Bereishis

Upon leaving the Succah for the last time, it is traditional to say the following farewell prayer, “May it be Your will...that just as I have fulfilled the mitzvah of Succah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in the Succah of the skin of the Leviathon.” The Leviathon were a pair of monstrous sea-giants created on the fifth day of Creation. Their imposing size forced Hashem to kill the female, (preserving her for the future as a meal for the righteous) lest they multiply and inundate the world. If I were to compose a farewell to the Succah, I would request to sit in the sublime and spiritual Succah of the Gaon of Vilna or of Rabbi Levi Yitchak of Berditchev. Why ask the Almighty to dwell in a Succah constructed out of the most physical and corporal being ever created?!

We must first understand the essence of the mitzvah of Succah. The Succah is unique in that we enter the mitzvah with our entire body, clothing, and even the mud under our shoes. King David captures this idea in Tehillim when he says, “Then his Succah was in Shalem and his dwelling in Zion (76:3)”, juxtaposing Succah and Zion. The mitzvah of Eretz Yisroel is to sanctify our physical existence through living, plowing and building in the land. As the Kotzker termed it: to transfer “Eretz” the physical into “Yisroel” the sublime. So too, the mitzvah of Succah is to eat, sleep and talk in its lofty shade, elevating the physical and infusing sanctity into the mundane. Immediately after Yom Kippur, the day of total physical negation, we are enjoined to begin construction of our Succah. This urgency is to dispel the notion that we are at war with the physical. To the contrary, our battle lies only with the need to elevate and define the physical as a vessel for spirituality. The Almighty created the world ex-nihilo, “Yaish” i.e. something, from “Ayin” i.e. nothing. Our mandate, say Chassidic thinkers, is to revert the “Yaish” back into “Ayin”. The purpose of a servant of Hashem is to squeeze spirituality and meaning from the imposing “Yaish” of the cosmos - exposing the “Ayin”, the sublime essence of creation. This puts the traditional farewell prayer of sitting in the mundane Leviathon Succah back into focus. Our greatest hope and prayer is to show that even the most ephemeral and mundane institution as the Leviathon can be transformed and channeled into a holy vessel.

A story is told of the great Torah scholar, Rav Avraham of Kalisk, who after mastering the Talmud and Poskim, chose to isolate himself from the physical world in a secluded attic, to intensify his scholarship and service of Hashem (see Chasdei Avos). After seven years of seclusion, a colleague of Rav Avraham’s, R’ Ahron burst into the attic with an insight from a nascent teacher, The Maggid - Rav Dov Ber of Mezritch, that forced Rav Avraham out of isolation. The Maggid taught a novel interpretation of the words of Dovid Hamelech, “the earth is full of your possessions” (Tehillim 104:24). The earth i.e. the physical and mundane, abound with infinite opportunities to possess and acquire the Almighty. This concept was a turning point in the life of Rav Avraham, challenging him back into the world, with a new quest to turn the “Yaish” back into “Ayin”. The story continues that Rav Avraham immediately committed 1,500 blatt to memory, verbatim, packed his bags and went to learn the Maggid’s ways in Mezritch.

The Holy Zohar tells us that as the holiday of Succos/Shmini Atzeres ebbs away and the Almighty’s presence is still overtly felt, “Shial Ma Debaei, Veyahivna Lach” “Ask whatever you want of G-d, and He will give it to you!” Rav Yehoshua Sagal Deutch explains that the word “Shial”- ask is to be understood as “Borrow” “Shiaylah”. We implore the Almighty for wealth, in order to use our wherewithal to serve Hashem, and good health, to have the stamina and vigor to be able to do His will. Please bless us with material success so we can ultimately return the blessing back to you in the form of spiritual accomplishments.

On Shmini Atzeres we began saying the prayer “Mashiv Haruach, Umorid Hageshem” “Make the wind blow and make the rain descend”. This is more than a prayer for good weather but the “motto of the Jew”. If one intensifies the “ruach” i.e. the spiritual, one can tame and place the “Geshem” the Gashmius - the mundane, in its correct place. Through our dedication to ruchnius, Torah learning, prayer and loving kindness, we can harness the giant Leviathon, the physical monster of the secular world, infusing it with meaning, dignity and purpose.

In this week's Parsha, we read about the premature demise of the wise and renowned tzaddik, Chanoch (Breishis 5:21). According to the Midrash, upon Chanoch's passing, the Almighty transformed Chanoch into the angel, "Mattatron", the "Saar Hapnim" and loyal servant of Hashem. We are told in the Midrash Talpios that Chanoch crafted shoes and sewed every stitch with "lofty spiritual intent". The great Gaon and tzaddik, Maran Rav Yisrael Salanter explained that Chanoch's lofty spiritual intent was not a religious expression but a declaration of his financial integrity. His only desire was to make "quality shoes" benefiting mankind with a dependable and reliable product. Allow me to share with you an alternative understanding of this great tzaddik's spiritual fascination with shoes.

HaRav Moshe Chagiz zt"l teaches us in his sefer, "Mishnas Chachomim", that the reason we wear shoes is to separate ourselves from the earth that was cursed as a result of the sin of Adam HaRishon, as we read "Accursed is the earth on account of you (Breishis 3:17)". It is for this reason that Moshe Rabbeinu was instructed to remove his shoes when he met Hashem at the burning bush, for the advent of the Divine Presence sanctified the very ground Moshe was standing on, making it advantageous to connect with the holy earth. Rav Menachem Mendel of Rimonov zt"l explained that the reason we remove our shoes on Yom Kippur is because the catharsis of this holy day temporarily removes the curse from the ground and obviates the necessity of separating ourselves from the earth.

The sefer, Imrei Shammai, quotes the Dinover Rebbe who further develops this concept. The Gemara in Berachos 60b teaches that upon putting our shoes on, we should pronounce the bracha, "She'asa lee kal tzarki", "You have provided me with all my needs". How are shoes so beneficial that they are tantamount to all our needs? The answer, says the Dinover Rebbe, is that the mandate of mankind is to constantly separate oneself from evil. Our shoes, which separate us from the cursed ground, provide us with our most vital and important need - to fulfill our mandate of separating from evil. It is for this reason that the Gemara in Shabbos 129a declares "A person should rather sell the beams of his home and purchase shoes for his feet". Shoes provide us with the wherewithal to fulfill our most lofty and vital aim of separating from curse and evil.

We can now suggest an understanding of Chanoch's lofty spiritual intentions upon crafting and marketing his shoes. HaRav Reuven Margolies in his sefer "Malachei Elyon" tells us that Chanoch was a charismatic world leader and king of kings. During his reign, he inspired world peace and brought the world to spiritual well-being and perfection. Therefore, suggests the Ostrovsta Rebbe, it was Chanoch's desire that everyone wear shoes and separate themselves from the cursed earth. In this way, Chanoch inspired a world-wide Teshuva movement, encouraging all to "Sur ma'ra", "Distance oneself from evil" and cleave to the blessing of Hashem and His will. As we begin the New Year, may we be inspired by the message of Chanoch and be diligent in distancing ourselves from places and situations that do not contribute to our spiritual growth and well-being.