Sukkos, Hakhel - The Baal Shem Tov, the Unity of Sukkos and the Mitzvah of Hakhel

00:01 The books tell a story about the Baal Shem Tov concerning Sukkos. When the Baal Shem Tov moved to Mezhibuzh, the town’s leading figures, scholars, and rabbis were unfamiliar with Chassidus—and not only that, they opposed it. So when he moved there, they had all sorts of questions and objections. On the eve of Sukkos—or during Sukkos, perhaps on Chol Hamoed—the scholars of Mezhibuzh came to visit the Baal Shem Tov. When they arrived and saw his sukkah, they questioned whether it was kosher. They said that, as far as they could see, it was not. A whole discussion developed. The Baal Shem Tov maintained that it was kosher, and the discussion turned into a lengthy debate over the halachic details. They brought various proofs that his sukkah was not kosher, while the Baal Shem Tov held that it was fine and was kosher. This went on for some time. Later, the Baal Shem Tov went out, and while he was away from home, they found a note, a piece of paper, lying on the ground. And on that note

01:37 it was written: “The sukkah of Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov is kosher,” and it bore the signature of the angel Metatron, the Prince of the Presence. Understandably, this was a great [unclear], and they had to agree that the Baal Shem Tov’s sukkah was kosher. That note, that piece of paper, later came into the possession of the Baal Shem Tov’s grandson, the author of Degel Machaneh Ephraim. He kept it, and when someone in Mezhibuzh was unwell, they would place the note near the person’s head, and the person would recover. This continued for some time, and hardly anyone passed away, because they could always be healed with the note. Eventually, it was placed under [unclear], and it disappeared. No one knows [unclear]. Yes, the Rebbe said there that, with regard to the author of Degel Machaneh Ephraim, it was understood that such a situation was not in keeping with the Divine intent, and so the note did not remain. This is a remarkable story told in the books of the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples. It also appears in Baal Shem Tov Al HaTorah, which cites the sources for the story. The Rebbe told this story at a Sukkos farbrengen, once in 5725 and a second time in 5727, with great emotion as he related it. And the emotion

03:21 was very great indeed. The Rebbe then asked several questions: At first glance, the story makes no sense at all. First, how could the Baal Shem Tov sit in a sukkah that required all sorts of arguments in its favor to establish that it was kosher? Why sit in a sukkah that was not at all mehudar according to halachah, whose kosher status was not straightforward? Of course, the Baal Shem Tov had studied the halachah, and he was certainly right that the sukkah was kosher. But why did he need to rely on such leniencies? Surely the Baal Shem Tov observed every mitzvah in the most beautiful way. Every Jew wants to be meticulous in observing mitzvos, and all the more so the Baal Shem Tov—he observed them with the highest degree of care. It is also obvious that whenever a Jew has the opportunity to perform a mitzvah, he wants to do it in the best possible way. How much more so after Yom Kippur, when every Jew stands in a state of utmost spiritual completeness. Surely a Jew wants to be complete, and for everything he does to be right in every detail. And the mitzvah of sukkah is the first of the all-encompassing mitzvos performed after Yom Kippur. Surely a Jew wants to perform it in the best possible way, with the greatest possible care. Clearly, then, there was a deeper intention here: the Baal Shem Tov deliberately chose to sit in a sukkah

04:50 that required finding a halachic basis to permit it. What was the point of that? Furthermore, at first glance, the story makes it seem that the Baal Shem Tov wanted to show the Jews, rabbis, and scholars of Mezhibuzh—who, as the story plainly suggests, opposed his approach—a heavenly sign, a miracle, as such things are called in stories about the Baal Shem Tov. Something truly wondrous came from Heaven: a ruling descended from Heaven, bearing a signature from the heavenly academy. Their opposition was thereby removed; indeed, they saw the Baal Shem Tov’s greatness and his heavenly conduct. But that explanation is not enough. One cannot use a halachic matter, a leniency in the observance of a mitzvah, to demonstrate greatness. There are many stories about the Baal Shem Tov and the various miracles and wondrous things he did concerning health, livelihood, and so on. Why, for this purpose, did he have to choose a matter of halachic leniency and sit in a sukkah—a mitzvah observed for seven days, and observed at leisure, sitting in the sukkah; a mitzvah whose whole idea and practice is that whenever a Jew is in the sukkah, eating, sitting, making use of it, and so on—all with a leniency, just to demonstrate his greatness?

06:18 The story, then, is not entirely clear. What does it mean? In any case, there is a particular point being conveyed here, connected to the overall meaning and essence of Sukkos. The sacred idea here is that, on the contrary, the mitzvah of sukkah comes specifically after Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is when all Jews are purified before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of judgment. The accuser comes and seeks, Heaven forbid, to bring accusations against Jews. Of this it is said: “Hashem your G-d did not wish to listen to Bilaam.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not want to listen to an accuser who comes to speak against Jews. And not only does He not want to listen; as the verse continues, “Hashem your G-d turned the curse into a blessing for you.” On Yom Kippur, through the work of teshuvah, Jews stand face to face, particularly during the Neilah prayer. That is when the deepest point of holiness within them is awakened: their willingness to give their lives for Hashem. As explained in the sacred books, when the verses proclaiming Hashem’s oneness are recited, the capacity for self-sacrifice is awakened in Jews. As related in the story, when a person prepares to give his life in practice, it is considered as though he has actually done so. This awakens the deepest point of holiness within Jews: their Jewishness, their bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the yechidah of the soul. Through this, all Jews are purified. And it is not only that “He did not wish to listen,” but also that “He turned the curse into a blessing”: deliberate sins become merits. Thus, every Jew stands in a state of complete spiritual wholeness after Yom Kippur, and all accusations are entirely nullified.

07:45 Moreover, after a person has been purified, the mitzvah of sukkah comes after Yom Kippur. This is the mitzvah through which a Jew must build his bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why the mitzvah of sukkah is an all-encompassing mitzvah that surrounds the entire person: eating and drinking, sleeping, walking about, and every aspect of a person’s daily life are bound up with this mitzvah. When a Jew is surrounded by a mitzvah, he builds his bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu anew, with a sense of freshness. That is the purpose of the mitzvah of sukkah. And for this, the Baal Shem Tov showed self-sacrifice. When Sukkos arrives, every Jew builds himself a sukkah according to his way of serving Hashem. The great Torah sages build themselves the most beautiful, finest sukkah, with every enhancement, every stringency, and every detail. But here we are speaking about simple people, simple Jews who are not so familiar with the halachos. So when they come to build a sukkah, they build it simply. It may be that the sukkahs they build raise halachic questions, and that leniencies must be found,

09:21 along with other considerations, before one can say that the sukkah is fit for Sukkos. This was the holy Baal Shem Tov’s great Ahavas Yisroel and great self-sacrifice. He was a true leader of the Jewish people and a true shepherd of Israel. As is well known, the Baal Shem Tov revealed the importance of Ahavas Yisroel, and particularly his love for the simple Jew. In a simple Jew lies the truth of the simplicity of Hashem’s Essence, as is known [unclear]. It is specifically among simple Jews that one finds the deepest and most exalted bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, in their wholeheartedness and simplicity, as is known from the stories of the Baal Shem Tov. And so the Baal Shem Tov came, so that there should be no grounds, Heaven forbid, for any accusation after Yom Kippur, during Sukkos, and said: Look how Jews sit in a sukkah. Since the holy Baal Shem Tov, the greatest of the great, sat in a sukkah for which a halachic basis had to be found, he thereby spoke in favor of the sukkahs of all Jews, of every kind—even Jews whose circumstances led them to build such a sukkah. He advocated for them and ensured that there could be, Heaven forbid, no negative judgment, no accusation. On the contrary, this added an argument in favor of the Jewish people, Jews of every kind. When one sees the holy Baal Shem Tov sitting in such a sukkah, then

10:44 So certainly one cannot say [unclear]. In this way, he elevated the sukkos of all the Jews and brought about a good inscription and sealing, and all the other blessings, for the entire year. In light of this, it is clear that the Baal Shem Tov’s meeting with the sages of Mezhibuzh was not meant to demonstrate his greatness so that they would stop opposing him, as one might understand the story at first glance. No. The Baal Shem Tov wanted to show them a path in serving Hashem—his approach. What did he want? What was the Baal Shem Tov’s approach? What was his innovation? By doing something that involved [unclear], and showing what kind of self-sacrifice it takes to sit in a simple sukkah and help every kind of Jew, he showed the path in serving Hashem: how a tzaddik, a holy man, a great Torah scholar, must descend, lower himself, and adapt himself to people on lower levels in order to act for other Jews, to save Jews. He must even be willing to sacrifice something in his own personal way of serving Hashem in order to help another Jew in his service of Hashem. And that was

12:10 the path shown by the holy Baal Shem Tov to all who follow in his footsteps. We find something similar in a story about the Alter Rebbe. There is a well-known account of the Alter Rebbe’s genuine love of Hashem. As the Tzemach Tzedek relates, the Alter Rebbe would reach such a state of deveikus that, when he became deeply absorbed in his love of Hashem, people would see him throw himself to the ground, sometimes rolling where he lay, and cry out, “I do not want Your Gan Eden. I do not want Your World to Come. I want only You Yourself.” In other words, his love of Hashem was so great that he was prepared to give up everything else to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “You Yourself”—to connect with His very Essence. Yet the Tzemach Tzedek said that all the Alter Rebbe’s deveikus and burning love, all his extraordinary self-sacrifice and bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, did not compare to the self-sacrifice he showed when he put everything aside, descended from his level, and set aside all his love to go help a simple Jew who needed a simple material favor. And that was the lesson of

13:39 the Baal Shem Tov that we see in this story about the sukkah. What does this wonderful story have to do with Sukkos? Sukkos is a time of unity, as we see in every aspect of the festival. First, its name: one of its names is the Festival of Ingathering. “Ingathering” means gathering and bringing things together, as the verse says, “when you gather in.” At Sukkos we gather everything from our threshing floors and winepresses, everything in the field, and bring it home. That is the physical gathering of the harvest. And this physical event points to something spiritual: Sukkos is also a time to gather all the good deeds and everything else since Pesach, when the Jewish people’s service of Hashem began. For every Jew, Pesach is a time of renewal, a fresh start—the Festival of Faith. Then comes the festival of the Giving of the Torah, when we receive the Torah and mitzvos. We go through the summer gathering good deeds, Torah, and teshuvah. When Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur arrive, it is a time for teshuvah. Then comes Sukkos, the time of ingathering: we bring it all together and make all our service of Hashem into one. That is why it is called the Festival of Ingathering. In the same way, Sukkos also expresses the gathering and unity of

15:03 the Jewish people as a whole. As the Gemara says in Tractate Sukkah, “All of Israel are fit to sit in one sukkah.” According to halachah, all Jews could come and sit in one single sukkah during the festival. This points to the greatest unity. It is specifically a simple structure, a simple place, a temporary dwelling rather than a permanent home: “All of Israel sit in one sukkah,” and the sukkah unites all Jews. Then we see something more in the four species, the mitzvah we perform on Sukkos: we take the four species. As is well known, the Midrash speaks of four kinds among the four species. The esrog has taste and fragrance. The lulav comes from the date palm, whose fruit has taste but no fragrance. The hadassim have fragrance but no taste. And the aravos are from a dry tree that has neither taste nor fragrance. These represent four kinds of Jews. Some have both Torah and good deeds—taste and fragrance. Some have Torah but no good deeds: a Torah scholar whose focus is

16:21 Torah, and that is a matter of taste and fragrance. Then there are those who have good deeds but no Torah. And then there are the simple people, the aravos. The aravos have neither taste nor fragrance, and of them we say, “Let them all form one bundle.” To fulfill the mitzvah of the four species, we must bind all four together and make them one single mitzvah. Why? On Sukkos we see unity in every detail: in the festival’s name, in the mitzvah of sukkah, and in the mitzvah of the four species. The explanation, as mentioned earlier, is that the four species and the mitzvah of sukkah follow Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, the yechidah of the soul is revealed—the pintele Yid, the essential point of Jewishness. As we discussed earlier, at the time of [unclear], which is the time of Yom Kippur, and especially during Neilah, self-sacrifice is revealed. In this regard, all Jews are equal, as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya. We see [unclear] that a Jew neither wants nor is able to be separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We find this especially among simple people, sometimes even more than among great Torah scholars, and this is the special quality of the aravos. After all, we see that with the four species, although

17:36 all four species form one whole, on Sukkos we nevertheless make a whole observance specifically of the aravos: the significant practice of the Hoshanos. Especially on Hoshana Rabbah, the aravos become a central focus. This is connected to the innovation of the holy Baal Shem Tov: it is specifically the aravos, the simple people, in whom we find self-sacrifice and wholehearted sincerity. We find this sincerity specifically among simple people—in their service of Hashem, their simplicity, their wholeheartedness, and their self-sacrifice for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Baal Shem Tov revealed this. And so, when Sukkos arrives following Yom Kippur, what was hidden is revealed. As is also explained in Chassidus regarding the verse “At the concealed time, on the day of our festival,” what is concealed and covered on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is revealed during the joy of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres. We see this in the story of the Baal Shem Tov, because it is specifically on Sukkos that this truth comes to light: Ahavas Yisroel and the unity of the Jewish people. This applies every single year. But there is a special mitzvah on this festival that applies in a particular year, not every year. That concerns...

18:54 On Sukkos every year, there is the Festival of Ingathering, the festival of Sukkos, the mitzvah of sukkah, and the mitzvah of the four species. Once every seven years there is a special mitzvah that the Torah discusses in Parshas Vayeilech. The Torah says in Parshas Vayeilech, in the Chumash: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time in the Shemitah year”—at the end of the Shemitah year, the end of the seventh year, when the eighth year has already arrived, meaning the first year of a new seven-year Shemitah cycle—“on the festival of Sukkos, when all Israel comes.” When Jews go up to the Beis Hamikdash for Sukkos in the year after Shemitah, as in the current year, the Torah says there is a mitzvah: “You shall read this Torah in their hearing.” The Torah must be read before them. It then says, “Gather the people—the men, the women, and the children”—everyone must be gathered—“so that they may hear and so that they may learn and fear Hashem your G-d.” This is the mitzvah of Hakhel. As explained in the Written Torah, and at length by the Rambam in chapter 3 of Hilchos Chagigah, the Rambam sets out the details of the mitzvah of Hakhel: once every seven years, after the Shemitah year, all Jews have a mitzvah to assemble. And the king—the king at that time, as with Yehoshua bin Nun in the parsha, where Moshe also speaks to Yehoshua bin Nun, who was more or less the king at that time—and later, when there were kings of Israel throughout the generations, King David, King Shlomo, and so on, there was

20:24 The mitzvah that the king gather the entire people—men, women, and children. As the Torah states explicitly, [unclear], this was a remarkable mitzvah that included every kind of Jew, even those exempt from the mitzvah of appearing at the Beis Hamikdash, such as women, and also children. Among the children themselves, there were even some who, because of their young age, were exempt from appearing, yet perhaps obligated in Hakhel; and there were some exempt even from Hakhel, as discussed [unclear] at length. We would need to go into this entire matter according to halachah. The mitzvah of Hakhel, then, was a remarkable mitzvah among the Jewish people. As the Rambam explains at length in Hilchos Chagigah, chapter 3, [unclear]. And we find that in the laws of Hakhel, the Rambam makes a point of using extraordinary language, unlike his usual style: one must stand there at Hakhel and prepare one’s heart. Even great sages who know the entire Torah must stand at Hakhel, focus their hearts, and listen with their ears, as though they were now receiving the Torah anew at Mount Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty. In other words, as the Rambam explains it, the essence of the mitzvah of Hakhel was to experience the entire event of the Giving of the Torah anew. A great assembly stood there, with every kind of Jew united, from the youngest to the oldest, as [unclear] in that verse. They all stood together for the mitzvah of Hakhel and received the Torah anew from the king’s mouth. What is, what is

21:56 the particular point of Hakhel? Again, it is about unity. But here we have a special mitzvah that occurs only once every eight years, once every seven years at that time. So the question arises: What is the particular purpose of the mitzvah of Hakhel? First, why once every seven years? Why must the mitzvah of Hakhel take place specifically after the Shemitah year ends? And furthermore, why must it be the king who teaches the Torah at Hakhel? The king is placed on a platform—a wooden platform, as Rashi says in Chumash, and as the Rambam cites from the Gemara in Sotah. The king stood on the platform, and the entire public, everyone, came—men, women, and children—to hear the king read from the Torah, quite simply. So first of all, what is the king’s role here? Torah study would seem to belong to the Sanhedrin and the heads of yeshivos; what does it have to do with the king? And second, what is the point of reading from the Torah? One could sit at home and study Torah there. What is this all about? As explained in Tiferes Shlomo, we can find in the mitzvah of Hakhel its deep connection to this idea, [unclear], to what the Baal Shem Tov revealed. What the Baal Shem Tov revealed was

23:19 that a Jew must travel to the Rebbe, that Jews must travel to the Rebbe, and there they can acquire fear of Heaven. Incidentally, a Jew might ask: Couldn’t I sit quietly at home and study Torah? On the contrary, perhaps I could even develop novel insights. A Jew who is a Torah scholar, righteous and G-d-fearing, can sit at home and grow, take a Torah scroll, books of mussar and books on the inner dimension of Torah, and grow in his service of Hashem. Tiferes Shlomo says, on the basis of what the Baal Shem Tov revealed, that this is not how it works. He cites the verse: “Can a man hide in secret places, and I not see him? says Hashem.” If a Jew thinks he can hide away in secret and, there by himself, serve Hashem and grow in his service of Hashem, then “I will not see him”—that is not how it works. [unclear] to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It has to happen by traveling to the tzaddik and hearing the Torah. These may be the very same teachings, even simple teachings, but one hears them from the king, from the tzaddik, and that is felt [unclear]. What does this mean? And how does it connect to our subject? [unclear] the next question: Why is the mitzvah of Hakhel specifically on Sukkos? The central point, then, is that a king was needed. The king has a special power in two respects.

24:39 The king’s special power is that he can unite all Jews as one. As the Rambam says in Hilchos Melachim, the king is “the heart of the people,” the heart of the Jewish people. In other words, the king is like the heart. The heart has the ability to send blood, life, and warmth throughout the body. “The heart distributes to all the limbs.” The heart affects every organ. This is something special about the king: as the heart of the people, he unites all Jews and makes them one single entity. That is why he is the one who can truly carry out Hakhel, gathering all Jews together so that they become like one person. This comes through the king’s power. Then there is the purpose of Hakhel, which is its main point. The purpose of Hakhel, as we said, is to experience the Giving of the Torah again. The focus here is not specifically intellect, wisdom, or depth, but, as the verse itself says, “to fear Hashem your G-d.” It is to experience the Giving of the Torah again, when the Jews received fear of Hashem for all time, as the verse says in Parshas Yisro: “So that fear of Him shall be upon your faces, that you shall not sin.” The purpose of the Giving of the Torah was to increase Jews’ fear of Heaven. That is why there were thunder and lightning, and the entire revelation at the Giving of the Torah. And the power to awaken fear of Heaven in Jews,

26:05 that power comes from the king. This is explained at length in Chassidus by the Tzemach Tzedek, in the mitzvah of appointing a king in Derech Mitzvosecha: the king’s role is to awaken fear of Heaven among the people. That is why the Torah says, “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” This was the disagreement between the prophet Shmuel, who first crowned King Shaul, and the Jewish people. The Jewish people asked for a king, and the prophet Shmuel said that Hakadosh Boruch Hu was not pleased with it. So the question is: What does that mean? It is a mitzvah in the Torah, in Parshas Shoftim: “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” The explanation, as we discussed, is that there are two aspects to kingship. There is a kind of kingship in which the king must govern the public so that people do not “swallow one another alive.” That is one kind of kingship, kingship for basic needs. [unclear] simple fear of Heaven. That is not the purpose of a Jewish king. The true purpose of a Jewish king is to awaken in Jews genuine self-nullification and genuine fear of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Not merely simple fear, but something more—as explained in Chassidus, fear of G-d. The true quality of fear of Hashem is received from the king. That is what Shmuel meant: Why do you need a king for basic matters, to manage various affairs and business dealings, so there will not be [unclear] theft and [unclear], and so on? Do you need a king for that? Simple fear of Heaven is enough for that. A king must bring with him [unclear] of serving Hashem, [unclear]

27:35 of fear of Hashem. That is the king’s true role. The king stands in genuine self-nullification—his defining quality is that he stands in genuine self-nullification before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And because he is the heart of the people, the yechidah, the innermost and essential core of the entire people, when the people devote themselves to the king, he connects them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and awakens genuine fear of Heaven within them. Therefore, when a new period begins after the Shemitah year, and people return to the world and to working the land, beginning a new seven-year period—each seven-year period is a new stage in serving Hashem—they need to experience the entire Giving of the Torah again. For that purpose there is the king, who gathers all Jews and awakens genuine fear of Heaven within them. With that true foundation, they can return to the world and make it a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed. So the true purpose of Hakhel is to gather all Jews and connect them to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as they were at the Giving of the Torah. That is what the king did at Hakhel. And although nowadays we cannot perform the mitzvah of Hakhel literally, because the Beis Hamikdash has been destroyed, nevertheless,

28:52 On the contrary, as is clear from the Rambam, the main point of Hakhel is spiritual: to relive the Giving of the Torah. That spiritual dimension of Hakhel applies even now. As mentioned earlier regarding Sukkos, [unclear], we need to relive the spiritual meaning of the mitzvah of Hakhel. During these days of Tishrei, as we approach Sukkos, we need to gather—yes, gather together with fellow Jews—and connect with the Torah, so that we strengthen ourselves in all matters of reverence for Hashem, connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and awaken ourselves as though we were standing at the Giving of the Torah. Each person needs to put himself in the position of a king; every Jew has the power of kingship within him. After all, “All Jews are the children of kings,” as [unclear] Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara in Shabbos says, “All Jews are the children of kings.” Every Jew has a king’s strength within him, and when we cannot fulfill the mitzvah in its literal sense, every Jew needs to awaken that kingship within himself—the power to influence and lead that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has given him. He needs to gather Jews, speak with them about Yiddishkeit and reverence for Heaven, and strengthen their reverence for Heaven. Through this, may we merit, with Hashem’s help, to ascend on pilgrimage to the Third Beis Hamikdash this Sukkos, and to be there with King Moshiach, who will stand on the platform

30:19 in the women’s courtyard of the Third Beis Hamikdash and read the passages from the Torah, “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d,” with a renewed acceptance of the yoke of Heaven and the yoke of the mitzvos, together with the new Torah that will come from Moshiach’s mouth. May we indeed merit to go from the joy of “the time of our rejoicing” to the true joy—the joy of the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu.