The Purpose of Sukkos
Now with all this in mind, we’re going to study the subject of the yomtov of Sukkos. Because even though all the yomim tovim have this tzad hashaveh of appearing before the Master Landlord and reminding ourselves that we are only visitors here in Olam Hazeh, Sukkos is especially made for that purpose.
Now, everyone knows what the mitzvah of sukkah is all about. At least superficially we all know. When the yomtov approaches you have to build a sukkah and if the weather permits, you have to move out of your house entirely, even to sleep in the sukkah. Of course today in some places it’s dangerous to sleep outdoors in the sukkah; the criminals make it impossible. But that’s how it really should be; we should be living in the sukkah day and night.
Vote for Sukkos-Safety
And I say, by the way, that it’s our fault, the frum Jews’ fault, because we don’t know how to vote. Because at least we should be the ones who have the common sense; the frum Jews should be up in arms for law and order. Not to vote for politicians who will give us money for programs for Orthodox organizations, for yeshivas. We don’t want that! We want politicians who will give money to hire more police! Politicians who will fight for our safety. Politicians who fight for law and order!
And by the way I want to bring up a shining hero. Seymour Kravitz! I never even heard of him before, but I say: vote for him. I don’t know if he’s a shomer Shabbos at all, maybe he’s a gentile, but he deserves our vote. Why? Because he made an advertisement; his name and his picture with the slogan, ‘Jail Not Bail.’ ‘Jail Not Bail’? That’s the man for us! Maybe he doesn’t even mean it, but still if he’s bold enough to put up that slogan we’re all for him.
And those politicians or those Orthodox organizations who don’t go along with us, we should boycott them and force them to do it our way! The trouble is we’re not doing it and therefore we are suffering what our laziness brings upon us. It’s our own fault if criminals are roaming the street and we can’t sleep safely in the sukkah.
But suppose you have a safe sukkah that’s built on a balcony and you’re able to sleep there, so frum Jews move out of their homes and they live in the sukkah. They forsake their homes and they live in a flimsy little hut all week long. We eat there and sleep there and spend time there. That’s the mitzvah.
The Secret of the Sukkah
But there’s something else. Because the maaseh hamitzvah, the outward performance, is one thing, and the pnimiyus is something else. And when it comes to the mitzvah of living in a sukkah the possuk uses an interesting word that really explains the intention of this procedure. The possuk states as follows: כָּל הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכּוֹת (Vayikra 23:42). That’s a queer word to use. You don’t find it used elsewhere; ‘every ezrach should eat kosher’, ‘every ezrach should keep Shabbos’, ‘every ezrach should refrain from shaving with a razor blade’. It doesn’t say that; it says every ‘Jew’, every ‘Yisroel’, something like that. Only when it comes to Sukkos it says ezrach.
And so you have to think about that. Why does it say ezrach? Such a peculiar word surely has a peculiar reason.
Second Class Citizens
And the answer is that ezrach means bona fide citizen, a certified citizen. You know a greenhorn, an immigrant who’s new to America, so he feels like he doesn’t belong. Even if he has his papers but he’s quite uncomfortable in the beginning. He knows he’s a visitor. But after a bit he begins to settle in. He finds an apartment and he learns the language a little bit. His children go to the public school and learn the cuss words. Little by little he becomes an American.
That’s what happens to all of us in this world. We get our footing established and we feel like we belong. And some even do very well. Some people have brick homes. A brick home? Absolutely that’s an ezrach. It’s a big drawback when you’re surrounded by a real brick home. Stucco after all is a flimsy thing. But suppose you have a real brick home, a sturdy building! So you begin to think you’ll live as long as the building.
Lucky Renters
Now, if you live in a rented flat you could consider yourself lucky. Because when it’s dripping from the ceiling, the bathroom above you is dripping down on you, you don’t feel so much that you’ll be here forever; every Monday and Thursday you threaten the landlord to leave. And he doesn’t even care because soon as you move out, he’ll put in three Puerto Rican families instead of you; he’ll make more money.
But today even the renters live like kings of old. It’s quite nice, even the small crowded apartments. People have bathrooms that in my days were considered Hollywood bathrooms. Bathtubs and fancy faucets. Even indoor plumbing means you’re doing quite well. You’re already an ezrach.
And if you have a bit of a home in a nice quiet street and you have a big garden, surely it’s a danger. You walk out in the morning to shul and you see your flowers and shrubs and you see the street is quiet and clean and you feel like you belong here; instinctively you know you’ll be here for the next ten thousand years.
And that’s the biggest danger for a Jew in this world. If Olam Haba is so far off so you forget about it; it becomes the last of your concerns. Maybe in nine thousand years, you’ll start thinking about it. And that means that your ticket to Olam Haba, your station in the Next World is slipping out of your hands.
Bricks, Stucco and Schach
And therefore it’s of the greatest urgency, it’s an emergency, that you have to be reminded right now. The renter has to be reminded and the stucco-man has to be reminded more, and the brick-man even more: “All of you are in need of that reminder,” the Torah says. “Because you feel that you’re an ezrach! You feel you’re a permanent settler here, a permanent burgher, a real citizen. And so you have to be reminded that it’s a facade, a test; actually this world is only a פְּרוֹזְדוֹר לִפְנֵי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא – it’s a hallway that leads to your place of permanent residence.”
And how do we remind ourselves? The answer is move out! אָמְרָה תּוֹרָה צֵא מִדִּירַת קֶבַע וְשֵׁב בְּדִירַת עֲרַאי – Hashem says, “Leave your ‘permanent’ home and enter a temporary dwelling” (Sukkah 2a). And the loyal Jew listens. So you go out into a flimsy little hut. Even if you’ll decorate it and bring out your table and chairs, what is it after all? What kind of roof is this over your head? It’s a weak kind of protection. Some sticks, some schach. It could rain too and you’ll get wet.
And the walls are also not so permanent either; sometimes a heavy wind can make the walls creak. And when the children yell or misbehave you’re embarrassed from the neighbors. They hear everything. It’s quite temporary.
The Torah’s Eviction Notice
And therefore, if you do it right, if you put your mind to it, the sukkah becomes a beis medrash – it’s teaching you Torah ideals, Torah attitudes. You’re being reminded that you’re heading to a better, more permanent place. Hopefully it will be later than sooner but that’s what the sukkah tells us.
Isn’t that a beautiful idea? Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in order to do a big favor to His people, He serves us with a yearly eviction notice. But not like when the sheriff does it, with a court order and with police. This eviction notice is fun. We go out in the sukkah and we enjoy ourselves. It’s a lot of fun to go out into the sukkah with the family. Very good! The Am Yisroel is always busy with good times; that’s what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants. But in the midst of simchas yom tov we never forget the purpose; once a year, for seven days, we are evicted from our homes in order to remember that our homes aren’t forever, that this world is not forever.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Now, there’s a reason why I made sure to point out that the sukkah is fun. Because my dear friends, I don’t want you to be disheartened by that reminder that you’re only passing through. Oh no! It’s a happy reminder. Because that’s the reaction of all those who are facing the prospect of Olam Haba; that this world is a much happier world.
It’s not a silly idea I’m telling you. When a man knows – like all of us know – that he’s in this world for the next 65 million years, it’s boring. The whole world is boring, it’s not interesting, when you still have 65 million years ahead of you! But when you know it’s a little less than 65 million years then you think, “Maybe I should enjoy it.”
Melamdim Have More Fun
It’s like the poor melamed who goes to the country in the summer for only a week or two; he can’t afford to pay for the whole summer so they find a short-term place. You know, when you’re there for two months you have plenty of time and so you’re not in a hurry to enjoy it and it becomes boring too after a while. But while you’re there you notice those who are coming for a one-week vacation and you see that these one-weekers, they come along with fishing rods. They come along with hiking boots. They come with plans how they’re going to do everything during that week; they’ll go here and they’ll go there.
Because they know they’re only here for one week, they come with the intention of getting the most they can out of it. And so they go swimming all the time and fishing and hiking and looking and jumping. They’re busy all the time because they know time is short and they want to get the most out of this one week. Which means, a tourist has more fun and a tourist makes more use of the opportunities.
And so that’s what the sukkah is; for seven days we’re reminded that our brick home is also just a sukkah. And that gives a zest to life! We enjoy the lesson of the sukkah, the reminder that this world is fleeting, that it’s passing by and actually we are heading to our permanent station in the Next World. And we enjoy the diras arai of Olam Hazeh so much more because of that.
