From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
Sukkot
I am sure you heard about Oscar Wilde. The famous Oscar Wilde who lived in London and in Paris through the end of the last century.
Oscar Wilde wrote many stories. Some of them for kids.
The name of one of his stories, that lately was called to my attention, is "The Selfish Giant". I remember this story as one of the earliest stories I ever read in my early childhood. Reading the story again some ideas came to me.. I would like to share them with you.
But before that, lets go to the story.
Anybody remember the story?
The argument is very simple: Every afternoon, after school, the kids used to play in the giant garden. The kids were very happy in the garden, because in it grew many fruit trees and flowers. After a long trip, the giant come back and discovered the kids playing in his garden and chased them away. After that, he built a high fence and put up a sign forbidding entrance to his garden. The kids were very sad and walked around outside the garden missing the days they had played in it. Meanwhile, Spring arrived and all the gardens flourished. Only in the giant garden Spring refused to come and snow covered everything. The giant didn't understand why his garden didn't flourish and why in his garden it was winter all year long The days passed and one morning the giant heard the song of the birds. Suddenly he perceived his garden was flourishing. He looked out the window and realized that the cause of the coming of Spring was that the kids had made a hole in the fence and had entered the garden. Then the giant understood how selfish he was,. He destroyed the fence and allowed the kids to come back and play in his garden.
The story continues a little more but for now, that is enough.
The story is about how to take care of a home.
The giant has the option to build a high fence preventing anybody from coming into his home. Nobody will step on the grass, nobody will dirty the carpet, and he will keep his reputation of a strong giant. Everybody will fear the giant and his power. However, the price to pay for this exclusivity is an endless winter.
Only the presence of other people allows Spring to come. Only the kids running into the garden allowed it to flourish.
The garden of our story can be our home, our congregation and every one of us.
If we allow other people to enter into our lives, in our world, in our daily routine, we take the risk of losing privacy, of not being able to set the right limits, of losing control and power.
However, if we close doors, if we close ourselves to others, if we say, "I don't need the outsiders", we transform our home, our congregation and our lives into an endless winter in which nothing can flourish.. On the contrary, when I open myself to others, I need to learn to give up and I need to accept that I will not be able to have the absolute power over everything. Only through contact with others, can I grow .
If we want our garden to flourish, we need to go out and look for the people who are waiting for us to contact them. . We need to throw down the fences and to build bridges. It isn't enough that other people will be there for us, We must reach out to them.
If I want my garden to flourish, I need to learn to forgive. To see in others their positive side.
The riches of a congregation is not in its walls, in its fences, in its bricks, but in its people.
Sukot remind us this: even though our roof is frail, even though a wind can throw down the walls of our little house, even though all is "vanity of vanity", the bridges we can build in the relationship with other people can last forever.
The Sukah, with its frail walls and its wide door invites us to open our hearts to others. The Sukah invites us to share our food, our roof and our spirit.
Rabbi Levi Itzjkac of Berdichev used to invite everybody to his Sukah without taking care of the cultural or the social level of his guests. When someone asked him about his attitude, he answered: When in heaven, God will construct a Sukah for the just, and the divine presence will preside at the table, I, Levi Itzjak, will want to enter and I will be asked: What is your merit to be count among the just? Then I will answer: my Sukah was always open to everybody, I never made distinctions, please, don't make distinctions with me.
This is Sukot's lesson:-- to be happy with all that belongs to us, to open the doors to others, to bring back our brothers and sisters who went astray and to see in others their positive side.
And may God bless us so that we will flourish in our garden.
Shabat Shalom!
From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
Sukkot
"You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a citron tree, the branches of date palms, twigs of a plaited tree, and brook willows; and you shall rejoice before Hashem, your God, for a seven-day period" (Leviticus 23:16)
"Fruit of a citron tree [lit. a beautiful tree], i.e., an esrog"
"Hadar Beilano Mishana Leshanah" (RaSHI)
A fruit which stays in its tree during the entire year
The Midrash finds many symbolisms in the commandment of the Four Species. The two best known teach the importance of unity -- unity of purpose within oneself and unity of the Jewish people -- as follows:
The esrog (citron) resembles a heart; the lulav (palm branch), a spine; the hadasim (myrtle leaves), the eyes; and the aravos (willow branches), the lips. By holding all four together, we symbolize the need for a person to utilize all his faculties in the service of God.
The esrog (which has both a taste and a pleasant aroma) symbolizes one who possesses both scholarship and good deeds; the lulav (a branch of the date palm whose fruit has a taste but no aroma) symbolizes a scholar who is deficient in good deeds; the myrtle (which has no taste but does have an aroma) symbolizes a person who is deficient in Torah but possesses good deeds; and the willow (which lacks both) symbolizes a person who has neither. The Four Species are held together because all sorts of people must be united in the community of Israel.
The Etrog, is Israel, which has both a taste and a pleasant aroma. As the Etrog can survive different climates and adverse circumstances on the tree, so Israel will survive different climates and adverse circumstances in the midst of the nations.
We find in Hallel:
"I will raise the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Hashem" (Psalms 116:13)
When things are going well, when my cup runs over, I call upon the name of Hashem!
A few verses before, in the same Psalm, we read:
"I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Hashem" (Psalms 116: 3-4)
When I am in trouble, depressed, uncertain, concerned, overwhelmed, I will also call the name of the Lord!
Since we are Israel, we are like an Etrog and have the potential of surviving difficult climates and adverse circumstances.
How we train ourselves?
In moments of joy, by counting our blessings and recognizing their source:
"I will raise the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Hashem" (Psalms 116:13)
When things are going well, when my cup runs over, I call upon the name of the Lord!
So then, we will be ready to face adversity. Then, when "I found trouble and sorrow. Then I will
call upon the name of the Hashem" (Psalms 116: 3-4)When I will be in trouble, depressed, uncertain, concerned, overwhelmed, I will also be able to call the name of the Hashem!
This is a time of test!
For America certainly, but specific for the Jewish people!
Our loyalty to the Jewish people was put to test!
But we will withstand the test, with God’s help!
"Ana Hashem, Hoshiah Na"
"Please, Hashem, save us"!