2021/5782
\As we all know, we just finished Yom Kippur, heard Parashat Ha’Azinu, and now it’s Sukkot. We’re going to ask three questions and find a major Yesod. The Torah says “Ha’azinu HaShamayim Va’Adabeirah VeTishma Ha’Aretz Imrei Fi,” “Listen Heavens and I will speak, let the Earth hear My words” (Devarim 32:1). Rashi brings down the Midrash that Moshe says he’s going to die and he’s going to give them Shamayim and Aretz and if they follow his Brit then great things will happen, but if they don’t then bad things will happen. Last week, we spoke about Moshe writing a Shirah. Many meforshim say it’s the Torah, but others, like the Ramban and Rashi say that it’s Ha’Azinu, which is interesting because Moshe is going to die in one day and he’s very critical and tells them about their mistakes. What kind of Shirah is that? Furthermore, it says “Zechor Yemot Olam Binu Shnot Dor VeDor,” “Remember days past, understand previous generations” (Devarim 32:7). This is redundant! However, there are no extra words in the Torah, so what does this mean?
We know we just had a day of Yom Kippur, a day of Selichot, Kaparah, etc. and the question is what is the connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkot? Why does Sukkot have to come after Yom Kippur?
The third question, posed by the Chida, is that they had the Man, or food, which represented Moshe, the Be’er, or water, which represented Miriam, and the Ananei HaKavod which represented Aharon. Asks the Chida; Why specifically is the Ananei HaKavod the miracle we celebrate? What about the Man or the Be’er?
The Ramban says “Zechor Yemot Olam'' is Moshe saying we’re gonna have many ups and many downs depending on whether we’re good or bad and this is Jewish history; you have to realize it is a Shirah, “Ha’azinu HaShamayim Va’Adaberah'' if you want it to be a Shirah. We know that the last Mitzvah of the Torah is to write a Sefer Torah. Says the Ramban, this is jewish history. We learn from our parents and grandparents, passing on the Mesorah to the next generation. Rav Menachem Tzion answers our previous question of the redundancy in the Pasuk. He says “Shenot” can also mean changes, because life changes all the time. Imagine telling people from a thousand years ago that we have laundry machines. They’d think it’s crazy! Everything changes, says Rav Menachem, but the one thing that doesn’t is the Ribono Shel Olam and His Torah, because the Torah is a book to understand Him. If you don’t have Torah SheBa’al Peh, you have some Pesukim, but you don’t know all the intricacies and details of the Halachah. Comes Rav Soloveichik and says a beautiful idea. We just had Yom Kippur and the Gemara Yuma Daf 37 on “Ki Shem Hashem Ekra Havu Godel Lei’Lokeinu” “For the name of Hashem I proclaim; Give glory to our God!” (32:3). says that it’s referring to when the Kohen Gadol would bow down and he would say “Baruch Shem Kevod” and we would do this as well. Asks the Rav, don't we already have this Pasuk for Birchat HaTorah from the Gemara in Brachot? The Rav answers that they’re the same thing; they both represent the relationship between us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Our relationship with Hakodosh Baruch Hu is the Torah. When we go and bow down to Hashem, we make the Torah precious in our eyes. So says the Ramban, “Zechor Yemot Olam'' we have to learn from our mistakes and look to the future.
What’s the connection between Sukkot coming after Yom Kippur? We have this whole idea of Klal Yisrael coming together. We had such a high spiritual day. The Meshech Chochma says right after Shemitah, we have a Hakhel in which everyone comes and gathers together. Why specifically then? You take that powerful year, so many people not working their land, the tremendous amount of emunah, and you instill Yirat Shamayim because inspiration isn’t who you are, but who you get to be. It’s what you have to do, it's about getting there. That’s why you need that Hakhel, because it’s about that achdut. Why do we have sukkot after yom kippur? It's the day of Teshuvah, the one day of the year we’re Malachim. We take the teshuvah and we bring it into our house. Like the Ba’alei Mussar explain, Pesach represents the Erusin the first stage of marriage, and Shavuot of getting the torah the Ikar of Klal Yisrael the relationship of us with Hashem, and then we have the Sheva Brachot of Sukkot because they’re the seven days where we dwell with Hashem. It’s like you’re at the park with your son and you have to go to shul and he says “clean me.” It’s the same thing with us and Hashem on Yom Kippur; we’re asking him to clean us of our sins, but it’s not enough, says the Ribono Shel Olam. We have to take that level and bring it into our life with Simchah. The Vilna Gaon says we got the second Luchot on Yom Kippur and after that we built the Mishkan which represents the idea of bringing Hashem into our lives.
Why the Ananei HaKavod? The Chida says that for water and food, without those you won't make it but Hashem loves us so much that He gave us shelter. We also saw that Bnei Yisrael never complained about the Ananei HaKavod. What does it represent? Aharon was an Ohev and Rodef Shalom. It’s the idea of Achdut, and that’s what Yom Kippur to Sukkot is about; taking the Achdus and bringing it into the Sukkah. Kli Yakar says about the Dalet Minim that it represents each different type of Jew coming together and when one is missing then you’re missing something. There’s a story where they had this big symphony and they asked someone to listen to it and he said that there was one thing off besides that it was great. They were missing one thing and one clarinet player wasn’t there. We can see that everyone makes a difference and that one person makes a difference even that one person in that whole symphony. We all have to be together, that's what sukkot represents. There’s a discussion of if you can borrow certain things and in Masechet Sukkah it talks about how you can go into someone's Sukkah to get something without them knowing, because it’s all one big Sukkah; we’re all coming together. Rabbeinu Bachayei says that the height and width of the Sukkah has to be at least ten by seven and if you multiply ten by seven, it’s seventy which is all the nations. There are also seventy Parim for the Karbanot which also represent the 70 nations. Kli Yakar goes further and says the Etrog is the heart, the Lulav the backbone, the Aravot the lips, and the Hadasim the eyes. Why three hadasim for two eyes? Says the Shemen HaTov it represents the past, the present, and the future.
“Zechor Yemot Olam,” the world is changing so quickly, but Hashem stays the same and so does the Torah. “Ki Shem Hashem Ekra'' the connection with Yom Kippur and Sukkot is the Achdut, the Sheva Brachot the house for Hashem. Why Ananei HaKavod? They represent that Hashem still gives it to us even though we don’t need it. Lastly, the Achdut, we need to realize if we all come together then we’ll all go further and learn from our mistakes.