Succoth: plurals

 

Succoth: plurals

 

We call the חַ֧ג chag, the holiday, that starts today succoth, shelters. The Torah gives it this name:

דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֜ר י֗וֹם לַחֹ֤דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי֙ הַזֶּ֔ה חַ֧ג הַסֻּכּ֛וֹת שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים לַי

 

Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths

 

The word is presented as plural. The simplest understanding is that a large number of people need a large number of independent dwellings.  Every family  resides in its temporary home. Most of the details of construction and furnishing are not specified; variety flourishes.

This evokes the vision of Bilaam, hired to curse Israel, he sings their praises instead. The most famous of  his statements is

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!

 

Rashi sends us to Bava Bathra   60a  for the interpretation

 

מה טבו אהליך. עַל שֶׁרָאָה פִתְחֵיהֶם שֶׁאֵינָן מְכֻוָּנִין זֶה מוּל זֶה:

 

מה טבו אהליך

 HOW GOODLY ARE THY TENTS — He said this because he saw that the entrances of their tents were not exactly facing each other (Bava Batra 60a; cf. v. 2).

 

Bilaam praised the respect for privacy that the Israelites afforded one another.  One recites this line when entering the beith hamedrash, the study hall, the combination of private and public study, where breakthroughs may be made in private or in small groups, and shared publicly.

 

The camps: concentration camps: Displaced persons camps, illegal immigrant camps, homeless shelters … these are the antithesis of this observation of praise. The loss of privacy, and hence dignity was, and is, an important part of the cruelty of tyrants.  Succoths are a step toward liberation and a return to blessings of quiet peace.

 

The Shulchan aruch, the distillation of text and tradition into action and law, opens its section on sukkot in an unusual way. It quotes and interprets the verses that are the basis of the celebration.  Usually, the Shulchan aruch confines itself to the actions that are prescribed or forbidden.  Here, it provides the motivation.

 

בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים וגו' כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל הם ענני כבוד שהקיפם בהם לבל יכם שרב ושמש:

 

On Succot we shall dwell for 7 days etc. Because on Succot I protected the children of Israel. These refer to the clouds of glory who protected them from all the intense heat and the sun of the desert.

 

 

We are told not to take the verse at face value ( Rashi , Onkelos say likewise). It says that we should not understand sukkot literally as flimsy, temporary shelters.  Rather it means that the journey through the desert was made possible by divine intervention.

 

I like to bring it back to the literal. It is only by the Divine intervention that the Israelites could survive despite their flimsy dwellings. Ordinarily conditions in the wilderness through which the Israelites  traveled are too harsh to survive in such rickety structures.  Thus, the fact that they did prevail, with nothing more significant to protect them from the harsh sun – and all the other adversities of the desert- is a testament that the sukkot were not the real shield; the clouds of glory were the real protection.

 We, who are aware of natural disasters that occur around the world, should realize that no one is exempt from potential natural disaster. This supports a world view that Succoth recommends: our continued comfortable lives are supported by Divine decisions on a day to day basis, no matter what material your house is made from.

Succoth is also a pleural holiday in terms of the evolution of the structures this word designates. For a long time, my wife Karen had a dream of a deck off the kitchen where we could sit outside, with a view of the lake and the trees, and have our morning coffee. We would just have to step outside the house and we would be on this wonderful deck. We knew that the deck would change the placement of our sukkah. The deck covers the narrow corridor where we used to place our sukkah before the deck invalidated that space. 

The old sukkah was on the bottom of the hill that our house is built upon. It was submerged.  We used to call it the bunker sukkah. It was dark and  a little hidden.  It was a sukkah that reminded me of my parents, and how they lived in a hole in the ground, covered by leaves and bushes, by schach, for a year during the holocaust in Poland.  More importantly, that sukkah reminded Karen and our children of that experience. That sukkah was haunted by the spirits of my parents and the millions of spirits that they represented, that vast majority of whom were not as fortunate. A kind os holocaust Ushpizin.

Now we have an easily set up sukkah on that new deck.  We have brackets into which we insert metal pole that have grooves for poles from which we hang the tarp and then we cover it with bamboo.  This is an American sukkah, an easy, convenient suckah. 

We live in Seward Park. There are all kinds of sukkot.  Years ago, the best sukkot in the neighborhood were designed by the Katzman brothers.  That tradition is past, but the number of sukkot increases every year as Jews become more comfortable with publicly displaying  their bizarre appearing traditions publicly.  Is this the undoing of our bunker sukkah?

Over time the sukkah and the dream it could represent continues to change.  These are the last days in which we recite in Ledavid Mizmor

כִּי יִצְפְּ֒נֵֽנִי בְּסֻכֹּה בְּיוֹם רָעָה

For He will hide me in His Tabernacle

This is the week that we add in benching, grace after meals

הָרַחֲמָן הוּא יָקִים לָֽנוּ אֶת־סֻכַּת דָּוִד הַנּוֹפָֽלֶת:

May the Merciful One raise up for us the fallen Tabernacle of David.

 

 

 

 

Amitz Koach

 Amitz Koach

The Torah prescribes a dramatic ceremony of expiation to be performed on Yom Kippur.  This was the core of the service in the Temples, and stopped after their destruction, along with all the other sacrificial rites.

 

It is hard for me, a modern person to understand how this works.  I live in a culture that finds animal sacrifice alien and adds adjectives like primitive and cruel to this unfamiliar process.  We do not have this ritual anymore, but we are asked to imagine it.

 

In our machzor, the description is embedded in a highly structured poem written over 1000 years ago in Italy by Meshulam ben Kalonymous.  It is not the most difficult piyut, liturgical poem, to understand, but I need the help of the translation and it is slow going. The piyyut is not a mere description of the events, it explicates and comments upon this mystery

 

How can I relate to an early medieval poem describing an ancient service that is far from the familiar; a service that is scorned by the ambient culture. 

This service brings kaparah, a word that is the root of Yom kippur.

 Translation does not capture the various facets of the word.  It has elements of covering up, it conveys compensation ( kofer)  for damages, it is related to renunciation( kafirah) ; and it means atonement; and it means that atonement may have all of these aspects inside it.

 

Kaparah comes from Gd;, it is not a natural thing, it  is not something to be expected, it should, literally, not be taken for granted.  I cannot fathom the entity that will grant kapara; I cannot understand the process by which it takes effect.

It is not surprising that I do not easily understand a poem that describes it.  

 

Yom kippur is the opportunity to explore this deep secret, and whatever insights I can gain from this process are treasures

A small example:

 

The piyyut begins by describing creation and surveys the first 6 days as described in Genesis.  When it comes to the creation of the human it says

 

הִקְרַֽצְתָּ גֹּֽלֶם מֵחֹֽמֶר בְּתַבְנִית חוֹתָמֶֽךָ. .

 

You formed a shape, a golem from clay in the imprint of your seal.

 

This poem was written 500 years before Judah Lowe, the Maharal of Prague, the fabricator of the famous Golem was born. What does it mean? How does it fit?

 

Welcome to the mystery.

Ha’azinu: AI

Ha’azinu: AI

 

This week’s parsha is the poem of the great prophecy.  A story of Gd finding a desperate Israel in the desert and bringing them from desperation to survival to flourishing.  The now prosperous nation of Israel takes credit for its triumph, by emphasizing the role of their own actions in their success, rejecting Gd's role and ultimately rejecting Gd.  Gd rejects the arrogant people and removes their protection.  Enemies arise and nearly destroy Israel.  Gd comes to the rescue, since the persecutors fail to recognize Gd as the source of their victories, and Israel rises from the devastation. Coda: Moshe delivers the poem with instructions to keep the rules of the Torah as a way to prevent the downfall. Afterward: Moshe is given his terminal instructions

 

The song is introduced in the previous parsha :

וְ֠הָיָה כִּֽי־תִמְצֶ֨אןָ אֹת֜וֹ רָע֣וֹת רַבּוֹת֮ וְצָרוֹת֒ וְ֠עָנְתָה הַשִּׁירָ֨ה הַזֹּ֤את לְפָנָיו֙ לְעֵ֔ד כִּ֛י לֹ֥א תִשָּׁכַ֖ח מִפִּ֣י זַרְע֑וֹ כִּ֧י יָדַ֣עְתִּי אֶת־יִצְר֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֤וּא עֹשֶׂה֙ הַיּ֔וֹם בְּטֶ֣רֶם אֲבִיאֶ֔נּוּ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבָּֽעְתִּי׃

and the many evils and troubles befall them—then this poem shall confront them as a witness, since it will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring. For I know what plans they are devising even now, before I bring them into the land that I promised on oath.

 

The poem is a prophecy. It foresees events that will occur, and it predicts how the nation will respond. It conveys an understanding of the eternity of the written word, lasting through the generations. Gd, the author, knows the forces that will determine history: the deepest natural desires (־יִצְר֗yetzer)  will continue to motivate and foretell the future.

 

Observation and analysis of history forms the basis of prediction. The predictions alert the reader to events that fit the model; to an extent the forecast shapes the surveillance and the interpretation. When the prophesied events are “witnessed,” they generate trust in the predictor.

Large language models have become available to the public (on a limited basis). These are popularly known as Artificial Intelligence. These computer programs generate natural-appearing language, (presumably) based upon an enormous data set, the writings that are available to the internet. Everything but handwritten journals and musings. Everything but the most private thoughts. This huge data set represents a (skewed) average of what people [say they] think. Therefore, it is the best available predictor of what they will say next. The program generates the most frequent next word (or 2 or 3…).  The output will generally meet the expectation of the asker or the reader. The words are what one would say or should say under the circumstances. [Consider the meaning of the silent “l” words; always true, rarely factual].

 

The large data set allows more complex predictions. It can approximate a model of motivations and desires (־יִצְר֗ yetzer) , generating the loop of forecast - and faith based upon accuracy.  But this machine does not demand loyalty, it leads down the road to faith in nothing, the No-Gd, that Ha’azinu invokes as the agent of destruction.

 

In our times, we no longer need to invoke Gd as an actor in history.  There are alternative models. But I do not need to reject the Gd model.

 

זְכֹר֙ יְמ֣וֹת עוֹלָ֔ם בִּ֖ינוּ שְׁנ֣וֹת דֹּר־וָדֹ֑ר        שְׁאַ֤ל אָבִ֙יךָ֙ וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ וְיֹ֥אמְרוּ לָֽךְ׃

Remember the days of old,

Consider the years of ages past;

Ask your parent, who will inform you,

Your elders, who will tell you:

Nitzavim-Vayelech: Mysteries

This week's parsha contains an arresting sentence: 

 הנסתרת לה'  וְהַנִּגְלֹ֞ת לָ֤ׄנׄוּׄ וּׄלְׄבָׄנֵ֙ׄיׄנׄוּ֙ׄ עַׄד־עוֹלָ֔ם לַעֲשׂ֕וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃ {ס}

The secret things belong to the Lrd our Gd: but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Tora.

What does it mean? What are these nistaroth, these hidden things? 

Onkelos translates it: דְּמִטַּמְּרָן, dimitamron,  those things that have been hidden away. Are they objects?  Perhaps they are actions. 

Rashi puts the word in the context of the preceding  paragraph, introduced by the punishment brought on by the secret idolator: 

אִם תֹּאמְרוּ מַה בְּיָדֵנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת? אַתָּה מַעֲנִישׁ אֶת הָרַבִּים עַל הִרְהוּרֵי הַיָּחִיד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "פֶּן יֵשׁ בָּכֶם אִישׁ וְגוֹ'", וְאַחַר כָּךְ "וְרָאוּ אֶת מַכּוֹת הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא", וַהֲלֹא אֵין אָדָם יוֹדֵעַ טְמוּנוֹתָיו שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ אֵין אֲנִי מַעֲנִישׁ אֶתְכֶם עַל הַנִּסְתָּרוֹת, שֶׁהֵן לַה'

 And if you say, “But what can we do? Thou threatenest the many (the whole community) with punishment because of the sinful thoughts of one individual, as it is said, (v. 17): “Lest there should be among you a man, [or a woman or a family … whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord …]”, and afterwards it states, (v. 21) “And they will see the plagues of that land”. But surely no man can know the secret thoughts of his fellow! Now, I reply: I do not threaten to punish you because of secret thoughts

 The  Ramban offers  an additional opinion:

 ודעתי בדרך הפשט כי הנסתרות הם החטאים הנסתרים מן העושים אותם 

By way of the simple meaning of Scripture it is my opinion that the secret things are the sins that are  hidden from those who commit  them. 

This approach is closer to the way I, as a modern person, understand the verse. The idea that Gd would hold the community responsible for the private thoughts and actions of deviant individuals does not enter my mind. But my thinking  could reflect the tradition, as expressed by Rashi and others. 

The Ramban talks about sins. Presumably, these are actions, not thoughts.  Halacha, the law, does not punish thought. Ramban  may have found a way to interpret the verse that makes nistaroth, the hidden things, actions. However, Rashi  has a clear basis for considering the hidden  issue thought. The sentence that introduces the topic reads: 

פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּ֠כֶ֠ם אִ֣ישׁ אֽוֹ־אִשָּׁ֞ה א֧וֹ מִשְׁפָּחָ֣ה אוֹ־שֵׁ֗בֶט אֲשֶׁר֩ לְבָב֨וֹ פֹנֶ֤ה הַיּוֹם֙ מֵעִם֙ יְ

Perchance there is among you some man or woman, or some clan or tribe, whose heart is even now turning away from our Gd

The reference to thought seems clear. 

Moreover, we are not dealing with human justice, based on incomplete knowledge of circumstances and consequences.  We are not dealing with a court from which facts, and certainly thoughts, can be hidden.  The verse stipulates that these hidden things are the domain of Gd; in that context, thoughts may be considered - and, if appropriate, punished.  

I read this sentence every year, as Rosh Hashanah is palpably approaching, and worry about my own thoughts. I am a modern person. For me, thoughts have an origin. I believe that there is an unconscious psyche - some combination of physiology, instinct, learning and propaganda -  that determines most, perhaps all, of what I think and believe.  It is beyond difficult for me to escape from the  worldview that molds my thinking. The corrupt thoughts themselves come from hidden sources.  Although the thoughts are between Gd and me, perhaps it is my responsibility to limit the inputs... like social media and news. The verse is a warning that I cannot fully control the influences. Although my choices of inputs are  private, hidden, (sater) ,protected by law, they are clear to Gd and Google. 

Rabeinu Bachya  says: 

ושמעתי בשם הרמב"ם ז"ל בפירוש פסוק זה, הנסתרות לה'  אמר סודות התורה הנסתרים וטעם המצות לשם יתעלה הם, ואם יזכה אדם שיקח אזנו שמץ מנהם בידיעת שרש המצוה ועקרה בנסתר שבה אל יפטר בכך מן הנגלה שלא יעשה המצוה בענין גופני, אין לו להמנע מזה, שהרי הנגלות לנו ולבנינו לעשות. והפירוש הזה בעצמו שהם יקר וספיר, אבל אינו בענין הפרשה

I have heard it said in the name of Maimonides about this verse that that the words הנסתרות לה’ אלוקינו refer to the fact that mystical dimensions of the Torah, such as the true reason behind the various commandments, are the exclusive domain of the Lord; if man succeeds in revealing even a small portion of such reasons, this does not excuse him from fulfilling the respective commandment in accordance with what the Torah has revealed about it in the text. It is our duty to perform all the commandments as written, even if we are certain that seeing we know the true reason for them this would make performance redundant in our eyes.

The Torah rests upon a secret foundation. When a reason for a mitzvah ( commandment) is revealed, it does not transfer possession to the finder. The full extent of the reasoning behind the mitzvoth is  far beyond human understanding. This idea merits statement in the context of the introductory verse: 

וְהָיָ֡ה בְּשׇׁמְעוֹ֩ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֨י הָאָלָ֜ה הַזֹּ֗את וְהִתְבָּרֵ֨ךְ בִּלְבָב֤וֹ לֵאמֹר֙ שָׁל֣וֹם יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֔י כִּ֛י בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת לִבִּ֖י אֵלֵ֑ךְ לְמַ֛עַן סְפ֥וֹת הָרָוָ֖ה אֶת־הַצְּמֵאָֽה׃

and it come to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubborness of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

 

Human knowledge is so limited. There are no limits to hubris. 

The  root word סְתַּרְ, sater, hide, reappears at the end of this weeks reading, in Vayelech. These are among the most frightening verses in the Torah

חָרָ֣ה אַפִּ֣י ב֣וֹ בַיּוֹם־הַ֠ה֠וּא וַעֲזַבְתִּ֞ים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּ֨י פָנַ֤י מֵהֶם֙

וְאָנֹכִ֗י הַסְתֵּ֨ר אַסְתִּ֤יר פָּנַי֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא עַ֥ל כָּל־הָרָעָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה כִּ֣י פָנָ֔ה אֶל־אֱ  אֲחֵרִֽים׃

And I will surely hide my face on that day for all the evils which they shall have perpetrated, in that they have turned to other gods.

 

Rashi :

והסתרתי פני. כְּמוֹ שֶׁאֵינִי רוֹאֶה בְּצָרָתָם:

י AND I WILL HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM, as though I do not see their distress.

This brings to mind the clearest documented historical example -  the holocaust. What secret sins and idolatrous thoughts  invoked this other usage of sater, hidden? I must take the advice attributed to the Rambam: it is beyond my comprehension. 

Perhaps the two usages of Sater are related. The episodes of the hidden face are not ours to understand, they are Gd's domain. This is idea is supported by the spelling in the Torah:   הנסתרת לה'.  It is translated as  secret things, in the pleural. The commentators insert  the missing vav, which would normally make the word a pleural, but it is not present in the calligraphy. Rather, the word is left with the possible meaning: the concept of hiddenness is Gd's alone. ( There is an allusion to this in Rabeinu Bahiya.)

The hidden place of Gd can be a shelter,. We invoke it every Shabbath (Psalm 91)

יֹ֭שֵׁב בְּסֵ֣תֶר עֶלְי֑וֹן בְּצֵ֥ל שַׁ֝  יִתְלוֹנָֽן׃

He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

And we plead for it in the month of Elul, as the new year approaches: (Psalm 29)

כִּ֤י יִצְפְּנֵ֨נִי ׀ בְּסֻכֹּה֮ בְּי֢וֹם רָ֫עָ֥ה יַ֭סְתִּרֵנִי בְּסֵ֣תֶר אׇהֳל֑וֹ בְּ֝צ֗וּר יְרוֹמְמֵֽנִי׃

For in the day of evil he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the covert of his tent he shall hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֬ר פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀ מִמֶּנִּי֮

Hide not Thy face from me;

I am thankful for the secrets that are revealed and the good that they bring. I know that the bulk are still, and will forever, be hidden. I will try to deal with what is revealed to me. 

Ki Thavo: The acknowledgement 

Ki Thavo, when you arrive, opens the parsha. Arrival is the quandary of Zeno's paradox: the argument that since movement to the goal produces a fractional advance, the goal can never be reached because there is always another, smaller, fractional gap between the runner and the goal. Half of a half of a half of a half...Based upon common experience of reaching goals, the paradox is commonly considered an absurdity. This concept does, however seem related to important mathematical concepts like limits ( the basis of calculus) and infinite series ( a fundamental basis of computer science). In my understanding of the parsha, Zeno's paradox prevails.

When have you arrived? When you set foot? When you harvest the grain? When the next generation is born?  When you are a billionaire? The ambiguity means that the goal will never be  reached. 

But there is a point at which the payments begin. In the good times, they are gifts of gratitude; appeasements -  given in the hope that the prosperity continues. Then comes the exile; you have to pay the mortgage after eviction; and the interest has become astronomic and it continues to increase until the situation is hopeless. In retrospect, you seem to have arrived, enjoyed and lost. You know that you arrived because you are paying. 

Are we given the choice of not arriving? The foundation story of the nation is tied to arrival in the land. It is the promise Gd made to the ancestors, a motivator of the Exodus.  As it turns out, over the long history of "exile", the land was a mythic rallying point, the object of collective longing.  It became more important as a dream - a dream no one thought could be realized - than a place.  And then, after an excessive, unspeakable down payment, the land became a reality, a physical goal. Enter Zeno. 

The parsha prescribes a declaration that accompanies the first fruit celebration of arrival. 

 אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וַיָּ֥גׇר שָׁ֖ם

“My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt 

This declaration is repeated in the annual  Passover Seder. For all the centuries of exile, the dream of arrival was preserved. 

The meaning of   אֹבֵ֣ד (oveyd) is ambiguous.  Onkelos, the official   translation of  the Torah renders the  passage: 

לָבָן אֲרַמָּאָה בָּעָא לְאוֹבָדָא יָת אַבָּא

Lavan the Arami wanted to destroy my forefather. 

Rashi follows Onkelos and the Passover Haggadah peruses this line, characterizing Lavan as worse than  Pharoah. 

Ibn Ezra, based upon grammar comes to the modern  English translations (JPS, Koren). He concludes: 

The meaning of our phrase thus is, a perishing Aramean was my father. Its import is, I did not inherit the land from my father, for my father was poor when he came to Aram. He was also a stranger in Egypt. He was few in number. 

I like to combine these ideas. The Egyptian bondage was the result of Jacob's travail. He had tried to re-establish his Aramian roots with Lavan, but that would lead to his destruction: economic and physical  according to the Torah text, national per the Haggadah's interpretation. Regardless, Jacob's return to Lavan established him as a non Canaan native, despite his second generation status ( his father was born in Canaan and never left during his lifetime). When the famine struck, Jacob was stateless ( a model for many subsequent generations of his descendants). He had tried to return to Aram, but the result of that travail brought him to Egypt, the land where his long lost favorite son had succeeded beyond all expectation. Egypt could never be arrival. It was bondage. 

Arrival is always a dream. Be grateful for the approach; you will have to pay for it.