Sukkos - the Profound Meaning of the Holiday in Light of Chassidus

00:00 Yom Kippur is already behind us. We’ve entered the days of joy, the great days of preparation for Sukkos, the days of Sukkos itself, the days of “the season of our rejoicing.” And here is the question everyone asks themselves: Does that mean the days of teshuvah are behind us? After all, we spent forty days engaged in teshuvah: the entire month of Elul, the Ten Days of Teshuvah, the great days of Selichos, the holy days of Rosh Hashanah, and the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. Each of us worked on ourselves, and surely, as they say, every Jew is presumed to be upright. Each person made progress, rising from level to level, day by day. We reached the pinnacle on the holy day of Yom Kippur, the time of teshuvah, especially as we discussed it in light of Chassidus. What is Yom Kippur? What does it mean that “the essence of the day atones,” that the yechidah, the innermost level of the soul, is revealed? We reached the height of teshuvah. So the question is: What now? Is it over? Are we finished with the work of teshuvah, and now it’s a different kind of work—the days of joy, the days of love, something else altogether? Today we’ll discuss this and discover the depth that Chassidus reveals about these days: the days after Yom Kippur, beginning with the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos, continuing through Sukkos, the season of our rejoicing, the days of Simchas Beis Hashoeivah, and on to Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. In fact, we’re still in the midst of the process of teshuvah. On the contrary, we’re advancing further and further, and that’s a very interesting point. It can also be explained according to halachah and the revealed dimension of Torah, through the Gemara, where we can see this idea too—and all the more so through Chassidus, which reveals the depth of these days. So we’ll understand that the days of

02:16 Sukkos do not mean we’ve finished with the work of teshuvah. On the contrary, we rise to a much higher level in that work. Let’s begin with an interesting story the Rebbe told many times. He heard it from his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe, who related that once, in his youth, on the night after Yom Kippur, he went in to his father, the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory. After all the holy work of Yom Kippur—the prayers, the fast, and everything else—he asked his father, “Father, what is our work now? What are we supposed to do after Yom Kippur?” His father, the Rebbe Rashab, answered in Yiddish—I’ll give you his exact words: “Itzt darf men teshuvah ton.” That is, now, especially now, we need to do teshuvah. The Rebbe would repeat this saying many times, and it calls for an explanation. What does it mean? We spent all forty days engaged in teshuvah, as we said, rising from level to level, higher and higher, until we reached the deepest level of teshuvah on Yom Kippur. What could be beyond that? And then, suddenly, we’re told that only now do we need to do teshuvah. What does that mean? Over the years, the Rebbe explained it in different ways. I had the privilege of being with the Rebbe for several years and of hearing him explain it at farbrengens after Yom Kippur—sometimes on the Shabbos between Yom Kippur and Sukkos, when there was one, and sometimes on Sukkos itself. On various occasions, the Rebbe would return to this story and explain it in different ways. One of its main, deeper points is this: As we’ve also discussed in earlier classes, Chassidus reveals that true teshuvah is not only about sins and transgressions. True teshuvah, in its deepest sense, is the teshuvah of “the spirit returns to G-d Who gave it.” That

04:34 means the higher, deeper teshuvah, which has nothing to do with sins. The Alter Rebbe goes so far as to say in one of his maamarim for Parshas Haazinu—particularly relevant in years like this one, when Haazinu is read on the Shabbos after Yom Kippur; these maamarim were generally delivered by the Alter Rebbe on Shabbosim between Yom Kippur and Sukkos—that contrary to the common misconception, teshuvah is not essentially about sins and transgressions. Teshuvah for sins and transgressions, he says, is “physical teshuvah.” That’s an interesting expression. The essence of teshuvah is the connection, the drawing close, the bond through which the soul returns to unite with G-d Who gave it—to the soul’s source, where it is united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu at the very highest level, before it descended into the world. As the Rebbe would always put it, a soul in a body in this physical world has the ability to unite with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the most absolute way, just as it was before it descended into the world, before “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This wondrous connection begins on Yom Kippur, but it is specifically in the days after Yom Kippur that it reaches an even higher level. This helps explain the Alter Rebbe’s point in Tanya: the higher teshuvah we’re speaking about is teshuvah specifically through joy. In other words, it is precisely when we begin the days of joy and enter “the season of our rejoicing”—“You shall rejoice on your festival”—that we experience the great joy of the work of teshuvah, the very highest teshuvah. There are several details to explain here, but let’s at least touch on the deeper point: what really happens during these days, and how does it connect to the great joy we experience on Sukkos, especially at Simchas Beis Hashoeivah? There is a teaching from the holy Rabbi

06:43 Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. It is also told that this teaching was repeated before the Tzemach Tzedek in his sukkah, which is very interesting. The Tzemach Tzedek said something about it, as we’ll mention later. What did the holy Rabbi Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev say? There is a very interesting Midrash on Parshas Emor. Regarding the mitzvah of the Four Species, the verse says, “You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree,” and so on. The Midrash asks about the words “on the first day”: Why call it the first day? Sukkos falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tishrei. The Midrash answers: it is “the first day for the accounting of sins.” In other words, the Midrash explains that on Yom Kippur, Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives the Jewish people for all their sins, wipes everything clean, and we start from zero. After Yom Kippur, a Jew is clean and pure, at a moment of utmost holiness and purity. The Gemara also relates that the well-known tanna Bava ben Buta would not bring an offering on the day after Yom Kippur. Every other day he brought an asham talui, a conditional guilt offering, because he thought he might have sinned. But on the day after Yom Kippur, he said, “Now there are no doubts.” We are all pure; we are all holy. On the day after Yom Kippur, we are all pure. The Midrash says it isn’t just the day after Yom Kippur. Throughout the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos, a Jew remains in a state of purity and cleanliness. One person is busy with his lulav; another is busy with his sukkah. We’re all occupied, all running to do mitzvos. A Jew has no time to sin. Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not begin the accounting of sins until the first day. That is the meaning of “the first day for the accounting of sins,” and of “You shall take for yourselves on the first day.” In other words, on the first day of Sukkos, then

08:38 They open a new page and begin reckoning the new sins of a new year. Fine. That is what the Midrash says. But the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev asks: Is that really what it means? There is something much deeper here. What does “the first for the reckoning of sins” mean? Who would even think of committing sins now, just after Yom Kippur, when we are in the great days of Sukkos? It is out of the question. We all know the stories about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. When he looked at a Jew, he saw only good. He could not imagine that a Jew would reach Sukkos and even dream of sinning. He says the meaning is entirely different. What is it? We know that the Gemara says at the end of Tractate Yoma that there are two kinds of teshuvah: teshuvah out of fear and teshuvah out of love. The Gemara says that when a person does teshuvah out of fear of Hashem, his deliberate sins become like unintentional sins. Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives him, but He turns the sin into an unintentional transgression. When teshuvah is out of love, however, deliberate sins become merits. Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not merely forgive and turn those deliberate sins into unintentional ones; He turns them into merits. Wonderful! The Alter Rebbe also explains this in Tanya: Why do deliberate sins become merits when teshuvah is out of love? The Alter Rebbe says it is because that love emerges from darkness. The deepest love is the thirst, the longing that arises in a Jew precisely because he feels far away. He reflects on that distance and realizes that his sins have distanced him, seemingly cut him off from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That very realization awakens in him, “My soul thirsts for You in a dry and weary land without water.” That great thirst comes from that very thing—from the distance, from the desert. And that is why teshuvah out of love turns deliberate sins into merits. How

10:45 wonderful! So, says the Berditchever, the Ten Days of Teshuvah are called days of awe, the Days of Awe. The avodah is primarily one of fear. That is what these days call for. But after Yom Kippur, we arrive at Sukkos. “You shall rejoice in your festival”—this is a time of love. A Jew then continues his avodah of teshuvah not only out of fear—fear of the King, awe of His greatness—but out of love, joy, and closeness. That is really the essence of Sukkos: teshuvah on a higher level, teshuvah out of love. And since love turns deliberate sins into merits, he says, this is the meaning of the Midrash. “The first day, the first for the reckoning of sins” does not, G-d forbid, mean sins in the literal sense. It means that those sins turn into merits on the first day, the first day of Sukkos. When a Jew begins Sukkos with joy, with “You shall rejoice in your festival,” his deliberate sins begin to turn into merits. That is the reckoning that begins now: the reckoning of those sins as they turn into merits. This is what the Midrash means by “the first for the reckoning”—the reckoning of deliberate sins that become merits. There is also the well-known story of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. A Jew once wanted to mock and belittle sacred things, and began saying, “Do you know how many sins I have on Yom Kippur?” Rabbi Levi Yitzchak told him, “Why, I envy you! If you have all that you say you have, then the moment you do teshuvah out of love, your deliberate sins will turn into merits. Think how many merits you will have! And I have to work hard for one more merit, one more mitzvah, and then another.” So that is the explanation of Sukkos. On Sukkos we continue the avodah of teshuvah, but on a higher level. This is what the Rebbe Rashab said to his son,

12:57 the Frierdiker Rebbe. He told him: Now, in particular, one must do teshuvah. In other words, until now the avodah of teshuvah was more closely connected with fear. We are not talking about fear of punishment, G-d forbid. We are talking about awe of Hashem’s greatness, a sense of shame before Him, awe of the Divine light—fear on a high level, but still an avodah of fear. After Yom Kippur, we begin an avodah specifically out of love, out of joy and “You shall rejoice in your festival.” That is why deliberate sins become merits here. We continue the avodah of teshuvah on a higher level. The story goes that when this teaching of the Rabbi of Berditchev was related in the Tzemach Tzedek’s sukkah, the Tzemach Tzedek said that he had heard from his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, that this begins not only on Sukkos but already during the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos. That level of teshuvah is already present then. If so, it is even more elevated on Sukkos, and this gives us a deeper understanding of the avodah of teshuvah specifically during these days: the teshuvah of “and the spirit returns,” a Jew’s connection and closeness with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through joy. There is the great joy of being able to draw close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu by fulfilling mitzvos; the joy of a mitzvah, and especially of learning Torah—both the revealed dimension of Torah and the inner dimension of Torah. You have the opportunity to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and that is the greatest teshuvah, the greatest joy. There is a source for this in the Gemara as well, as we said. Toward the end of Tractate Sukkah, the Gemara discusses Simchas Beis Hashoeivah, the great celebration in the Beis Hamikdash, where the tzaddikim and sages, the chassidim and men of good deeds, celebrated. Tractate Sukkah describes that great joy: “Whoever did not see Simchas Beis Hashoeivah never saw joy in his life.” It was tremendous, wonderful joy, something

14:58 extraordinary. And what do we see? It says there that they danced with flaming torches. They would make different kinds of torches and toss them. The Gemara gives details: some tossed four torches, throwing one and catching another, while others tossed eight. Great Tannaim would do this, and all the people came to watch and listen. It was a tremendous celebration, Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. Among other things, the Mishnah says, “The chassidim and men of good deeds would dance before them.” In other words, it was precisely the great tzaddikim, the chassidim and men of good deeds, who performed these dances. The Gemara adds from a baraisa that people who had done teshuvah were there too. The Gemara tells us what each group would say. Some said, “Fortunate is our youth, which did not shame our old age,” while others said, “Fortunate is our old age, which atoned for our youth.” That was the distinction between the tzaddikim and those who had done teshuvah; each group had its own words. And both groups would say, “Fortunate is one who has not sinned; and one who has sinned should return, and he will be forgiven.” So here we see explicitly in the Gemara that the avodah of teshuvah did not end on Yom Kippur. The great joy of Sukkos was directly connected with the continuation of teshuvah. So much so that amid those dances, danced with such great joy, what were they speaking about? Teshuvah. They spoke about “Fortunate is one who has not sinned; and one who has sinned should return, and he will be forgiven.” They spoke about sin and forgiveness, about teshuvah, precisely at the height of the celebration. This tells us that we continue with teshuvah—but with a higher teshuvah, one in which deliberate sins become merits, because it is teshuvah out of love, teshuvah with joy, the teshuvah of “and the spirit returns to G-d Who gave it.”

17:02 With this in mind, we can also understand the connection to Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. A simple question arises: Why make such a big celebration over water? The water libation. Simchas Beis Hashoeivah was connected with drawing water from the spring. As the Gemara describes in detail, they would go to the Shiloach spring in the morning and draw water, and all night long they would dance and celebrate around this drawing of water. What was so important about it? Afterward they would come to the altar and pour the water on it. Now, throughout the year, the libations accompanying the offerings were always wine. The Torah speaks of wine libations on the festivals too. On Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos, on every festival, wine was poured along with the special offerings brought for that festival. There was a wine libation on Sukkos as well, but Sukkos had something special: in addition to the wine, they took water and poured it on the altar too—the water libation. Wow. And that brought about tremendous joy. So the simple question is: What is there about water? Why such great joy around the water libation? On the contrary, common sense tells us that wine is what brings joy. There’s a verse, “Wine that gladdens G-d and men,” and of course we see this in nature too. Wine brings joy. A person drinks a little wine, feels enlivened and uplifted, and is happy. You just have to be careful to drink the right amount and no more. But why does wine bring joy? That’s clear. Drinking water, though? Where do we see water bringing joy? Yet here we see that the joy over water is even greater. It’s remarkable. Yes, the wine libation certainly brought joy. It says, “Wine that gladdens G-d and men.” There was joy; the Levi’im sang in the Beis Hamikdash during the wine libation, as the Gemara explains. But we never saw such extraordinary joy as the joy of Simchas

19:17 Beis Hashoeivah. It was precisely the water libation that brought about such tremendous joy. What is the explanation? Of course, there are several explanations, including ones based on the Gemara, but let’s go straight to the point in terms of what we’ve been discussing here about the avodah of teshuvah, which is really the point of the water. The difference between wine and water is that the joy of wine is a joy with a taste, just as wine has a taste. Wine is sweet. There’s something about wine that brings joy. In other words, wine represents a Jew’s relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu when it is a regular relationship, built on intellect, understanding, depth, taste, and pleasure. He knows why, he knows what it’s for, he knows the goal. Generally speaking, this is the avodah of tzaddikim. Water, by contrast, comes from that place we spoke about: water generally has no taste. But when do you drink water? When you’re thirsty. “One who drinks water to quench his thirst,” says the Mishnah in the sixth chapter of Berachos, “recites, ‘By Whose word everything came into being.’” A Jew, a person, drinks water because he’s thirsty—not because it tastes good, and not because he wants to feel joy. Water comes from thirst. The holy Baal Shem Tov says about this, “One who drinks wine to quench his thirst”—water, excuse me—“to quench his thirst”: that thirst represents the soul’s thirst. As we said earlier, when a baal teshuvah reflects and realizes how far he was from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that distance, “a dry and weary land without water,” is precisely what awakens in him “My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You.” It awakens an enormous thirst for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He wants closeness to Hashem, and then he isn’t looking for wine, he isn’t looking for sweetness, he isn’t looking for something he can understand and grasp. He is looking for the connection; he is looking for Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. Water—precisely water,

21:21 which is plain, with no particular color or taste—represents the greatest simplicity and depth within a Jew. As the Baal Shem Tov put it, the simplicity of a simple Jew touches and is connected with the greatest simplicity and depth of Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, beyond all the sefiros, worlds, and levels. That is the very essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The simplest and deepest thing is found in a Jew’s deepest and simplest connection, and that is what water represents. It awakens in every Jew on Yom Kippur. At Neilah on Yom Kippur, as we discussed, the essence of the day is revealed: the essential, fundamental connection that has nothing to do with taste, explanations, interpretations, philosophy, or profound ideas. It is the connection of what is pure, wholesome, and clean—a connection of water. I am a Jew. And then the Jew is really saying: I’m thirsty. I’m thirsty for a connection; I’m thirsty to be connected. I’m not looking for Coca-Cola, not looking for wine, not looking for something sweet, something with color or fragrance, something with some special quality. I want the essence. I want the essential connection. I want the connection itself, to be together. That is what began at Neilah on Yom Kippur. And after Yom Kippur, during the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkos, and even more so afterward on Sukkos, we sit in the sukkah surrounded by the love and affection with which Hakadosh Boruch Hu embraces us. As Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev also said, the sukkah represents an embrace: two handbreadths and another handbreadth, or three handbreadths and another handbreadth, representing the shape of an embrace. When a person embraces someone, there are three sides together with the palm of the hand, which is the handbreadth. Because this connection, this embrace, is really what happens on Sukkos—the connection.

23:25 And that is why the joy of Sukkos, the joy of the water, is the greatest joy of all. As explained in one of the maamarim the Rebbe said, in 5749—a wonderful maamar beginning “And You Shall Draw Water with Joy”—we see that when a son returns from captivity and meets his father, the king, the joy is greater than any other. The father is so happy that his son, his only son, has returned from captivity that, in his great joy, he wants to give the child the greatest gift. He gives him a gift that is closest to him, something most fundamental and essential to the king. That is how he expresses their connection. Such a gift is entirely beyond anything warranted by the son’s conduct, and that is what he wants to give him. The Gema... the Rebbe says in the maamar that this is really the point of Sukkos, of Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d”—we say this in the Sukkos prayers—“And You gave us, Hashem our G-d.” “And You gave us” means Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us a gift. What does He give us? He gives us “Hashem our G-d.” He gives us Himself. He gives us the most essential connection with Him. And that is “You chose us,” which we say and sing on these days: “And You raised us above all tongues, and drew us close to Your service, and called Your great and holy Name upon us.” This is the greatest gift Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us. He gives us Himself. “You called Your great and holy Name upon us.” This is the great joy of Simchas Beis Hashoeivah, the joy of the water. This water represents the most essential connection of Jews with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And so it is true that one who has not seen Simchas Beis Hashoeivah has never seen joy in his life. This is really the joy of the deepest teshuvah, which awakens specifically during these days of Sukkos. And this joy is something we

25:21 then need to carry forward. As is known, at Simchas Beis Hashoeivah on Sukkos, a Jew receives joy for the entire year: the joy of a mitzvah and the joy of Torah, which we also receive at the close of the festival, on Simchas Torah and Shemini Atzeres. From this we will have a year of joy, the greatest joy. May it be a year of joy, the joy of Torah and the joy of mitzvos, which will also have an effect in material matters. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestow upon each and every person wealth and abundance in every area, with ample blessings of children, health, and livelihood. As the Baal Shem Tov said, on Sukkos, and especially during the hakafos on Simchas Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives every Jew, with each hakafah, everything a Jew needs, generously and abundantly. During the year, a Jew pays for it through Torah, mitzvos, and good deeds. May each and every one of us have a season of our rejoicing and true joy that brings joy throughout the entire year.