Dr. David Weiss was SOOOOOOOOOO excited. He was about to deliver his very first baby after all of those years of medical school!!! Patricia O'Brien had a loooong, difficult labor but it appeared to be over. Finally the baby came out!!!
Dr. Weiss couldn't contain his excitement upon seeing the baby and cried out "MAZELLLL TOOOVVV!!! It's a GOYYYYY"!!!!!!
Shhhhhhhhhhhaalloom Sweeeeetest Friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My plan was to share a *short* message before Shabbos but as happens to me quite often the power of the message overtakes me and *short* turns into *not that short*. So I BEG your indulgence [you probably prefer people who beg your indulgence to people who beg for your money
]. If you read to the end, I believe that you will be enriched.... Sukkot has a dual aspect. On one hand it is a very particularistic holiday. It is about the Jews and the Jews alone. We were guarded by Hashem in the desert after the miracles of Yetzias Mitzrayim. We have very specific mitzvos that only we keep [see Avoda Zara 3a where the stark opposition of the Gentiles to the mitzva of Sukkah is highlighted]. "It's all about the Benjamins" to quote one famous Jew-Hating politician [may she return to her native homeland soon ... with a ONE WAY ticket!!!!
]. A very Jewish holiday.On the other hand we offer 70 bulls up in the Beis Hamikdash corresponding to the 70 nations as a merit for the Gentiles [although some say that since we bring the sacrifices in descending order they serve to weaken them].
The Navi Zecharia [chapter 14 - we read it on the first day of Sukkos as the Haftorah] offers a futuristic vision where to the evil Gentiles will perish and the good ones will go up to Yerushalayim for Sukkos [so make your reservations in the King David NOW before it is too late!!!]:
1Behold! A day of the Lord is coming, and your plunder shall be shared within you.
2And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to wage war; and the city shall be captured, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be ravished, and half the city shall go forth into exile-and the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3And the Lord shall go forth and wage war with those nations, like the day he waged war on the day of the battle.
4And on that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem from the east. And the Mount of Olives shall split in the midst thereof-toward the east and toward the west-a very great valley. And half the mountain shall move to the north, and half of it to the south.
5And you shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach Azal. And you shall flee as you fled because of the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah the King of Judah. And the Lord,my God, shall come; all holy ones with you.
6And it shall come to pass on that day that there shall be no light, only disappearing light and thick darkness.
7And it shall be one day that shall be known to the Lord, neither day nor night; and it shall come to pass that at eventide it shall be light.
8And it shall come to pass on that day that spring water shall come forth from Jerusalem; half of it to the eastern sea, and half of it to the western sea; in summer and in winter it shall be.
9And the Lord shall become King over all the earth; on that day shall the Lord be one, and His name one.
10The whole earth shall be changed to be like a plain, from the hill of Rimmon in the south of Jerusalem; but it [Jerusalem] will be elevated high and remain in its old place; from the gate of Benjamin to the place of the first gate, until the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel until the king's wine-cellars.
11And they shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more destruction; but Jerusalem shall dwell in safety.
12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the nations who besieged Jerusalem; his flesh will waste away while he still stands on his feet; his eyes will waste away in their sockets, and his tongue shall waste away in his mouth.
13And it will come to pass on that day that there will be great consternation, sent by the Lord upon them; each one shall seize the hand of the other, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of the other.
14Yea, even Judah will fight against Jerusalem! And the wealth of all the nations round about-gold and silver and apparel-will be gathered in very great abundance.
15And so will be the plague of the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps, similar to this plague.
16And it will come to pass that everyone left of the nations who came up against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to prostrate himself to the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the festival of Tabernacles.
17And it shall be that whoever of all the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to prostrate himself to the King, the Lord of Hosts-upon them there shall be no rain.
18And if the family of Egypt does not go up and does not come, it shall not [rain] upon them. The plague [on Egypt] will be [the same as] that with which the Lord will plague the nations who do not go up to celebrate the festival of Tabernacles.
19Such will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the festival of Tabernacles.
20On that day there will be upon the bells of the horses, "holy to the Lord"; and the pots in the House of the Lord will be like the sprinkling bowls before the altar.
21 Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and cook in them; and there will no longer be a trafficker in the House of the Lord of Hosts on that day.
The Sfas Emes [סוכות תרנ"ג] writes:
והנה זה החג הי' בחי' אהרן אוהב שלום ורודף שלום. וכן הסוכה נקראת סוכת שלם. דכ' אני שלום וכי אדבר המה למלחמה. וכ' במ"א כענין שכ' כי תקרב אל עיר כו' וקראת אלי' לשלום. כי אפילו מלחמת בנ"י היא בבחי' השלום שרוצין לקרב כל האומות ושיכניעו עצמן לכנוס תחת כנפי השכינה. ולכן בזה החג נותנין אחיזה לכל הבא להתקרב. וכמ"ש שלעתיד יבואו כולם לחוג חג הסוכות.
Sukkos is the holiday of Aharon in whose merit we had the clouds of glory [which acc. to one opinion in the Gemara are the Sukkos we commemorate]. Aharon's middah was being a lover of PEACE!!! The Torah tells us that before we wage war we must call out to the enemy in PEACE. Even our wars are about peace. We want all of the nations of the world joining us in creating a utopian society where spirituality, love and kindness reign supreme. A world where selfishness and narcissism are not to be found but rather we all unite to serve Hashem and bring His bounty down to earth. So this is the holiday where even the Gentiles can come close. This is indicated by the fact that at the end of days the Gentiles will come to Yerushalayim and make the Beis Hamikdash a בית תפילה לכל העמים [Yeshayahu 56-7] - a "shul" for ALL people.
As Shlomo Hamelech davened at the inauguration of the first Beis Hamikdash [Melachim 1 8/41-43]:
41And also to the stranger, who (is) not of Your people Israel, but will come from a far country for the sake of Your Name.
42For they shall hear of Your great Name, and of Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm, and he will come and pray toward this house.
43You shall hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls You for, that all peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You, as (do) Your people Israel, and that they may know that Your Name is called upon this house that I have built.
Sukkos is the only Chag that the Gentiles will be keeping in the future!!! So it is important to distinguish between the good Gentiles, the ones who care about Hashem, the Jewish people, Israel and living a moral life and the bad Gentiles - the ones who want to kill us and who are either idolaters or hedonists or both. It is the latter group that will "kick" down the Sukkos at the end of days [Avoda Zara 3a] while the former will come up to Yerushalayim to serve with us.
In the meantime we must model to the world how one should live one's life. Instead of being drawn down to their level [Netflix, excessive materialism, drinking and drug use, Greek culture, immersion in politics and other fleeting temporalities] we should lift them up to our level.
Most of the world can't handle the spirituality right now. So they run away seeking more and more and more pleasure. Food, drink, entertainment, everything the smartphone has to offer and much much much more. But they can't avoid the Light forever. A time will come when all who merit will all unite in Yerushalayim as the pasuk [Yeshayahu 4-3] says -
כל הנותר בציון והנשאר בירושלם קדוש יאמר לו, כל הכתוב לחיים בירושלים.
After that pasuk we are told [פסוק ו] that Hashem will make none other than a .... Sukkah for us all!!!!
וְסֻכָּ֛ה תִּהְיֶ֥ה לְצֵל־יוֹמָ֖ם מֵחֹ֑רֶב וּלְמַחְסֶה֙ וּלְמִסְתּ֔וֹר מִזֶּ֖רֶם וּמִמָּטָֽר
And a Sukkah shall be for shade by day from the heat, and for a shelter and for a covert from stream and from rain.
The Rav ztz"l beautifully describes how the pagan man [including he of 2021] fears the great faith in Hashem and tries to escape into his hedonism. But it won't help because Hashem's light penetrates everywhere - even the coarse physical world - and will eventually be most evident in Yerushalayim:
מתירא הוא האדם האלילי מפני האמונה הגדולה באלהים, מפני גודל האיכות הנשמתית שבפליאתה והדר גאונה. חושב הוא שיבולע כולו ויכחד באש הגדולה הזאת של גאות אין סוף, ובורח הוא בנקיקי סלעים, של תאוות חומריות, של בילויי זמנים בהוללות, ושל כל עסקי החיים הצריכים ושאינם צריכים, כדי להסתר מהאור הגדול של השיגוב האלהי המעור את עיניו. אבל לא יועיל בכל מנוסתו. האור המלא כל חודר הוא וחודר, ממלא הוא קרב וכליות, ודורש הוא דוקא את ההסתגלות אליו, לחזות בנועם ד' ולבקר בהיכלו. ותוכני החיים של הכלל ושל הפרט, שע"פ ההסתגלות להחיים הספוגים מהאורה של המחשבה, העזוזיות, הבטחה והעמדה, הרעננות והתפארת, שבתוכן העליון של הוד אלהים עליון, הם ממלאים את כל הככר הרוחני אשר לישראל, ומפטמים בריח בשמיהם גם את כל המרחביים הגשמיים שלהם. כל הנותר בציון והנשאר בירושלם קדוש יאמר לו, כל הכתוב לחיים בירושלים.
NOT NORMALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the question is - will WE merit to be the fortunate ones who remain alive in Yerushalayim? The answer depends on US!!!!
Regarding our impact on bringing our message to the Gentiles, I am reminded of the following story I heard from Rav Herschel Schachter Shlita:
This seemingly too-incredible-to-be-true story actually took place. It was during World War II when twenty-four rabbonim were being held in Italy and faced being returned to Nazi-occupied Europe and certain death.
Rav Aharon Kotler, founder and rosh yeshiva of the Lakewood Yeshiva, turned to the well-known askan and subsequent author of Ethics From Sinai, Irving Bunim, and asked him who could intercede on behalf of these 24 rabbonim. Irving Bunim suggested the Italian Mafia. Rav Kotler urged Mr. Bunim to contact them immediately.
After contacting them, he asked Rav Aharon, “Who are we sending to the meeting?”
Rav Aharon replied, “You and I are going.”
Off they went to meet the godfather of the Mafia, Joe Bonnano. Rav Aharon did not speak English, so it was Mr. Bunim who explained the problem of the 24 rabbonim trapped in Italy.
The Mafia chief asked Mr. Bunim, “Who is the elderly man sitting next to you?”
He told him, “He is the godfather of the Jewish people.”
“Really?” asked the Mafia chief.
“Yes!” replied Mr. Bunim emphatically.
“Tell him I want a blessing.”
So Mr. Irving Bunim turned to Rav Aharon and in Yiddish told him, “Ehr vill a bracha fun de rov. (He wants a blessing from the rov).”
“Zog eim ehr zol leiben lang un shtarben in bet.”
Nu - what other bracha could Rav Aharon give? You should have Yiddishe Nachas and your children should be Talmidei Chachomim???
Irving Bunim turned back to the mafia chief Joe Bonnano and told him, “The rabbi blesses you with long life and you should die in bed.”
Upon hearing this, the mafia chief replied, “I like that,” and promised within 2 weeks to arrange the freedom of the 24 rabbonim stuck in Italy, which he did indeed accomplish.
Twenty-something years later, in 1964, a shiny black stretch limo pulls up in front of Lakewood Yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey. Two fancy-dressed men get out and walk up to the office. They say that they are looking for Rabbi Kotler. Out comes a man who introduces himself.
“No, not you,” say the two Italian guys. “We are looking for an older man.”
“That was my father,” says the rosh yeshiva, Rav Shneur Kotler, ”but he passed away a number of years ago.”
The Italian men explain that they are the Bonnano brothers, and that their father always “attributed his long life to your saintly father’s blessing. Now that he has just retired, we are taking over the business and we came here for the same blessing.”
“I’m sorry,” says Rav Shneur, “my father could do that, but I am not on that high level.”
Disappointed, but clearly understanding the concept of yeridas hadoros - the descent of the generations, the new Mafia chiefs bid farewell to Rav Shneur.
For saving 24 rabbonim from the Nazis, and with Rav Aharon Kotler’s bracha, Joe Bonnano - the Mafia godfather - lived to 97 years old.
BELOVED FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!! The end of days are hopefully close!!! This our last opportunity to make a Kiddush Hashem in a dark world so devoid of spirituality!!! Let's "chap arein" and bring our Light and message to the world!!!
A DELICIOUSSSS SHABBBBBBBOSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
