Sukkah on a Cloud
My favorite machloket of all time is the dispute between R’ Eliezer and R’ Akiva in Mas. Sukkah 11b. There Rabbis Eliezer and Akiva argue about what the historical sukkah, the sukkot that we lived in in the desert, were made of:
דתניא: כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל. ענני כבוד היו דברי ר' אליעזר. ר"ע אומר סוכות ממש עשו להם.
As it says in a beraita: That I made Bnei Yisrael live in Sukkot. These are the ananei hakavod (clouds of glory), according to R’ Eliezer. R’ Akiva said: they made actual sukkot for themselves …
What makes this machloket so dear is that the Shulkhan Aruch in the very beginning of the laws of Sukkot decides in favor of R’ Eliezer, that the historical Sukkah was made out of the clouds of glory. What is disturbing about this is that the Shulkhan Aruch’s favoring one side in this machloket does not actually have any Halakhic impact. The dispute seems to be purely historical or academic, in fact both R’ Eliezer and R’ Akiva agree on how to construct a kosher sukkah! Why does the Shulkhan Aruch go out of his way to choose a side in what is essentially an Aggadic debate?
The first Mishnah in Rosh HaShanah teaches that Sukkot is the point of judgment for rain. On Sukkot water is apportioned for the entire year, and this theme dominates the holiday. Most of the rituals on Sukkot are either a petition for or a celebration of rain. There is a special libation of water in the Beit HaMikdash accompanied by a unique celebration, the arba minim are also used to indicate and pray for water. Yet one mitzvah seems to be excluded from this celebration of water- the sukkah itself. When it rains it’s bad news for sukkah dwellers. A good amount of rain evicts us from the sukkah, pushing us into our year round homes.
This creates a tension between the agricultural aspect of Sukkot, which marks the beginning of the rainy season, and the historical aspect of Sukkot, That you should know that I made Bnei Yisrael live in Sukkot. Building a sukkah is focused on the far past, on remembering what it was like to go through the desert, whereas the other rituals and the davening on Sukkot is about the immediate future, the year to come.
R’ Eliezer’s opinion that the historical sukkahs were actually made out of the ananei hakavod helps to diffuse this tension. The Midrash identifies three miracles in the desert that came through the righteousness of Miriam, Moshe, and Aharon. In Miriam’s merit a well travelled with us, in Moshe’s merit we were fed by the mun, and Aharon’s merit brought us the ananei hakavod. All three of these miracles had an aspect of water, the most miraculous substance to be found in the desert. Miriam’s well is the most obvious source of water, but even the mun was accompanied by a layer of dew when it fell. The ananei hakavod are, of course, evaporated water and the Pesikta deRav Kehana suggests that the ananei hakavod had enough water to take in the clothes of Bnei Yisrael and launder them over the long journey.
R’ Eliezer’s opinion stresses that the historical experience of journeying through the desert and living in sukkahs was fundamentally about relying on God and our leaders for water. While the prayers on Sukkot ask for water in the future, living in the sukkah is a sign of how God has provided water for us in the past. In Rabbi Eliezer’s view, the historical and ritual aspects of Sukkot are identical. By deciding in favor of R’ Eliezer in his introduction to the laws of Sukkot, the Shulkhan Aruch encourages us to keep in mind that water as the unifying theme of ALL of the mitzvot on Sukkot, including the Sukkah itself.
Wishing you a dry Sukkot and a year overflowing with blessing. Chag Sameach.