With The Commentary of the RABAM
Sukkois = The Feast of Booths, when we are commanded to dwell in booths and shake shrubbery arrangements for eight days. It is followed by an evening of doppel parsho reading, circle dancing, and single malt consumption.
On this holiday, the yuntif of Sukkois, we wave fresh fruit at the sky for seven days, and eat in an open air beehive. We cap it off by dancing cheek to cheek with a bunch of bearded men. (I have a date with a talmid named Yerachmiel; I hope I get lucky!)
Yuntif = Yom (day) Tov (good); a holiday. The plural is yomim tovim (although I have also heard ‘yontevim’ in Mokum Alef). Neither singularly, nor plural, does it mean shopping season!
Wave fresh fruit at the sky = We wave an esrog, which is a citrus fruit grown on the margin of edibility, and quite lumpy. One can turn it into an aromatic preserve, but given the price we paid, better we should have it bronzed or sunk in clear plastic.
The esrog is one of the four species (arba minim) required for the feast of tabernacles (Sukkos), as it says in Vayikra (Leviticus), Parshas Emor, psook 23:40 " u lekachtem lachem ba yom ha rishon peri ets hadar kapot temarim va anaf ets avot ve arvei nachal u semachtem lifnei Adonai Eloheichem shivat yamim" (And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of splendid trees (esrog), fronds of palm trees (lulav), and twigs of thick trees (hadas: myrtle), and branches of brook willows, and you shall rejoice with them before the Lord, seven days).
This means that one needs to buy them BEFORE the first day - there is a parallel with Peysach, when the last of the chometz is destroyed before the first day.
As it says in Exodus 34:21 "sheshet yamim taavod u vayom ha sheviyi tishbot, be charish u va katsir tishbot" (Six days you shall labour but on the seventh day you shall rest; (even) at plowing and at harvest, rest.). Exodus 34:22 "ve chag shavuot taase lecha bikurei ketsir chitim, ve chag ha asif tekufat ha shana" (And the feast of weeks shall you observe, the first fruits of the wheat, and the feast of reaping at the turn of the year.).
Why are these juxtaposed? To tell us that shabbes takes precedence, whatsoever feast or season it is. And, as in every seven days, one is shabbes, for a seven day feast, we need eight days.
Rejoicing with them is taken to mean frantic gesticulating and shaking, in a specific manner, as if to say “see what I have!” If a man waves his arba minim in the forest, and there are no witnesses to see him do so, has he really rejoiced?
The waving, per the Mechaber, the Rama, and the Taz, is east, south, west, north, up, down (clockwise: derech yemin, al pi Chazal). Nusach Ashkenaz, nusach Sefarad, and nusach Mizrahi – all follow this order.
Mechaber = Author. The nickname of Yosef Karo (1488 – 1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch (Set Table), and the Beis Yosef (House of Joseph). Beis Yosef is a compilation of discussions on the laws (hilchois), often printed alongside the text of the Arba Turim (the Four Rows - a compilation in four sections of Halacha, by Rabbi Yakov Ben Asher (1270 - 1340), containing specifically those rules which are still applicable in golus).
Ramah = The Ramah (the ReMah); Rav Moishe Ben Yisroel Isserless (born 1525 or 1530 in Krakow, died 1572). Ashkenazic commentator, author of the Mappah (tablecloth), which is a supplement to Joseph Karo's Shulchan Aruch (the Set Table). The Shulchan Aruch is probably the most well known compendium of Jewish law, but is decidedly Sephardo-centric, which is why the Mappah is always printed alongside for the Ashkenazic bias.
Taz = Turei Zahav (Rows of Gold), an explicatory commentary on the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi David Ben Shmuel HaLevi (Krakow 1586 - Lvov 1667), one of the foremost rabbinical authorities in seventeenth-century Poland. The son in law of the Bach.
Bach = Rabbi Yoel Sirkes (1560?-1640), author of the Beis Chadash, which parallels the Beis Yosef as a commentary on the Tur.
Chassidim usually follow the Ari (nusach Yerushalayim), as cited by the Magen Avraham, who paskenned south, north, east, up, down, west.
The Ari = The Arizal, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, born 1534 in Yerushalayim, nifter 1572 in Sfat (Safed). A major Kabalist, whose thought dominates Jewish mysticism even today, except for that version of Kabala dabbled in by celebrities. The Arizal’s intellectual inheritance was collected and published by his pupil Rabbi Chayim Vital Calabrese (1543 – 1620) in an eight volume collection, the Shemoneh Shearim (Eight Sections), otherwise known as the Etz Chayim (which means ‘Tree of Life’, but also refers to both Rabbi Chayim and the diagram of the ten sefiros).
Magen Avraham = The Shield of Abraham – a commentary on Orach Chayim (the first section of the Shulchan Aruch by Yoisef Karo, which handles prayers, shuls, sabbaths, and holidays) by Rabbi Avraham Gumbiner of Kalitch, Poyland (1637 – 1683).
The Levush preferred east, south, north, up, down, west; the Tur – east, north, south, west, up, down; Rashi – north, south, east, west, up down.
Levush = The Ba'al HaLevushim, Rav Mordechai Ben Avraham Yaffah (1535 - 1612), Talmudist and Kabalist, chief Rabbi of Grodne, who wrote a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch known by this name, short for Levush Malchus (Royal Vestment), and in reference to its ten divisions - the levushim (vestments).
Tur = Both the Arba Turim (The Four Rows – in reference to the rows of semi-precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest, because the book consisted of four parts), a legal compendium by Yakov Ben Asher (1270 – 1343), and a short form of his book-name – Ba’al Ha Turim (the Master of the Rows). The Arba Turim was the model that Yoisef Karo followed when composing his Shulchan Aruch.
Rashi = How, at this point, can you NOT know who Rashi is? Were you chapping a shlof every time I spoke?
Kodos (the brother of Kang) put all of this odd gesticulation into perspective, when he paskenned "We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling! Twirling! Twirling! Towards freedom!" How wise is that vort. He draws a clear link between this, the autumn festival, and the chag ha heruteinu (Peysach).
Esrog (lump-lemon), which has both taste and fragrance, and symbolizes the understanding and wisdom behind all of our actions. As it says in Psalms 104:1 "barachi nafshi et yehva Adonai Elohai gadalta meod, hod ve hadar lavashta" (Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my G-d, you are extremely great, clothed with glory and majesty).
Lulav (palm frond) has taste but no fragrance, and represents someone with knowledge of the Torah but no good deeds. But by a different interpretation, the lulav symbolizes upright conduct and character. As is written in Psalms 92:13 "tsadik ka tamar yifrach" (The righteous like the date palm shall bloom). Tamar = Date-palm.
Hadas (myrtle), which smells lovely, symbolizes good deeds, but no knowledge of Torah. The hadassa represents straightforwardness and common sense, such as an uncomplicated person would have. It says in Zecharia 1:8 "raiti ha laila ve hine ish rochev al sus adom ve hu omed bein ha hadasim" (I looked in the night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees).
Arava (brook-willow) is not associated with either taste or smell, and represents someone who has neither good deeds nor knowledge of Torah. As is written in Psalms 68:5 "shiru l'Elohim zamru shemo solu larochev ba aravot be ya shemo ve ilzu le fanav" (Chant unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him who rides upon the clouds, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him). And, like the clouds upon which He rides, the willows represent the lips that praise, the prayer that is His service – these being all that a person with neither deeds nor knowledge can offer. Note the similarity between ‘aravot’ (clouds) and ‘arava’ (brook-willow).
Holding these four together represents the unity (achdus) that Am Yisroel must have. Though plural and varied, yet one.
Think ‘e pluribus unum’, or Bhineka Tunggal Ika, if you prefer (‘Diverse Yet Singular’ - the Indonesian state motto).
Yerachmiel = A name of Hebrew origin, meaning ‘Merciful Hashem’.
What is this strange holiday, which mixes natural motifs, Toirah, and imbibed circle dancing?
Imbibed circle dancing = The celebration of Simchas Toireh, when, each gender dances separately except in shuls to which we will not go. We dance in a large circle, holding hands, and looking very pleased. We fuel that dancing and looking pleased by partaking of the fruit of the liquor store, often sending the least shikker member of our kehilla out to purchase more.
According to Chazzal, Sukkois is the time when Moshiach will come.
But according to Reb Hai Goyn, it is the holiday when you are supposed to separate yourself from the secular world. He cites as proof the fact that you are forced to take off so many work days right before end of year reviews, you might as well start polishing up your resume.
Chazzal = Chachmeinu zichrono livracha; our sages of blessed memory.
Reb Hai Goin = Rav Chai Gaon, 969 CE to 1038 CE. Last of the geonim (heads of the academies in Bavel), a scholar, posseik, and, like many cultured people in that place at that time, a poet.
And a fruit mayven. As is well known.
Rav Chai Gaon asks “how do we know in the first place how many days to take off from work to find the perfect esrog? From the Torah. But how do we know that this isn't because Moishe Rabbeinoo’s shmendricky son-in-law has a citrus monopoly? We do not know this except through the validation of Am Yisroel - the People of Israel.”
Am Yisroel determines who has a citrus monopoly, and authenticates it.
The Rebbe of Prolicz said “I once heard a talmid ask our Master ‘Do you believe that one’s avodas Hashem will be enhanced by purchasing such odd fruit?’ The Rebbe answered ‘if you aver that this is a question of bechol levavcha, I would ask why it is not a question of bechol meodeicha. And if you say that it is indeed a question of bechol meodeicha, I happen to have some esrogim for sale’.”
I believe that the thrust of what he said is firmly in line with the teaching of Rav Chai Gaon, Rav Sherira Gaon, the Rambam, Rav Hirsch, and others.
As pointed out in Tosafos, Rav Chai Gaon was the first to state this halachois, noting that the two "becholiyois" that is, the two psukim which start with the word "bechol", are juxtaposed.
A perfect esrog comes only to those who yearn for it and toil in study, "in accordance with the pain is the reward, in accordance with the knowledge is the love of Hashem".
It is inexcusable that citrus brokers have not read the words of Moshe Rabbeinu, Rav Chai Gaon, Ramban, Maimonides, Sa’adia Gaon, Ibn Ezra, Chovas Ha Levavos, Kuzari, the Vilna Gaon, and even Shloime Ha Melechs's own words, "Wisdom laughs at the fall of the simpletons, scorners and fools" (Proverbs 1:26).
The RI holds farkhert. He holds that Sukkois is actually a celebration of homosexuality. When Klal Yisroel were preparing for the long winter, planting in the fields by day and sleeping in huts at night, at the end of a long day they would sit down bichavrusa (in pairs) and study a little Talmud. One minute they are on daf yud baiz, amud alef, and the next minute they are on the floor, committing Mishkav Zachor. And who can blame them? I get excited by a gevaldik Toisfois myself!
Homosexuality = M’chaveirus ha Yunani, celebrated during Goy Pride, and on Chag Ha Levine. But we know nothing of such matters. Nothing.
Toisfois = The work of the Ba’alei Ha Tosafos, being commentaries and explicata to the writings of Rashi and through him to Talmud-Torah, by his students and descendants, and also by his descendants’ students. Tosaf means addition.
Individually, many Tosafists were great (for instance: Rabbeinu Tam, the Ribam, Rashbam, the RI, the Riban); collectively, they were monumental. Tosfos begins with Rashi’s two sons in law: Rav Meier Ben Shmuel of Ramerupt (the RAM), who was the husband of Rashi’s daughter Yocheved, and Yehudah Bar Nathan, husband of Miriam. Rav Meir was the father of Rabbeinu Tam, the Ribam, and Rashbam. Rav Yehuda was the father of Rabbi Yom Tov.
Mishkav Zachor = Greek behaviour, with a zachor.
The RI cites various Sukkois practices as proof for his position:
- We wave our phallic lulavim on the faces of all the other men, boasting about how ours is the biggest in the shul;
- Alongside our lulav is our esroig, where the gemarrah tells us that the more bulbous and full of veins, the better;
- We commit a sadomasochistic act with a handful of willow branches;
- We dance around the Toirah with other men, our fingers firmly entwined with others' hot, sweaty, hairy hands.
The RI = Rabbi Yitzhak Ben Avraham of Dampierre (12th Century), a nephew of Rashi's grandsonim: Rabbenu Tam (Rabbi Yakov Ben Meier, 1100 - 1171), the Ribam (Rabbi Yitzhak Ben Meier, exact dates unknown, preceded his father Meier in death, leaving four kinderlech), and the Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel Ben Meier, 1083 - 1174). The RI’s grandfather, Rabbi Meier Ben Shmuel, was the husband of Rashi’s daughter Yocheved.
The RI was also the grandson of Rabbi Simcha of Vitry, the author of the Machzor Vitry, and of the same generation as Rabbi Yom Tov (of Falais), the son of Rashi’s other brother in law, Yehuda Bar Nathan (the RIBAN), the husband of Rashi’s daughter Miriam.
Rav Yitzhak Ben Avraham was one of the most prolific of the Tosafists, and teacher of Shimson Ben Avraham of Sens (late 12th, early 13th century).
But note that Yitzhak Shmuel HaZaken is also referred to as the RI – he was the teacher of Yitzhak Ben Avraham HaBachur of Sens, and ALSO of Shimson Ben Avraham (referenced above, and yes, brother of Shimson).
HaZaken = The elder.
HaBachur = The younger.
Regarding Rabbi Yom Tov, please note that there are two other rebbeim with that nomen: Rabbi Yom Tov Ibn Ibrahim As-Sevilli (the Ritva, late 13th to mid 14th century, rosheshiva in Seville, student of the Rashba and Ra’ah, author of many responsa which are referenced in the works of those who came after him, and of the Chidushei Ha Ritva), and Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller mi Wallerstein (1579 – 1654, author of Ma’adanei Melech, Lechem Chamudos, Megilas Eivah, Tzuras Ha Beis, and notably, the Tosafos Yom Tov, being a magnum commentary on the Mishna).
Waving lulavim = Shaking them all over the place. The lulav is waved when we recite the blessing ‘Al netilas lulav’, again during hallel, when we say ‘hodu l’Hashem’, and also at ‘yomar na’ (the reminder by the sheliach tzibbur to repeat ‘hodu l’Hashem’), but not at ‘yomru na’.
Hillel opines that we “wave at ‘Hodu l’Hashem’, beginning and end (twice), and at ‘Ana Hashem, Hoshiyana’”, while Shammai adds “at ‘Ana Hashem, hatzlichah na’”. Rabbi Akiva remarks, in reference thereto, that Rabban Gamaliel and Rav Yehoshua only waved their lulavim at ‘Ana Hashem, hoshiyana’.
“A lulav of three handbreadths in length (is) long enough to wave (and) is valid.”
Al netilas lulav = The blessing upon taking up the lulav and the esrog: “Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha olam, asher kidshannu be mitzvosav ve tzivanu al netilas lulav”. Blessed are you, our Lord our G-d, king of the universe, who sanctifies us with your commandments, and who commands us to take up the lulav.
Esrog – the more, the bigger the better = The esrog is described as the most beautiful of the four minim, pri eitz hador. The greater the fruit, the greater the mitzvah. And, as there are esrogim which are not true esrogim (being the result of cross-breeding with other citrus fruits), only an esrog which is bulbuous, bumpy, veiny, can be assumed to be kosher le sukkois. And much to be admired, envied even.
‘An act with willow branches’ = On the last intermediary day (chol hamo’ed) of the festival, we go berserk, smacking our willows all over the floor and anything else, till it looks like someone had a fit. Finally that zesty whipping you’ve been hearing about!
Samuel Pepys, who once observed this celebration, wrote “I never did see so much, or could have imagined there had been any religion in the whole world so absurdly performed as this.” This from a drunken pompous snob (1633 – 1703). High praise indeed.
Having got that out of our system ,we can now truly celebrate, with drinking, poncing around the Bimah (making hukkafois), dancing, circling the liquor cabinet, and finally nervous collapse.
[Note that in some shuls, hukkafois proceed in a circuit entirely around the chamber, so that those present may kiss the scrolls. This is followed by singing and dancing, then more hukkafois, ad nauseum. Seven times!]
You may think the whole thing smacks embarrassingly of paganism or a shamanic and primitive stage of monotheism, and view this mad behaviour with distaste, thinking perhaps that Judaism should be a pure, clean, and highly intellectualized philosophical system.
Get over it, yourself!
Yahadus is utterly interactive, and requires your sweat. You cannot know unless you can feel, and much of the oddities serve to seal meanings in your mind. Remember, this is the religion of a stiff-necked people; warriors, peasants, nomads, brigands, harlots, scribes, and kings – not the mild-mannered insincere upper-crustian Wasp-creed that gets you admitted to the country club.
Unlike everybody else, we said “we will do and we will hear” (even though Har Sinai was being held over our heads at the time – I guess HE was getting impatient for somebody to say yes already). Shaking lulavim is part of the doing.
However, most Rishoinim disagree with the RI, referring to his rather abrupt departure from his position as director of the all boys Orthodox summer camp in Northern Lithuania (although they settled out of Baiz Din, so no one can prove a damn thing).
Rishonim = The mediaeval scholars (11th century to fifteenth), commentators, and sages; Rashi, Rambam, the Tosafists, and the scholars of Sefarad. The term means ‘firsts’. The scholars twixt the Geonim (heads of the academies in Babylon) and the Acharonim (the later scholars, 16th century through nineteenth).
The RIF points to the beauty of the Sukkah celebration as a unique mitzvah within Yiddishkeit. Fresh fruit. The outdoors. Many Rishoinim hold that you should live in the Sukkah for eight days.
It says in the Gemmarah that Rish Lakish would move into the Sukkah, and use it as an excuse for not having to deal with his mother in law all week. Rav Ashi, on the other hand, insisted that his mother in law sleep in the Sukkah, and take one or two of the kids with her.
Rif = Rabbi Yitzhok AlFazzi (1013 – 1103), a North African scholar who lived most of his life in Fez. His work is often printed in the back of the Gemarra, along with the ROSH (Rabbi Asher Ben Yechiel, 1250 - 1328) and the RAN (Rabbeinu Nisim ben Rav Reuven Girondi, born early fourteenth century, nifter 1380).
‘Live in the Sukkah for eight days’ = As much as possible, and every day, but the very minimum is to partake of meals therein.
Rish Lakish = One of the sages of the Talmud. A reformed brigand and friend of Yochanan Ben Zakai, who was keen on Yochanan’s sister. Yochanan prized him because he challenged everything that Yochanan said, forcing him to argue each detail. There’s no accounting for taste.
The Sukkah offers many opportunities to be Hiddur Mitzvah, to go above and beyond the letter of the commandment. It is customary to decorate the Sukkah with pictures and other decorations. (Vooz iz givehn plastic fruit, anyway? I understand the Reform decorate their Sukkahs with shrimp.)
Hiddur Mitzvah = To beautify the commandments; to do more than just the bare minimum required. Like sending a thousand dollars to the IRS, at random, because it’s a beautiful thing to do.
Decorate = Disco-balls, strobe-lights, so why not shrimp? They too are a wonder of His creation. If this is how the Goyi…, I mean ‘reform’ are hiddur mitzveh, who are we to judge?
According to Rabbeinu Tam, it is actually a Mitzvah Dioraisa to buy Christmas decorations in January at fifty percent off, to be used in decorating the Sukkah the following year: Flashing lights. Ornaments. Candy canes. Indeed, one year the Vilna Goyn decorated his Sukkah with a nativity scene he bought for six dollars the previous winter.
Rabbeinu Tam = Rabbi Yakov Ben Meier (1100 – 1170), a mediaeval French Torah exegete from a family of bavuste chachamim. Grandson of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040 – 1105), relative of many other commentators and talmedim.
Vilna Gaon = Eliyahu Ben Shloime Zalman Kremer (1720 – 1797), a Rabbi, Talmudic authority, and Kabalist. In many ways a much more important man than Samuel Pepys, though far less known among the Goyim and apikorsim. Ha Gaon Ha Chossid mi Vilne, and also the GRA (Gaon Rav Eliyahu). The father of Litvakish lomdus, and the arch opponent of Chasidus. The story that he decorated his Sukkah with notzriyische action figures may be an invention of his enemies. Or not. He did associate with non-Jewish scholars, as he was also a mathematician and astronomer. So, whatever.
There are other things that one can do with a Sukkah. A Braisah brings down a story of a young Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah, who, as a teenager, had the roof removed from his family's minivan so that he could drive down to the beach and be mekayaim the mitzvois of pleasuring his girlfriend and eating in the sukkah at the same time.
What a tzaddik!
Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah = A sage of the Roman period (born circa 90 CE, nifter circa 155 CE). Associate of both Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Gamliel. The crown of the sages, who turned prematurely gray after being made Nasi.
He stressed the value of deeds over wisdom. “Where there is no Toireh, there cannot be proper behaviour; where proper behaviour does not exist, there can be no Toireh”.
Yet the most beautiful element of Sukkois, and the aspect most shrouded in mystery, is the mitzvah of esroig. I still can't figure it out. It looks like a lemon. It smells like a lemon. It even tastes like a lemon. But it costs as much as heroin. How come it is easier to buy fresh peaches from Antarctica than it is to buy an esroig at a reasonable price?
A reasonable price = Standardly, esroigim can go for upwards of fifty or sixty dollars, but since hurricane Katrina, we have been telling those who only come to shul during the yomim noraim that demand has far exceeded the available supply, and have in fact been charging between one hundred and one hundred and fifty dollars per esrog – that Mikvah is gonna be built this year after all!
In New York, the options are not nearly as good for fundraising, unfortunately. The complete arba minim (four species) for as low as $20.00 on the Lower East Side (corner of Essex and Canal street), up to forty dollars in Boro Park. It is possible to get all four species, of a reasonably hiddur mitzveyish quotient, for around $30 (with a little haggling – Main Street, Queens).
Or try the tables in the diamond district, 47th street near 7th avenue.
Just don’t tell any of these West Coast Yekkies – they really do not need to know what they are missing. They’ll be happier that way.
And how many times in your life have you heard of esroig jelly? I bet you have heard of it all your life, you minuval, but have NEVER seen it. You know why? Imagine this boast to your friends and neighbors: "I took 100 esroigim that last week retailed for a total of $5,000, mixed them up with a little sugar and pectin, and now it's worth about $1.50." Really impressive.
Esrog Jelly = All Jewish holidays are associated with special foods, some purely mythological, like manna, esroig jelly, and allegedly edible potato kugel, no matter what my mechutenista claims. Now might be a good time to go on a diet.
A diet requires far less emunah than eating potato kugel.
If esroig jelly were sold at the farmer’s market in Civic Center (Wednesdays and Sundays, until about four in the afternoon), each jar could well be sold to yuppie idio…, I mean ‘upwardly mobile consumers’ for at least six or seven dollars. Still not worth it.
For this reason, I have a personal minhag. Two days before Sukkois, I buy 5 pounds of lemons in the supermarket, take them home, and then take a baseball bat to them. After about ten minutes of beating the crap out of them, I have plenty esroigim for myself and the kinderlach, and sell the remainder in the shul. With the extra money I buy some cologne, so I can smell nice for my dancing partner on Simchas Toirah night.
We shall trademark the term “genuine Israeli esroig” for our jars of lemon marmalade – all the trademark office needs to know is that esroig means fruit.
Buy a jar today. Buy a gift-pack for the season. Buy several. We won’t regret it. All proceeds will go to building a new Mikvah.
Und in mittn drinnen, tayere rabbosai, being besimches over ‘nosson lanu Toireh’ does NOT mean singing Mipi El and Yankif Der Gonif at the top of your lungs under Jodi’s window at three o’clock in the morning! I heard about that! Just because you decided to exchange simches b’ruach for shikker ad-reiyach, and spontaneously held a comparative tasting of Genever (and yes, Van Rutte’s seven year old is probably the best you’ll ever see), is no excuse!
It’s a good thing she has no idea what y’all meant when you praised her etrogeyn m’tukeyn!
Just for that, start reading the Toireh all over again.
Damn hippies.
Ah Gutten Yuntif, you Minuval.
