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Sukkot II: Sharing is caring

(יג) חַג הַסֻּכֹּת תַּעֲשֶׂה לְךָ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים בְּאָסְפְּךָ מִגָּרְנְךָ וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ. (יד) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְּחַגֶּךָ אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ. (טו) שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תָּחֹג לַה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה' כִּי יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּכֹל תְּבוּאָתְךָ וּבְכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ אַךְ שָׂמֵחַ.

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

(יח) כֵּיצַד. הַקְּטַנִּים נוֹתֵן לָהֶם קְלָיוֹת וֶאֱגוֹזִים וּמִגְדָּנוֹת. וְהַנָּשִׁים קוֹנֶה לָהֶן בְּגָדִים וְתַכְשִׁיטִין נָאִים כְּפִי מָמוֹנוֹ. וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אוֹכְלִין בָּשָׂר וְשׁוֹתִין יַיִן שֶׁאֵין שִׂמְחָה אֶלָּא בְּבָשָׂר וְאֵין שִׂמְחָה אֶלָּא בְּיַיִן. וּכְשֶׁהוּא אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה חַיָּב לְהַאֲכִיל לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה עִם שְׁאָר הָעֲנִיִּים הָאֻמְלָלִים.

אֲבָל מִי שֶׁנּוֹעֵל דַּלְתוֹת חֲצֵרוֹ וְאוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה הוּא וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֵינוֹ מַאֲכִיל וּמַשְׁקֶה לַעֲנִיִּים וּלְמָרֵי נֶפֶשׁ אֵין זוֹ שִׂמְחַת מִצְוָה אֶלָּא שִׂמְחַת כְּרֵסוֹ. וְעַל אֵלּוּ נֶאֱמַר (הושע ט-ד) "זִבְחֵיהֶם כְּלֶחֶם אוֹנִים לָהֶם כָּל אֹכְלָיו יִטַּמָּאוּ כִּי לַחְמָם לְנַפְשָׁם". וְשִׂמְחָה כָּזוֹ קָלוֹן הִיא לָהֶם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ב-ג) "וְזֵרִיתִי פֶרֶשׁ עַל פְּנֵיכֶם פֶּרֶשׁ חַגֵּיכֶם":

(18) How [does one make everyone happy appropriately]? Give the children nuts and candy, and buy the women as much nice clothing and jewelry as he can afford. And the men eat meat and drink wine since there is no happiness without meat and wine. And when [the head of household] eats and drinks, he is obligated to feed strangers, orphans and widows as well as all other poor people.

However, if he locks his doors and eats and drinks with his family and does not feed the poor and others going through hard times, this is not the joy which was commanded, but [merely] satisfying his stomach. About such people, it is said "There sacrifices are like the bread of mourners, all who eat it will be contaminated for their bread is for their own appetites." Such parties are disgraceful to those who participate in them as it says "I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your festival [sacrificial meals]"

תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף כז עמוד ב

וחכמים אומרים: אף על פי שאמרו אין אדם יוצא ידי חובתו ביום טוב הראשון בלולבו של חבירו, אבל יוצא ידי חובתו בסוכתו של חבירו, דכתיב +ויקרא כג+ כל האזרח בישראל ישבו בסכת - מלמד שכל ישראל ראוים לישב בסוכה אחת.

Sukkah 27b

The sages say “even though a person cannot exempt himself from his obligation of the four species on the first day of sukkot with a borrowed lulav and etrog, he may exempt himself from his obligation of sitting in a sukkah by using his friend’s sukkah. The basis for this is the verse that says “every citizen of Israel shall sit in sukkot”. This teaches us that all of Israel are fit to sit in one sukkah.

Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz and his sukkah

Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz was a spiritual giant in his generation. At first, his greatness was mostly unknown to his contemporaries, but he had no regrets; indeed, it suited him just fine. He spent his days and most of his nights in Torah-study, prayer and meditation. Rarely was he interrupted.
But then, the word began to spread, perhaps from fellow disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, that Rabbi Pinchas was very, very special. People began to visit him on a regular basis, seeking his guidance, requesting his support, asking for his prayers, and beseeching his blessing. The more he helped them, the more that came. The trickle to his door became a stream, and the stream became a night-and-day daily flood of increased knocks at his door and outpourings of personal stories and requests for help.
Rabbi Pinchas was bewildered. He felt he was no longer serving God properly, because he no longer had sufficient time to study, pray and meditate as he should. He didn't know what to do. He needed more privacy and less distraction, but how could he turn away dozens and even hundreds of people who genuinely felt that he could help them. How could he convince them to seek elsewhere, to others more willing and qualified than he?
Then he had an idea. He would pray for heavenly help in the matter. Let God arrange it that people not be attracted to seek him out! Let God make him be despicable in the eyes of his fellows!
"A tzaddik decrees and Heaven agrees," they say. Rabbi Pinchas prayed and so it became. No longer did people visit him. Not only that, on those occasions when he went to town, he was met with averted heads and a chilly atmosphere.
Rabbi Pinchas didn't mind at all. Indeed, he was delighted; now he had all the time he could desire for study, prayer and meditation. The old pattern was restored - rarely was he interrupted. No one was coming to him to seek his guidance, request his prayers, or beseech his blessing.
Then the Days of Awe - Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur - passed, and there remained only four brief busy days to prepare for the Sukkot festival. Usually, or rather, every year until now, there had always been some yeshiva students or local townspeople who were only too glad to help the pious rabbi construct his sukkah-hut. But this time, not a single soul arrived. No one liked him, so no one even thought to help him.
Not being handy in these matters, the rabbi didn't know what to do. Finally, having no choice, he was forced to hire a non-Jew to build his sukkah for him. But the gentile did not possess the tools that were needed, and Rabbi Pinchas could not get a single Jew in the neighborhood to lend him tools because they disliked him so much. In the end, his wife had to go to borrow them, and even that was difficult to accomplish due to the prevailing attitude towards her husband. With just a few hours remaining till the onset of the festival, they finally managed to complete a flimsy minimal structure.
As the sun slid between the forest branches and the Rebbetzin lit the festive candles, Rabbi Pinchas hurried off to shul. He always made a point to attend the congregational prayers on the holidays; besides he didn't want to miss the opportunity to acquire a guest for the festival meal, something so integral to the essence of the holiday.
In those days in Europe, people desiring an invitation to a meal would stand in the back of the shul upon the completion of the prayers. The householders would then invite them upon their way out, happy to so easily accomplish the mitzvah of hospitality. Rabbi Pinchas, unfortunately, did not find it so simple. Even those people who did not have a place to eat and were desperate for an invitation to a sukkah in order to enjoy the festive meal, turned him down without a second thought. Eventually, everyone who needed a place and everyone who wanted a guest were satisfied, except for the tzaddik, Rabbi Pinchas.
Rabbi trudged home alone, saddened and a bit shaken up at the realization that he might never have another guest, not even for the special festive meal of the First Night of Sukkot. Alas, that too was part of the price of his freedom.
Pausing just inside the entrance to his sukkah, he began to chant the traditional invitation to the Ushpizin, the "seven heavenly guests" who visit every Jewish sukkah. Although not many are privileged to actually see these exalted visitors, Rabbi Pinchas was definitely one of the select few who had this exalted experience on an annual basis. This year, he raised his eyes, and saw the Patriarch Avraham, the first of the Ushpizin and therefore the honored guest for the First Night, standing outside the door of the sukkah, maintaining a distance.
Rabbi Pinchas cried out to him in anguish: "Father Avraham! Why do you not enter my sukkah? What is my sin?"
Replied the patriarch: "I am the embodiment chessed, serving God through deeds of loving-kindness. Hospitality was my specialty. I will not join a festival table where there are no guests."
The crestfallen Rabbi Pinchas quickly re-ordered his priorities. He prayed that everything be restored to as it had been, and that he should find favor in the eyes of his fellow Jews exactly as before. Again his prayer was answered. Within a short time, throngs of people were again finding their way to his door; seeking his guidance, asking his support, requesting his prayers, and beseeching his blessing. No longer could he devote all or even most of his time to his Torah-study, his prayer, and to his meditation. But thanks to his holy Sukkot guest, this was no longer seen as a problem.

מנהג האושפיזין, הרב יונה גולן

המקור מהזוהר(זוהר פרשת אמור רע"ז)...תרגום: רב המנונא סבא כשנכנס לסוכה היה שמח ועומד על פתח הסוכה מבפנים ואמר נזמן את האורחים, וערך שולחן ועמד על רגליו ומברך לישב בסוכה, ואמר "בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים". שבו אורחים העליונים, שבו, שבו אורחי האמונה שבו והרים ידיו ושמח ואמר אשרי חלקנו אשרי חלקם של ישראל שכתוב, "כי חלק ה' עמו" וגו' והיה יושב. ועוד כתוב(זוהר פרשת אמור רע"ו)...בוא וראה בשעה שאדם יושב במדור זה בסוכה שבוא צל האמונה, השכינה פורשת כנפיה עליו מלמעלה ואברהם וחמשה צדיקים אחרים עודים משכנם עמו...(זוהר פרשת אמור רפ"ט)ישראל כשיוצאים מבתיהם ונכנסים לסוכה לשמו של הקב"ה זוכים שם ומקבלים פני השכינה וכל שבעת הרועים הנאמנים יורדים מגן עדן ובאים לסוכה ונעשים להם אושפיזין.

Custom of Ushpizen, Rav Yonah Golan


The custom comes from the Zohar (Parshat Emor)...: When Rav Hamnunah walked into the Sukkah and was happy, and would stand at the entrance and say “invite the guests”, and he would set the table and stand by it and make the blessing “leshev basukkah”. and say the verse “one shall dwell in the sukkah for seven days”, sit guests from on high, sit. He would raise his hands and say “praise is our lot, praise is the lot of Israel”...It is also written...when a person sits in the sukkah, the shechina opens her wings above it, and Abraham and five tzadikim gather...when Israel goes out of their homes to the sukkah in the name of God they receive the shechinah, and the 7 tzadikim come down from Gan Eden and join as guests.

בענף יוסף (המפרש בסידור אוצר התפילות) כתב וז"ל כל ירא שמים יראה שיהיה לו עני בכל יום ויום על שלחנו ויראה בעיניו כאילו הוא מהאבות הנ"ל שזימן אצלו ביומו ויתן לו מנה יפה. ובספר מועד לכל חי להדר"ח פלאג"י זצ"ל (ע"מ רנ"ו שע"ק י) עורר והוסיף דמאיך גיסא אם נמנע מלזמן עני אחר לדלחנו גדול עוונו מנשוא ומקללין אותו השבעה אושפיזין עילאין קדושין, ואם אין לו, שישלח להם תבשיל ויאמר בעת הנתינה זה חלק מסעודתינו יהיה חלק האושפיזין שיבואו לסוכתנו.

Custom of Ushpizen, Rav Yonah Golan

In Anaf Yosef it is written, anyone who is God fearing, will make sure to have a poor person each day at his table, and see him as if he is one of the forefathers that is invited on these days, and he should be given a nice meal. In the book Moed Le’kol Chai, he adds that one that does not invite a poor person is cursed by the fathers in heaven. And if there is not a poor person to invite in, he should send to them food, and while preparing say that this is for the guests that would come to the sukkah.

Maimonides:
(כ) כשאדם אוכל ושותה ושמח ברגל לא ימשך ביין ובשחוק וקלות ראש ויאמר שכל מי שיוסיף בזה ירבה במצות שמחה. שהשכרות והשחוק הרבה וקלות הראש אינה שמחה אלא הוללות וסכלות ולא נצטוינו על ההוללות והסכלות אלא על השמחה שיש בה עבודת יוצר הכל שנאמר תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלהיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרב כל. הא למדת שהעבודה בשמחה. ואי אפשר לעבוד את השם לא מתוך שחוק ולא מתוך קלות ראש ולא מתוך שכרות.

...When a person eats, drinks, and celebrates on a festival, he should not let himself become overly drawn to drinking wine, mirth, and levity, saying "whoever indulges in these activities more is increasing his observance of the mitzvah of rejoicing." For drunkenness, profuse mirth, and levity are not rejoicing; they are frivolity and foolishness.

And we were not commanded to indulge in frivolity or foolishness, but rather in rejoicing that involves the service of the Creator of all existence. Thus [Deuteronomy 28:47] states, "Because you did not serve the Eternal, your God, with happiness and a glad heart, and with an abundance of prosperity." This teaches us that service [of God] involves joy. And it is impossible to truly serve God while in the midst of levity, frivolity, or drunkenness.

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