The pasuk relates that Yaakov arrived in Succos and he built himself a house and for his sheep he built Succos, therefore he called the name of the place Succos [Breishis 33/7].
The question is why did he call the name of the place after the succos he built for his sheep and not after the house that he built for himself. On the surface, it would seem that what he built for his sheep was secondary to what he built for himself?
Maran HaRav Hutner ztz"l: The sheep arrived in Succos with him after he had given gifts to Eisav. Just as Yaakov arrived in Succos with what he had after he gave his gifts to Eisav, so too we arrive in our Succos after we give our gift to Eisav on Yom Kippur. We don't give Eisav many animals as Yaakov did but we give him our sins with the שעיר לעזאזל as it says ונשא את עוונתם אל ארץ גזירה - The sheep carries their sins over the cliff. עוונתם is comprised of two words עוונות תם - Sins of the pure i.e. Yaakov. Eisav as represented by the שעיר לעזאזל carries Yaakov's sins over the cliff. After that happens we then enter our Succos.
So Succos is really primary for us and not just secondary because that is what remains after the gift to Eisav.
עפ"י הספר דולה ומשקה על סוכות עמ' רכא ובמאמרי פחד יצחק עניין ק"ד
Monday, October 22, 2012
Be Close
לא יהיה בך אל זר
You are not allowed to have a strange god.
The Kotzker read it differently. לא יהיה בך א-ל -Hashem should not be to you , זר - Strange.
Don't make Hashem a stranger...
You are not allowed to have a strange god.
The Kotzker read it differently. לא יהיה בך א-ל -Hashem should not be to you , זר - Strange.
Don't make Hashem a stranger...
Standing The Test Of Time
Rav Hutner explaining the Rebbi-Talmid relationship:
אין זה ענין חיצוני הנקנה
בשעה קלה. הרי מצינו בהלכה שטריפה אינה חיה יותר מי"ב חדשים. בכדי
להחשב לכשר צריך להיות בעל יכולת לעבור את כל העלות והירידות של כל
העונות של מחזור שנה. סימן בריאות הוא היכולת לעבור את כל התקופות
ולהשאר על כנה. כמו כן התקשרות הראויה לשמה נבחנת בריאותה רק לאחר
עבור תקופה של י"ב חודש, כל העונות השונות
It is not something external that is acquired in a short time. We find a halacha that a treif animal does not live more than 12 months. In order to be considered kosher the animal must have the capacity to traverse all of the ups and downs of all the seasons of the yearly cycle. A sign of health is the ability to survive all of the periods of time and remain firm. So too, a proper connection between a Rebbi and a talmid is tested over 12 months - all of the different seasons.
אין זה ענין חיצוני הנקנה
בשעה קלה. הרי מצינו בהלכה שטריפה אינה חיה יותר מי"ב חדשים. בכדי
להחשב לכשר צריך להיות בעל יכולת לעבור את כל העלות והירידות של כל
העונות של מחזור שנה. סימן בריאות הוא היכולת לעבור את כל התקופות
ולהשאר על כנה. כמו כן התקשרות הראויה לשמה נבחנת בריאותה רק לאחר
עבור תקופה של י"ב חודש, כל העונות השונות
It is not something external that is acquired in a short time. We find a halacha that a treif animal does not live more than 12 months. In order to be considered kosher the animal must have the capacity to traverse all of the ups and downs of all the seasons of the yearly cycle. A sign of health is the ability to survive all of the periods of time and remain firm. So too, a proper connection between a Rebbi and a talmid is tested over 12 months - all of the different seasons.
New Article Hot Off The Press
Some Torah I was zoche to write on the sugya of how to treat an orphan and a widow, here.
לולא תורתך שעשועי...
לולא תורתך שעשועי...
"There are only two roads that lead to something like human happiness. They are marked by the words . . . love and achievement. . . . In order to be happy oneself it is necessary to make at least one other person happy. . . . The secret of human happiness is not in self-seeking but in self-forgetting."
The pasuk says אנכי עומד בין השם וביניכם which according to the simple meaning of the words is Moshe ["I"] telling the Jews that he stands between them and Hashem. However, the Mezritcher Maggid read it differently. אנכי - The I, the ego, is what stands between us and Hashem. A little self-forgetting goes a long way towards bringing us close to the Source.
The pasuk says אנכי עומד בין השם וביניכם which according to the simple meaning of the words is Moshe ["I"] telling the Jews that he stands between them and Hashem. However, the Mezritcher Maggid read it differently. אנכי - The I, the ego, is what stands between us and Hashem. A little self-forgetting goes a long way towards bringing us close to the Source.
Welcome
I don't do all that many mitzvos so when I actually do something good it is a great opportunity to boast about it...
So here goes.
:-)
This Shabbos I was at Mincha and noticed a Jew whom I recognized as a fellow student in Yeshiva before 22 years [that is how Hebrew speakers say it, translating from לפני עשרים ושתים שנה - I am learning Hebrew:-)]. Now when I was in Yeshiva I didn't have much to do with him. He was one of those "tzadikim". Quiet, unassuming, soft spoken, a masmid. I, in contrast was not much of any of those things. So we went in different circles. The happy ending is that he is a successful Rosh Yeshiva today and I am happily still a simple "yeshiva bochur".
So why would I be of interest to this great Marbitz Torah?? Who knows. But despite that I approached him after davening [unfortunately the general custom in my neighborhood is that people don't converse during davening - despite the fact that everyone knows that the best conversations take place then] and said hello and introduced myself. We chatted amicably for a few minutes and parted. What struck me was how happy he was that I approached him. He thanked me at least twice for doing so.
Lesson: If you see someone - especially a guest in the neighborhood, try to make him feel welcome. It's easy and anyone can do it:-).
So here goes.
:-)
This Shabbos I was at Mincha and noticed a Jew whom I recognized as a fellow student in Yeshiva before 22 years [that is how Hebrew speakers say it, translating from לפני עשרים ושתים שנה - I am learning Hebrew:-)]. Now when I was in Yeshiva I didn't have much to do with him. He was one of those "tzadikim". Quiet, unassuming, soft spoken, a masmid. I, in contrast was not much of any of those things. So we went in different circles. The happy ending is that he is a successful Rosh Yeshiva today and I am happily still a simple "yeshiva bochur".
So why would I be of interest to this great Marbitz Torah?? Who knows. But despite that I approached him after davening [unfortunately the general custom in my neighborhood is that people don't converse during davening - despite the fact that everyone knows that the best conversations take place then] and said hello and introduced myself. We chatted amicably for a few minutes and parted. What struck me was how happy he was that I approached him. He thanked me at least twice for doing so.
Lesson: If you see someone - especially a guest in the neighborhood, try to make him feel welcome. It's easy and anyone can do it:-).
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