues were required by law to be built outside of the city gates and to be constructed of wood, so that at the enemy’s unthwarted attack they could easily be put to flame to prevent their use as barricades by the foe. In this way Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries strengthened the defenses of Poland against Turk, Tartar, and Cossack.
In these same periods, what defense did the Jew have against his own enemies? What fortresses did he build against the religiously inflamed peasantry? What barricades did he set up against envious anti-Semites? And there was a plethora of both. On Passover the Jew opened wide his doors and proclaimed a leyl shimurim, a night of G-d’s protection. On Sukkos he left the protection of his home to eat and sleep in the frail, undefended sukkab. These were his defenses. And what do the pages of history reveal? Fortified Poland was repeatedly attacked, often defeated, three times partitioned among enemy countries. Poland lost its independence again and again. During these periods the Jewish community managed to live, and the integrity of Israel was maintained. The week spent by Jews each year in the sukkah taught our people that there can be no defense against distrust, jealousy, and hatred. Defenses against attack will always crumble before new and more savage weapons of war. The best line of fortification can be breached. The only real defense can and must be built out of faith in G-d. By this sacred doctrine did every Jewish community endure through the centuries.
Our twentieth century reinforces this teaching of the sukkah. What defenses are there against the Atom Bomb, the Hydrogen Bomb, and the Cobalt Bomb? What circle of defense can completely stop a barrage of supersonic planes and even faster, unmanned missiles? Even as contractors urge the building of bomb-proof homes and cellars, scientists tell us how ineffective these would be in all-out war. The history of our civilization has been one of the refusal of nations to abide by treaties, to live up to their own solemn promises, to establish a human society based on faith and trust— the ideals of the sukkas. This Zechariah foresaw as the “sin of all the nations.’’ Each generation would prepare to go up to combat. No nation would show a genuine readiness to initiate the pilgrimage to the “city of the Lord,’’ there to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, the solemn observance of faith in G-d. Through the ages we have lived as a people ready to defend the nations among whom we have lived, dreaming and speaking of a world of peace and brotherhood. In the words of the Midrash (Numbers, 29): Israel complains before the Master of the Universe, “Behold we have been offering up seventy sacrifices for the nations of the world. For this they should have loved us, but instead of love they have vented their hatred upon us.’’ “Therefore,” said the Holy One Blessed be He, “bring now an offering in your own behalf. On this eighth day let there be an assembly for your own sakes.”
This closing day of our festival is to be devoted to a sincere analysis of the world in which we live and the part we must play in it. We can be super patriots; we can speak as chauvinists; we can seek security for our own nation in defensive and offensive preparations and sacrifices against the rest of the worid.
Or we can realize that as Jews we have the only solution for world peace, a solution which we must make real and incontestable by its practice in our own Jevnsh community. We must build Jewish security not by defenses against our enemies, but by the strengthening of our own sources in assembly before the Hashem.
