Baruch Hashem, we are zocheh to be going from strength to strength, and from the holiness of the Yemei Hadin, we enter Chag Hasukkos, to bask under the Wings of the Shechinah, as a continuation of the days when we prayed fervently to be remembered for goodness and brachah.
Although our decree is already rendered on Yom Kippur, the holy Zohar teaches (Vayikra 32 1) that the final decree is still in our hands, and we can change it for better, until the last day of the chag, Hoshana Rabbah, during which the “notes are given” to the angels who are in charge of carrying out the din.
This can be compared to a person who was put on trial before a king for a great sin that he sinned, and he has the threat of a death sentence hanging over his head. Throughout the proceedings in the court, witnesses were brought for both sides, and at the end the judges sat down to write their verdict. As long as the verdict is not issued to those tasked with executing the punishment, the man can still plead and cry for his life, “lehashiv es haseforim, to return the books” (Esther 8:5). But after the notes are given over to the executors, he no longer has hope. That is Hoshana Rabbah, when the notes are given to the ones in charge. As long as they are not given over, the person can work to have his decree torn up so that it can be improved.
How, then, can we have our decrees torn up and changed for the good? The holy Zohar reveals (Tikkunei Zohar 40 1) that one who answers amen is called by the passuk (Yeshayah 58:9) “az tikra v’Hashem ya’aneh” – and amen has the power to tear up a person’s decree. If so, if we will only strengthen our answering of amen during these days - we will merit to have Hashem answer our call, and the executors will be given good decrees to carry out – for the klal and for each individual.
How pleasant are words that are so fitting for the time, as Succos comes upon us and we enter the sukkah, which is the shelter of emunah. Gedolei Yisrael in past generations have said that סוכה is equivalent to אמן because during the days of the chag – named for the mitzvah of sukkah, Chag Hasukkos –we have to be strict to answer as many amens as possible. This is because amen has tremendous power to protect us and shelter us, like a sukkah, of which the passuk says (Tehillim 27:5): “Ki yitzpeneinu besukko beyom ra’ah yastireinu beseiser ohalo.” The sukkah arouses us to the mitzvah of answering amen, as it tears up the decree that is given with finality on the final day of the Yom Tov – Hoshana Rabbah.
There is a remarkable similarity between the mitzvah of answering amen all year round, and the mitzvah of sitting in sukkah all the days of the Yom Tov. Just like the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah can be fulfilled at any minute of the seven days of the chag – day and night, likewise there is no limit or measure to the number of times we can fulfill the mitzvah of answering amen during every day of the year. While the brachos we have to make have limits, and they have to be said only at the right time, without being a brachah levatalah, regarding amen, the strictness is the opposite – not to miss a single amen, and to seek out as many opportunities as possible to answer amen.
The Gemara in Maseches Avodah Zarah (3a) describes what will happen l’asid lavo, when the nations of the world will see the reward that Am Yisrael receives for fulfilling the mitzvos of the Torah. At that time, they will complain to Hashem that they also want to do the mitzvos, and Hashem will tell them, “I have a very easy mitzvah, and it is called sukkah, go and fulfill it.” But the Gemara then describes that at that time, Hashem will bring out the sun and shine down its heat “and each one of them will kick their sukkah and leave,” and that’s how the claims of the nations will be shut down...
Baruch Hashem, we love the mitzvah of sukkah very dearly. We make the effort to build it, we spend a lot of money to put it up according to halachah, and then we continue to adorn and decorate it, each one as they see fit. But, regarding the mitzvah of amen, which we said is numerically equivalent to סוכה and it is similar in the opportunity to be able to do it more and more – do we actually do it? It does not require resources or special conditions, but rather that we be a “shomer amenim”! It behooves us to make sure to be strict and to fulfill it with hiddur, so that we should not chalilah be considered one who “kicks the sukkah and leaves...”
And after our decree is rendered for good and handed over to those in charge, for a year of success, consolation and yeshuah, with the power of emunah that we merit on Succos, we then ascend higher and open a new cycle of learning the holy Torah on Shabbos Bereishis, which falls this year immediately after Succos, and [out of Eretz Yisrael] is actually connected to the chag.
It is remarkable to see that the name of this Shabbos, like the name of Succos, also alludes to the importance of answering amen. We have been taught by early sages that בראשית is an acronym for בקול רם אברך את שם ה‘ תמיד, and if so Shabbos Bereishis also continues to serve as an important reminder of our obligation to recite each brachah aloud, and to give those around us the merit to answer amen.
Similarly, we can explain that the second word in the Torah, ברא, completes the previous one as it alludes to the obligation of answering amen after the brachah, as it is an acronym for בקול רם אמן. Aside for the benefit of answering amen, saying the brachah aloud elevates the recital of the brachah. When a person mumbles the brachah to himself, he may not enunciate the words k’halachah, or may even forget to make a brachah, chalilah. In contrast, one who makes the brachah aloud benefits both a brachah according to halachah and a brachah sheleimah.
Based on this we can connect the end of Torah to its beginning, as the sages of drush would do: Each morning in shul, without being ashamed or deterred, we must be strict that “l’einei kol Yisrael” we fulfill the words alluded to by “bereishis bara” – to recite Birchos Hashachar aloud and to answer amen after Birchos Hashachar of other people, aloud.
Succos and Shabbos Bereishis teach us about the importance of reciting brachos aloud and completing them with amen. There is no better expression for this call of awakening than the final phrase of the nusach of the ceremonial “Reshus” with which we call up the Chassan Bereishis to the aliyah l’Torah on Simchas Torah: “Amen ya’anu acharecha hakol meheirah!”
Wishing you a chag same’ach
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
