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May He Bless Thee
SUKKOT – 2021
Several years ago, I read about a dinner that some important Torah scholars had held to commemorate the completion of a significant portion of Torah. What made this occasion unique was that it also commemorated someone who had finished memorizing an entire chapter of the Talmud, by heart, and that every piece in the entire chapter was learned at least 400 times!
The man who completed this colossal task was not a great Torah scholar with dozens of years in an institute of higher Torah learning under his belt, rather he was a man who, until 15 years ago, had no Torah background whatsoever. He was simply a man who had more determination than rhetoric and more importantly, more willpower than excuses.
He is also a world-class physician who has a practice that consumes enormous amounts of his time, while simultaneously being a devoted father and husband as well as an active leader in his communities’ organizations.
So, where did he find the time to read a chapter of Talmud 400 times, a feat that he estimated would take a minimum of 800 hours?
In his remarks at the dinner, he said that his solution was to look for “dead time” in his day, and to put it to good use. He calculated that he had close to 100 minutes a day of dead time.
These included: seven minutes driving to the hospital, six minutes walking to elevator, one minute waiting for elevators, four minutes walking the floor between surgery rooms, seven minutes getting back to car, 15 minutes driving to his office, 15 minutes driving home, and many more assorted minutes while waiting in line at grocery stores, in waiting rooms, and while running errands.
As I read about this man, I started thinking about all the “dead time” we all have in our lives. Time is the most precious commodity in the world. Even Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, with all their money cannot buy an extra minute of life beyond their allotted lifespan.
Time has a very limited supply, and it has an enormous demand. Yet we waste so much of it that we can even discuss how we are going to “kill time.”
The Holy Day of Sukkot can help us inject our “dead time” with meaning. It’s a time when we take a step back from normal life and enter the Sukkah, a dwelling that represents a different kind of living.
It is a place where we go back to the basics, and strip away some of the physical accoutrements that surround us all year long.
When we take away all the extras, we can focus on what really is important in our lives. When we know what really matters, life becomes too precious to waste, and we are motivated to make every moment count.
The physical makeup of the sukkah itself teaches us this lesson. The Talmud tells us that the roofing for the sukkah, can even be made of the refuse of the threshing floor and the stalks and vines left over after processing wheat and grapes.
This material is normally seen as inconsequential, and to be burned or thrown out. However, on Sukkot we turn it into the roof of our sukkah, which is considered the most important part of the whole sukkah!
For us, Sukkot is about finding what would otherwise be thrown away and wasted; and instead using it for holiness.
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I wonder what each of us could accomplish this year if we were to use the time in our car to call (hands free of course) one elderly or ill person a day, and ask them how they are doing?
Or, if while waiting for our computer to boot up we read a religious book or a chapter from the Bible, which we keep in our home offices, or if while waiting in line at the grocery store, we read a religious article or book on our smart phones or Kindles.
I spend a lot of time waiting in doctor’s offices. Reading a book on my Kindle app, on my iPhone, allows me to keep from wasting that time.
When we do this, we transform our “dead time” into “living time”.
So, this evening, when we exit through that purposely minimalist structure representing a sukkah, let us all, pause for a moment, focus on finding the unessential parts of our life and turn them into productive, gainful, and rewarding times.
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Now, why is Simchat Torah – which is connected to Shemini Atzeret which immediately follows Sukkot – chosen as the day to end and begin the annual Torah reading cycle?
And why do we have two holidays for the Torah – Shavuot and Simchat Torah? They are celebrated so differently. On Shavuot, our tradition tells us to stay up all night and learn Torah, but on Simchat Torah, we are to dance with the Torah.
The need for these two Holy Days is explained in a parable that has been handed down through several generations.
Once a king issued a proclamation. Any one of his subjects was welcome to try for the hand of his daughter, on one condition: The potential suitor was not allowed to meet or see his daughter before the marriage.
The proclamation caused quite a stir. Soon the local inns were buzzing with speculation and rumors. “I hear she is a real nag,” said one. “I heard she is also a deaf-mute,” said another. “I know for a fact that she is a total imbecile,” sneered a third.
Round and round the rumors flew. Finally, a wholehearted Jew spoke up. “I am willing to marry her. How bad can she be? After all, she is the king’s daughter, and we all know how great our king is.”
Word quickly spread and the suitor was led to the palace. As it turned out, he was the only one who volunteered so the king accepted the match, and the wedding date was set.
After the lavish wedding, the groom escorted his bride to their new home. When she removed her heavy veil, he was astounded at her beauty. Remembering the rumors of her reputed faults, the groom decided to thoroughly test her.
He engaged her in conversation, tested her in character and refinement and found himself pleasantly surprised. In every way, she excelled beyond his greatest hopes and dreams. Overjoyed, he held a lavish party to celebrate his good fortune.
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Now of course the King in the parable is G-d. When He wanted to give the Torah, He first offered it to each of the nations. In turn, all the nations refused, each one claiming some fault in the Torah they would not be able to live with. But when G-d offered it to the Jews, they said in Exodus 24:7 ‘Na-aseh Ve-Nishma’ — “we will do, and then we will understand”.
The Jewish people accepted the Torah without seeing it first, as they were grateful for all G-d had done for them. But even though the Jewish people fully accepted the Torah, they feared a loss. They assumed that the numerous obligations in the Torah would deprive them of their pleasures and freedom.
Similarly, the groom in the parable married the king’s daughter fearing he would be disappointed in other areas. But as the Jews learned the Torah and applied it’s teaching to their lives; they were pleasantly surprised. Not only did they not have to give up anything, but they also found that the Torah maximized their pleasure in every way.
Therefore, at the conclusion of reading the Torah, when we have again read and studied its teachings for a full year, we make a party on Simchat Torah.
In contrast, on Shavuot (Pentecost), we show our readiness and anticipation to receive the Torah. It is more of an intellectual appreciation.
But on Simchat Torah, we dance with the Torah – expressing the emotional joy. Thereby, we are showing that even physically, we have gained tremendously by keeping the Torah.
Ask anyone who has begun or even increased their Torah observance over the last few years, and they will all tell you the same thing.
“At first, I feared, that some aspect of the Torah would be restrictive.” It might have been keeping Shabbat and the Festivals, keeping Torah-kosher, family purity, laws of proper speech or even tithing.
Through our obedience, each of us have encountered an area that has tested our resolve. However, we continue keeping the Torah knowing it is among the most meaningful things that G-d expects us to do. And as we grow in our Torah based faith, we have found that our lives have been enhanced in every way.
And it is with this renewed appreciation that we approach Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah each year.
This is why today; we are filled with gratitude and awe for G-d’s Torah, which is one of the greatest gifts that G-d has bestowed on us with His love.
Hag Sameach!
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