Succos - 006 Where Heaven and Earth Kiss

Two Ways In Avodas Hashem – Beginning From Below, or Beginning From Above

Let us first begin with a brief introduction.[1]

Generally speaking, there are two approaches towards the festivals. One way to approach the festivals is to work our way upwards, from the lower realm to the higher realm. A person ascends to the upper realms, through the festival. In this path, the festival serves as a gateway to rise higher to the spiritual realms. There is also an opposite approach towards the festivals: to work our way downwards, starting from the higher realm and ending at our lower realm. In this path, we draw light from the heavenly realms, onto this lower realm.

The festivals were determined by the date of the new month, which was determined by the Beis Din, who sanctified the new moon.[2] Thus, the Beis Din, who are here on this lower realm, have the power to draw down the heavenly realm, which is above time, onto this world, which is within the bounds of time. The rest of the nation, however, has a different task: to ascend from this time-bound dimension, into the higher dimension, which is above the bounds of time.

This is a general introduction, for each person to know how he can fulfill his avodah of receiving the spiritual light of the festival, on his own current level. That was the general rule, and now we will speak about the details in this avodah.

Succos: Beginning From Below and Ascending To Above

On Succos, there are two different groups of people who enter the succah. One group is the “seven shepherds”, who are also called the “Ushpizin”[3] [Avraham, Yitzchok, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and Dovid]. The other group of people who enter the succah is the rest of the members of the holy nation Yisrael.

The seven shepherds\ushpizin descend from the upper realms, from Heaven, as it were, to down here below. We, the nation Yisrael, who are found below on this world, ascend to Heaven, as it were - through the succah.

Rashi[4] says that entering the succah is called aliyah, “ascension”, and this is because the succah has the status of sanctified ground, a place of ascending to the spiritual.

Three Aspects of Succah – Protection From Evil, Shade, and Holiness

For each thing in Creation, we can always find three aspects: it can be used for holiness, for a mitzvah; it can be used to protect from spiritual impurity; and it can be used for the mundane. When it comes to the succah as well, we can notice these three aspects.

The succah offers us a protection from evil, as it is written, “For He hides me in the succah, on a bad day He conceals me.” [5]

It is also used for mundane purposes, in that the succah provides shade from the sun.[6] Shade from the sun is not holy, nor is impure - it is just mundane. A succah built for the purpose of providing shade, and not for the purpose of the festival, is still kosher for succah use.

Finally, the succah provides holiness. The Gemara says “In the future, Hashem will make a succah for the tzaddikim, from the skin of the leviathan.”[7] The holiness of the succah that we have today stems from the succah of the future – the succah made from “the skin of the leviathan” - which will be entirely holy.

Succah – Where Heaven and Earth Kiss

Even more than this, though, is that we find a statement in Chazal: “In the future, the nations of the world will enter Eretz Yisrael and make a war with them [with the Jewish people], for it says, “And I will gather all of the nations to Jerusalem, for war.” And what will Hashem do, He will go out and wage war with the nations, for it says, “And Hashem will go out and wage war with those nations”….and what will He do? He will cover the heads of Yisrael, as it says, “A succah for my head, on the day of cavalry”. What is this cavalry (neshek)? Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachman says: “On this day, the two worlds will kiss each other.”[8]

Thus, from the verse “A succah for my head, on the day of cavalry” we learn that in the succah, there are two aspects – the succah of now, and the succah of the future.

However, the Sages taught that the mitzvos will cease in the future, and they did not exclude the mitzvah of succah from this [which implies that there will be no succah in the future]. But it was mentioned earlier that even in the succah which we have nowadays, there is no law requiring the succah to be made for the purpose of the festival, for a succah is kosher even if it is made for the purpose of shade. So in depth, even the succah of nowadays does not have a requirement to be made for the sake of the festival.

Therefore, even in the future, the succah will not cease. If the succah of nowadays would have to be built for the purpose of the festival, then the mitzvah of succah would cease in the future, because it would be in the category of mitzvah. But since even now the succah is not made for the purpose of the festival, the succah of nowadays contains the light of the succah of the future.

The above is also depth behind the well-known words of Chazal that in the future, when Hashem will reward the Jewish people, the nations will come and demand reward, and they will say that they deserve reward because they will keep mitzvos in the future. Hashem will tell them that reward cannot be given before they have done the mitzvos. Hashem will offer them an easy mitzvah to keep, and will agree to reward them if they keep this mitzvah. He will give them the mitzvah of succah, to which they will agree to keep [and later they will rebel and kick the succah].[9] From this Gemara, we see that there is a level of succah even in the Next World.

This is because, as implied earlier, the succah is the point where This World and the Next World “kiss” [meet]. Thus, only through the succah will the souls be joined with the bodies. The bodies are the Jewish nation, who are of This World of action, and they will join with the seven shepherds who are in heavenly realm, who are souls without bodies. Meaning, even now, our level of succah is the point where the two worlds meet. There is a succah where the souls are contained in bodies, and there is a succah where the souls are without bodies. This is the point where the lower world and higher world “kiss” – it is where they join together.

Heaven and Earth Are Joined Together In The Six Dimensions of the Succah

In a succah, there are the s’chach, the ground, and the four walls. As it is known, and as is the halachah, there do not have to be four walls in a succah.[10] However, a succah is invalid without s’chach, and it cannot be a succah without the ground. The Poskim discuss what defines the ground of a succah, and if it is part of the succah or not.[11] According to mystical tradition, one should think of all six directions of the succah[12] [when shaking the Four Species in it, as is the custom of the Arizal], which includes the ground. According to the Sage Rebbi Eliezer, we can add on a seventh direction to the succah, the Clouds of Glory, for Rebbi Eliezer derives the laws of succah from the Clouds of Glory[13], which surrounded the Jewish people from seven directions – there were Clouds of Glory in all six directions surrounding them, and a seventh in front of them.[14] Thus, the ground and s’chach of the succah represent Heaven and earth. Through the walls of the succah, the “Heaven” and “earth” of the succah “kiss” each other.

There is one perspective in which Heaven and earth are separated from each other, in which Heaven represents the soul without the body and the earth represents the soul in the body, but there is also another perspective, in which Heaven and earth kiss. This is represented by the s’chach and ground of the succah. That is why it is only in the succah do the souls from on High (our holy forefathers) come down, without being clothed in a physical body, and they unite with the holy Jewish nation, whose souls are contained in a body.

There is a dispute between Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Akiva if the “succos” which Hashem placed the Jewish people in the desert in, if they were Clouds of Glory or if they are actual succos\huts, but now we can understand that they are both the same idea. The Clouds of Glory represent a succah on a purely spiritual level, with no garment in the physical, whereas the actual succah on This World is the physical level of succah, and therefore, both views are correct.

The Connection Between Succos and Aharon HaKohen

As is well-known, there were three constant miracles which escorted the Jewish people in the Desert: The manna, the Clouds of Glory, and the Well. The manna was in the merit of Moshe, the Clouds of Glory were in the merit of Aharon, and the Well was in the merit of Miriam.[15] What was the connection between Aharon and the Clouds of Glory?

Since the Clouds of Glory represent the concept of the succah, and of the succah which Hashem will build it says, “And spread upon us, the succah of Your peace”, therefore the succah represents the trait of shalom (peace). Peace is the idea of Heaven and earth kissing each other. The Sages state that Aharon loved and pursued peace and drew them close to Torah. He loved peace by making harmony between man and his friend, which is a degree of unity that exists on this physical world. But his trait of drawing others close to Torah represents a higher level, where Heaven becomes unified with earth, the place where Heaven and earth kiss – the point where the Jewish nation “kiss” with their Father in Heaven.

In summary of the above, succah is the idea of the achdus (unity) of all of Creation.

Emunah – The Point Where Heaven and Earth Unify

As it is known from the holy Zohar, the succah is called tzila d’mehemenusa, “shade of faith”,[16] it is a place where one sits underneath the “shade of emunah\faith.” What is the connection between emunah and the succah?

The succah is where This World and the Next World kiss. This “kissing” point is through emunah, for This World and the Next World are opposites of each other. Chazal state that Yaakov and Esav were fighting over both worlds, and in the end, Yaakov took the Next World and Esav took This World.[17] Just as Yaakov and Esav were total opposites of each other, for Yaakov was the “wholesome man, who dwells in the tents” while Esav is a “hunter and man of the field”, so are the two worlds opposite of each other, in direct contradiction to each other.

This World is like a temporary dwelling, while the Next World is a permanent dwelling, for it is eternal. As is well-known, there is a dispute between the Sages if the succah needs to resemble a permanent dwelling or a temporary dwelling.[18] There is a rule that when it comes to any dispute between the Sages, “Their words and their words are the words of the living G-d”[19] [so there is a way to understand that both views in the Sages are correct].

As it has been explained here, the succah is the point where Heaven and earth kiss. From the viewpoint of Heaven, the succah is a permanent dwelling, and from the viewpoint of This World, the succah is a temporary dwelling. Succah on a Heavenly level is permanent, while the succah on a physical level is temporary. The point where the Succah of the Clouds of Glory (the Heavenly succah) and where the physical succah “kiss” with each other - that is the point of emunah. That is the “shade of emunah” which is the succah – it is the power which unifies all of existence, hence it is the point where Heaven and earth kiss.

Succos Unifies the Physical With the Spiritual

There are many different designs in which a succah may be kosher for use. A succah can have four walls shaped in the letterמ  as well as succah with three walls that is shaped like a letterכ .  A succah is also kosher with two walls when it is in the shape of the letter  .הSo there are many different forms of tzurah, physical formation, that a succah may take on, even though all of these designs are opposite from each other.

Succos is the time of simchah (joy), and one of the reasons for this, as explained in the Rishonim, is because it is the time of the year when the grain is harvested.[20] This is perplexing! Is this the entire simchah of Succos?! Is it a joy over something materialistic as gathering together the grain? Furthermore, the Sages state the Succos is the time to make an accounting for sins. This means that Succos is a continuation of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is entirely spiritual, a day with no physicality in it. How, then, can the joy of Succos, a continuation of the sublime Yom Kippur, be about something physical and material?

The answer to this is contained in what has been explained until now. Succos is the point where Heaven and earth kiss. It is a festival which continues Yom Kippur. The revelation of the succah is that it unifies Heaven with earth. It is really impossible for one to be found on this world and always be bound to the tzurah of this world, for This World and the Next World are like fire and water to each other, and opposite designs cannot integrate. But when one’s connection to This World is not always in the same tzurah (physical form), and instead he can contain many different designs – just as a succah can be four walls, or three walls, or even two walls – a person then has the ability to connect to This World and the Next World simultaneously.

As long as a person dwells in one place consistently, with the same four walls and roof and floor, his World To Come cannot fuse together with his physical world. But through Succos, when one lives in a temporary dwelling, which has many different possible designs that are each kosher for succah use, one nullifies the concept of tzurah (physical form) and then it becomes possible for his physical world to fuse with his World To Come.

The Midrash states that the Four Species of Succos is really a deeper allusion to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.[21] This is explained in sefarim hakedoshim[22] that the Four Species are different than all other trees, grass, and vegetables. All other plants are given an appointed angel to oversee their growth process, and the angel tells it to grow[23], but the Four Species of Succos are not given over to the hands of an angel. Rather, they grow entirely from Hashem’s Divine Providence. That is why Hashem commands us to take these four species specifically, on Succos. The depth of this matter is that an angel has a tzurah, a certain design, and therefore all other plants are governed by means of tzurah, whereas the four species are not governed by any angel, so there is no tzurah that makes them grow. Instead, they grow directly from the Creator.

Along the same lines, when one sits in the succah, which is the meeting point between Heaven and earth, it is a point where there is no clearly defined tzurah. The Sages state 40 days before a fetus is formed, before it receives its tzurah, an announcement in Heaven goes out and declares who he or she is destined to marry.[24] Before the first 40 days, though, it has no tzurah – it is not yet in formation. In a succah, we leave our permanent dwelling and enter a temporary dwelling, meaning that we return to a point where there is no tzurah – for we leave our regular tzurah, and we get used to a place that is able to take on many different forms.

Thus, the lesson of the succah, on a deeper level, is for a person to get used to living a life where he is like ayin, like “nothing”, in the sense that he is not bound to any one design, and instead he can take on many different tzuras - different forms. When one eventually takes leave of This World and he enters the Next World, a “world which is entirely good”, it is easier for him to receive a new tzurah. In contrast, one who didn’t get used to this on This World will have difficulty with forgetting about his old tzurah from This World and connecting to a higher, more sublime tzurah in the Next World.

The Connection Between Water and Succos

Based upon the above, we can also have a deeper understanding now of the connection between the festival of Succos and the concept of water.

An esrog is not like all other fruit trees, and it needs as much water as vegetables do, in order to grow. The aravah branches are called “willow branches of the stream”. The nisuch hamayim, the water libation, was offered on the Altar only on Succos. On Succos, the world is judged on its waters.

As is well-known, water can change its shape, depending on whatever is put into it. It is like ayin, nothingness, which has no shape of its own, and which can become any shape.

With this, we can also understand the depth of banging the hoshanos on Hoshanah Rabbah. During the days of Succos, we take the Four Species, and we carefully observe the halachos pertaining to the Four Species, and we carefully preserve the species so that they stay intact and kosher. When we bang the hoshanos on Hoshanah Rabbah, though, we nullify the physical form of the Four Species. The depth of banging the hoshanos is to take away the tzurah. The aravos, which grow alongside the water, which has no shape of its own, is returned to ‘water’ at the end of the festival, because when we bang them on the ground on Hoshanah Rabbah, the aravos lose their form, and instead they become like water which has no exact form.

Soon after Succos ends, we begin to pray for water, and the depth of this is because receiving water is a way to receive the kind of Heavenly light in which there is no tzurah.

Emunah – The Intangible

It is said of the Kotzker that he was told of one of the tzaddikim who was able to see the Ushpizin[25] coming to his succah. The Kotzker responded to this: “He sees them. I believe in them - and emunah, believing, is better than seeing.” This is because it says, “And Yisrael saw, and they believed.”[26]

The depth of his words is that “seeing” depends on tzurah, whereas emunah is not dependent on viewing any tzurah. Emunah is entirely to believe in the intangible. If something is tangible, it is unnecessary to employ emunah to believe in its existence. If something can be grasped, it always has a tzurah. The succah is called tzila d’mehemenusa, shade or faith, and reveals the dimension where there is no tzurah.

There are two levels – emunah, and tzel emunah, the “shadow” of faith. To give a parable that explains the difference between these two levels, in the physical world, one cannot stare into the sun, and if he tries to, his eyes will be blinded. Therefore, in the practical sense, the sun has no form which we can see. But if the sun is blocked by a window, a shadow is formed, and when we look at the sun’s shadow, we can see that the sun has a certain shape.

Parallel to this concept, there is HaKadosh Baruch Hu and man. We believe in the reality of the Creator, and this is our emunah, our faith in a Reality which no thought can grasp. Therefore it is not possible to equate any sort of tzurah\form to this Reality. In contrast, it says of man that he is created “In our form, and in our likeness.” Man is a tzelem Elokim, which is also from the word tzel, as explained in the Arizal.[27] Thus, in a sense, man is the tzel, the shadow, of the Infinite. The Infinite has no tzurah, whereas man, who is the ‘shadow’ of the Creator, does have a tzurah.

The succah, which is the tzila d’mehemenusa, the shade of emunah, represents the emunah that just as no thought can comprehend the Infinite and He has no tzurah, so too, man, when he in the shadow of Hashem, he has no tzurah.

Living In Hashem’s Shadow: Above The Enemy’s Grasp

It has been explained here that the succah is the point where Heaven and earth kiss.

When one [considers himself to mainly be living on This World, he] is bound to tzurah, and he will be vulnerable to the attack of the yetzer hora, the evil inclination, who opposes him. But when one lives with the understanding that “For I will hide in the succah, on a day of bad, I will be concealed”,[28] he lives with the revelation of the “tzila d’mehemenusa” [living in ‘Hashem’s shadow’] represented by the succah – where there is no tzurah. When one lives in the shadow of emunah, there is no tzurah, so the enemy loses its tzurah as well. To the degree that one has emunah in the Creator, there is no tzurah, where one is above the grasp of the yetzer hora.

Ultimately, though, man does have a tzurah, so he will inevitably have to struggle against the evil inclination, who can attack a person on this world of tzurah. One will certainly have to wage war against the evil inclination. But the more a person lives in the point where there is no tzurah – which is the tzila d’mehemenusa [to live as if he is residing in the Hashem’s shadow], the less vulnerable he will be to the evil inclination. That is exactly how one can break the enemy’s hold.

In The Succah, One’s Entire Soul Becomes Nullified

There is a rule in the Torah that “There is no inclusion after an inclusion, except to exclude.”[29] The succah enables a self-nullification of man[30], and the succah is also a revelation of this concept of “there is no inclusion after an inclusion except to exclude.” The succah comes to “exclude”, to nullify, the tzurah\form of man. The soul of man contains 70 forces, as explained by the Vilna Gaon.[31] There were 70 korbonos were brought throughout the 7 days of Succos, and, on a simple level, this corresponds to the 70 nations[32], but on a deeper level, the 70 korbonos correspond to the 70 forces in the soul, and the burning of the korbonos represents a cessation of the 70 forces in the soul. Thus, nullifying the 70 forces of the soul represents a nullification of the entire tzurah\form of man, and to instead reveal [the point where there is no tzurah, the nothingness which has no shape or form], the “water” of Succos – the tzila d’mehemenusa [living within “Hashem’s shadow”].

Therefore, on a deeper level, the concept of the festival of Succos is to leave our permanent dwelling go to a temporary dwelling, is a way for man to leave behind tzurah and enter into the point where there is no tzurah.

The Connection Between Simchas Torah & the Torah Written From Moshe’s Tears

After Succos comes the finishing of the Torah, on Simchas Torah, where we read the parshah of V’zos HaBerachah. Concerning the last eight verses of this parshah, there is a dispute in the Sages if they written by Yehoshua or if they were written with Moshe’s tears.[33]

On Succos we take the Four Species, which have a tzurah\form, and at the end of Succos we bang the aravos on the ground, where we nullify their tzurah. The more complete level of this nullification of tzurah is reached on Simchas Torah, upon reading the last eight verses of the Torah, which were written through Moshe’s tears (according to one opinion), for tears are water [which have no specific tzurah]. It is if Moshe wrote the end of the Torah with water, and not with ink. This is a total level of nullifying the tzurah. “Hashem looked into the Torah, and created the world”[34], and therefore all forms of tzurah are rooted in the Torah. Moshe’s writing of the end of the Torah with tears is a nullification of tzurah at its root.

This is the level of spiritual light that is revealed, at the end of Simchas Torah. The entire path from Rosh HaShanah through Simchas Torah is essentially a preparation of the union between Yisrael and HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and the purpose of this union is this point that is revealed on Simchas Torah, when we reach the total level of bittul (nullification), of nullifying all tzurah, when we reach the part of the Torah that Moshe wrote with tears: “And Moshe died there, the servant of Hashem”.[35]

The avodah of these days, on one hand, is to build for ourselves the spiritual containers to hold our tzurah - and, simultaneously, to shine the spiritual light that comes from above our tzurah, until the End of Days, when there will be a total nullification of tzurah, which will be the complete union between the Jewish people and their Father in Heaven.

As long as there is tzurah in the Jewish people, there cannot be a complete union between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and with the creations, for the created beings have a tzurah, whereas HaKadosh Baruch Hu has no tzurah. Only when the Jewish people nullify themselves to Hashem completely will they be, so to speak, without a tzurah, and thereby resemble their Creator, Who has no tzurah.

The 22^nd  day of Tishrei [Simchas Torah] is the time when the Jewish people can be on this level, of transcending their tzurah. The number 22 corresponds to the 22 letters of the Aleph beis. The root of all tzurah is the letters of the Aleph Beis [from which Hashem designed all of Creation from], and the 22 days between Rosh HaShanah and Simchas Torah are days to integrate the tzurah of the letters of the Aleph Beis with their inner light - until all tzuros become integrated with the Infinite.

In Conclusion

May Hashem merit all of us to build our tzurah, and then integrate it to above our tzurah, and to merit the total level of unifying with Hashem, completely.