WHAT EXACTLY ARE SUKKOT?

20 Tishrei 5777 / 21-22 October 2016

Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot

Torah: Exodus 33:12 – 34:26; Numbers 29:26-31

Haftarah: Ezekiel 38:18 – 39:16

22 Tishrei 5777 / 23-24 October 2016

Sh’mini Atzeret (The Eighth Day of Assembly)
Torah: Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17; Numbers 29:35 - 30:1
Haftarah: 1 Kings 8:54-66 (some add 9:1)

23 Tishrei 5777 / 24-25 October 2016

Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah)
Torah: Deuteronomy 33:1 - 34:12 (V’zot Hab’rakhah); Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 (Bereishit); Numbers 29:35 - 30:1
Haftarah: Joshua 1:1-18

Dedications and Calendar of Events follow.

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WHAT EXACTLY ARE SUKKOT?

We read this past Monday, on the first day of Sukkot:

"So that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 23:43

There is an interesting dispute among the Rabbis concerning the nature of the sukkot in which our ancestors dwelt. In the Talmud (Sukkah 11b), Rabbi Eliezer says the sukkot were "the clouds of glory" (ananei hakavod) that surrounded the Jews in the desert. But Rabbi Akiva says, "They built for themselves actual booths" (sukkot mamash). One might understand from Rabbi Eliezer that the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence, surrounded them in the desert - that is something truly spectacular! Rabbi Akiva is a realist - they lived in flimsy structures, just like we build today.

What makes the discussion more interesting is that in the midrashic text Mekhilta D'Rebbi Ishmael (Pischa 14), Rabbi Eliezer says they were actual booths and Rabbi Akiva says they were clouds of glory! Which text is correct and which rabbi is correct?

The answer is - they all are! Sukkot are physical and metaphysical. It comes to teach us that when we spend a week fulfilling the mitzvah of residing in a flimsy hut, we surround ourselves with the Shekhinah. Spend some time in a sukkah, and get your head in the clouds!

BTW, whether or not you have been in a sukkah this year, you are invited to “Pizza in the Hut” at our home this Sunday, October 23. The evite link with necessary information is at:

http://evite.me/huKWmcTwFq

Please let us know if you are attending by 3:00 pm Friday, to make sure we have enough pizza!

Chag Sukkot Sameach! Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom

Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA

http://bethmeier.org

Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/

Visit me on Facebook

Twitter: @DrahcirMolf

"From the place where we are absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the spring."

"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"

Yehuda Amichai

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Candle lighting: 5:53 pm

Friday – Shabbat Chol Hamoed Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday – Shabbat Chol Hamoed Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services

Sunday - Religious School – 9:30 am. If you have or know of any Jewish children ages 6-13 in need of a warm and welcoming Jewish education in a small setting, bring them on down! Or call Rabbi Flom or Elaine Kleiger at the synagogue office. Adult Hebrew – 10:00 am. Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00 am. PIZZA IN THE HUT at home of Rabbi Flom and Lynn Kronzek – 1:30 pm – see evite link above. Sh’mini Atzeret begins at 5:51 pm.

Monday – Sh’mini Atzeret Morning Service – 10:00 am. Simchat Torah Evening Service – 7:30 pm – Dance with the Torahs!

Tuesday – Simchat Torah Morning Service – 10:00 am.

Friday 10/28 – Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.

Saturday 10/29 – Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows services.

Sunday 10/30 – Religious School – 9:30 am. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED to take down the sukkah – 10:00 am. Adult Hebrew Class – 10:00 am. 

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Avi Shmuel Yosef Hakohen ben Bella, HaRav Yisrael Shimon ben Liebah Breina, Yaakov Rani Ben Margalit, Sarah bat Devorah, Zehavah B’rakhah bat Leah, Susan Arbetman, Ken Bitticks, Elsbet Brosky, Jerry Daniels, Maya Fersht (Maya bat Esther), Dr. Samuel Fersht (Shmuel Natan ben Gittel), Leonard Foint (Eliezer Moshe ben Esther), Jerry Forman, Myra Goodman, Simon Hartman, Fouad Kay (Yehoshua ben Salima), Philip Kovac, Toni Linder, Monte Mazo (Mottel ben Minnie), Deborah Schugar Strauss (Devorah bat Chaya Feiga), Helen Schugar (Chaya Feiga bat Kreina), Hedy Woolf, and Naomi Zimmermann (Naomi bat Yorma).

Please let me know if there is anyone you would like to add to this list or if there is anyone who may be removed from this list.

My weekly divrei torah are available through free subscription to the Cyber Torah e-mail list. No salesman will call!

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To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail from the receiving address to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net with the heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah”.

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